POD 7/21/2016

When I lived in Watertown, SD as a little kid, a friend had the Easy-designed Westinghouse washer. Never really got to play with it. The coolest thing was they also had one of the old commercial Laundromats with the visible fill tube and no safety switch. It wasn't hooked up, but I'd played with the same commercial machine at a laundromat. They must have used that little front-loader 'til the Easinghouse was purchased. This would have been around 1965 or '66. The Easinghouse was a couple of years old and had a horrible sour smell to it, as wet loads often seemed to sit in it for a day or two before being transferred to the dryer.

As noted in another thread, I've known a couple of people with the same vintage Westinghouse washer as today's POD with amazing staying power. Both lasted over two decades with little service required. One was still working when it had to be ditched as the entire area under the lid had rusted away.

I loved watching the indexing tubs. By the time I bought a Frigidaire top-loader in 1986, I noticed the indexing had become greater. The long counterclockwise stroke was countered by a big turn of the tub along with a much smaller clockwise stroke of the agitator. That machine was horrible with turnover, but it still had the circle of spray fill leftover from the GM 1-18's and a spin-drain.

Purchased another Frigidaire top-loader in 2005 as a second machine and the indexing was off the charts. The tub would turn 2/3-3/4 of the way around on really heavy loads, accompanied by a very small clockwise agitator stroke. The huge counterclockwise movement of the tub ensured that large items like sheets and tablecloths wrapped themselves tightly around the agitator.

Never really had a problem with other loads and the dual-action agitator had improved rollover compared to the '86 machine. It was a very entertaining machine to watch, but I gave up trying to wash sheets in it after one actually ripped from being wound around the agitator so tightly. It was a neutral drain machine with a dedicated small electric pump.

This post was last edited 07/21/2016 at 06:30


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Post# 890232 7/21/2016 at 04:29 (2,828 days old) by brucelucenta ()
Checkrate/Likes Another advertising gimmick to boost sales I guess. Westinghouse designed this basic machine back in the 60's, since everyone in the states liked top loaders. Some of the early machines seemed to be well built machines that were fairly heavy duty. The early machines did have a large solenoid that engaged to tighten the belt for spinning. They had a neutral drain like Whirlpool and Norge at first. Seems to me that in the beginning they designed the machine to be opened from the front for servicing and changed that later to rear access. I never did understand why they did that. I know that GE commercial washers for laundromats opened from the front too. It much have been more costly to make them that way.

Post# 890234 , Reply# 1 7/21/2016 at 04:41 (2,828 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes The early Westinghouse top loaders were not made by Westinghouse. I believe they were made by Easy. There's a POD of a Tide commercial with a family from California and it's a wife and her football playing husband and their 4 sons. It has a pic of the washer and it's that early design.

Post# 890235 , Reply# 2 7/21/2016 at 04:56 (2,828 days old) by brucelucenta ()
Checkrate/Likes I am talking about AFTER Easy or whoever it was that made the solid tub machines for them. In the mid sixties Westinghouse designed the machine they had that lasted through the 80's and probably 90's.

Post# 890239 , Reply# 3 7/21/2016 at 06:12 (2,828 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)
Checkrate/Likes When I lived in Watertown, SD as a little kid, a friend had the Easy-designed Westinghouse washer. Never really got to play with it. The coolest thing was they also had one of the old commercial Laundromats with the visible fill tube and no safety switch. It wasn't hooked up, but I'd played with the same commercial machine at a laundromat. They must have used that little front-loader 'til the Easinghouse was purchased. This would have been around 1965 or '66. The Easinghouse was a couple of years old and had a horrible sour smell to it, as wet loads often seemed to sit in it for a day or two before being transferred to the dryer. As noted in another thread, I've known a couple of people with the same vintage Westinghouse washer as today's POD with amazing staying power. Both lasted over two decades with little service required. One was still working when it had to be ditched as the entire area under the lid had rusted away. I loved watching the indexing tubs. By the time I bought a Frigidaire top-loader in 1986, I noticed the indexing had become greater. The long counterclockwise stroke was countered by a big turn of the tub along with a much smaller clockwise stroke of the agitator. That machine was horrible with turnover, but it still had the circle of spray fill leftover from the GM 1-18's and a spin-drain. Purchased another Frigidaire top-loader in 2005 as a second machine and the indexing was off the charts. The tub would turn 2/3-3/4 of the way around on really heavy loads, accompanied by a very small clockwise agitator stroke. The huge counterclockwise movement of the tub ensured that large items like sheets and tablecloths wrapped themselves tightly around the agitator. Never really had a problem with other loads and the dual-action agitator had improved rollover compared to the '86 machine. It was a very entertaining machine to watch, but I gave up trying to wash sheets in it after one actually ripped from being wound around the agitator so tightly. It was a neutral drain machine with a dedicated small electric pump. This post was last edited 07/21/2016 at 06:30

Post# 890240 , Reply# 4 7/21/2016 at 06:26 (2,828 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)
Checkrate/Likes *The agitator* or the trophy wife?

Post# 890242 , Reply# 5 7/21/2016 at 06:33 (2,828 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)
Checkrate/Likes

Post# 890243 , Reply# 6 7/21/2016 at 06:35 (2,828 days old) by brucelucenta ()
Checkrate/Likes Those machines seemed to last fairly well. Wasn't till a little later the oil seals on some of them would start leaking and that would get messy. The first ones they produced were really descent machines. Didn't wash the best or spin the best, but were adequate and lasted a long time.