Thread Number: 81685
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
1986 Whirlpool belt drive |
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Post# 1056922   1/8/2020 at 19:17 (1,168 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)   |   | |
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Imperial Regal find! I found this set today and picked them up with the intention of using the washer for parts. When I got the washer home and did some initial inspection and cleaning I realized it was going to be to nice to part out. I didn’t find a single belt drive close to me last year although I did have a few shipped. The folks told me the washer needed a belt but I thought it odd that the belt was gone completely. No belt dust. Nothing. So I put a belt on it and to my surprise it operated nicely. The set matches but unfortunately the dryer is the large capacity while the washer is super(for that time period). One of my favorite things on a belt drive is reinstalling the service panel after all is good so I included a picture of that as well.
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Post# 1056923 , Reply# 1   1/8/2020 at 19:22 (1,168 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)   |   | |
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I took a few pictures underneath really because I couldn’t believe how clean it is. I forgot the service panel picture above so I included it here. A test cycle with bleach. I was told these were in storage for while so not sure how long they sat.
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Post# 1056927 , Reply# 2   1/8/2020 at 19:35 (1,168 days old) by tnmike ![]() |
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Post# 1056929 , Reply# 3   1/8/2020 at 19:48 (1,168 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)   |   | |
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Post# 1056933 , Reply# 4   1/8/2020 at 19:59 (1,168 days old) by peteski50 ![]() |
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Post# 1056936 , Reply# 5   1/8/2020 at 20:19 (1,168 days old) by DADoES ![]() |
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Post# 1056937 , Reply# 6   1/8/2020 at 20:33 (1,168 days old) by combo52 ![]() |
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![]() This was the reduced capacity Super capacity WP BD Washer, The standard 5.9 CF dryer was plenty large enough for anything this washer could wash.
I still see quite a few nice BD WP-KM washers, a few months ago we rebuilt two of them, I sold this washer to a customer last week after her 6 YO Amana broke down for the 2nd time. She is single and only does 1 or 2 loads a week.
Hi Melvin, nice save on the WP pair, one tiny note, when you attach the rear panel on BD washers you should use the two centered screw holes, the one you used on the far right was only there for models that had the cutout in the access panel on Suds-Saver models. It will work either way and I guess you could even put in three screws on the non-suds models, lol
John L. |
Post# 1056938 , Reply# 7   1/8/2020 at 20:37 (1,168 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)   |   | |
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Post# 1056939 , Reply# 8   1/8/2020 at 20:45 (1,168 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)   |   | |
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Thanks for the proper securing orientation for the service panel. The panel was on backwards, the top hinges were reversed, and the drain port had been pushed through the cabinet. All corrected of course. I guess someone was trying to take it apart to replace the belt. At least they put everything back. It’s a good thing I don’t find these on a regular basis. I have no more room!
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Post# 1056940 , Reply# 9   1/8/2020 at 20:49 (1,168 days old) by nmassman44 (Brooksville Florida)   |   | |
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Post# 1056949 , Reply# 10   1/8/2020 at 22:03 (1,168 days old) by bendixmark (Winchester Mass)   |   | |
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Very nice.Definitely has the woowoo.Looks like the original pump.No belt?Perhaps they had a saboteur? I sold many of these new and reconditioned.Brings back many happy memories of the 80s before the world and my life turned to sh**. |
Post# 1056956 , Reply# 11   1/8/2020 at 23:23 (1,167 days old) by bradfordwhite ![]() |
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Excellent find. Def. super clean underneath.
Not finding any belt drives in your area for at least a year? Sometimes it's good to have a dry spell because when you do find something, especially in great condition, it makes the experience even more joyful. The rusty sump makes it look like maybe a nail or something metal is trapped and rusting in there, or they had a lot of iron in their water. |
Post# 1056963 , Reply# 12   1/9/2020 at 00:05 (1,167 days old) by 70series ( Connecticut.)   |   | |
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Nice set. Our second dryer was the Whirlpool Imperial Seventy which had the super capacity drum, but with the slightly smaller door. Glad you got the washer to work. |
Post# 1056988 , Reply# 13   1/9/2020 at 07:38 (1,167 days old) by combo52 ![]() |
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![]() These were usually rusty colored as there purpose was to catch things like straight pins that came in new shirts etc,
Iron items like straight pins would just rust away gradually but leave a stain. Before WP added this feature in 1961 it was very common for items like pins and small nails to get through the holes in the tub and block the water pump.
When I was a kid my neighbor had a 1959 KM 70 series washer and her son Michael left a tiny screw driver in his pocket and Sears had to come and remove it from the water pump.
WP-KM had much larger holes in their wash baskets than most other brands which is why they removed lint and sand etc so much better than most other washers, but it could cause service calls when foreign objects got in the wash load.
John L. |
Post# 1056989 , Reply# 14   1/9/2020 at 08:01 (1,167 days old) by jeb ![]() |
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My aunt had this model washer. washed for a family of 5 and was a real workhorse. It moved with them a few times and ended up in a damp basement. They moved and left it behind. It could still be washing for someone if it did not turn into a pile of rust. |
Post# 1056995 , Reply# 15   1/9/2020 at 09:23 (1,167 days old) by DADoES ![]() |
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Post# 1057034 , Reply# 16   1/9/2020 at 14:44 (1,167 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)   |   | |
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It is the only 1986 belt drive that I have. I think I have a couple 1985 models but the majority are 1981 and older. I never liked the short center post designs and the cheaper build quality after 1981. I chunked a lot of the ‘82-‘86 models due to rotten outer tubs. In my area most belt drive Whirlpool and Kenmores were gone after the mid nineties. Had i any idea what washers would be today I probably would’ve saved more of these.
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Post# 1057040 , Reply# 17   1/9/2020 at 15:53 (1,167 days old) by goatfarmer ![]() |
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Post# 1057042 , Reply# 18   1/9/2020 at 16:22 (1,167 days old) by 70skid (Texas)   |   | |
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Post# 1057065 , Reply# 19   1/9/2020 at 19:58 (1,167 days old) by bradfordwhite ![]() |
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"WP-KM had much larger holes in their wash baskets than most other brands which is why they removed lint and sand etc so much better than most other washers, but it could cause service calls when foreign objects got in the wash load."
One of the few complaints about Whirlpool made products is not having an easy to access trap on these BD machines but also on most of their FL model washers. Their new FL washers with a drawer under allows access to the clean out, but this is only a new thing. For more than a decade you had to remove the lower panel to awkwardly access the clean out and most people can't do that. More so a concern on BD models because the machines reverse water flow forcing water up out of the trap and into the laundry. If there is something decomposing in there between loads, like nails, that rusty water becomes part of the wash water.
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Post# 1057089 , Reply# 20   1/9/2020 at 21:49 (1,167 days old) by hippiedoll ( arizona )   |   | |
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On that GREAT set of WHIRLPOOLS.
I love the brown colors of the control panel, the bottom skirt of the agitator, how clean the washer looks underneath, and the center post looks to be in great shape too! What a fantastic find! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO... Doing the HAPPY DANCE for you on this side of the computer :oD |