Thread Number: 70632
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
POD 5/3/2017 |
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Post# 935970 , Reply# 2   5/3/2017 at 07:20 (2,543 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)   |   | |
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Post# 935982 , Reply# 4   5/3/2017 at 07:56 (2,543 days old) by turquoisedude (.)   |   | |
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Post# 935991 , Reply# 6   5/3/2017 at 08:20 (2,543 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)   |   | |
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Worlds finest washer!
Well... It it is a wonderful machine for it's complexity and simplicity. As described, you set the dial to fill, and the water valve opens (completely variable temperature dial lets you adjust to whatever temp you like) and when the tub is filled to the level you like, move the timer dial to the wash time from 15 to 2 1/2 minutes. The manual first fill would have been appealing to those with lower water pressures to ensure a full tub of water. The water valve opens at the rinse fill and stays on through the entire rinse agitation so low pressure wasn't as much of a concern. The entire 90 pound tub actually lifts up during drain, it sits on a flange and the transmission lifts the tub on the center post. Since the tub is now suspended on what is a point, it's free to "swing" during spin to help with balancing. The timer is all mechanical, driven from a gear on the top of the transmission, the dial is advanced by the flexible shaft that Paul mentioned. You can hear the tick-tick-tick of the timing mechanism in the videos. This is a remarkably reliable and durable design with the one (huge) drawback of not being able to change the setting of the dial once the cycle has started. You can advance through the wash-time but then must wait out the rest of the cycle. No dial pushing allowed. In the second video below, you can see the timer knob flip around as the timer moves the indicator dial (visible in the tiny window on top). This POD of the model 150 (same as mine) was the last of this design that originated before WWII. Blackstone made the first automatic top-loading washer (if you forgive the "manual" fill at the start) before the war 1940-41 when other makers just had them on the drawing board. About 1952, they redesigned the transmission, shaved 20 lbs off the weight of the tub and made some cosmetic changes with the introduction of the model 250. The first video is agitation and at 1:20, the drain starts. Second vid is actually the start of spin, with the swinging tub. |
Post# 935993 , Reply# 7   5/3/2017 at 08:32 (2,543 days old) by ken (NYS)   |   | |
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