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Thread Number: 83225
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Like a phoenix rising from the brake dust, The Hotpoint - Part 2 |
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Post# 1075336 6/1/2020 at 21:24 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz  (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Hi everyone! It's time for a really exciting update that is almost 16 years in the making!
I would have never imagined writing Part 2 of this story so soon, considering where things left off only 18 months ago. For those who may recall from Part 1: www.automaticwasher.org/c... The brake pad assembly was missing the brake pads themselves, rendering the machine pretty much unusable. Think of a solid tub GE without the snubber band holding the solid tub in place - all the water would be thrown out of the tub during wash. If I had put the machine back together it would have spun the tub while attempting to agitate. There were suggestions to try to use the original metal and putting a coat of JB Weld in place and then adhering some new brake material, or possibly cutting a new piece of metal and bending it into shape on a metal brake. I was planning on going with the latter at some point in the future, but decided it would be low on the priority list. As of December 2018, this is where things were left at. Fast forward to earlier in the year when a random email notification from ebay popped up with a funny looking part on a random Sunday morning. As I was cruising through the emails I almost skipped right past it... but wait, could it be? Yes, someone was selling a WH1X5015 brake pad assembly! BIN was pressed as fast as possible and in just a few days, the NOS part arrived. The Hotpoint had just received priority status!
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Post# 1075338 , Reply# 1 6/1/2020 at 21:26 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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With a few other smaller projects now out of the way after the '58 GE restoration, last week I tore back into the bottom side of the clutch assembly. All of this was unfortunately very familiar.
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Post# 1075340 , Reply# 2 6/1/2020 at 21:30 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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The NOS assembly is about as simple as they come. All the pads appear to be exactly the same, suggesting that the service manual is either lying or I can't tell the difference in brake material.
The service manual indicates that all surfaces need to be cleaned of any rust. Check. | ||
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Post# 1075341 , Reply# 3 6/1/2020 at 21:38 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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The 1970 JC Penney Service manual on AE suggests an installed clearance between the transmission housing and the brake pad assembly to be 1/16" (0.0625). The 1973 GE/Hotpoint manual suggests 1/4" (0.25). That is a significant difference in only 3 years, considering this portion of the positive brake assembly didn't change at all in that time frame.
A quarter inch seemed as though it would be a huge gap, so I went with about 0.20 inches. The rest of the photo sequence is similar to the tear down of Part 1, with most of the parts cleaned up on the wire wheel. | ||
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Post# 1075342 , Reply# 4 6/1/2020 at 21:41 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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At this point the new assembly worked perfectly! The washer would agitate and spin just fine.
The next day I wired in an external bi-pass switch for the lid switch and adjusted it to allow the lid to properly engage the lever mechanism. With the top off I just couldn't believe how clean and minty everything was. This washer was honestly only ever used a few times. | ||
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Post# 1075344 , Reply# 5 6/1/2020 at 21:45 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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With the new bi-pass switch in place it was time for a water test! And the Fountain Filter did NOT disappoint. Take a look!
What was a disappointment was what happened next during the spin out. There must have been something in the outer tub that got lodged in the pump and caused the housing to split open! Water was pouring all over the floor. Rather than bailing the water I just let it leak and pump out what it could. This post was last edited 06/01/2020 at 22:55 | ||
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Post# 1075345 , Reply# 6 6/1/2020 at 21:49 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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For years now, John L has talked about how much of a PITA these pumps were. I'm here to tell ya, the man is telling it to you straight.
It all seems easy until you actually try to pull the impeller off. I've never had to resort to so much destruction. Eventually I melted the impeller itself off the bronze insert, squirted some PB Blaster through the threaded hole, and heated the insert with a torch until the PB Blaster was boiling. After a few rounds of heat and boiling PB, a few strategic tugs with a vice grip and the insert popped off. While the machine saw little use, what I suspect happened is the remaining water in the pump must have gotten past the seal and rusted the insert to the shaft, or belt dust from the top side of the pump worked its way in, or gremlins love to screw with Hotpoint pumps. | ||
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Post# 1075347 , Reply# 7 6/1/2020 at 21:54 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Thankfully I had a new belt on hand a few NOS pump kits. May as well replace the belt while it's accessible. The original was pretty dry rotted from sitting all these years.
The instructions that come with the kit are pretty straight forward. They have you replace the washers that hold the motor to the mount plate with threaded washers that allow the tension on the plate to remain positive regardless if the pump is in place or not (see the large hex washers in the first photo) and not allow the pump nuts to be over tightened. I cleaned the motor shaft with some emery cloth and put a light coating of some synthetic grease on the shaft, after I had centered the bottom half. This is just in case I need to pull the pump apart again sometime in the future. The boot seal got a light coat of blue RTV on its base and the set screw was sealed with some blue loctite. The housing gasket was a real bear. I went through three of the kits I had on hand to get one to work. They really want to twist back into their resting state, which is a figure 8. This post was last edited 06/01/2020 at 22:36 | ||
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Post# 1075352 , Reply# 8 6/1/2020 at 22:05 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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I'm going to take a moment to pause from the rehab job and document some of the learnings I had that were separate of working on the machine. Our friend Ken will love this post.
Earlier this winter I stumbled upon a really nice gentlemen that had recently retired from the repair business and was selling his remaining stock of parts, tools, etc. He happened to have a complete set of GE and Hotpoint Appliance microfiche part lists that he was willing to sell. I jumped at the offer in hopes that the Hotpoint microfiche might shed some light on what in the heck this washer is. Sure enough, about 40 cards into the Hotpoint stack I randomly ran into this amazing piece of documentation. Dated July 1968, Hotpoint officially converted all 1968 model washers over to the positive brake design. I found this document recycled within the literature in early 1970 with the same model numbers, so in fact all 1969 2LW Hotpoint washers were recycled 1968 LW model year washers with the positive brake transmission! In 1970 the updated WLW models came out leaving the 2LW model code only being used for 1969 model washers. It also dawned on me that this washer is using a GE serial number rather than a Hotpoint coded serial. So, with the code starting "AE", it would place this washer as having been made in January, 1969. They either made this change starting in '69, or in July '68 with the positive brake transmission change. Also note that by July 1968 Hotpoint had converted all part number usage over to the GE alpha-numeric PNs! Hotpoint parts are easy to spot as they start with a 5 on the number part of the sequence: WH1X5000 More to come from this amazing GE/Hotpoint documentation find. I plan to spend time this fall to scanning more of the GE and Hotpoint parts lists. Hopefully they may find their way to AE sometime soon :) This post was last edited 06/01/2020 at 22:47 | ||
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Post# 1075353 , Reply# 9 6/1/2020 at 22:11 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Ok, with the 2LW info out of the way, what happened next?
So, with the new pump in place I had the machine fill itself for a test run. However, when it went power the motor for agitate the torque arm for the clutch sipped off the transmission hub! Good grief. I didn't swear... out loud. After bailing all the water out of the machine and tearing everything apart again for the umpteenth time, the cause was the brake lining in the bottom of the cone. It must have come unglued from the cone due to the torque of releasing the brake spring, and caused all kinds of problems. After using 2 part epoxy to reset the lining on the cone, reassembling the clutch (which is a mighty fun time I might add), re-tensioning the belt, and getting that god forsaken cross brace back on, it was time for wash!
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This post was last edited 06/01/2020 at 22:39 | ||
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Post# 1075355 , Reply# 10 6/1/2020 at 22:15 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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So, without further delay, presenting the 1969 Hotpoint automatic washer!
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Post# 1075357 , Reply# 11 6/1/2020 at 22:21 (1,423 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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And of course, there's a video!
All in all, I'm really quite pleased with how this turned out. It's nice to work on an almost new washer, rather than dealing with busted, rusty bolts and dry rotted rubber parts. The top seal is leaking a bit which can be solved with some blue RTV. Also, the fountain filter is really quite impressive. Hotpoint's filter system is genius and functions well. They claimed 5 gallons a minute in the 1965 service manual, which after a few minutes of wash could theoretically be the entire tub of wash water. The spray rinse during the initial spin is also dramatic and so unorthodox in terms of how other MFGs handled rinsing on their solid tub makes. For the video I used a load of laundry from my 2 year old daughter, Vivian. It's fun to see small, colorful laundry be tossed around gently by the spiral agitator. Overall, I give Hotpoint two thumbs up. This is a hell of a washer. Until next time, enjoy! Ben | ||
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Post# 1075362 , Reply# 12 6/1/2020 at 22:40 (1,423 days old) by Mayfan69 (Brisbane Queensland Australia) |
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Lovely restoration | ||
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Post# 1075368 , Reply# 13 6/1/2020 at 23:49 (1,423 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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Post# 1075397 , Reply# 14 6/2/2020 at 07:05 (1,423 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 1075404 , Reply# 15 6/2/2020 at 07:43 (1,423 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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| Post# 1075416 , Reply# 16 6/2/2020 at 08:45 (1,423 days old) by lesto (Atlanta) | ||
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What an amazing restoration. I love Hotpoint washers from the 50's and 60's. My mom had an early 60's model which was so much fun to watch. That was before Hotpoint added a tub brake. Ours just coasted to a stop. I believe the me was called Hotpoint Silhouette. | ||
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Post# 1075422 , Reply# 17 6/2/2020 at 09:27 (1,423 days old) by pulltostart (Mobile, AL) |
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Post# 1075423 , Reply# 18 6/2/2020 at 09:54 (1,423 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint! | ||
| Post# 1075424 , Reply# 19 6/2/2020 at 09:55 (1,423 days old) by Mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
That has to be | ||
| Post# 1075435 , Reply# 20 6/2/2020 at 11:01 (1,423 days old) by Golittlesport (California) | ||
great job! | ||
| Post# 1075438 , Reply# 21 6/2/2020 at 11:23 (1,423 days old) by lesto (Atlanta) | ||
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Our early 60's Hotpoint with no tub brake had a slight tub indexing during agitation. It wasn't as drastic as a Westinghouse but it did improve the rollover. I noticed once the tub brake was added the indexing stopped. | ||
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Post# 1075443 , Reply# 22 6/2/2020 at 11:43 (1,423 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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OF COURSE I love this post. Thank you for the video and all the pics, it's like Christmas during COVID.
Did you get this machine from the member in New Orleans? I thought I knew where all of these were located.
When I have some time (I'm lucky enough to be teaching a la "remote learning" (sounds like so much bullshit but in our case it's working up to a point). I will do a portrait of this machine.
Who had this design first, Easy or Hotpoint?
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Post# 1075448 , Reply# 23 6/2/2020 at 12:33 (1,423 days old) by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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Post# 1075460 , Reply# 24 6/2/2020 at 14:06 (1,422 days old) by Washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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 Ben,
Thank you so much for sharing pics and the jaw-dropping video! Hotpoint certainly improved upon Norge/Wards burp-a-lator lint filtering — I see as the agitator moves in each direction, it seems an equal amount of linty water is moving through the fountain filter. In a Norge/Wards, it is strongest on only one stroke of agitation, not both.
Fantastic restoration! Congrats and enjoy.
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Post# 1075461 , Reply# 25 6/2/2020 at 14:23 (1,422 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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 Holy moley, Ben, what an amazing job! I know that feeling of taking something apart for the umpteenth time all too well, but how incredibly satisfying it is to see the machine working again as it should.
How odd that this washer was so lightly used, then left... Who on this realm could resist using a Fountain Flow??
Congratulations on an outstanding restoration! | ||
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Post# 1075465 , Reply# 26 6/2/2020 at 15:09 (1,422 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Thanks, everyone! Your kind comments mean the world to me. It's also great to think back to 2004 when many of you were talking about this exact washer and how great it is to finally see it in action.
Paul - about the fourth or fifth time of tearing into the clutch I thought to myself, "have I become Turquoisedude?" :D And yes, this was the Hotpoint that Todd from NOLA bought out of upstate NY. Time to update your Hotpoint inventory spreadsheet, Ken! ;) And Mickeyd, this is for you: This post was last edited 06/02/2020 at 15:42 | ||
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Post# 1075467 , Reply# 27 6/2/2020 at 16:43 (1,422 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Post# 1075468 , Reply# 28 6/2/2020 at 16:44 (1,422 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Post# 1075470 , Reply# 29 6/2/2020 at 17:06 (1,422 days old) by akronman (Akron/Cleveland Ohio) |
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Thank you | ||
| Post# 1075471 , Reply# 30 6/2/2020 at 17:15 (1,422 days old) by rickr (.) | ||
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Post# 1075483 , Reply# 31 6/2/2020 at 20:25 (1,422 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint!
I found this from a brochure
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| Post# 1075485 , Reply# 32 6/2/2020 at 21:09 (1,422 days old) by lebron (Minnesota) | ||
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| Post# 1075506 , Reply# 33 6/3/2020 at 07:43 (1,422 days old) by Northwesty (Renton, WA) | ||
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So great to see the step by step information, it will really help anyone who wants to crack open these old machines. And taking things apart for the fourth or fifth time - its good to witness that so as not to get discouraged. Anyway a really great restoration, congratulations. | ||
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Post# 1075507 , Reply# 34 6/3/2020 at 07:47 (1,422 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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1969 Hotpoint Fountain-Filter Washer Just fantastic Ben, It is always great to restore a low-use machine, imagine how much trouble a typical tired machine would be to restore.
The FF pump inside the agitator was a clever design as it pumps in both directions of agitator movement unlike Norges simpler system, the down side of the HP pump is they wear out and then stop working well.
I loved seeing you rebuild the water pump, early in my carrier I probably had to work on maybe a dozen of these washers which was enough to convince me I never wanted one, LOL
My Parents first two AWs were Solid Tub machines and I developed a distaste for ST washers, there was always crap stuck under the agitator and the machines often seemed to be stinky and musty smelling because of the way they were built, witch was not as much fun for a hyperactive little boy who was always checking out the neighbors washers by sticking my head init, The neighbors that had KMs or WPs just seemed so much cooler, my favorite was Mrs. Lawrences 1959 LKM. This was around 1958-1960. | ||
| Post# 1075520 , Reply# 35 6/3/2020 at 10:05 (1,422 days old) by Mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
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Ben, you're gonna love this~
Late last night, I was watching Robert Sapolsky, the Stanford mega-genius on Youtube in the living room on the big screen TV. During a pause, the row of small boxes of recommended viewing appeared along the bottom the screen and there you were with the fountain filter Hotpoint. Next, the thoughts and visuals came in rapid fire:
1~ How amazing: Ben's already gone global; didn't take long; no surprise 2~ Wait a second, it shows 1:13 as the time; his vid is way longer; this must be a different flick 3~ Oh MY God: did he really make a second vid 4~ Holy Crap: He did! Oh no, this can't be real. Could it possibly be the fountain AND the overflow 5~ Mama Mia--IT IS !!!! 6~ Look at that pattern: liquid flower petals and starfish--I could watch this all night long I mean honestly, is there really any agitator superior to this one? Or even to this machine's rinsing ability where the spray rinse shoots above the tub's rim along with two overflows, like a Frigidiare on steriods? I like the way the porcelain curves downward at the rim. Such a beautiful washing machine. Also loved all the forbidden views; it was like the Washer Garden of Eden. Your Hotpoint is a treasure. What is it about Hotpoint the creates such powerful, universal allure? My heart goes out in gratitude to the Aworg Senator from Kansas. | ||
| Post# 1075546 , Reply# 36 6/3/2020 at 13:25 (1,421 days old) by Mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
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DUH, dummy Mike, IOWA, The Senator from IOWA : - > | ||
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Post# 1075579 , Reply# 37 6/3/2020 at 19:03 (1,421 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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Post# 1075614 , Reply# 38 6/3/2020 at 21:20 (1,421 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint!
Here are some photos of archives I have saved from the whole series from this era of Hotpoint I think from 1971
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Post# 1075615 , Reply# 39 6/3/2020 at 21:23 (1,421 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint
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Post# 1075616 , Reply# 40 6/3/2020 at 21:26 (1,421 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint!
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Post# 1075618 , Reply# 41 6/3/2020 at 21:29 (1,421 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint!
The spec sheet indicates the 2400 is a smaller capacity - was the full size washers really much bigger?
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Post# 1075620 , Reply# 42 6/3/2020 at 21:43 (1,421 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint!
I might as well add the dryers also these were already GE made!
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Post# 1075621 , Reply# 43 6/3/2020 at 21:45 (1,421 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Hotpoint
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Post# 1075656 , Reply# 44 6/4/2020 at 07:51 (1,421 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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the cleanest clothes of any 2 year old in Cedar Falls!
Tim, you're certainly right! So far she has no idea what washers are, but someday...
Thanks again everyone for your kind comments! John, these pumps are something else. The instruction sheet calls for even cutting a horizontal slit along the bottom of the insert to then jamb a screw driver within in hopes to split the whole thing. Nuts! I have the opposite appeal going for me - grew up with perforated tub washers, so the solid tub variety are still a marvel even after jumping into this hobby now over 15 years ago. Mickeyd - I'm glad you liked the second clip! It sounds like the algorithms have you figured out ;) Pete - thanks for posting the brochures! Those pages are from the 1970/1971 models, with the WLW2400 having replaced the 1968/1969 LW830/2LW830. Robert has a version of the '68 brochure on AE but it is sadly missing pages for the lower end models (I believe it stops at LW860). The LW830 has three fill levels whereas the WLW2400 has two fill levels, all determined with a separate cam within the timer. The WLW2400 was probably cost reduced for good reason - the difference between Medium and Small is marginal at best. Brian - you are spot on with the encouragement. Sometimes though its good to take a breather for an afternoon/full day before diving in for a 5th time :) One observation I made with the video posted here, vs. some of the original footage I have on my phone of the Fountain Filter is that the internal pump within the agitator needs to be properly "timed" with the agitation stroke. If the timing isn't right (first stop the washer when the stroke is fully at one end) with the internal pump it can cause a lower output of water flow, and can even possibly destroy the pump itself. The early videos have a loud audible click at the end of each stroke, and at the time I figured that was normal to the operation and the timing never even crossed my mind. Once timed properly, the click went away and the pump efficiency increased. Very easy to see how these could be damaged permanently in the field for service. Ben | ||
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Post# 1075725 , Reply# 45 6/4/2020 at 18:12 (1,420 days old) by lotsosudz (Sacramento, CA) |
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Beautiful machine
Hotpoint had such distinctive styling, very handsome indeed! It was certainly feature laden. Although in truth, I preferred the rollover action of the GE ramped activator, rather than the Hotpoints Spiralator action. It seemed pretty heavily loaded. It sounded very Quiet overall. What is the spin speed?
Hugs David | ||
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Post# 1075736 , Reply# 46 6/4/2020 at 19:34 (1,420 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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Post# 1075761 , Reply# 47 6/4/2020 at 21:47 (1,420 days old) by Washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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So help me out here, folks. Does this Hotpoint agitator truly have a pump inside it? I compare it to Norge/Wards in that there is no pump, it’s purely force of water from the agitator vanes up and into the agitator, creating the “burpalator” action. Is the fountain filter unique in that there is a pump inside the agitator? | ||
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Post# 1075820 , Reply# 48 6/5/2020 at 07:13 (1,420 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Lint Filter Pump Yes there is a pump of sorts in the base of the agitator column, there is a vane in a chamber that forces water up through the agitator as the agitator moves back and forth.
It was a little Micky-Mouse and like many other Brands the lint filter was just there to compete with other machines that had a filter that really worked.
The Norge system was simpler with no moving parts to break or wear out but it only pumped in one direction.
This HP system probably worked a little better than Norges and a LF is probably much more important on a ST washer because a lot of lint gets trapped in the clothing as the washer spins out the water.
John L. | ||
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