Hi Guys

I have always been curious about the Zodiac model of Hoover front load washers here in Australia as I have never encountered one before.

Well a few days ago one appeared on Gumtree in my area and from the picture included it looked like it had been cared for well. I rang the owner and had a long conversation about how great the machine was and how she was not wanting to let it go its just she needed a bigger machine for her family. She ensured me the machine had been well looked after and was in good working order. After my last Gumtree purchase of the Hoover Electra that was ensured to be in good condition and turned out to be not quite, my suspicions were roused.

Went and picked it up last evening and the family were all great helping me with it into the car, and this machine is pretty much immaculate, slight blemishes around the facia and body but nothing to write home about.

Now this machine is earlier than the Electra models. These machines have a different cycle arrangement on the timer. It has no Heater, is just Hot Warm or Cold, this selected through the timer dial depending on what number you set it to.

The motor is an Italian import (??) and is very quiet when at work. Spin is relatively slow, perhaps 500rpm max? Luckily I have the seperate Spin Dryer to remove more water from heavy things like towels and demin, 500RPM is ok for your light t-shirts etc in this Australian summer weather.

Cycle appears to be WASH - 4 RINSES - INTERIM SPIN - FINAL RINSE/ PREWASH - SPIN DRY.

Here's some pics, I will explain more as I post them. :-)

Matt

The machine in all its glory :-)

Programs

Shifting from Normal to Gentle adjusts the tumbling length during wash and rinse and also shortens the final spin.

P.P stands for Permanent Press.

Not sure which programs fill Hot Warm and Cold, its currently hooked up to the cold outdoor tap with a T adapter so hard to tell.

This machine also lacks a Powder drawer. Powder is simply thrown in at the beginning, if you want Softener you have to monitor the wash, wait for the interim spin to finish and then click it off and wait for the door to open then chuck it in and re-commence. Bit tedious but not too complicated :-)

These are the additional programmes stuck onto the door bowl.

Basically explaining how to use Crease Guard for delicates and how to obtain a short wash. Also explains the Spin style for either Normal or Gentle.

This is the programme dial and Crease Guard button.

The programmer is very simple just select your number, select either normal or gentle, spin or hold and then pull the dial and go!

Love the sound of this timer, very classic with lots of loud CLUNKS as it shifts around :-)

The Crease Guard button when activated clicks the machine off when it advances into Final Spin, the button then illuminates, you just flick the switch the other way and it will recommence the Drain and Spin.

Love the classic 'Made in Australia'. The model 490 was when the colour scheme became this grey/white and pinky from the old Brown/beige/orange scheme I believe.

Classic Hoover Drum, 4.5kgs i believe.

Model Plate

The back.

This machines runs perfectly sound mechanically, nice and quiet, good tumble speeds. Only thing I have noticed is it can tend to Jump as it goes into Spin if the load is not perfectly balanced.

The machine does one long constant tumble during drain periods and simple clicks into Spin, if you stopped and started it again it would just go straight into Spin without a tumble.

I am making a fews videos after posting this thread and will have them up as soon as possible :-)

Thanks Guys

Matt

Having owned an Electra 550, I can confirm that they're great machines.

Just about bullet proof....hot and cold connection, much better programming and even though it's only an 800rpm spin, it's more effective than many 1000rpm spins because it's nearly all at 800rpm long rather than slow and only the last minute being high like many 'high spin' machines of the time.