Thread Number: 28390
POD 5/9/2010 The Easy Combination Washer-Dryer
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Post# 434220   5/9/2010 at 22:49 (5,071 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Has anyone ever seen one or used one? What was the deep spinaway rinse, spun while it drained the rinse water? How did it do its job without shock absorbers or springs as well as no venting or steam and still be "gentle" for drying.



This post was last edited 05/09/2010 at 23:13



Post# 434224 , Reply# 1   5/9/2010 at 23:04 (5,071 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)        
Hi. Bob

toploader55's profile picture
I kinda didn't understand the whole "Easy Frontloader".I never even remember anything like it or heard of it.

Post# 434225 , Reply# 2   5/9/2010 at 23:12 (5,071 days old) by appnut (TX)        

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Eddie, they were extremely rare and I don't think were on the market very long.

Post# 434252 , Reply# 3   5/10/2010 at 02:23 (5,071 days old) by Spiceman1957 ()        
Is that Arthur Godfrey

in this ad? I have always heard he was a SOB in his days.
John


Post# 434284 , Reply# 4   5/10/2010 at 07:31 (5,071 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
EASY COMBOS

combo52's profile picture
Easy combos were on the market for more than ten years. They had a lot of interesting ideas but overall they weren't one of the more successful combos. In reality there were only three somewhat successful combos the original 36" Bendixs 1952-1958 The GEs 1955-1972 and the 29" WP 1961-1963 and WP built KMs 1961-1971. The bendixs and the WP built combos were the much better performers of the three, I included the GE because the made them the longest and they would actually last a while. I have all the manuals for the Easys and an Easy combo in pieces that came from the farm in Aberdeen SD in anyone ever finds a better one I would be willing to pay a pretty good price for it.

Post# 434312 , Reply# 5   5/10/2010 at 10:22 (5,070 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        
Almost like a TROY Big Boy

The Easy combo, as it says, had no suspension system. The feet were placed in rubber cups that were screwed to the floor to keep it from moving during the spin surge rinses. The Easy had two motors, one for tumbling and one called an Accellex (sp?) motor for spinning. They were mounted at the top back corners of the cabinet. I thought I remembered that John and Jeff had saved a pair of them. The tilt tub made a deeper pool of water at the rear and kept the load positioned more to the rear where the weight of the motors helped stabilize the dynamic forces when the tub sped up. During the rinses, the spin motor would cut in and out in brief bursts while the tub had water in it to help force the water through the load. Since the tumble action method does not force water through fabrics like agitator action, this was kind of brilliant on Easy's part. The machine could not really do good extraction and you don't get the best rinsing without extracting but this spin surge helped compensate for that by forcing the rinse water through the fabrics then draining it away. This surging was what made the machine sort of want to slide sideways and why the machine had to be in its cups to stay in place.

The water extraction was done with the bursts of the spin motor also. Only the Bendix-designed combos and the water-ballast WP-made combos did any real spinning. The Easy's answer to the water extraction problem was these bursts of speed alternated with tumbling which tried to achieve with brief bursts of speed and the resulting G forces during the acceleration what other manufacturers tried to achieve with more sustained slower spins--water extraction without excessive vibration. By using the two motors, they were able to eliminate a speed changer mechanism. Many of the other combos alternated periods of tumbling and spinning during the final spin period, both to repeatedly attempt to rebalance the load as more and more water was extracted from it and to try to reposition the items against the perforated drum so that more water might be squeezed out of them in the next spin period. One manufacturer likened it to squeezing a sponge. When you first squeeze a sponge, you get water out of it, but when you release the pressure and reposition it in your hand, you will get more water out when you squeeze it again. I think what this story most explained was why you could hand-wring water out of the load after it finished spinning in most combos.

An older friend had an Easy in Miami and used it for years. A friend's mom had one BRIEFLY, then had the dealer take it back for just a washer. She put a Bendix dryer with the door knob in the middle of the glass on the back porch. I asked about the switch, but nobody wanted to volunteer much information. I figured it was not a pleasant experience.

Easy was the only manufacturer, other than Bendix, to offer as many variations in their model line. They had both electric and gas, vented as well as condensing and undercounter models as well as models with tops and backsplashes. Many people bought Easy based on Arthur Godfrey's influence and reputation with the public based on his daily radio and then TV show. The Murray Corporation, later the Hupp Corporation, even into the 60s firmly believed in their combo and believed that combos were the future of laundry equipment in the US. Sad--sorta like many people's disappointing experience with a combo.


Post# 434321 , Reply# 6   5/10/2010 at 11:37 (5,070 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)        
Hello Easy & Combo lovers

mickeyd's profile picture
Tom, thanks for the mega morning washer read. Fabulous! Easy never forgot the power of spin rinsing, as they adapted it for the Combo, having perfected it in their spindriers. Wonder of they same engineers produced both the deep spinaway and the needle cone spray! Wouldn't it be great, Gentlemen, to view such a rinse in a plexiglass doored combo?

Post# 434324 , Reply# 7   5/10/2010 at 11:53 (5,070 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Thanks John & Tom for all the great information. Fascinating!!

Post# 434328 , Reply# 8   5/10/2010 at 12:05 (5,070 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)        
Gone all day, I missed the POD

mickeyd's profile picture
Anybody save it? Thanks. Mike.

Post# 434332 , Reply# 9   5/10/2010 at 12:15 (5,070 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas)        

Is this the same Murray company that produced Murray bicycles?

Post# 434335 , Reply# 10   5/10/2010 at 12:31 (5,070 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA)        
combos were the future of laundry equipment in the US

peterh770's profile picture
Funny, that is what Electrolux is pushing in the commercial market...

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PeterH770's LINK


Post# 434366 , Reply# 11   5/10/2010 at 14:47 (5,070 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Won't let me download or read the pdf files for the user manual :-(

Post# 434426 , Reply# 12   5/10/2010 at 18:19 (5,070 days old) by supremewhirlpol ()        

Appnut:
You might have to create a user account on their site to download those. I had to do the same thing on Roland's site in order to download the manuals to my vintage Roland D-50 synth.



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