1948 General Electric AW6 Owners Manual

[Unimatic1140]

Thanks to a tipoff from Matthew (GEextraRinse) I won this manual on eBay. Its for the early AW6 GE washer, the 1948 model, mine is an earlier 1947 model and you can see how they redesigned the machine slightly for 1948.

Also notice in the installing instructions there is no instructions on how to adjust the leveling legs. That's because they didn't have any! It wasn't until 1950 that GE put leveling legs on their machines. Wouldn't be good on an uneven floor. I added branded new leveling legs to my 1947 machine to make it more stable.

Thanks Matt!

http://www.automaticwasher.org/LIBRARY/OWNERS_MANUALS/1948_General_Electric_AW6.pdf

 

[Unimatic1140]

Here is my machine, before and after restoration shots...

 

[ttuee2006]

OOOOOOOO PRETTY!

Can we see inside?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Can we see inside?

This should help...

http://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/ARCHIVE/VINTAGE/2006/7256x54.htm

 

[rickr]

Robert, that is a beautiful machine! Glad you got the owners manual. The manual is rare enough, but you even have the machine! Wonder how many still are still out there? Not many I would bet. You may have the only early GE automatic left.

 

[supersuds]

Ha, I love how the wash temperature options are HOT (130 F), MEDIUM (115 F) and WARM (100 F). Nobody expected that washing in 40 or 50 degree water would work.

 

[ttuee2006]

Thanks for the link to the past post! Very interesting and amazing washer!

 

[jetcone]

Oh its amazing alright

Silent and deadly is how I'd describe it.

Robert been slammmed this week, will call you back sooner.

 

[tlee618]

Yay Robert, that was a great score!!

 

[turquoisedude]

Wow - that is a great find indeed! Sometimes it is far easier to find the manual than it is to find the machine!

Is this the solid tub model with the high-speed spin that I have heard about??

 

[geextrarinse]

very cool!

Glad to see you were able to get this Robert! And some day i hope to come see this machine- and all the rest, in person!

 

[pdub]

Aren't these old manuals fun! Congratulations on your find.

Thanks for posting the links to the restoration of this machine. I remember when you originally got this machine and how excited you were. It's fun to see that again.

Patrick

 

[gyrafoam]

I will never understand why GE made so many changes to this design-----at least for the first five years anyway. They had a great thing going on. Should have kept the high speed spin until they had to give it up with the Perf.tub FF's.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

I can't believe...

that so much thought went into these early G.E. Automatics and the ease of removing the washbasket for cleaning.

I think we can probably speculate that most of the owners of these and other early automatics didn't really follow the Use and Care Instructions very well. Otherwise, there would still be lots of these machines left for us to enjoy.

 

[gansky1]

I wonder how many people would take apart their washers and clean them like this?

"If machine has a kerosene odor..." Wow. Can you imagine the horror of homemakers now being told to use kerosene for work clothes - and soaking them in a pail overnight?

 

[kenmore81]

Great Find

Im glad you got it. I miss you tube vids lol

 

[chestermikeuk]

Nice One

Not like the manuals of today, where they hardly tell you what to do and only a few short pages at that!!! lovely machine and yes it is super silent.....

Why did they drop the spin speed, was it because of suspension issues etc??

 

[Unimatic1140]

Why did they drop the spin speed, was it because of suspension issues etc??

Mike, I really believe the problem was the original AW6 machine's design was too expensive to manufacture profitably and they resigned it with a simpler belt drive design (the AW5 series, introduced for 1951).

 

[danemodsandy]

Question for Robert:

Robert - why did the top on the AW6 have to be replaced? Was the original too rusty to restore? Also, did G.E. ever make a dryer that paired with this washer? I am not normally very interested in G.E.'s, but this early machine is fascinating!