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Thread Number: 3666
The WCI-Kelvinator |
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| Post# 89470 10/18/2005 at 14:49 (6,757 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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| Post# 89471 , Reply# 1 10/18/2005 at 14:50 (6,757 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Then... | ||
| Post# 89472 , Reply# 2 10/18/2005 at 14:51 (6,757 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Angel wings... | ||
| Post# 89473 , Reply# 3 10/18/2005 at 14:52 (6,757 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Timer shot | ||
| Post# 89474 , Reply# 4 10/18/2005 at 14:56 (6,757 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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"Honesty without Fear!"
...is actually the text at the top of the crest. (Get out your stereo microscopes...) This machine does pretty well with 18 pounds of clothes, though--unlike the Frigidaire, which can do upwards of 20--overloading is not well-tolerated. (But then again, why overload?) The gentle cycle is good, mainly because--unlike the Evil Kenmore™ or the 1-18--the agitation is slow but still sufficient to actually turn things over. (Some machines just seem hopeless in slow speed mode.) 
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| Post# 89480 , Reply# 5 10/18/2005 at 15:36 (6,757 days old) by spiralactivator () | ||
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Neat machine, WCI or not. Do you have any idea what year it is? | ||
Post# 89482 , Reply# 6 10/18/2005 at 15:39 (6,756 days old) by gansky1  (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Honesty without fear?? How funny, you'd think they would have told customers about the reliability then. Although, this washer seems to have fared pretty well given it's age. I had a later model Kelvi-WCI with a plastic tub that was OK, rollover wasn't great but with a long wash, it did the job. Can you snap a pic of the tub and agitator when you have a chance? That turquoise color is very cool. WCI made a similarly designed machine for lots of brands, I've seen Kelvinator, Bradford, Coronado, etc. all with very similar styling. Never realized they were pull-stop/push-start though, that's very Kenmorish! | ||
| Post# 89493 , Reply# 7 10/18/2005 at 15:49 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Does your washer fill this high? | ||
| Post# 89494 , Reply# 8 10/18/2005 at 15:49 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Heritage | ||
| Post# 89495 , Reply# 9 10/18/2005 at 15:50 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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| Post# 89496 , Reply# 10 10/18/2005 at 15:51 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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My favorite feature... | ||
| Post# 89498 , Reply# 11 10/18/2005 at 15:54 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Spinning!
Spinning is fun, because there is no tub brake, so the Kelvy commonly needs two full minutes to stop spinning. (The thermal lid lock would normally keep the lid closed and tiny arms out of the basket during this spin-down period, and thus keep the machine compliant with Federal law.) The spray is spot-on, and does a good job of spray-rinsing the clothes during spin, because it hits them all. It also sprays around a lot (and splashes a lot during agitation), so you may note all the rust. Happily, it's just cosmetic, and this will be repainted. This machine has a nice, long spray rinse during final spin, which is nice. 
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| Post# 89501 , Reply# 12 10/18/2005 at 15:54 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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...and that makes Nate | ||
| Post# 89505 , Reply# 13 10/18/2005 at 16:02 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Year?
I have no idea; I'll have to see if I can find it out. Certainly, though, the time of the GM-Frigidaire to WCI-Frigidaire sale means it can't be too old. Yes, this machine is pretty ubiquitous. It's Kelvinator incarnation is particularly fun, though, and the control panel's not all that bad. Plus, the plastic outer tub means one less thing to rust :-). The top of the transmission, tub bolts, and other bits look actually very well done, so I wonder if the reliability debacle happened before this particular one was made... ...or if I'm just exceptionally lucky :-) Anybody wanna take a whack at what year it is? | ||
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Post# 89512 , Reply# 14 10/18/2005 at 16:33 (6,756 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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| Post# 89514 , Reply# 15 10/18/2005 at 16:44 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Yes...
The machine is not all-that-and-a-bag-of-potato-chips, but it's fun and cleans well. I have pretty minimal criteria for amusement :-) Hi Steve!! Thank you :-) Yes, I was trying to stab someone with a hot-dog bun in the first pic, which--at first--I thought about cropping out, but then I figured that with this crowd, there'd be no need :-D Can't wait to see you in April!! :-) | ||
| Post# 89518 , Reply# 16 10/18/2005 at 17:04 (6,756 days old) by agiflow () | ||
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I remeber seeing these machines in the early eighties....81-83 maybe. | ||
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Post# 89525 , Reply# 17 10/18/2005 at 17:40 (6,756 days old) by unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Great fun find Nate. | ||
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Post# 89534 , Reply# 18 10/18/2005 at 19:02 (6,756 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers) |
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Nate nice pictures and I love.. | ||
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Post# 89544 , Reply# 19 10/18/2005 at 19:45 (6,756 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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| Post# 89568 , Reply# 21 10/18/2005 at 22:11 (6,756 days old) by kenmorepeter5 () | ||
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Video? Hi! I'm deaf. How about you make the video camera of washer activition, spin, rinse and final spin? - Peter | ||
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Post# 89570 , Reply# 22 10/18/2005 at 22:26 (6,756 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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1977 | ||
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Post# 89584 , Reply# 23 10/18/2005 at 22:45 (6,756 days old) by cleanteamofny ((Monroe, New York) |
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| Post# 89585 , Reply# 24 10/18/2005 at 22:46 (6,756 days old) by rickr (.) | ||
OMG!! They were made for each other | ||
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Post# 89590 , Reply# 25 10/18/2005 at 22:57 (6,756 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Base Plate...
We need a patent search on the base-plate technology. Frigidaire obviously used it in the 1-18's but I don't think they were first. I have parts and service stuff for Franklin that shows a balance/snubber arrangement similar to that pictured above and I can see an evolution from the damper pads and upsidedown bowl (very similar to Maytag helical machines) that was used in very early Franklin (post Beam) designs. Perhaps Robert can enlighten us on his Franklin-Wizard's suspension & snubber too.
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Post# 89591 , Reply# 26 10/18/2005 at 23:03 (6,756 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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You go Jill! | ||
| Post# 89598 , Reply# 27 10/19/2005 at 00:10 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Woo-hoo!
Thank you all for the great posts. Here goes: Robert--Thank you! :-D I like the metal tub too, and let's face it, we all love turquoise better than white :-P Yes, if it had the plastic tub it would have been an instant pass-up. (And if you want a fabric softener dispenser, the GE Filter-Flo fits on there nicely LOL!!) Jon--Thanks for the kudos :-D! Yes, I agree with you and Greg, something's up with that base-plate/snubber arrangement that's too common for coincidence. What if WCI and GM were conspiring back toward the inception of the 1-18 series to at least merge, if not trade hands completely? Hmmm... The guy getting the head squeeze is my perpetually photo-phobic other half, Will :-D Peter--I will make a video the next time I have an opportunity to use Ross' camera--I used one for these pictures that has no ability to take movies, but I will get one for you soon. Austin--Thanks!! :-D Yep, it groans and splashes away, and is very smooth. When I first got it, I thought about your mention of "riding the WCI wave" :-P I'm glad you mentioned the four-versus-five-vane thing, because Roger and I talked about it the other evening, too. We agree that the four-vanes--which appear in smaller-capacity machines--don't do much in the way of turnover, but the five-vane arrangement is a lot better. Of course, due to the indexing tub, the motion is predominantly round-and-round (you can hold the tub, as you mentioned, but the improvement isn't so pronounced in this machine, except on tinier loads), but when I take a video you'll see items easily disappear down the center, too. Yes, the capacity is quite good on this machine--far better than the GE's, but still slightly less than the 1-18. The color throws me, but I still suspect this is an early eighties machine...but I'll take the info I have and try to research it and see. Thank you all again! :-D --KelviNate | ||
| Post# 89599 , Reply# 28 10/19/2005 at 00:15 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Rick... | ||
| Post# 89600 , Reply# 29 10/19/2005 at 00:16 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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77? | ||
| Post# 89625 , Reply# 31 10/19/2005 at 07:24 (6,756 days old) by westyslantfront () | ||
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Great pictures Nate. I enjoyed doing a few loads in your new Kelvy....look forward to us doing official wash in with pictures.....Ross | ||
| Post# 89637 , Reply# 32 10/19/2005 at 08:01 (6,756 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida) | ||
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| Post# 89673 , Reply# 34 10/19/2005 at 09:51 (6,756 days old) by agiflow () | ||
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The build quality on the Kelvi and Gibson seems to be very decent....from looking at the pictures. WCI actually seemed to pay attention to quality at one point in their existence. | ||
| Post# 89677 , Reply# 35 10/19/2005 at 09:57 (6,756 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN) | ||
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Why Mr. Clark got some that night I have never in my life saw a Gibson appliances, except on The Price Is Right. But they do look nice (and so does the wife :-D) | ||
| Post# 89693 , Reply# 36 10/19/2005 at 11:51 (6,756 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Thanks!
Dan -- I think you and Greg are right. We'll have to investigate the similarities in cabinet/baseplate design at some point...apparently the machines were concurrent. Ross -- Definitely! I can't wait to have a wash-in with both you and Roger. I'll be sure to save up some towels (they're way fun in the Kelvinator). Venus -- Oddly enough, things never "stick" to the angel wings; if an item gets hung-up in them, it just drops down and gets turned-over. :-) Steve -- Thanks! I can't wait to paint it, too. Rust bugs me :-) Agiflow -- Yes, it's not bad quality...but it is cheap materials. It's the lightest washer I've ever moved, which is nice, but it's indicative of the much thinner sheet metal they used in the washbasket and cabinet. If you compare it with the 1-18, you'll really see the difference in rigidity. The fit and finish is good, but man, I hate painted tops! | ||
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Post# 89731 , Reply# 37 10/19/2005 at 15:33 (6,756 days old) by dadoes (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 89765 , Reply# 39 10/19/2005 at 18:20 (6,755 days old) by westytoploader () | ||
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Greg, great Gibson ad!! Yes, WCI dream machines do exist! ;-) | ||
| Post# 89811 , Reply# 40 10/19/2005 at 23:21 (6,755 days old) by rickr (.) | ||
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| Post# 89883 , Reply# 41 10/20/2005 at 13:31 (6,755 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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LOL
Aw, thanks, Rick! :-P Yes, it's only non-floral-border shirts for this boy! Austin, yes, I saw a larger-capacity Filter-Flo at a thrift store here in Tucson with Roger and noticed immediately the bigger tub and taller agitator. I'm sure those machines would kick butt, but the control panel wasn't terribly interesting, unlike your very fun and classy-looking Dispensall. I must say, though, that the GE gets the clothes WAY clean, with that fabulously aggressive ramped Activation. If it's dirty and has to be clean, it goes straight into the GE. Or, if it's covered in cat hair and needs to be, well, filtered... :-D | ||
| Post# 702760 , Reply# 43 9/11/2013 at 20:32 (3,871 days old) by Superwash (Cape Coral, FL) | ||
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Post# 702794 , Reply# 44 9/12/2013 at 05:19 (3,871 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Re-reading posts from the past is like looking through an old yearbook for those of us who have been around for a decade or more. The names on those posts trigger so many memories. Can't believe I didn't add my 2-cents to a thread about a WCI machine, being a card-carrying member of The Indexing Tub Club!
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Post# 702819 , Reply# 45 9/12/2013 at 08:58 (3,871 days old) by DaveAmKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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"Push To Start"
In the Kelvinator Horizontal Dial Tradition, where it's directly on the top of the machine behind the lid, I thought it would operate contrary to convection, where you pull to set...
(Have a 1964 CONSUMERS REPORTS buying guide which I think chronicles this, if not just stating the inconvenient arrangement, opposite of the typical vertical set-up on the back-splash...) -- Dave | ||
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Post# 719917 , Reply# 46 12/8/2013 at 10:37 (3,784 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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