Thread Number: 78625
/ Tag: Modern Automatic Washers
Low spin, Low Tech, H-Axis Washer |
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Post# 1026210   3/4/2019 at 12:55 (1,877 days old) by stricklybojack (South Hams Devon UK)   |   | |
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Post# 1026211 , Reply# 1   3/4/2019 at 13:20 (1,877 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)   |   | |
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That is what they did here in the 60's. Frontloaders didn't have high spin speeds yet. Most people had a separate spin dryer for getting out more water.
We also had H-axis toploaders that didn't spin, but had a spinner next to the washing drum. The AEG Turnamat became famous for it. Here is a picture of a Turnamat from way back when.
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Post# 1026224 , Reply# 2   3/4/2019 at 14:39 (1,877 days old) by henene4 (Heidenheim a.d. Brenz (Germany))   |   | |
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You mean makeing a FL without all the advantages of a FL? Sure sounds awesome.... |
Post# 1026232 , Reply# 3   3/4/2019 at 16:14 (1,877 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Least in Europe and elsewhere, as mentioned above AEG and others produced loads of various semi-automatic "twin tub" washers.
Problem is they all are just that; semi-automatic which means Madame or anyone else doing laundry is still involved on wash day. Though it took longer to catch on fully automatic washing machines gave Hoover, AEG and other twin tubs the push. Fully automatic washing machines came to dominate a majority of market share that major appliance manufacturers simply stopped producing semi-automatics. Today you can still find semi-automatics including twin tubs; but near universally they are all from Asia. Also over the years costs of producing fully automatic washing machines (top loading or H-axis) have dropped which is reflected in prices. Years ago a semi-automatic was cheaper; so if a household couldn't afford the "best" that is what they got. Many housewives and others were thrilled to simply get away from doing washing by hand, going to laundromats, sending things out, etc... that they happily put up with some inconveniences of using a semi-automatic. Low spin speed? That is O-W-T out in todays push for energy savings. Years ago when line drying was the presumed norm then "maybe" such a washer would slip pass government regulators; but in these modern times it is all about reducing carbon footprint, energy use, etc.... Aside from energy used to heat water used for washing (and or rinsing), the next biggest factor comes from evaporating out residual water from washing in tumble dryers. More water that is extracted by washer, means less that has to be baked out by a dryer, and or via ironing. Since extraction involves less energy than heating.... well there you are then. Even in era of semi-automatics Hoover and others (including Easy's Spindrier, GE and other early twin tubs with spin baskets), touted that their extract baskets removed more water than wringing (hand or with a mangle), thus left things drier. Some washing could go straight to ironing without the bother of line or other means of drying first. This post was last edited 03/04/2019 at 17:12 |
Post# 1026235 , Reply# 4   3/4/2019 at 16:49 (1,877 days old) by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK)   |   | |
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Used it just the other day, I really must put them on youtube so they can be seen by all.. Have uploaded one now.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO ozzie908's LINK |
Post# 1026236 , Reply# 5   3/4/2019 at 16:55 (1,877 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Then you have these Unimac twin tub units.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Unimac-Washer-E... They are marketed for car washes, but others use them as well. Hotels/motels use these semi-automatics to plow though tons of napkins, tablecloths, and even shirts with speed. |
Post# 1026237 , Reply# 6   3/4/2019 at 17:05 (1,877 days old) by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK)   |   | |
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And a look around the old wash house.
I showed the Whirlpool with a dog duvet as I knew it would not fit in the Twin tub but to save wasting the hot soapy water when I finished with it I pumped it into the FL everything was lovely and clean when it was all done. CLICK HERE TO GO TO ozzie908's LINK |
Post# 1026249 , Reply# 8   3/4/2019 at 19:34 (1,877 days old) by stricklybojack (South Hams Devon UK)   |   | |
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My idea is to take the pressure of the washer by eliminating the medium and high spin requirement. Just spin the clothes enough so they can be taken from the washer and put in the spin dryer without dripping a lot of water all over the place. Then spin, then put in the vented dryer or on a drying rack. This allows a washer to avoid needing to be designed to spin a large load at high rpm. That makes everything much easier...no computer to balance the load etc. The Machine is H-Axis, so the inherent cleaning benefits remain. All that is being introduced is the extra step of using a high speed spin dryer. But equipment longevity increases and time spent doing laundry drops. High speed spinners are so much faster and more effective than any washer, drying time should drop too. |
Post# 1026261 , Reply# 9   3/4/2019 at 22:52 (1,877 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)   |   | |
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Just for the record, the Turnamats were automatic, prewash, wash and 5 rinses were done automatically. You only had to spin the clothes at the end. They used a lot of water because there were no spins between rinses, but back then some fully automatic models didn't spin between rinses either. The Turnamats were very simple machines, but well built. You still see them appear on auction sites and older people still buy them because they don't want anything else.
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Post# 1026380 , Reply# 11   3/6/2019 at 01:36 (1,876 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)   |   | |
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Well...
If you can find an old Frigidaire brand front loader (made by Electrolux in the 90's), those are about as basic as you can get. No internal heater, analog electric clockwork controls. I understand they work fairly well (I have a couple in storage but haven't used them much) despite the lack of an internal heater. They probably work best if the water heater is close by and you can purge the hot water line into a utility sink by the washer before starting a cycle. These were resold under a variety of brand names, but they all look pretty much alike. This one is typical. It's an interesting repair video: |
Post# 1026475 , Reply# 12   3/7/2019 at 07:52 (1,874 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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As stand alone appliances were never a huge hit with the American housewife.
USA laundry market went from wringers to mainly top loading automatics with various final spin speed capacities. Arrival of tumble dryers coupled with then and still comparatively inexpensive energy sources meant people just baked all that extra moisture out of their wash. Now that federal government is mandating tightening up of laundry day energy use washing machines have upped their final RPM speeds to reduce residual moisture. A huge part of the American laundry doing demographic long has gotten use to putting laundry in washer, returning when cycle is complete, then bunging the wash into a dryer or hanging up. Adding an extra step of using an extractor didn't help sell Hoover or other twin tubs then, and likely won't have large market penetration today. However will agree that there is something to H-axis washers with low speed spins seeming to last longer. You can find plenty of 800 rpm or so washers still out there chugging away. Even those that need repairs usually it is something other than the bearings or whatever worn down. However as one who owns both an "older" Miele and two more modern AEG Lavamat washers; fully electronic controlled washers get my vote for many reasons. Where the Miele will trash and bang itself to bits (if allowed) with an unbalanced load, the Lavamats with their motors fully electronically controlled are a treat. |
Post# 1026489 , Reply# 13   3/7/2019 at 12:40 (1,874 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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I see no relationship between spin speed and longevity of bearings and seals etc and the machine overall.
The recent popular FL washer we see most often with bad bearings are the FD built FL machines pictured in reply # 11, early TL machines like FDs Unimatic spinning at over 1100 RPMs almost never had any bearing problem while WP-KM TL washers that only spun a little over 500 RPMs were almost guaranteed to have main bearing failures in the normal life of the washer.
John |