1973 Panasonic twintub

Anyone see one of these, ever? Haven't seen one on ebay or I'd have a pic. Not sure where all they were sold. Panasonic Hawaii was not exactly the same company as Panasonic USA. Controls were labeled in English so it definitely sold outside Japan.

The layout resembled Hoover/Hotpoint/Whirlpool TTs sold internationally, and Easy Spindrier only smaller. With the passenger seat removed it would fit in my VW bug. I'd buy another today if they were still made. You have to 'operate' it but of course a real laundry connisseur revels in operation.

Elegantly ingenious design and construction. As I recall, it was avocado.

Washtub: Plastic, offset impeller on the bottom. Belt driven from its own 2-speed motor. Lid had suds return slot in it but you had to move the hose there yourself. Mechanical countdown timer also set speed.

Spintub: Hinged lid activated brake. I always let it stop on its own when the timer zeroed. Similar to washtub, 2 speeds and countdown timer. What this had over every other TT was the spinner was direct drive, no belt, no clutch. The motor was designed such that stall didn't upset it. What'd I say about ingenious? I don't know exactly how fast this thing was but on a warm day you could wear a shirt or use a towel directly out of the spinner.

Pump: Standalone shaded-pole with a panel valve knob for washtub or spintub drain that also switched the motor on. It wouldn't crossfeed (suds return) by itself but few TTs would.

Now ya want one, don't ya?


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Post# 516027 5/6/2011 at 14:53 (4,736 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))
Checkrate/Likes Anyone see one of these, ever? Haven't seen one on ebay or I'd have a pic. Not sure where all they were sold. Panasonic Hawaii was not exactly the same company as Panasonic USA. Controls were labeled in English so it definitely sold outside Japan. The layout resembled Hoover/Hotpoint/Whirlpool TTs sold internationally, and Easy Spindrier only smaller. With the passenger seat removed it would fit in my VW bug. I'd buy another today if they were still made. You have to 'operate' it but of course a real laundry connisseur revels in operation. Elegantly ingenious design and construction. As I recall, it was avocado. Washtub: Plastic, offset impeller on the bottom. Belt driven from its own 2-speed motor. Lid had suds return slot in it but you had to move the hose there yourself. Mechanical countdown timer also set speed. Spintub: Hinged lid activated brake. I always let it stop on its own when the timer zeroed. Similar to washtub, 2 speeds and countdown timer. What this had over every other TT was the spinner was direct drive, no belt, no clutch. The motor was designed such that stall didn't upset it. What'd I say about ingenious? I don't know exactly how fast this thing was but on a warm day you could wear a shirt or use a towel directly out of the spinner. Pump: Standalone shaded-pole with a panel valve knob for washtub or spintub drain that also switched the motor on. It wouldn't crossfeed (suds return) by itself but few TTs would. Now ya want one, don't ya?

Post# 516057 , Reply# 1 5/6/2011 at 17:53 (4,736 days old) by kic ()
Checkrate/Likes *But wait! That's not all...* no number on my screen, who do I call now?

Post# 516080 , Reply# 2 5/6/2011 at 19:51 (4,736 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))
Checkrate/Likes 1 You wouldn't have asked if you didn't already know...... Ghostbusters.

Post# 516092 , Reply# 3 5/6/2011 at 21:09 (4,736 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD)
Checkrate/Likes *japanese twinnies in the u.s.* the era for japanese twinnies in the U.S.seems to be roughly 1970-1980,used to find these at the dump all the time in the early 1980s-quite a few different designs and brands,some as "captive imports"for u.s. brands and store chains;toshiba,sanyo,brother,panasonic were the manufacturers found at the dump '82-84-they were all kind of alike with the impeller belt driven from a split-capacitor motor with a fan behind the pulley,making the motors resemble a small car alternator.these all used a direct coupled split capacitor induction motor driving the spin can and a seperate shaded pole pump motor the demise up many of these were bad hoses underneath-the rubber would react with the plastic fittings and ports they were fitted to and develop lenghtwise cracks...on one of the afflicted machines hose repairs had been attempted with duct tape and silicone rubber... On one of the machines the impeller bearing,seal and pulley looked like an exact copy of hoover LOL

Post# 516095 , Reply# 4 5/6/2011 at 21:28 (4,736 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))
Checkrate/Likes "Exact copy of the Hoover" Wouldn't be surprised. The stall-tolerant DD spinner really made it for me. ALL clutches are doomed to fail. No offense to Hoovers but the cabinetry was slicker on the Pana too. My current "Frigidaire" FL has the same fart-fan pump motor except on steroids, the stator is like 2" thick.

Post# 516117 , Reply# 5 5/6/2011 at 23:17 (4,736 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))
Checkrate/Likes Googled, it's a current model in Philippines and Saudi Arabia.