1955 GE COMBO Restoration

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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Greg, the advantage of living this side of the border is that it's more trouble to slap me than it's worth.. LOL

Jon, if I may, that red switch is the belt breakage switch. The release of tension on the lever it sits in will slide the switch closed in the event of a belt breaking. This will cause the machine to skip the spin and dry portion of the cycle - I learned the hard way that the switch can trip when servicing the machine... Ask Phil how I reacted when I learned that lesson and flipped the switch back to 'open'...
 
Jon, I've got the scissors-style mechanism too. I think that small motor with that triangular 'star' that runs until the machine re-adjusts itself is just too cool. I must try and get a video demo of that next time I pull the combo in Ogden...
 
Yes, this may be why GE changed design in 1956 so that the pump would be run off the drive motor instead of a separate electric pump. Well, that's my theory...
 
Well I agree with Paul and John

but I bet the reason they changed was cost not reliability. GE is extremely cost conscious it drives everything there.

 

A clutch they could machine in one of the shops at GE would be far cheaper than buying another motor from a second tier vendor.

 

 

Can't wait to see the scissors mechanism at work since I am so familiar with the moto-tape system!!

 

Jackie comes next week with a surprise machine for me! Something I do not have in the collection….hint..put your thinking caps on!

 

 
 
Jetcone:

Remember, reliability - or lack thereof - is a cost factor, too. Service calls under warranty were a huge cost for manufacturers in those days, since they were usually handled by the service departments of independent dealers or independently-owned "authorized service centers."

That system put dealers and servicers in charge of what manufacturers spent on warranty service; the dealer or servicer did the work, put in a claim to the manufacturer and then got reimbursed. Since the only way for a dealer or servicer to maintain good customer relations was to make the customer happy, there was a very strong incentive to "game the system" and make the manufacturer pay no matter what.

My first real job out of high school was with a Westclox authorized service center, and trust me, Westclox paid for a lot of stuff that it shouldn't have.

Making stuff more reliable and making it in-house gave GE more control over those kinds of costs.
 
Xactly Sandy

Making stuff more reliable and making it in-house gave GE more control over those kinds of costs. 

It would also simplify the mechanism , less to break. Its amazing how overbuilt the first few Automatics were so that companies could establish a reputation of quality and reliability. And Im not saying simplifying made it cheaper quality wise although there are many cases of that littering the junk piles. But you take the Jetaction washer by the 70's with good materials they had simplified that mechanism just about as far as you could mechanically before the advent of electronic motor controls.




 
Separate Shaded Pole Drain Pump Motor

I never saw any other manufacturer use one of these little pumps in a continuous duty application. This type of motor is about the least efficient type oc A/C motor you can build, but I dough that this was the main reason that they stopped using them so quickly. I suspect that was mainly cost of building the machine and reliability of the machine overall.

GE like other manufactures had lots of problems with early Combos and most of these early Combos [ especially in kitchen centers ] were replaced by the mid to later 60s with the newer improved models. By the Y models in 1964 GE had worked out most of the major bugs and I actually think that these later GE combos were about the most reliable American Combos.

GE was about the only company that actually dared to sell hundreds of combos to apartment complexes and actually could keep them running with tenants using them for periods of 10 years or more.

John L.
 
Yes John

those 3 belt machines are workhorses. I remember falling for your black undercounted machine years and years ago. I had to have one in my kitchen!! And you gave me the first avocado one made. Because you said it was the first I can't bring myself to paint it black but maybe this year--charcoal perhaps??

 

But those shaded pole motors are used extensively in Sub Zero refrigerators and they run for decades, so what gives? Why would Sub Zero use them continually if the design wasn't sturdy like the "63 Frigidaire washers?

 

 
 
Yes John

those 3 belt machines are workhorses. I remember falling for your black undercounted machine years and years ago. I had to have one in my kitchen!! And you gave me the first avocado one made. Because you said it was the first I can't bring myself to paint it black but maybe this year--charcoal perhaps??

 

But those shaded pole motors are used extensively in Sub Zero refrigerators and they run for decades, so what gives? Why would Sub Zero use them continually if the design wasn't sturdy like the "63 Frigidaire washers?

 

 
 
Shaded Pole Motors

It is not so much the motor being SP but little things like the pump seal design, also the one on your combo draws over 100 watts and it can run fairly hot and this impacts bearing life.

The SP fan motors used in most Frost Free refrigerators at one time can easily last for decades, but they are grossly inefficient when you compare power consumed vs work done this is why very few are used any longer in new refs and freezers. I have replaced all the fan motors in my refs and freezes with the new ECM motors with great results. Often the SP motors use 10 times as much power as the new ECM motors, I am surprised with your interest in LED lighting you haven't done this in your SZs. In the refrigerators this saved power really counts because the compressor does not have to run as much to remove all the extra heat that the SP motors produce.

In the past ten years I have cut my annual electric consumption at home in 1/2 without giving up any comfort, convenience or walking around in the dark, LOL.
 
Manufactueres LOVE the SP motors becuase they are cheap to make and buy.But--Yes they are inefficient.Note how the motor has a little tin fan on it to help keep it cool.Remember playing around with these as a kid-take em apart and feed the coil with DC and you have a cool little electromagnet.
 

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