Thread Number: 20016
What's better than one Hotpoint Top-Loader?
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Post# 320157   12/17/2008 at 17:57 (5,580 days old) by liberator1509 (Ireland)        

Two...

excuse the blur...wobbly mobile (cell) phone - better ones to come...

D :-)





Post# 320158 , Reply# 1   12/17/2008 at 18:00 (5,580 days old) by liberator1509 (Ireland)        
closer...

Maiden first rinse for the machine on the left

Post# 320159 , Reply# 2   12/17/2008 at 18:03 (5,580 days old) by liberator1509 (Ireland)        
and more...

Two Hotpoint 9605 - on the right is Richard's machine, on the left my new baby - we think it is probably one of the very last top-loaders made by Hotpoint - last run blue-style graphics etc....

Post# 320163 , Reply# 3   12/17/2008 at 18:15 (5,580 days old) by richukbristol ()        

Hi David, love your new machine, you must be thrilled, I know you have been after one for a while. It's nearly as nice as the one on the right lol.

Post# 320164 , Reply# 4   12/17/2008 at 18:17 (5,580 days old) by liberator1509 (Ireland)        
ha ha...

Nearly as nice, but obviously neither are as nice as the 15690 on the other side of the room!

We'll sort some decent pics of these machines, and Rich's others very soon!


Post# 320166 , Reply# 5   12/17/2008 at 18:30 (5,580 days old) by revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)        
Nice machines!

revvinkevin's profile picture
What is the capacity of this washer?

Since they are connected to the kitchen sink, I would assume they are portable (on wheels), yes?


Post# 320167 , Reply# 6   12/17/2008 at 18:45 (5,580 days old) by tuthill ()        

Awesome, those sure look like fun machines

Post# 320168 , Reply# 7   12/17/2008 at 18:47 (5,580 days old) by liberator1509 (Ireland)        

Thanks Kevin

The Hotpoint Top Loader has a 10lb capacity, with 1050rpm spin and single-speed agitation - a relatively large load and high spin speed for at least the first 20 years of this model-line's run. The design originated in 1963 at which point automatics were virtually unknown in the UK, so most machines were marketed as 'portable' to allow temporary plumbing to sinks - presumably to encourage people who might be otherwise put off by the additional expense of permanent plumbing. They were advertised as being suitable for both temporary and permanent installation through to the 1980s, giving you some idea of the late market penetration of automatics in the UK! Nonetheless the main design intent was to have the machines permanently installed with dedicated H&C water and waste lines. I think I'm right in saying that the Hotpoint Top Loader, along with the Hoover Keymatic, were the first UK-made automatics aimed at a 'mass-market', even though automatics were luxuries until the 1980s.

Incidentally, all high spin-speed Hotpoint Automatics had wheels rather than feet - they employ a nominally 'self-levelling' system, where the rear wheels are on a floating lever-bar. The washers still to to wobble a lot when off-balance. Lower priced, lower speed models had feet instead of wheels.

These two machines eventually will be fully installed - we had them out, and hooked up to the sink to try them!!


Post# 320169 , Reply# 8   12/17/2008 at 18:53 (5,580 days old) by revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)        

revvinkevin's profile picture
Nice! So David, is that 10lb or 10kg capacity?? What year are they and are they the same year?

Post# 320235 , Reply# 9   12/18/2008 at 06:10 (5,579 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill *Home of the RailwayTrials* Merseyside,UK)        
Hotpoint Filter-Flow

chestermikeuk's profile picture
hi guys, now thats what I call a Twin-Tub...LOl, such a simple but effective machine....the only way Hotpoint could have made it better was to have seperate controls for variable Time, Temperature and Spin speed!!!

The 9605 red graphics, have you had any probs with oil leaks??

Cheers, Mike


Post# 320280 , Reply# 10   12/18/2008 at 12:27 (5,579 days old) by liberator1509 (Ireland)        

Hi peeps- thanks for the messages!

Jed - thanks - yeah they are great machines!

Kevin - they are 10LB rather than KG machines.

Mike - no sign of oil leaks on the earlier 9605 thankfully. That said every one of our Hotpoints at home (1502, 15690 and 9604 over the years) leaked oil in the wash tubs at some point - I think this was a general sign of bearing problems. Oil spots would appear on the otherwise clean laundry, which meant a call from the engineer and new bearings. I think there might be an ex-Hotpoint engineer out there in AW-land who might be able to tell us more. I know that Mark in Ireland had a GE top-loader did the same oil-leaking into the tub trick - maybe some of our US friends have had experience of this with GE Filter-Flo machines?

The other common problems were (and will probably continue to be) worn-clutches and pump failure. The former is to be expected, but at least the clutch does away with endless distribution. The pumps are prone to leaking on the shaft, and the two-way flapper wearing away - this is the little gizmo inside that closes the drain port when washing, and the filter-clean when spinning. You can tell when it is worn - water drains from the outlet hose during washing - not enough to lower the tub level though.

The 9605s are great - my one is a bit odd though - we have only tried one run, but it appears that the temperature sensing fill doesn't work - none of that periodic agitating during fill on the 40 washes. Either the triac control has failed (it still heats though), the machine has been modified, or Hotpoint dropped this towards the end of construction. We haven't taken the console apart to see if there is a control in there. Does anyone have late service updates for the 9605 that might show this? I can recall an engineer modifying our 9604 so it didn't agitate during fill, so maybe that has happened here. I wish mine did, though Rich thinks I'm mad - he thinks its better for the machine to fill fully, and not bunch the clothes up....


Post# 320354 , Reply# 11   12/18/2008 at 20:11 (5,579 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        
Woohoo - two!

gansky1's profile picture
The best things come in pairs! Congrats on the fun machines. These Hotpoints are on my "to see before death" washers along with a few down under!

Post# 320516 , Reply# 12   12/19/2008 at 15:31 (5,578 days old) by liberator1509 (Ireland)        

Thanks Gansky - I think everyone over here who has one would agree that they are great washers - you should come over sometime to try for yourself!

David


Post# 862514 , Reply# 13   1/18/2016 at 09:24 (2,992 days old) by QueenofGleam ()        

Hi all

My parents had one of these that I ordered for them when I worked for the lecky board, unfortunately the temperature sensed fill with periodic agitation was a complete nightmare as it would often bunch the clothes up and jam up the spiraclean agitator causing the machine to cut-out with about a quarter full of water, clothes jammed up to one side against the agitator and undissolved damp detergent scattered everywhere.

We had the Hotpoint man out many times with him scratching his head as to why this had happened, he changed the clutch shoes etc, and eventually after much debate, Hotpoint changed the machine for the same thing to happen. Eventually Hotpoint took the machine away and gave mum and dad their money back!

It was a clear design error on their part I strongly feel, from first hand experience, to the point that it ruined clothes by leaving bleached marks on coloureds where the undissolved damp powder had clumped and sat on the slightly wet clothes. Of course in those days the range of detergents specifically for coloureds wasn't about and mum would only use new system Persil Automatic as recommended by Hotpoint then.

I'm glad that Hotpoint did away with this feature towards the end of its run as they must have had many problems reported by customers.


Post# 862517 , Reply# 14   1/18/2016 at 09:34 (2,992 days old) by abcomatic (Bradford, Illinois)        
David

Nice looking machines. How well do they wash and rinse? Happy washing, Gary

Post# 862553 , Reply# 15   1/18/2016 at 12:17 (2,992 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK)        
A small correction

vacbear58's profile picture
The first automatic really to be aimed to the general British public was the English Electric Liberator (based on WH Spacemates) in 1959. By then Bendix, who had been offering automatics since 1950 or so also had an automatic at around the same price but these were around 35% more expensive than a twin tub, which for the most part, were priced between £80 (Servis Supertwin & Hoovematic at around £85) & £90 (Hotpoint Supermatic) which was a substantial price differential.

And twin tubs were heavily promoted, particularly by Hoover (the much simpler construction of the HM must have made them very healthy profits indeed compared to other manufacturers) but also by soap powder manufacturers as twin tubs were almost exclusively used in their adverts until the 1970s.

The Keymatic arrived in 1961 with the Hotpoint and Servis automatics (both top loaders) in around late 1962 early 1963. As the 1960s progressed more machines came and went and the prices became relatively cheaper although still more expensive than a twin tub. Additional plumbing for an automatic was also a factor (much more of a big deal than it is today) to push up the price and also a resistance factor in terms of the disruption it promised of "having men in".

So machines were usually supplied with wheels although it would be a hefty woman who would describe them as readily portable to give the impression they could be used without permanent plumbing. Also they came in a variety of sizes and most needed access to the top in one form or another meaning that they would cut into the already limited counter space in the typically small British kitchen.

The first washer to really counter this in terms of price was the Hoover Automatic around 1968, a down market version of the (now horizontal drum) Keymatic which was around the same price as a TOL twin tub.

But it was not until around 1972 or so that the market really began to change with the balance of sales swinging towards the automatic - around this time Hoover, Hotpoint and Servis introduced (front loading) models which would easily fit under a counter and did not require to be moved. They also all produced matching tumble dryers which could be stacked - previously English Electric was the only manufacturer to do so, as indeed they had from 1960 providing a complete solution to the laundry "problem". Also these machines were smaller than previously fitting into a 2ft x 2ft foot print - and indeed the Servis was rather smaller than this - it was amazing how much they managed to cram into the smaller cabinet.

And of course the Italian manufactured machines - Indesit with their low priced models (cheaper than top end twin tubs) and to an extent Bendix (which has been manufactured for some years by Philco in Italy) and very soon Zanussi were starting to make their presence felt.

Along with this there were changes in the market as women's expectations increased - where in 1950 a hand wringer washer was a god send (and it was) the twin tub (around 10 years later) and an automatic (around 10 years after that) were natural step ups. By this time also, the market for "second buy" machines was also developing as twin tubs naturally came to the end of their life. And more women of course were going out to work so again the automatic was the natural choice to cut the domestic work load - "wash day - just forget it" - a slogan from 10 years previously.

But note that the popular machines were almost exclusively front loading automatics - by 1970 the only conventional top loader was the Hotpoint, which pretty much satisfied the, now, niche market for such a machine as it continued to do so for around another 25 years as shown by the machines at the start of the thread. There were also top loading H Axis machines, but these catered for a rather different niche - both of these markets exist to this day and are still catered for.

Al


Post# 862582 , Reply# 16   1/18/2016 at 14:13 (2,992 days old) by Whirlpolf ()        

Neat looking machines! I loved them back then appearing in a catalogue over here back then, me still unable to afford them (let alone place them somewhere at all).

I think I remember them having a heater of their own, is that right? How long would it take to get to say 60° or even 90°?
Or are they hot/cold fill only?



Post# 862603 , Reply# 17   1/18/2016 at 16:20 (2,992 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK)        
Hotpoint

vacbear58's profile picture
Yes the machine has a heater and it is hot and cold fill or cold fill only. On hotter washes it uses hot water and a lot of it, one of the disadvantages of this machine that it uses so much water that when on a meter it becomes very expensive. There is no suds saver facility to allow the hot water to be reused


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