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Thread Number: 77753
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Whirlpool/Kenmore Design 2000 Thread |
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Post# 1017959 , Reply# 1 12/14/2018 at 06:43 (1,952 days old) by combo52  (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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The Origin Of The WP DD Design 2000 Washers Great idea for a thread Steven.
As a WP authorized Servicer in the 70s we often heard rumors that WP was working on a heavily redesigned washer, we know that it was ongoing by the early 70s. The project was referred to as LEAP I forget what it meant.
WP knew that a more modern, better performing, more reliable less expensive to build and easier to service AW washer would have to be built if they were to continue to be the largest builder of AWs in the North America.
The DD washers accomplished all this and more after just a few problems, the biggest of which was the cost saving idea of having a spin drain and taming the aggressive agitation with different agitators and wash speed options.
The DD washers went on to be the most produced, reliable, easiest to service, longest lasting and best performing traditional Top Load AWs ever in North America.
They lived up to the vision of Whirlpool Engineers of being US designed and Union Built in Ohio.
PS, we have a late 1981 WP DD washer all restored and hooked up at the museum that you can come see work [ bring dirty laundry ], the spin drain does not sound any different than any other DD washer, you can throw any DD into spin with a full tub by opening and closing the lid at the start of spin if you like [ doing so will leave more lint and loose dirt particles in your clothes however ]
John L. | ||
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Post# 1017981 , Reply# 2 12/14/2018 at 09:59 (1,952 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 1018046 , Reply# 4 12/14/2018 at 18:39 (1,952 days old) by electronicontrl (Grand Rapids, MI) |
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LEAP | ||
| Post# 1018060 , Reply# 6 12/14/2018 at 20:47 (1,952 days old) by DDFan92 (Boise ID) | ||
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More of the Kenmore agitator and a Whirlpool Surgilator from an original Whirlpool DD.
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| Post# 1018169 , Reply# 7 12/16/2018 at 05:46 (1,950 days old) by StrongEnough78 (California) | ||
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Post# 1018175 , Reply# 8 12/16/2018 at 07:38 (1,950 days old) by jmm63 (Denville, NJ) |
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I think it was 1987 when I got my first washer, which was a low end Design 2000. I had just bought my mobile home and my employees got a collection together for Christmas, and it was enough to buy the washer, $325, I sprung for the matching dryer. I remember looking at really inexpensive Frigidaires and the salesman said it would be nothing but problems and showed me the Whirlpools. It sure did look nice with the black and chrome. It was a single speed, lint filter agitator model with neutral drain. Was a touch rough on clothes but worked well for many years. Sold it with the house in 93
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| Post# 1018216 , Reply# 10 12/16/2018 at 18:43 (1,950 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c ) | ||
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I remember in the 80s At our local Sears store , when these were introduced sevearal employees bought up the last of the belt drives because they figured the new washers would be junk, they were dependable but I hate them ALMOST as bad as I do Maytags, my second least favorite washer ever made, a DD Whirlpool /Kenmore. | ||
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Post# 1018235 , Reply# 11 12/16/2018 at 22:07 (1,950 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Sears began rolling out DD washers in like 1984 or 1985. A coworker and his girlfriend initially rented a house here and they'd been together since like 1984 or 1985. When I looked at their Kenmore 70n series washer, I opened it up and looked in and it looked a bit strange to me. What I later realized was I had been looking at an early DD style washer. The control panel was the typical 70 series center dial Kenmore and I thought the agitator was strange looking.
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Post# 1018294 , Reply# 12 12/17/2018 at 14:06 (1,949 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Sears had KM DD machines in 1981, maybe late 1980, before WP offered them. They were touted as a new design, different agitation, faster spin, compact size but took a full-size load. The first WP Design 2000 model we sold @ the WP dealer was model LB5500. Model searches match on LB5500XKW0 (1982) and LB5500XLW0 (1983). I recall one of the DD deliveries, to someone I knew (she was a library aide at the school). Ted and I rolled the machine in, got it settled. Upon ready to leave, he mentioned to her that Sears had been selling the new style for a year or so. Lillie, who didn't have much of a verbal filter, immediately commented "Probably cheaper .... Ohhh, well, thank you!" Ooops. Granny's LA7400XMW2 was bought in 1984 (S/N 35th week 1984). It was still spin-drain and had the clothes guard ring added. DD had been out on the WP label for a couple years. Granny needed a new machine, I went to the WP dealer in her town (Brewer's Plumbing and Appliance) and asked for one. The fellow got snippy, said he doesn't and won't handle those crazy things. I told him OK fine, I'll go somewhere else. I went to the dealer where I had worked and she bought the washer and also a refrigerator. | ||
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Post# 1018334 , Reply# 13 12/17/2018 at 18:53 (1,949 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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One Of The First WP DD Washers We Trained On
Was this LB5500XKW0 Ser # C12301087, It was built the 23rd week of 1981, it should have been the 1087th off the line in that production period.
WP brought in 6 of these machines for us to train on, none of the older techs liked them, but Jeff and I immediately could see that these should be great machines. WP used all the tried and proven items from the old BD washers in this new machine. It used the same spin tube and bearing and seal design, same agitator shaft and agitator attachment system. Same sand cast cast iron transmission lower housing. We were pretty sure they had a success on their hands. We bought all six machines that were used in training and sold them to our customers and had no major problems. The following pictures are one of the original 6 that we got back from our customer after about 20 years of use and I wanted to completely restore it while we could get any needed parts, it is now living at our museum hooked and ready to wash. John L. | ||
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Post# 1018336 , Reply# 14 12/17/2018 at 19:02 (1,949 days old) by imperial70 (MA USA) |
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mini super surgilator Wow! I'd like to see that side by each with a full sized super surgilator. Those wings make all the difference IMHO. | ||
| Post# 1018370 , Reply# 15 12/17/2018 at 22:07 (1,949 days old) by IowaBear (Cedar Rapids, IA) | ||
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Post# 1018374 , Reply# 16 12/17/2018 at 22:28 (1,949 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Number Of WP DD Washers Produced Almost ten years ago the number surpassed 100 million, they went out of the majority of WPs top loading production in 2010, but continued in their 24&27" top load stacks till early in 2018.
I would guess that the WP DD machines were easily the most produced TL washers ever in North America, it would be only a guess how many are still in use, but probably 50 million or 50 times more than dependable care Maytag washers that are left in service.
John L. | ||
| Post# 1018380 , Reply# 17 12/17/2018 at 23:04 (1,949 days old) by speedqueen (Metro-Detroit) | ||
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Post# 1018393 , Reply# 18 12/18/2018 at 03:07 (1,949 days old) by chetlaham (United States) |
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Post# 1018407 , Reply# 21 12/18/2018 at 07:34 (1,948 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 1018418 , Reply# 22 12/18/2018 at 12:05 (1,948 days old) by lowefficiency (Iowa) |
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>>In the court case there is a paragraph about how Whirlpool was researching dual action designs, with
>>one of them being a direct drive machine that had its own auger drive shaft. Meaning the auger in the >>dual action agitator would not have dogs to cog it around, it was powered by the transmission. Neat. You mean concentric shafts, like how a wall clock operates? That could have been interesting... | ||
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Post# 1018444 , Reply# 23 12/18/2018 at 17:14 (1,948 days old) by Eronie (Flushing Michigan) |
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Concertic shafts? Never did happen. | ||
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Post# 1021496 , Reply# 25 1/17/2019 at 12:30 (1,918 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa) |
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Heads-up if you didn't see it, Whirlpool's concentric-shaft agitator is featured in today's Patent of the Day! (US Patent #4,068,503 for future reference.) Here's one of the patent diagrams... there are several others in the patent document.
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Post# 1082741 , Reply# 28 7/27/2020 at 21:30 (1,361 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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whirlpool design 2000 I've always wondered what became of the platform. They do have an interesting humming sound during high-speed agitation. On the models that were made during the 90s models, some of them had a low f droning on full-speed agitation. | ||
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Post# 1085409 , Reply# 29 8/17/2020 at 12:43 (1,340 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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Here's an example of a whirlpool washer with an f tone during high-speed agitation during the full cycle. CLICK HERE TO GO TO GELaundry4ever's LINK | ||
| Post# 1085413 , Reply# 30 8/17/2020 at 13:30 (1,340 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
The Whirlpool direct drive isn’t a bad sounding washer but this is something I can literally fall asleep to at the 5:05 minute mark
CLICK HERE TO GO TO Maytag85's LINK | ||
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Post# 1085430 , Reply# 31 8/17/2020 at 15:48 (1,340 days old) by Washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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Music to my Ears! | ||
| Post# 1085463 , Reply# 32 8/17/2020 at 23:41 (1,340 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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My new ‘63 Whirlpool has a very pronounced woo woo sound it makes when washing :). Unfortunately the hose that goes from the pump to the lint filter broke on me but hopefully I can get that fixed tomorrow since I picked up a new rubber hose at Home Depot today that will work. Will be up and running again later this week and this is the first repair to my new ‘63 Whirlpool Imperial Mark XII washer
Photo of my ‘63 Whirlpool Imperial Mark XII
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Post# 1085480 , Reply# 33 8/18/2020 at 07:11 (1,339 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Woo-Woo Sound From Belt-Drive WP Washers | ||
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Post# 1085503 , Reply# 34 8/18/2020 at 12:25 (1,339 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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whirlpool sounds are unmistakeable to me. I too love the woo-woo sound. Did anybody catch the video of the 1990 whirlpool clean touch washer with that low f toned droning during full-speed agitation? Most whirlpool direct drives don't have that, but some do. Why is that? They do make that chugga chugga sound. | ||
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Post# 1091434 , Reply# 35 9/30/2020 at 22:56 (1,296 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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I too have been intrigued by this laundry engineering advanced product design. I couldn't find any article on their design that was new at the time. I know this was a breakthrough product for whirlpool. I also know it was built by a computer driven assembly line. | ||
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Post# 1124736 , Reply# 36 8/2/2021 at 09:23 (990 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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LEAP stands for laundry engineered advanced product. | ||
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Post# 1124866 , Reply# 39 8/3/2021 at 20:40 (989 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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| Post# 1124867 , Reply# 40 8/3/2021 at 20:40 (989 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas) | ||
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Post# 1125103 , Reply# 43 8/6/2021 at 09:41 (986 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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the 100 degree arc during agitation. | ||
| Post# 1125126 , Reply# 44 8/6/2021 at 13:10 (986 days old) by agiflow () | ||
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What about the 100° Arc? | ||
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Post# 1125134 , Reply# 45 8/6/2021 at 15:04 (986 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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100 degree arc I like how aggressive the 100 degree arc gets out tough dirt. Who knew it would trickle down to the maytag line eventually? It went on from 2007-2010 before the switchover to the vmw design on practically all models. CLICK HERE TO GO TO GELaundry4ever's LINK | ||
| Post# 1125168 , Reply# 47 8/6/2021 at 18:29 (986 days old) by agiflow () | ||
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On my current 24" Estate I only used the full 14 minutes once just recently. That was for a dirty full load of work clothes, but generally I use 10 minutes or even 6 in many cases. On the low water level the straight vane makes the water "boil". | ||
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Post# 1125239 , Reply# 49 8/7/2021 at 07:10 (985 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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GE FF Washer Dumping Oil | ||
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Post# 1125306 , Reply# 50 8/7/2021 at 20:30 (985 days old) by chetlaham (United States) |
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If people were like me The Raytheon 2 belt stationary motor design would have dominated. The DD design would have been rejected for more than several reasons and Whirlpool would have been copying Raytheon.
But, as much as I don't approve of DDs their longevity has and is being proven. I remember Maytag did a competition where a DD Kenmore ran 24/7 side by side with a Maytag washer. The DD only needed two minor repairs, but kept going along side the Maytag. There are homes with DD washers that have lasted as long as Maytag center dials.
For what it is, and considering its cost, the DD lasts for its money. | ||
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Post# 1125351 , Reply# 51 8/8/2021 at 13:43 (984 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA) |
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I noticed that the transition from BD to DD was gradual, and also kind of hush-hush, over about 5-6 years, and the lower priced models were first to get converted. Top of line like the Limited Edition were still BD as of 1986 when we looked at it. Was there any reason for this gradual change over? Maybe Whirlpool wanted to see if people would object? Did I read maybe here that WP stockpiled some BD machines toward the end of production in case consumers were not happy?
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Post# 1190265 , Reply# 56 9/19/2023 at 09:51 (212 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Surely it takes a few years to get engineering/design settled and patents registered. That patent is in the Patent of the Day library. Do you look at those? Direct-drive was introduced sometime in 1981 via Kenmore, a few models in the line to test the market response, then all standard-capacity models segued to DD with 18lb super-capacity remaining belt-drive until the 27" direct-drives debuted and replaced them. | ||
| Post# 1190277 , Reply# 57 9/19/2023 at 13:39 (212 days old) by DDFan92 (Boise ID) | ||
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DADoES, Do you know if there's a way to get to the POD library? I only know how to see the current one, but wasn't sure if there was a way to see the archives or not. Anywhos, just found that and got real excited I guess... | ||
| Post# 1190278 , Reply# 58 9/19/2023 at 14:23 (212 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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Reply #57 | ||
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Post# 1190281 , Reply# 59 9/19/2023 at 15:21 (212 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Patent-of-the-Day .pdfs and Picture-of-the-Day photos can be saved by anyone as a personal library. Heed Robert's request to not re-post Pictures-of-the-Day, they are to be viewed on AW only via the random daily rotation. I've saved them for years. Patents are saved in folders named by manufacturer (Misc for those not attributed to a specific manufacturer). I append the "Filed" date in format of yyyy-mm-dd and a brief description to the file names so they sort in date order by file name. Pat 4,174,622 for example is file name 1978-07-27 Direct-Drive Tub Suspension 4174622.pdf. | ||
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Post# 1197157 , Reply# 61 1/14/2024 at 23:05 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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I only found this thread because I was looking up replacement suspension rods (it works fine, but the drum sags) ...Direct-drive design doesn't have suspension rods. The tub sits on a base pedestal, anchored by three springs. A fourth spring mounts at the back to counterbalance the motor's weight. A somewhat common aging failure is the mounting point on the baseplate rail for the counterbalance spring rusts or wears through. The fix is drill a new mounting hole beside the original to remount the spring, replace the spring if necessary. | ||
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Post# 1197162 , Reply# 62 1/15/2024 at 06:27 by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Fixing up an older whirlpool top load washer
From reply number 60 it always pays and helps everybody if you’ll post a model number of the machine you’re working on or at least pictures of it so we’re all on the same page, I should have any part you need for that machine, but it does sound like you might be working on a belt, drive machine and not a direct drive if you’re looking for suspension rods.
John | ||
| Post# 1197187 , Reply# 63 1/15/2024 at 14:04 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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Belt Drive suspension. You’ll see there’s no suspension springs, just rods with rubber balls at the end, a snubber puts pressure on the tub ring to create resistance so it won’t mover all that easily when it goes into spin, even when agitating.
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Post# 1197198 , Reply# 65 1/15/2024 at 18:41 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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A broken/detached counterbalance spring would make the tub skew forward, being that the motor is mounted toward the front. ---> However, very early direct-drive had the motor positioned toward the right rear corner so the counterweight spring was accordingly mounted at the left front corner. You need to cite the model number to confirm what you have. Or, remove the outer cabinet for visual inspection. | ||
| Post# 1197245 , Reply# 66 1/16/2024 at 16:26 by dominic20 (Souix falls) | ||
awsome | ||
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