|
Thread Number: 66376
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
How come the lids opened sideways on Whirlpool-built Kenmore washers of years past? |
[Down to Last] |  |
|
| Post# 889858 , Reply# 3 7/18/2016 at 11:10 (2,831 days old) by wigwag (San Diego) | ||
|
Hotpoint scrubber on lid I remember Hotpoint had a clothes scrubber on the lid which opened to the side. | ||
Post# 889893 , Reply# 4 7/18/2016 at 16:11 (2,831 days old) by CircleW  (NE Cincinnati OH area) |
||
|
During the time period of the side-opening Kenmore lids, most of Whirlpool Corp.'s production was for Sears. In fact, Sears held controlling interest in Whirlpool for many years. Well more washers & dryers were sold under the Kenmore label than the Whirlpool brand. | ||
| Post# 890080 , Reply# 6 7/19/2016 at 22:57 (2,829 days old) by toploadloyalist (San Luis Obispo, CA) | ||
|
WP/KM lack of spin-drain One other question I have regarding classic Kenmores and Whirlpools is why they weren't manufactured to spin-drain. Putting them in spin with water in the tub would hurt the motors. | ||
|
Post# 890091 , Reply# 8 7/20/2016 at 04:59 (2,829 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
||
 | ||
|
Post# 890096 , Reply# 9 7/20/2016 at 06:57 (2,829 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
||
I believe
the neutral drain made several major concerns about spinning clothes out manageable.
First, the lower the center of gravity, the easier to balance. Second, the lighter the load, the less strain on components. Third, as Bruce mentions in this thread, less chance of socks flying out and blocking things. Fourth, in the days of soap, sudslock was a real thing. To all of which I say: I prefer spin-drains. It just doesn't make sense to me to sieve the dirt back through the clothes. CLICK HERE TO GO TO panthera's LINK | ||
|
Post# 890140 , Reply# 10 7/20/2016 at 12:06 (2,829 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
||
Makes sense I have a Whirlpool/Kenmore manual somewhere from the early '60's that states, definitively, that their neutral drain before the spin protects the motor and transmission from the wear and tear of moving all the weight of laundry + water from 0 to 500 rpm. I'll try to find it. I think the question of neutral vs. spin drain is an argument for the ages; one can easily see the pros and cons of both. I think they're both cool.
I'll never forget the day, when I was 5 years old, I first saw a spin-drain happen after being used to the neutral drain. I thought the washing machine was going to spin out of control and tear itself out of the bathroom.
It's very cool to lift the top off of a Filter-Flo and watch the perforated washbasket spin-drain inside the huge pool of water that fills the outer tub. Good thing we didn't have to pay that much for water during those early years of the mid-century. | ||
|
Post# 890141 , Reply# 11 7/20/2016 at 12:28 (2,829 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
||
water, suds, detergent, grime....unfortunately will filter through the clothing, whether it spin drains through, or is lowered through clothing during a neutral drain...
even something like a Filterflo/Maytag at the start of spin, will over flow the wash water back onto the clothing until all water is pumped out...... I do think the spin drain offering water splashing all over cleans the machine better versus a neutral drain that will leave a soap scum build up around the outter tub area, just something noticed a lot on something like a Direct drive machine...but that is part blame from a fill flume that is above the splash guard, and not under it, helping to rinse down the tub during sprays.... pros and cons can argue which is better in any choice....both are interesting to watch in action... I guess the best option is a good detergent that will hold the dirt in suspension until its drained away....and not allow it to redeposit on the clothing... but in retrospect, even something like a Calypso with the waterfall is flowing wash water over the clothing in its cleaning process, filter through if you will....the upside is it is a concentrated lather penetrating fibers and stains.... | ||
| Post# 890147 , Reply# 12 7/20/2016 at 13:41 (2,829 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
Additionally | ||
| Post# 890191 , Reply# 13 7/20/2016 at 17:41 (2,829 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
|
Sears had controlling interest in Whirlpool? When? Whirlpool was under RCA until it spun off as the Whirlpool corporation with it's own IPO stock. | ||
| Post# 890374 , Reply# 14 7/21/2016 at 23:18 (2,827 days old) by toploadloyalist (San Luis Obispo, CA) | ||
|
Hotpoint USA from the pre-GE era also had sideway opening lids. When did GE start owning them? | ||
| Post# 890391 , Reply# 15 7/22/2016 at 01:16 (2,827 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest) | ||
JCPenny washers in the 70s
Had a unique shaped side swing lid (curved at back and front).
And of course, we can't forget Frigidaire in the 60s and 70s with a rectangular shaped door.
I like the sideswing lids. It makes it unique. I think that's why retro Kenmores are my favs.
| ||
| Post# 890410 , Reply# 16 7/22/2016 at 06:07 (2,827 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
|
Hotpoint USA has been a GE brand since at least the 1930's. | ||
| Post# 890419 , Reply# 17 7/22/2016 at 07:47 (2,827 days old) by ken (NYS) | ||
Hotpoint invented the Calrod burner design. GE acquired Hotpoint in 1918? to gain the patent for it.
Key Dates: 1878: Thomas Edison establishes the Edison Electric Light Company. 1889: Edison has, by this date, consolidated all of his companies under the name of the Edison General Electric Company. 1892: Edison's company merges with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric Company (GE); company's stock begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 1894: Edison sells all his shares in the company, remaining a consultant to GE. 1900: GE establishes the first industrial laboratory in the United States. 1903: Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of transformers, is acquired. 1906: The first GE major appliance, an electric range, is introduced. 1918: GE merges with Pacific Electric Heating Company, maker of the Hotpoint iron, and Hughes Electric Heating Company, maker of an electric range; company forms Edison Electric Appliance Company to sell products under the GE and Hotpoint brands. 1919: GE, AT&T, and Westinghouse form the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to develop radio technology. 1924: GE exits from the utilities business following government antitrust action. 1930: Company sells its holdings in RCA because of antitrust considerations. 1938: GE introduces the fluorescent lamp. 1943: General Electric Capital Corporation is established. 1949: Under antitrust pressure, the company is forced to release its light bulb patents to other companies. 1955: The U.S. Navy launches the submarine Seawolf, which is powered by a GE nuclear reactor. 1957: GE receives a license from the Atomic Energy Commission to operate a nuclear power plant; an enormous appliance manufacturing site, Appliance Park, in Louisville, Kentucky, is completed. 1961: The company pleads guilty to price fixing on electrical equipment and is fined nearly half a million dollars. 1976: GE spends $2.2 billion to acquire Utah International, a major coal, copper, uranium, and iron miner and a producer of natural gas and oil. 1981: John F. (Jack) Welch, Jr., becomes chairman and CEO. 1986: Company acquires RCA, which includes the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), for $6.4 billion; Employers Reinsurance is also acquired for $1.1 billion, as well as an 80 percent stake in Kidder Peabody. 1987: GE sells its own and RCA's television manufacturing businesses to the French company Thomson in exchange for Thomson's medical diagnostics business. 1994: Company liquidates Kidder Peabody. 1998: Revenues surpass $100 billion. 2000: GE announces a $45 billion deal to take over Honeywell International Inc. 2001: Honeywell deal is blocked by European Commission; Welch retires and is succeeded by Jeffrey R. Immelt; Heller Financial Inc., a global commercial finance company, is acquired for $5.3 billion. 2002: NBC acquires Telemundo Communications Group Inc. 2004: British health sciences firm Amersham plc is acquired for $9.5 billion; in $14 billion deal, GE buys Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which is combined with NBC to form NBC Universal. Also, here's an interesting article I found concerning a 1930s appliance show. Has a lot of interesting info and pics on different brands. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ken's LINK | ||
|
Post# 890432 , Reply# 18 7/22/2016 at 09:12 (2,827 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
||
|
It did make them distinct from other brands If I'm repeating information, sorry.
I never liked the fact that the Kenmore lids didn't lie flat so one could use them as a staging area, place for stuff, scale, whatever. It seems, however, that because Kenmores and Whirlpools were made in the same factories, Whirlpool was using the same hinges and hardware used on their back-opening lids, and this hardware wasn't a conventional hinge and doesn't permit the bottom of the lid to lie flat on the top. It's still a bit of a wonder why they chose to do this( I can hear a Sears executive saying something like, "Well, all the back hinged lids don't lie flat, so why should ours?" I'm sure they could have made this work if they had wanted to.
Some Kenmores, including one I happen to own, offered the user to change what side the lids opened from though.
I think Combo52 will be the person who can get us to the meat of it. | ||
|
Post# 890436 , Reply# 19 7/22/2016 at 09:50 (2,827 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
||
 Hmmm, nuts bolts, screws, or a cost-saving idea?
So in my installation, a back-opening or my Kenmore's non-hinged side-opening design works best, while I can imagine how many dryer doors crash into washer bodies, unless they can be reversed, or where an old Maytag with the door opening the opposite way, would work best...
Last of all, I remember some real cheap-y Hotpoint washers having a lid design like Kenmore's with the back-opening design used to open their lids to the left, but not fully-left like the Kenmores; it was during a very short-lived period...
-- Dave | ||
|
Post# 890437 , Reply# 20 7/22/2016 at 10:25 (2,827 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
||
 | ||
|
Post# 890438 , Reply# 21 7/22/2016 at 10:30 (2,827 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
||
|
That's what I like about my lid, I can adjust the water level much easily as the machine is filling, and not have to support the back-opening lid, and I would ordinarily not get as good of a view of the action during, either, that this lid design helps me with...
Wonder, too, how Hotpoint went from side-opening to the General Electric's rear-opening, though a few years after being bought-out by GE... And my grandma had a very rare left-opening filter-flo with Hotpoint-like knobs; once drove by a discarded set--washer and dryer--more than 20-years-ago... -- Dave | ||
| Post# 890449 , Reply# 22 7/22/2016 at 12:41 (2,827 days old) by kd12 (Arkansas) | ||
|
If you have a machine with a lighted control panel it just make sense to have the lid open to the side. The light also helps you see into the tub. But with modern machines that don't light up, it probably doesn't matter. | ||
|
Post# 890508 , Reply# 24 7/22/2016 at 21:12 (2,826 days old) by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
||
Interesting observation about the Kenmore/Whirlpool hinge issue that kept Kenmore side-opening lids upright instead of lying flat. Let's not forget Norge also started with back-opening lids and I believe switched to side-opening in the mid-60s. The back-opening lids worked for later Whirlpools when they moved the dial to the side so one could still observe it while the lid was open.
| ||
| Post# 890518 , Reply# 25 7/22/2016 at 23:12 (2,826 days old) by toploadloyalist (San Luis Obispo, CA) | ||
|
Thanks for that GE timeline! Just when did Hotpoints start to resemble GE Filter- Flos? (agitator for one thing) | ||
| Post# 890564 , Reply# 26 7/23/2016 at 08:11 (2,826 days old) by brucelucenta () | ||
|
Interesting the notions different people have about this. | ||
| Post# 890573 , Reply# 27 7/23/2016 at 09:23 (2,826 days old) by kd12 (Arkansas) | ||
|
While we're on the topic, why DID manufacturers drop the control panel lights anyway? Was it to cheapen the price? I know I would rather deal with a control panel light at 5:30 in the morning than have all the bright lights on. | ||
|
Post# 890611 , Reply# 29 7/23/2016 at 14:36 (2,826 days old) by appnut (TX) |
||
 | ||
|
Post# 890620 , Reply# 31 7/23/2016 at 15:49 (2,826 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area) |
||
|
Mike, Sears still has locally owned stores, but the are now known as "HomeTown Stores". The link is to one about 40 miles from here. CLICK HERE TO GO TO CircleW's LINK | ||
| Post# 890653 , Reply# 32 7/23/2016 at 20:29 (2,825 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
|
Tom, Sears Hometown stores all closed around here. | ||
|
Post# 890659 , Reply# 33 7/23/2016 at 20:43 (2,825 days old) by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
||
|
We have two Sears Hometown stores here in little Lake County, California...
One thing I've found over the years with some side-opening lids is if the machine is installed under some low cabinetry, the lid won't clear it so you have to move the machine ouf a bit from the wall. The back-opening lids tend to not open has high. | ||
| Post# 890707 , Reply# 34 7/24/2016 at 06:46 (2,825 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
|
Side opening drawback
The drawback to Kenmores side opening lid was no protection for the controls from chemicals.
The center dial black panels deteriorated rather quickly when exposed to pre treaters from spray bottles or aerosol cans. The control panels that seem to stand the test of time are usually the rear opening lids on models that stopped operation upon raising the lid. Don't have any facts to back this up, it's just my observation. Malcolm | ||
| Post# 890713 , Reply# 35 7/24/2016 at 07:35 (2,825 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
|
prtotection from chems.--- Well I do remember the black paint at the bottom of my moms '63 Kenmore console chaffing off after it was a dozen years old or so. | ||
|
Post# 890720 , Reply# 36 7/24/2016 at 08:07 (2,825 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
||
|
| ||
| Forum Index: |
| Other Forums: |
|
|
|
|
|
Comes to the Rescue!
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}