Thread Number: 47178
Twin Tub On Steroids |
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Post# 685613   6/25/2013 at 17:20 (3,929 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Post# 685615 , Reply# 1   6/25/2013 at 17:39 (3,929 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))   |   | |
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A very fun machine and by favorite twin tub ever. Made for commercial full service car wash towel operations. You could have 2 loads washing and one in the rinse/extractor compartment simultaneously. The rise/spin unit leaves towels soap free and nearly dry. Earlier models had WP style surgilators in the wash tubs. Good find and thanks for posting. WK78 |
Post# 685621 , Reply# 2   6/25/2013 at 18:34 (3,929 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Years go spoke to someone who was a commercial laundry consultant (people who design, plan and so forth commercial laundries) and he said these units were popular with more than car washes.
Hotels, motels, restaurants, and so forth loved them because you can whiz through quite allot of "small" laundry. Napkins, shirts, small table cloths, etc... can be processed and ready for ironing by either hand or machine. Towels and wash cloths ready for the dryers fast as well. Sadly for anyone considering home use of these units they do not run on standard 120v current. Rather 208v-240v, but think they are single phase at least. The rinsing cycle takes page from the old Easy TTs in that a fine spray of clean water comes out of the center post. |
Post# 685679 , Reply# 3   6/25/2013 at 22:07 (3,929 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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That years back, you had one of these up that had unmistakable Surgilators, and a perfect replica, though larger, of the Classic Easy spray cone. This cone looks way different as do the Speed Queenesque Agitators. Never forgot how exciting it was on seeing the Whirlpool Easy Hybrid.
Who owns Unimac, etc., allowing them to use the patented Surgilators and spray Cones ? Whence came the changeover? Does another company make a similar unit or only Unimac? Any and all info on these confounding matter is much appreciated. |
Post# 685682 , Reply# 4   6/25/2013 at 22:53 (3,929 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)   |   | |
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Post# 685685 , Reply# 5   6/25/2013 at 23:04 (3,929 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)   |   | |
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I did some research online as soon as I saw this thread, because we have some of the original models here in town at car washes that have the Surgilators. When I first saw those, I too was stunned --- I thought sure the machine was home made and the maker had scavenged the surgilators and other obvious home washer parts from scrap machines.
But, such is not the case. There are apparently several generations of the Unimac UM202, which have been in production since 1985. The model 1s used the Surgilator until 1994, and later model 1s used what looks very much like a belt-drive gearcase. Later model 2s and 3s use Speed Queen agitators and transmissions and the parts diagrams have Alliance logos on them. There is even a transmission conversion kit from one configuration to another. I'd love to know why they selected Whirlpool's black bakelite agitator in the mid 1980s when so many others could have been used that were just as available. One of these would be fun to use! Gordon |
Post# 685687 , Reply# 6   6/25/2013 at 23:24 (3,929 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Post# 685718 , Reply# 8   6/26/2013 at 06:43 (3,928 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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These machines go back to the early 70s and probably long before. The earlier ones as Tom mentioned used MT wringer washer agitators and the MT WW transmissions. At some point in the 1970s they added a high post to the MT WW T and extended the agitator shaft and put in the WP Surgilator Agitators, this was done to increase reliability over the MT design which was too prone to water getting into the transmission with their cheap to build Low Post design.
UniMac is now owned by Alliance Laundry Systems, owner of Speed Queen and they now use a SQ transmission and agitator. My brother Jeff worked for a company that sold and serviced these in the 1970s, most were used in places like car washes where they constantly had to be cleaning towels and rags, often they were used damp so they usually only had a home sized gas dryer for what little they needed completely dry. |
Post# 685741 , Reply# 9   6/26/2013 at 09:14 (3,928 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)   |   | |
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So these machines have used Maytag agitators and transmissions, Whirlpool agitators and transmissions, and now Alliance/SQ. That's pretty cool.
Here is a link to parts lists for the UM202 models 1, 2 and 3. The model one lists the dates when changes were made surrounding the WP agitator, etc. Click the table of contents tab, then click the line items on the list. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Kenmoreguy64's LINK |
Post# 685742 , Reply# 10   6/26/2013 at 09:20 (3,928 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)   |   | |
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Just in case anyone wants to buy the Unimac Surgilator agitator...
Wee bit pricey? CLICK HERE TO GO TO Kenmoreguy64's LINK |
Post# 685760 , Reply# 11   6/26/2013 at 10:34 (3,928 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)   |   | |
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I remember these machines at least from the 60s, although exactly how early in the decade is getting fuzzy. |
Post# 685772 , Reply# 12   6/26/2013 at 12:40 (3,928 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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Not quite sure about how this works form the point of view of patent law. You don't open up a Maytag and see a Surgilator in it--unless it's one of ours (mirth), so how can you open up a Unimac and find a Surgilator, a Gyrator? Yes, an SQ agi, but they own them now, etc.
Any Enlightenment? In any case, Unimac sure knew how to pick agitators, and on that point, I have always thought that the short shaft of the Mytags provided a lower center of gravity and was responsible for the intense power of the Gyrator and was a better rather than worse design. Indeed, the Whirlpool adopted the style for the direct drives of the vintage in the pic below. Once, using my first Easy when I was 28, I fell asleep during the rinse, and woke about an hour later, only to discover that my formerly spotless white load was now speckled in brown. I quickly learned about the back door filter and keeping a clean cloth in there. Don't favor polka-dot outfits. |
Post# 685781 , Reply# 13   6/26/2013 at 13:08 (3,928 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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Post# 685791 , Reply# 14   6/26/2013 at 13:45 (3,928 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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MickeyD....I always thought the kickass of the gyrator was more from the solid non flexing vanes....and combined with the unique shaped tub....at least for the wringer machines, there seemed to be good agitation from the automatic even with the clutched belt, keeping with the solid vane and filtering undertoe, minimal loss.....then with the powerflex, not quite the kick we were used to....am I wrong?
makes you wonder into the future, long after most of us are gone, what will the AWO group have in their collections, there is gonna be a point of the vintage we have today will be just a memory.....can't help but think for good washing and rinsing, these unimac/twintub machines will be the daily drivers for members....if they keep reducing water useage in the future for an automatic... |
Post# 685871 , Reply# 15   6/26/2013 at 19:15 (3,928 days old) by ovrphil (N.Atlanta / Georgia )   |   | |
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To branch off on Yogitunes comment:
Imagine , no water cleaning on aw.org member's appliance list? 1.3 million polymer beads in Sheffield coming to you CLICK HERE TO GO TO ovrphil's LINK |
Post# 686049 , Reply# 16   6/27/2013 at 17:08 (3,927 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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