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Thread Number: 34554
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| Post# 518274 5/16/2011 at 13:55 (4,720 days old) by optima (Cumbria England) | ||
My very first experience with twin tub washers must have been around 1980.It was a Colston i would love to see a picture of it again. Alot of you have mentioned Colston Rolls twin tubs on here but it wasn't a concorde or caronet. This machine was slightly different. Im sure it was manufactured in or around 1974. The things i remember about it were that it had a dark blue hinged lid that covered the three white control dials. Im sure it had a orange heater light. It also had the Colston logo on the front in exactly the same place as the Hoovermatic Deluxe of around that year.The spinner & pulsator wash tub lids were white with dark blue handles. It also had a light woodgrain worktop. Can anyone remember it i would love to know.
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| Post# 518307 , Reply# 2 5/16/2011 at 16:47 (4,720 days old) by optima (Cumbria England) | ||
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Paul thats the one well done. I forgot all about the triangle logo. I carn't remember it displaying Autoplus anywhere on it. That Colston was one solid classy machine. My nannas first twin tub. One thing that used to baffle me was why nanna would empty the wash tub by hand with a jug that used to always take her ages now i realise the belt must have come off the wash pump i always wondered what the plastic pipe attachment was in the wash tub because it never did anything. If only i was older back then i would have realised saving her all that time emptying it by hand. How good would it be to have the instuction book & some photos of it now. Many thanks Craig.
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| Post# 518331 , Reply# 3 5/16/2011 at 18:29 (4,720 days old) by optima (Cumbria England) | ||
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I Am 80% convinced its the same one. The control panel hinged lid is the same but where the triangle is i'm sure that was where the colston name logo was. I would know straight away if it was a colour pic. I think nannas was purchased from our local Norweb shop so they might of had a exclusive model.
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Post# 518351 , Reply# 4 5/16/2011 at 20:30 (4,720 days old) by ozzie908  (Lincoln UK) |
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The triangle sign. | ||
| Post# 518423 , Reply# 5 5/17/2011 at 05:24 (4,719 days old) by optima (Cumbria England) | ||
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Post# 518470 , Reply# 6 5/17/2011 at 09:34 (4,719 days old) by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
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| Post# 518481 , Reply# 8 5/17/2011 at 10:36 (4,719 days old) by matchboxpaul (U.K) | ||
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and here are the more familiar Colston Coronet, along with the Hoover offerings of the time - 1976/77... 
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| Post# 518483 , Reply# 9 5/17/2011 at 10:39 (4,719 days old) by matchboxpaul (U.K) | ||
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and the Colston Concorde. Did they mix up the pictures or names, cause both the Coronet and Concorde look the same to me! Paul 
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Post# 518515 , Reply# 10 5/17/2011 at 11:52 (4,719 days old) by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
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Oh Paul
Where did you find that Kays catalogue?
The one difference between the 2 Colston twin tubs as far as I can remember was spin speed and a light on the heater and possibly the instructions written on the top at the back :) Maybe someone with a better memory than mine can add more to enlighten you? Austin | ||
| Post# 518528 , Reply# 11 5/17/2011 at 13:43 (4,719 days old) by optima (Cumbria England) | ||
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Paul, Thank you so much for uploading all these catalogue pics & the which report on the Autoplus 2351. The Autoplus was definitely the grandest of the three. On the which report it quotes the variable thermostat control im not sure if the Coronet & Concorde had this. Out of the Coronet & Concorde i would say the Coronet looks more like the Autoplus but without the control panel lid. I also think i remember 3 dials one being a spin timer dial.
Craig. | ||
| Post# 519076 , Reply# 14 5/19/2011 at 13:44 (4,717 days old) by paulc (Edinburgh, Scotland) | ||
Matchboxpaul | ||
| Post# 519086 , Reply# 15 5/19/2011 at 14:13 (4,717 days old) by matchboxpaul (U.K) | ||
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1978-1979 Hi Paul. here is the other page across from the Colston Concorde: Hoover A3090 Automatic Zanussi S118T Indesit L8LGB & Creda 10100 De Luxe 
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| Post# 519087 , Reply# 16 5/19/2011 at 14:14 (4,717 days old) by matchboxpaul (U.K) | ||
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1978-1979 The spinner and single tub machines, including the Colston Cadet single tub and Colston Autopump spinner... 
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| Post# 519088 , Reply# 17 5/19/2011 at 14:16 (4,717 days old) by matchboxpaul (U.K) | ||
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1978-1979 and finally the warm air dryers: Hotpoint 1720 Home n' Dry Creda Compact 3 & Creda 400 Autodry.... 
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| Post# 519096 , Reply# 18 5/19/2011 at 14:42 (4,717 days old) by paulc (Edinburgh, Scotland) | ||
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Thank you | ||
| Post# 519124 , Reply# 19 5/19/2011 at 17:34 (4,717 days old) by optima (Cumbria England) | ||
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| Post# 519126 , Reply# 20 5/19/2011 at 17:48 (4,717 days old) by Rolls_rapide (.) | ||
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Kays Catalogue gave decent descriptions of the articles for sale. Some of the modern catalogues should take a leaf out of their book (pardon the pun!). | ||
| Post# 519130 , Reply# 21 5/19/2011 at 17:57 (4,717 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
Hello Gentlemen Would one of you give me a lift?
I was stunned by the Frigidiare TT. We did not have them in the states. But we did have the difficult suds valve, mentioned in the review as a defect, on the earlier machines, and used only when saving suds water. It worked fine.
Do you know what kind of agitator it had? And what the mechanicals were like. The suds valve suggests that the pump was on all the time, making me think "Unimatic." Is that even possible in a TT?
Thank you for any info.
Mike
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| Post# 519139 , Reply# 22 5/19/2011 at 18:19 (4,717 days old) by optima (Cumbria England) | ||
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Post# 519362 , Reply# 23 5/20/2011 at 17:43 (4,716 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK) |
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Killer Heels
Mike
I cannot resist posting one of my favourite "twinnie" pics - this is the standard rather than the de-luxe version of the Fridgidaire mentioned above. The original of the picture belongs to Keith/Keymatic - perhaps he can say more of about washing action - pulsator or agitator. Anyway, here is the picture Al 
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Post# 519364 , Reply# 24 5/20/2011 at 17:45 (4,716 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK) |
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Top view | ||
| Post# 519365 , Reply# 25 5/20/2011 at 17:55 (4,716 days old) by aegokocarat (United Kingdom) | ||
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my nan used to have a tefal washboy! Tom | ||
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Post# 519366 , Reply# 26 5/20/2011 at 17:56 (4,716 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK) |
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Prices
Interesting and all as the shopping catalogue pictures featured above are, the prices noted are by no means representative of the normal shop prices. These catalogues (sometimes known as "club books") offered extended payment terms at, on the face of it, interest free credit. It was, of course, nothing of the kind some of the prices above are 70-80% higher than they would have been in the shops. For example, I mentioned above that my brother purchased a Colston Coronet (reply #8) in mid 1975 for somewhere around £75 (it was only marginally cheaper than the automatic Indesit L5 as I was not slow in telling him!) where it shown in the follow year's catalogue at £130.00 - and that a "Special offer price" too.
Of course I do realise for those on low incomes at that time, pre-extensive use or even availability of credit cards, it was sometimes they only way they could afford such a large purchase - but they certainly paid through the nose for it in the end. Al | ||
| Post# 519375 , Reply# 27 5/20/2011 at 19:00 (4,716 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
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killer heels, indeed | ||
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Post# 519453 , Reply# 28 5/21/2011 at 04:30 (4,716 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill *Home of the RailwayTrials* Merseyside,UK) |
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Frigidairei
Oh Killer heels indeed, Mike its an impeller in the base rather than the side like the Hoover, rather a version of the Rolls, Colston etc just updated!! hey the thought of a mini unimatic twintub, now theres a thought!!!
I think the sudz valve was not much of a valve as a stopper on the end of the waste pipe, the pump would have run constantly from the wash motor and then you would flick the ball off the end of the pipe to empty... Craig, ta for starting the thread, Great information on the Colston brand, I never saw any in action, have seen a few seperates but nothing much else.. 
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| Post# 519491 , Reply# 29 5/21/2011 at 11:00 (4,715 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
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ESP I was just going to "E" you, and here you are. How I love telepathy. Yeah, wouldn't a mini TT unimatic be a blast. Ah! the glories you'll invent when you retire! The valve sounds similar to the one here--a ball held on two springs, pops over the pipe molded to fit into the drain hose.
What a diminutive impeller--cute little bugger.
I knew you'd have a pic. Thanks. Have you used a Frigidairei | ||
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Post# 519646 , Reply# 30 5/22/2011 at 07:52 (4,714 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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| Post# 519763 , Reply# 31 5/22/2011 at 16:46 (4,714 days old) by sudsreturn () | ||
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Simlar machine to the Colston. This is a French machine, but very similar to the Colston Coronet/Concorde. CLICK HERE TO GO TO sudsreturn's LINK | ||
| Post# 519865 , Reply# 32 5/23/2011 at 03:17 (4,714 days old) by keymatic (London / UK) | ||
Hi Al,
Yep it was as they quoted in the brochure a New improved "Twin-lobe" or Impel-action..basically like the wash tub of the Rolls that Mike posted, but square tub instead of round. The spinner was great to, spinning @ 2850rpm !! and they call it the new "High-G" spin drier..Oooo There was two dials, one for timing and another for just Spin/heat..very simple, no dial/lever for the pump as it was constantly running..so you would never be able to wash & spin at the same time as the washtub would start to empty as soon as you took the "ball-valve" off the hose to empty the spinner. Cheers Keith | ||
| Post# 519869 , Reply# 33 5/23/2011 at 04:14 (4,714 days old) by markt5004 () | ||
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That's very odd that you could not wash and spin at the same time. I thought that was meant to be one of the advantages of a twin tub! Mark | ||
| Post# 519959 , Reply# 34 5/23/2011 at 12:58 (4,713 days old) by paulc (Edinburgh, Scotland) | ||
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Vacbear
Thanks for posting the mastertwin pic's. My Aunty had one when I was 7 or 8. I remember the pump broke so she had to wash at the back door with the drain hose on the back step draining into the grid. She replaced it with a Frigidare Auto but only had that for a year or so, she was burgled and the took EVERYTHING including appliances (Complete with the food in the fridge/freezer) and all the kids clothes. She then got an Indesit L8.
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| Post# 520030 , Reply# 35 5/23/2011 at 17:16 (4,713 days old) by anthony (uk) | ||
frigidair mastertwin 
hi everyone im new here have to say though its a great site ,I worked for a company [as an aprentice ]called HC TROLDHAL in middlesbrough in the 70s the company was owned by GM so i got to work on most of the Frigidaire machines that were on offer at the time the earlier mastertwin had a pulsator in the bottom of the tub while the later machine had a black agitator rather like an old hotpoint countess with the vanes low down the controls on the front were a timer for the washer up to 30 mins i think and the other was a thermostat the wash pump ran constantly hence the rubber ball i have lost count of the spin bearings i had to replace on both models usualy under guarantee another common fault was broken knobs constantly breaking due to being forced the older model with the square lids was an odd machine there were two vwrsions of it one had a large motor directly driving the pulsator which rarely went wrong the other model had a spin motor [exactly the same as the spin dryer] conected to the pulsator by a belt they were always burning out for obvious reasons the same motor was used on the frigidair spindryers they were good machines very fast spin and quiet .Also got to work on a fiew Jetamatics [the auto with the agitator that went up and down ]fab machine usualy found in the posher home but getting back to the twintubs my worst memory of which i have a constant reminder [a three inch scar on one of my fingers ]was having my mits inside an upturned tt when a workmate accidentaly swiched it on happy days cheers Anthony
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| Post# 520040 , Reply# 36 5/23/2011 at 17:44 (4,713 days old) by anthony (uk) | ||
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frigidair mastertwin
forgot to mention on the later Frigidair mastertwin you could wash and spin at the same time if i remember corectly the spindryer had its own pump and drain hose . I also remember another twintub [i only ever saw one of these ]it only had one motor there was a large lever on the front with a bakelite knob on the end inside the lever had a motor on the end with a large rubber wheel on the shaft simply moving the lever would disconect the washer and engage the spindryer the motor ran constantly no switch just pull the plug to stop it the dryer had a pump but to empty the wash tub you simply let the hose down onto the floor or into a drain this machine was rather like a rolls to look at i cant remember the brand regards Anthony
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Post# 520118 , Reply# 37 5/24/2011 at 03:19 (4,713 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill *Home of the RailwayTrials* Merseyside,UK) |
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Frigidaire Mastertwin
Morning Anthoney and welcome to the club, really glad you found this place as it looks like you could fill in the missing info...
The Frigidaire twinnys always looked "Square & Smart" in my eyes, interesting they used both agi and pulsator, that valve stopper did seem a bit primitive although I had seen one on a Siemens Single Tub with drum from the 70`s... So HC TROLDHAL where a manufacturing agent then?? Did they make the twinnys there or where you on the service side?? What where the problems with the Jetamatics?? can you confirm if it had a heater in it as well?? Oh questions questions.... 
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Post# 520119 , Reply# 38 5/24/2011 at 03:20 (4,713 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK) |
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Welcome Anthony
And thank you for sharing your memories of the Mastertwin. You had better dust off the memory banks as you must have a fund of memories working on machines where are now VERY rare, the very mention of Jetmatics be sparking peoples interest. If there are any more stories please share them no matter how trivial you might think they are.
As to the other twin tub you mention, I suspect it might be an Easiclean (from memory) although there are a couple of other brands like Acme & Ada which could also be contenders - a check back through teh archives might throw mor information up. Al | ||
| Post# 520183 , Reply# 39 5/24/2011 at 12:22 (4,712 days old) by anthony (uk) | ||
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the Frigidair machines
hi everyone thanks for the warm welcome. first of all i love the jetamatic advert its fab what it says is true they really were ahead of its time however it had two main problems the pump prone to leaking and the cluch plates replacing them was a big job the mecanism that makes the agitator go up and down had to be removed to get at them if i remember right they were held in with a spring that had to be held in place while the cover was refitted . I would usually go to a customers house with an engineer [this is all during my apprentiship]he would decide weather the machine could be repaired on site or in the workshop Jetamatics were usually brought in by the way it did have a heater will[great i got to play ]after being repaired the machine would be put on test with its cabinet off and a suitable instrument stuffed in the lid switch so that you could see everything i would be told to keep an eye on it [no need to be told twice needless to say the machine would of had a full service and a good clean inside befor being put back together then it would be tested again befor being returned to its owner . I may still have some spares in the shed somewhere that used to be part of my van stock . HC Troldhal were part of the GM empire i think we did repair machines for other companys as well COLston Ariston mainly guarantee stuff some times i would be sent to the CO OP i would spend all day repairing returned faulty machines taking parts from one to repair another the repaired machines were then put back on the shop floor . at this time there was a lot of part exchange going on there would be literally hundreds of Hotpoint Empresses Countesses Parnall ADA wringer washers out back most were scrapped i was allowed to take anything i wanted home i got my gran one of the later Empresses it had been on the shop floor but never sold because there was a dent in the side of it it had never seen water i gave the manager a fiver for it Grans gone now but the empress is still here in the shed there were also no end of vacuum cleaners but back to the Frigidair the twintub above with the lady bending over it [wish i could remember the model ]was verymuch like a rolls same pulsator same wash tub i also remember an English Electric version exactly the same just a diffrent name very basic machine . The version i mention above with two spin motors was quite noisy but there main fault was the spin bearing i was always having to fit new ones i can even remember what it cost to buy and fit a new bearing cost 35quid and afiew pence a lot of money in 1974 will have a look in the shed at the weekend i may still have some service manualsand other literature if so i will post it by for now Anthony
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| Post# 520184 , Reply# 40 5/24/2011 at 12:23 (4,712 days old) by anthony (uk) | ||
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the Frigidair machines
hi everyone thanks for the warm welcome. first of all i love the jetamatic advert its fab what it says is true they really were ahead of its time however it had two main problems the pump prone to leaking and the cluch plates replacing them was a big job the mecanism that makes the agitator go up and down had to be removed to get at them if i remember right they were held in with a spring that had to be held in place while the cover was refitted . I would usually go to a customers house with an engineer [this is all during my apprentiship]he would decide weather the machine could be repaired on site or in the workshop Jetamatics were usually brought in by the way it did have a heater will[great i got to play ]after being repaired the machine would be put on test with its cabinet off and a suitable instrument stuffed in the lid switch so that you could see everything i would be told to keep an eye on it [no need to be told twice needless to say the machine would of had a full service and a good clean inside befor being put back together then it would be tested again befor being returned to its owner . I may still have some spares in the shed somewhere that used to be part of my van stock . HC Troldhal were part of the GM empire i think we did repair machines for other companys as well COLston Ariston mainly guarantee stuff some times i would be sent to the CO OP i would spend all day repairing returned faulty machines taking parts from one to repair another the repaired machines were then put back on the shop floor . at this time there was a lot of part exchange going on there would be literally hundreds of Hotpoint Empresses Countesses Parnall ADA wringer washers out back most were scrapped i was allowed to take anything i wanted home i got my gran one of the later Empresses it had been on the shop floor but never sold because there was a dent in the side of it it had never seen water i gave the manager a fiver for it Grans gone now but the empress is still here in the shed there were also no end of vacuum cleaners but back to the Frigidair the twintub above with the lady bending over it [wish i could remember the model ]was verymuch like a rolls same pulsator same wash tub i also remember an English Electric version exactly the same just a diffrent name very basic machine . The version i mention above with two spin motors was quite noisy but there main fault was the spin bearing i was always having to fit new ones i can even remember what it cost to buy and fit a new bearing cost 35quid and afiew pence a lot of money in 1974 will have a look in the shed at the weekend i may still have some service manualsand other literature if so i will post it by for now Anthony
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| Post# 520215 , Reply# 41 5/24/2011 at 15:50 (4,712 days old) by keymatic (London / UK) | ||
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