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Thread Number: 80467
/ Tag: Vintage Dryers
Turquoisedude's tale of dryer redemption - the 57 Frigidaire Imperial this time! |
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Post# 1044311 9/9/2019 at 16:24 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude  (.) |
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I would have to declare 2019 as being the year of the dryer for me. The "fun" I've had with the '59 Frigidaire Imperial, the '57 GE Clothes Conditioner, and the '56 Whirlpool Imperial has not been at all in vain. I've learned LOTS and I have developed more of a 'wait a minute don't just plug that SOB in' mentality when it comes to vintage dryers.
Case in point, the recently acquired 1957 Frigidaire Imperial dryer. This is possibly the coolest clothes dryer ever made, so naturally I was hoping to get this one into the Ogden Laundry to use and show off to visitors. I took a slightly cautious approach for a change... The dryer was in damn fine shape when I got it, but I still wanted to give it a good going-over. It looks like the dryer lived in a kitchen for most of its life - a good sign - however there was some accumulated grease to deal with. | ||
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Post# 1044312 , Reply# 1 9/9/2019 at 16:26 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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I dove right in and took it apart.
It was a good move... will you look at all the lint!! | ||
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Post# 1044313 , Reply# 2 9/9/2019 at 16:28 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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I had been unsure of whether or not I should remove the drum. Turns out that was the right thing to do!
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Post# 1044314 , Reply# 3 9/9/2019 at 16:30 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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I scrubbed down the interior of the dryer cabinet, but neglected to take many pictures... D'OH!
I also gave the front air grilles a beauty-parlor treatment. | ||
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Post# 1044316 , Reply# 4 9/9/2019 at 16:32 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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Back in with the drum, followed by the front panels, then the top.
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Post# 1044317 , Reply# 5 9/9/2019 at 16:34 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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I did make one big boo-boo.... I dropped the door while re-installing it. Yes, there was a major flurry of expletives when I did this. Sigh...
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Post# 1044318 , Reply# 6 9/9/2019 at 16:35 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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Behind the scenes, the rear panel got a thorough cleaning, too.
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Post# 1044319 , Reply# 7 9/9/2019 at 16:38 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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The heater from this dryer had been removed, but it was still with the dryer. It needed a bit of a cleaning too. Oh, and I managed to smash my fingers when reinstalling it - getting that heater box lined up with the centering pin can be a pain. Well, I did it!
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Post# 1044320 , Reply# 8 9/9/2019 at 16:43 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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Once the heater was back in, I had some creative rewiring to do. Recalling what the heater switches looked like on the '59 Frigidaire and '56 Whirlpool, I knew I wanted to install a relay. The centrifugal heater switch on the drive motor was in solid shape so I got creative. I contrived a way to use the switch that normally controlled the heaters to instead power the relay. This gave me a measure of additional security in case of a motor failure and of course, if the belt switch was tripped neither the motor nor the relay would be powered. I guess I am trying to, as we say here in La Belle Province, "Be a better catholic than the pope". But I feel better knowing how I've got a fail-safe with this dryer.
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Post# 1044321 , Reply# 9 9/9/2019 at 16:44 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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The moment of truth.... | ||
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Post# 1044323 , Reply# 10 9/9/2019 at 16:50 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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I ran the dryer for a good 30 minutes; I observed that the cycling thermostat cut in and out, so I think I'm just about ready for a 'maiden dry' (that sounds odd, doesn't it?)
Next step - figure how the hell I'm going to cram this into the Ogden Laundry... LOL I believe it will displace the '51 Frigidaire TR60 dryer (and I will take advantage of that 'service break' to install a relay in that dryer too). I still need to replace the ozone bulb that I broke when dismantling the dryer (just like I did with the '51...GRRR). And, it's a Control Tower... Coolest. Dryer. Ever. | ||
| Post# 1044330 , Reply# 11 9/9/2019 at 18:02 (1,689 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
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| Post# 1044331 , Reply# 12 9/9/2019 at 18:03 (1,689 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas) | ||
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Post# 1044334 , Reply# 13 9/9/2019 at 18:04 (1,689 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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| Post# 1044341 , Reply# 14 9/9/2019 at 18:13 (1,689 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
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This is the day we picked it up.
That was 4-5 years ago. Strange | ||
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Post# 1044344 , Reply# 15 9/9/2019 at 18:44 (1,689 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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Pointer and dial present and accounted for! | ||
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Post# 1044372 , Reply# 16 9/9/2019 at 23:00 (1,689 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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| Post# 1044403 , Reply# 17 9/10/2019 at 07:25 (1,689 days old) by stricklybojack (South Hams Devon UK) | ||
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Post# 1044404 , Reply# 18 9/10/2019 at 07:35 (1,689 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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| Post# 1044528 , Reply# 19 9/11/2019 at 14:38 (1,687 days old) by whitetub (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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How long will it take until the cabinet fills up with lint again? I thought the perforated drum had an outer drum, like front load washers. Still a pretty cool dryer. Featured in this video. Very artistic video. Wouldn't work today on television. People would say what the he... is this... CLICK HERE TO GO TO whitetub's LINK | ||
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Post# 1044531 , Reply# 20 9/11/2019 at 15:17 (1,687 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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| Post# 1044532 , Reply# 21 9/11/2019 at 15:50 (1,687 days old) by whitetub (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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Hopefully you will get 30 years of use out of it. I would be afraid of those exposed heating elements. They look like they could broil anything too close to them. | ||
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Post# 1044541 , Reply# 22 9/11/2019 at 16:26 (1,687 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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The dryers with the exposed elements like in the Frigidaire usually have a very large drum so that clothes don't get too close to the heaters. There is a danger, of course, in overloading the dryer - one does not dry a large comforter in a dryer with elements like this! I have to admit I was scared of using something with glowing red elements (I grew up with fan-forced drying...LOL) but I have gotten used to this idea now. And needless to say, I don't leave any of my vintage dryers unattended when I am running them. Paranoid perhaps but there have been times when I needed to make that 50-foot dash to the breaker panel...
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| Post# 1044625 , Reply# 23 9/12/2019 at 09:56 (1,687 days old) by whitetub (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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50 foot dash to the breaker panel... sounds scary... These perforated drums remind me of when I used to go to the laundromat. Those huge dryers, that you would feed with quarters, and you could stick two wash loads in one dryer. | ||
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Post# 1044750 , Reply# 24 9/13/2019 at 11:53 (1,686 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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I love my Filtrator
The lint you saw was in the outer container of the dryer and not the inside of the cabinet. I clean the outer container in mine out about twice a year and it stays line free and dries as it should.
I love this dryer, by the first of October I'll start using it again through April. It makes for the softest clothes ever without needing fabric softener. I have never had anything scorch, but I never overload any appliance anyways. I use Med heat for sheets and towels and low heat for regular clothes. 
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Post# 1044854 , Reply# 26 9/14/2019 at 08:08 (1,685 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Post# 1044856 , Reply# 27 9/14/2019 at 08:36 (1,685 days old) by turbokinetic (Northport, Alabama USA) |
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Robert; thanks for sharing the post about the filtrator dryer.... but I can't seem to locate the link.... | ||
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Post# 1045093 , Reply# 28 9/16/2019 at 12:23 (1,683 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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The Control Tower moves in!
So, one of the To-Do's for this weekend was to get the DI-57 into active service.
I wound up moving the '51 Frigidaire out to the garage temporarily to make a space for the "new" dryer. Note the mismatch with the 57 Kenmore washer. A Control Tower washer must now be found... LOL | ||
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Post# 1045094 , Reply# 29 9/16/2019 at 12:24 (1,683 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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Post# 1045098 , Reply# 30 9/16/2019 at 12:28 (1,683 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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How did it do??
Just fine, thank you!
Test-load was about 10 permanent-press shirts - 40 minutes on Medium heat seemed to work just fine. I do love how a Filtrator leaves permanent press items so wrinkle-free! The shirts were washed in the '57 GE, using slow spin speed. They were supposed to be dried in the '57 GE dryer... I've got more about that in the thread about that accursed Clothes Conditioner of mine!!
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Post# 1045613 , Reply# 31 9/22/2019 at 07:03 (1,677 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers) |
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I recognize those 3 machines!!
Nice job on the dryer, I am taken by the fact that in my ‘57 when I cleaned it I only got a sandwich bag full of lint out of it from the original owner I concluded she must have only dried undies on Sundays with it. They do dry nicely when the thermostat is working properly, I think this dryer will need a electronic upgrade some day to keep going.
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