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Post# 416969 2/19/2010 at 21:51 (5,179 days old) by peteski50 (New York)
Checkrate/Likes Bendix Rubber tub! I remember a neighbor had one. I am sitting here with a good friend of mine debating with Appliance Lou. I remember the tub colapsed and the squezing action wrung out the clothes. How was the vacuum created to generate the suction in the tub? Was it the water that created a vacuum or was the suction generated in a other manner! Can anyone add input? Thanks Peter

Post# 416996 , Reply# 1 2/20/2010 at 00:06 (5,179 days old) by imperialmarkxii ()
Checkrate/Likes *Rubber tub washer* As a young kid, I remember someone in the neighbrhood had one. Don't remember what make it was, or if Bendix was the only manufacturer. What I do remember is looking inside and the funky smell it had. ... Most likely from rubber, AND mold. Not a good mix. Hard for me to imagine a washer designed like this. What were they thinking??? -Russell

Post# 417027 , Reply# 2 2/20/2010 at 04:01 (5,179 days old) by alr2903 (TN)
Checkrate/Likes I think a pump removed the air, notice the large gasket appearance of the lid. They were trying to remove excessive vibration, iirc, the early advertising targeted, apartment, mobile home dwellers, and a target price range. I think 2 or 3 of these are owned by club members here. alr2903

Post# 417032 , Reply# 3 2/20/2010 at 04:36 (5,179 days old) by earthling177 (Boston, MA)
Checkrate/Likes The machine was quite simple, actually -- if the motor turned one way, it would run the transmission and thus the agitator; if it turned the other way, it would run the pump. The pump was capable of not only pumping water, but also air, so when most of the water left the tub, a partial vacuum would be created and make the tub collapse around the clothes and squeeze them. This was only possible because the tub and the lid mated to close it. When the machine ended the cycle, you had to wait a couple of minutes or so before you could open it, because it took some time for enough air to bleed back inside the tub. The ones I've known personally had a "screw pump", I don't know if they used other kinds. The pump had a large bakelite screw that rotated inside a heavy-duty rubber container, thus squeezing water and air through. One was supposed to leave the machine open after the last load to dry inside, people who did it had fresh-smelling machines, people who kept it closed usually would have mold and mildew inside.

Post# 417047 , Reply# 4 2/20/2010 at 07:06 (5,179 days old) by gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA)
Checkrate/Likes I always remember the people using them cursing, as they wrung the excess water out of their clothes at the end of a cycle.They also made some strange noises. I'm thinking these machines did not make many friends. I know two people who have Economats. Interesting that they have survived so long. I always thought it was more than just a coincidence, that the agitator looked EXACTLY like the Maytag, just with holes drilled into the skirt and fresh water bubbling up from the barrel of the agitator where Maytag located the filter. An agreement with Maytag?

Post# 417051 , Reply# 5 2/20/2010 at 07:27 (5,179 days old) by easyspindry (Winston-Salem, NC)
Checkrate/Likes *I knew about 4 people who had the Economat.* And of the 4, only one worked as far as water extraction. You must remember that these machines were made to replace front loaders that had to be bolted to the floor because they had no internal suspension system -- the old Bendix. The new Economat could be installed simply by uncrating the machine and plugging it in -- no cement pads to sit on, no bolts to tighten down. There was no vibration since the tub did not spin. The older version of the Economat had a red button on the top that you could push and hear pressure release before opening the lid. The newer version, like the one Robert has, did this automatically. They cleaned well, but there were always problems with the extraction. Fascinating machines to a small boy like me who had already become captured by washing machines and their workings. Jerry Gay

Post# 417063 , Reply# 6 2/20/2010 at 08:22 (5,179 days old) by ptcruiser51 (Boynton Beach, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *1953 Crosley* Which was (I think) a division of Bendix, or a parallel brand. My OL's lasted a long time (1967) and worked quite well, not particularly noisy. The vacuum released when the machine shut off with a big whoosh - if you were in another part of the house you certainly heard that! Drawback was the clothes were absolutely mashed onto the agitator. You actually pulled them off in "chunks" - a mess o'wrinkles but then this was in the days before permanent press. The last year or so the tub must have gotten a hole in it somewhere (higher than the water line) so it would not contain a vacuum - everything had to be wrung out by hand (@&*%!). We had the semi-automatic model, you filled it by hose for the wash and then the rinse. And it was on wheels.

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