1966 Mobile Maid Portable Dishwasher

[electrogirl]

Hello Everyone,

I just signed up for this site. I post often over at vacuumland and am mainly a vacuum collector, but I have a fondness for all mid-century appliances. I needed some information and the fine folks over there referred me here.

Tomorrow I will be picking up a 1966 GE Mobile Maid Front loading portable dishwasher I found on craigslist for $50.

Can anyone tell me something about this? I do not know what it looks like, the fellow that has it described it as "groovy." He said it works very well and that he and his spouse have used it for a few years but they finally had a dw installed. Are parts readily available for it? Do they clean the dishes fairly well? He did mention it was loud, I don't know if that means something is going on it, or they are simply noisy. He said if I had a problem with it he would refund my money. Does anyone have a picture of one, or even own one?

Thanks for any insight you can give me on this!

 

[petek]

Bump

Somebody here will know Debbie

 

[toggleswitch]

Welcome!

Hi Debbie. Nice to see you here! I've been following your posts on vac-land.

Good luck with your Mobile Maid!

 

[gregm]

good machine ... ... ...

I have a couple of them. Tough to get original replacement parts, but you shouldn't have any problems with it. There main parts are the timer, motor and fill valve. All three can be rebuilt or replaced for the most part. It may or may not leak a little depending on how often it was used. I had to take the front panel off and clean the fill valve on mine and tighten up the hose that connects to it better so it wouldn't drip. Otherwise I always say if it ain't broke don't fix it. Its "loud" period for today's standards where most DW's are quiet or much quieter. Actually, that particular year with the spray arm and tower do a good job at cleaning the dishes I think. You will need a special "thingy" adapter to screw on to your faucet and then pull the hoses/connector from the DW to connect to it. There are generally two different kinds. One is same outer diameter as the actual faucet or the common faucet aerator that is on there now. (most OLDER kenmores/whirlpools) The other adapter has a smaller diameter opening extending down from the larger part that screws on to the faucet. Its hard for me to explain this writing. If you really need, I can post a pic of the adapter you need. Try it out and good luck with it !!

 

[electrogirl]

Hello Steve and Greg,

I picked up the d/w today. It looks to be in pretty good shape for its age. It is white with a white top. Thanks for the info on it.

It is a top loader, not a front loader, he was mistaken when he posted it on craigslist. I like the top loader, looks like it holds plenty of dishes. It has the connector for the faucet, so I won't have to buy one of those. He also said it does not leak.

I won't get to see it in action for awhile because I bought it in anticipation of a move to a house w/no dishwasher.

 

[petek]

A top-loader Wow. Can't wait to see pictures of it. You must take some pictures before you store it till the move, inside and outside, controls and the bottom wash arm or it might be a propellor type.