Thread Number: 38166
Solid Tube & water level
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Post# 566698   1/3/2012 at 15:44 (4,493 days old) by gorenje (Slovenia)        

gorenje's profile picture
Hi, I have a question.
How does a Solid Tube washer knows when the tube is full of water and shut the flow?
Does this kind of washers have various water levels?


Thanks,
Ingemar





Post# 566702 , Reply# 1   1/3/2012 at 15:52 (4,493 days old) by StrongEnough78 (California)        

strongenough78's profile picture
Ingemar, most of them were timed fill. Which means the timer would shut off the water supply after a fixed amount of minutes. The water level usually varied depending on water pressure. If you had low pressure, then the machine would start agitating before the full level was reached, or if it was high it would overflow if the necessary adjustments to compensate for the pressure were not made. Some did have a partial fill option which would shorten the fill time. Or you could just advance the timer to start agitating after the desired level is reached if washing a partial load. On others like the first generation GE's I believe, they were meter filled meaning the full water level could be reached no matter the pressure. How that would work is there are holes near the top of the agitator where water would flow down and fill a cup, and the weight of it would trip a sensor or a lever to start the agitation. Some also did this by means of water flowing out of the sides of the tub, fill a cup or trip a sensor to start agitation.

Post# 566703 , Reply# 2   1/3/2012 at 15:58 (4,493 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)        

yogitunes's profile picture
most all solid tub machines are Time Filled......

the water levels are set by the amount of time to fill.....

for example....I have a solid tub Speed Queen....
timer settings

Full ExLg....4min
Large........3min
Med..........2min
Small........1min

all the rinses are Full, and continue for one more minute once agitation begins, to overflo suds, and make sure the tub is full......a smaller level can be had, but you must manually advance the timer once your desired level is reached....

usually best to wash full loads in these types of machines, also keeps the load even and balanced.......

there are other machines that only allow a FULL or Half-Load only....

PS....good water pressure is best for these machines to guarantee a perfect fill


Post# 566709 , Reply# 3   1/3/2012 at 16:19 (4,493 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)        

unimatic1140's profile picture
Actually there were plenty of solid tub machines that were metered filled.

Norge, ABC, Speed Queen, Hotpoint, Kelvinator and Frigidaire were time filled, but later on the upper end models became metered filled of most of those brands.

Many other models such as GE, Philco, Easy (Velapower) have a sensor in the outer tub that is tripped when the water level rises to the top of the solid tub and overflows out putting water weight on this sensor. Maytag used a float in the agitator to press against a swtich in the lid and Beam made Easy machines used a weight switch to measure the weight force on the suspension system.


Post# 566712 , Reply# 4   1/3/2012 at 16:25 (4,493 days old) by StrongEnough78 (California)        

strongenough78's profile picture
Ah, there were more ways than I thought I had learned about lol. Thanks Robert :)

Post# 566716 , Reply# 5   1/3/2012 at 16:46 (4,493 days old) by gorenje (Slovenia)        

gorenje's profile picture
Wow! Thank you Guys for the prompt response.
Very interesting! So for the time filled models the water pressure was crucial.

And how was with the overflow rinse in addition with the fabric softener?

The softener would barely do something if the machine is overfloading and flushing it away.


Post# 566761 , Reply# 6   1/3/2012 at 19:31 (4,493 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)        

yogitunes's profile picture
Thanks Robert for the corrections and additions.....I get stuck on one machine.....yes I am a SQ ST slut.lol.....

but it does seem useless to use fabric softner in an overflo rinse machine......and mine have the agitator mount dispensers, which dump the softner after the first spin, and diluting it with the first part of the overflo.....but actually I sit and watch the machine, once the overflo stops, then I add softner, theres about 3 minutes of agitation, and then the second overflo starts before the last spin......but really, with all this rinsing, who needs softner....


Post# 566771 , Reply# 7   1/3/2012 at 20:06 (4,493 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        
Fabric Softener and solid tubs

wayupnorth's profile picture
Many years ago, in between the Kenmores that my parents had with one on order from Sears that took 3 months to arrive and the other dead, they used an old GE Filter Flo solid tub that my mother hated because of its tiny capacity that was given to them to use. It had one small hole about halfway up the tub that I am guessing tripped the water level control on the outside tub when it was filled. Using the water saver switch on a lower level than that, the filter flow would not work at all. My Maytag LA511 seems to spin anything in the fabric softner dispenser right over the top into the initial spray rinse instead of down into the agitator to disperse in the rinse, even though everything is cleaned out perfect. But even with my hard well water, clothes do come out fine.

Post# 566835 , Reply# 8   1/4/2012 at 04:44 (4,493 days old) by gorenje (Slovenia)        

gorenje's profile picture
Hi Yogitunes, I was watching some videos on Youtube about the overflow rinse and in fact the rinsing in those machines is far more efficent than a single deep rinse with softener.

Sorry if I am annoying you, I would ask another thing.

During the overflow rinsing the machine is also draining out the water? Or the water stay in the outer tube to be drained when the spin cycle begins?

Thanks


Post# 566852 , Reply# 9   1/4/2012 at 07:47 (4,493 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
OVERFLOW RINSING IN TOP LOADING WASHERS

combo52's profile picture

Hi Ingemar in the case of the GE Filter Flow washers the water was being recirculated back into the wash tub through the agitator mounted lint filter, so the overflowing process on these was more of a filtering procedure than a rinsing one. In most OFRs the water was falling into the outer tub where it was pumped directly down the drain.

 

Overflow rinsing was fun to watch and helpful in getting floating soap scum out of and off the rinse water. But overall considering the large amount of water used it was not very effective in removing detergent and soil residue from the clothing being rinsed. If you want to try a test yourself, take a bucket filed with water and put in some blueing [ you can put in some clothing if you want]. Then stir the bucket of water while you slowly pour another bucket of water in letting the bucket with the blueing overflow. When you are done the bucket with the blueing will still be very blue. If you take the same bucket of blueing and clothes and spin it out then pour in the same amount of water it will be much clearer.

 

Frigidares orignal Unimatic washers had two deep rinses, but they changed to one deep rinse with overflow at the end of wash and durning the full  agitated deep rinse to stop complaints of redeposited scum on clothing in the early 1950s. This made good sense as a lot of consumers were still using real soap and had hard water. I am fortune to have two working Frigidare Unimatic washers one with the double deep rinse and a later one with the overflow rinsing. And when I do a load of whites and add 1 cup of bleach near the end of the wash period in each machine the one with two deep rinses almost completely removes the sent of bleach from the clothes load.

 

This is why Fabric Softener will not be completely removed with a washer with an overflow rinse, or the final spray rinse that most washers have. [ you might want to use a little more however ].


Post# 566888 , Reply# 10   1/4/2012 at 11:11 (4,493 days old) by gorenje (Slovenia)        

gorenje's profile picture
Thank you combo52, it's always very interesting to learn something different about washing machines especially the old ones.

It would be nice to have a very old Frigidaire Unimatic :)
I am sure you are enjoying yours.


Post# 566930 , Reply# 11   1/4/2012 at 13:27 (4,493 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)        

yogitunes's profile picture
Ask questions anytime.....we try to answer as best we can........and learn ourselves along the way.......


if anyone knows, its John and Robert........I forget sometimes that theres many manufacturers that do it different ways......

as for the SQ, as John states, OFR merely dilutes the water, but is really dramatic to watch, if I take mine for instance, which takes 3 minutes to fill full, in reality it would rinse better with 2 deep rinses after a spin out in between.....if you take into account that the SQ has a 1 minute overflo at the end of the wash, the beginning and end of the rinse, theres 3 minutes total.....it would be more effective with the 2 rinses, and yet not use any more water...

I favor the SQ mainly for the aireated filling......the drama of the waterfall....



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