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  #181  
Old 10-02-2013, 05:12 PM
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Electronic M Electronic M is offline
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I've seen (and had chance to purchase) over a dozen vintage appliances in the last few years. I don't buy them though as I don't cook or do laundry and my folks don't want vintage appliances on the ground level of the house. There is no chance in heck I'm going to buy something that big and heavy that I'll barely use if at all and have to haul up or down stairs.

Though I could see having a GE monitor top in the basement as a drink cooler...
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  #182  
Old 10-02-2013, 09:44 PM
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There is, or at least was a crappy modern dishwasher curbed across the street from me when I came home tonight. I went back outside immediately with tools to beat the scrappers to the motor. I probably got most of its metal by taking that one part.
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  #183  
Old 10-03-2013, 09:49 AM
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About 5 years ago, I aquired a one-owner Whirlpool washer and dryer pair that is avocado, and was built in 1970. They are a matching set.

On the washer, I replaced the pump, inlet water valve, the motor belt, the tub snubber, and the fluorescent light in the cover.

On the dryer, I replaced the drum rollers, the belt, and the tensioner, along with the fluorescent lamp in the cover.

Absolutely no problems in over 5 years now.

One thing: There is no lid lock. I have to force myself NOT to open it and cram my head down into the spinning tub. I don't know HOW we managed to survive before lid locks.

The machine also has a mercury switch that will make the tub stop spinning, but not before I can cram my head into it. Imagine a modern machine with a working lid switch in 40+ years. I used to work on modern laundry appliances. All junk.

Oh yes, I bought a new WIG-WAG for the washer at the time, but did not install it. The OEM one cleaned up really nicely, so I have at least one spare part.
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Last edited by holmesuser01; 10-03-2013 at 10:05 AM.
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  #184  
Old 10-03-2013, 10:38 AM
tvtimeisfun tvtimeisfun is offline
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Reallllyyyy nice appliances wish I was that lucky keep the oldies running I use to have a washer like yours the best of luck to you...Timothy
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  #185  
Old 10-03-2013, 07:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by egrand View Post
Kamakiri

Here's a couple of magazine ads for Westy fridges in '49. One is for the TOTL model, and the other must be mid-line. Looks like the drawer fronts are different, but I bet they were same size, shape, etc. Maybe this helps.

http://books.google.com/books?id=dE4...erator&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=Vk4...erator&f=false
I think mine was used primarily as a beer fridge, so it probably parted company with the drawers long ago.

I'll keep cruising eBay just in case, but I'm not really optimistic....
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  #186  
Old 10-04-2013, 03:03 PM
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Doing laundry today...

One of the (newer) washers in my building has been pretty unstable for a long time, doing a lot of shaking when spinning. Today, a couple of very grumpy-looking women came into the laundry room, overloaded said unstable washer, which proceeded to do the most violent shaking I ever saw, moving itself farther back and rotating a little, then blowing its front panel clean off. I had to get building management on it. The drum is askew with a piece broken out of the top of the plastic tub.
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  #187  
Old 10-06-2013, 05:44 AM
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Reminds me, do the drum springs on washing machines wear out? No matter how many times I level my old Maytag, I have to readjust the load about 30% of the time or it will start to BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG
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  #188  
Old 10-06-2013, 02:55 PM
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On some machines it is a ball joint kinda suspension, and there is a movement limit thing. Both of these can use a lubricating to make it all work better.... And my favorite dry lubricant is chapstick, so lube up the 4 rubber balls, and that rubber/plastic movement limit and it may just work better...
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  #189  
Old 10-08-2013, 12:43 PM
Tim R. Tim R. is offline
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The "genocide" affects newer stuff mostly - as in 1980s and newer appliances. The really old stuff tends to get spared because it looks cool, tends to work, and is usually moved to the basement/garage/man cave. Or ends up in the hands of retro enthusiasts.

Having worked as a deliveryman for Lowe's, and being a regular visitor to appliance junkyards, I can assure y'all that 90+% of the stuff being replaced is boring junk made within the last two decades. And the few vintage appliances you find in the junkyards are usually in really bad shape, already stripped of any useable parts.


-Tim
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  #190  
Old 10-08-2013, 01:03 PM
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Tim, Thanks for the reality check. I was originally reacting to the Power Utilities "power hog" contest and thier shameful "recycle the oldest appliance" contest.

Normally a reasonable and mellow guy into pre-1970s anything, I became obsessed and enraged at this mis-characterization of vintage USA-built engineering marvels, so I raved to whoever would listen that old stuff was NOT inefficient and should be saved, and deserved a place somewhere in a home or business if not the kitchen.

I used to deliver appliances and TVs in the mid-80s while in college. I saw very few items of interest that we hauled back to the shop. The most memorable and gawd-awful heavy item was a 1950s Westinghouse Front-loading washer, I was a bit teary-eyed as it slipped off the hand truck and tumbled off the tailgate. Oddly enough, most returning stuff was 15-20 years old, even then! Even more ironic, new stuff made in those years was durable enough but also the most inefficient IIRC, even sporting the Gummint-mandated "Energy Guide" yellow tags.

I live near an "appliance boutique" that started as a Allis Chalmers tractor dealer in the 1930s. They sold RCA, GE and Zenith TVs but stopped around 2000.
The "junkyard area" behind the barn there is VERY BUSY but has had only a few "treasures" over the last 15 years I have been doing drive-by inspections.
I rescued one of them, a 1947 Westinghouse and its in my second kitchen for seasonal and event use.
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Last edited by DavGoodlin; 10-08-2013 at 01:10 PM. Reason: add note about westy
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  #191  
Old 10-10-2013, 09:50 AM
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Another crappy modern dishwasher curbed nearby last night, another swiped motor for me. All in a day's work.

Meh, dumped both motors. Almost impossible to separate either one from the pump. Newer stuff, made to be difficult if not impossible to repair. Also, the proprietary mount on one motor would make using it for other projects difficult.

Last edited by Jon A.; 10-20-2013 at 01:03 PM.
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  #192  
Old 10-11-2013, 07:02 PM
orthophonic orthophonic is offline
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Maybe one of you guys can help me. Through a freak accident, the timer dial/knob on my 1963 Frigidaire DW-DUF got broken. I have put a generic knob on for now, but would really like to find a correct replacement. It is
Ivory and Chrome, Frigidaire used this same basic knob up to the mid 70's
in black & silver and plain black, any of these would do also. The same knob was also used on their portables and says Dishmobile, that is acceptable also.
If is says push to start, it will probably be correct or close enough.

Vintage parts dealers have not turned up one so far, but you guys that visit
graveyards (all gone from my area) may spot one.
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  #193  
Old 10-12-2013, 06:55 AM
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Kamakiri Kamakiri is offline
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Have a pic?
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  #194  
Old 10-12-2013, 12:58 PM
Tim R. Tim R. is offline
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No problem. The push to replace older appliances makes me cringe too.

Trading in a perfectly good appliance doesn't make much sense. Sure, you might get $50 off a new one, and save $25 more a year on your electric bill. But that doesn't really offset the cost of buying a new appliance, especially with the economy as it is. And the environmental impact of making the new appliance and scrapping the old one isn't factored in either. Plus that new fridge probably isn't built as well as your old one, and will need replacing/service more often than its replacement.

Essentially, these trade-in programs do more harm than good. Kind of like that "cash for clunkers" thing, but that's getting into politics....

Retro is taking off like never before. There's a big push to preserve mid-century American houses and goods. People will pay more for a well preserved 1950s rancher house than one with a hasty remodel.

I go to estate sales frequently, and see all kinds of old stuff sitting in basements still earning my keep. At two separate sales, I saw two identical 1950 Bendix dryers that still worked fine after more than half a century. Both were priced high, and both sold.

At one house, there was an ancient 1950s-era fridge in the basement that hadn't been touched in decades. I opened it up to find shelves of ice-cold pop that expired in 1992.

Retro stuff is everywhere, and it's being saved.


-Tim

Quote:
Originally Posted by DavGoodlin View Post
Tim, Thanks for the reality check. I was originally reacting to the Power Utilities "power hog" contest and thier shameful "recycle the oldest appliance" contest.

Normally a reasonable and mellow guy into pre-1970s anything, I became obsessed and enraged at this mis-characterization of vintage USA-built engineering marvels, so I raved to whoever would listen that old stuff was NOT inefficient and should be saved, and deserved a place somewhere in a home or business if not the kitchen.

I used to deliver appliances and TVs in the mid-80s while in college. I saw very few items of interest that we hauled back to the shop. The most memorable and gawd-awful heavy item was a 1950s Westinghouse Front-loading washer, I was a bit teary-eyed as it slipped off the hand truck and tumbled off the tailgate. Oddly enough, most returning stuff was 15-20 years old, even then! Even more ironic, new stuff made in those years was durable enough but also the most inefficient IIRC, even sporting the Gummint-mandated "Energy Guide" yellow tags.

I live near an "appliance boutique" that started as a Allis Chalmers tractor dealer in the 1930s. They sold RCA, GE and Zenith TVs but stopped around 2000.
The "junkyard area" behind the barn there is VERY BUSY but has had only a few "treasures" over the last 15 years I have been doing drive-by inspections.
I rescued one of them, a 1947 Westinghouse and its in my second kitchen for seasonal and event use.
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  #195  
Old 10-12-2013, 01:55 PM
egrand egrand is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by orthophonic View Post
Maybe one of you guys can help me. Through a freak accident, the timer dial/knob on my 1963 Frigidaire DW-DUF got broken. I have put a generic knob on for now, but would really like to find a correct replacement. It is
Ivory and Chrome, Frigidaire used this same basic knob up to the mid 70's
in black & silver and plain black, any of these would do also. The same knob was also used on their portables and says Dishmobile, that is acceptable also.
If is says push to start, it will probably be correct or close enough.

Vintage parts dealers have not turned up one so far, but you guys that visit
graveyards (all gone from my area) may spot one.
Here's a website/forum just for vintage washers: http://www.automaticwasher.org/

It's a neat site and someone on there might have what you need.
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