2 Maids showed up at my house this morning

[bajaespuma]

For some reason, they introduced this mechanical, not solenoid-operated, piston/pump style dispenser in 1964 where, as you all know, you had to press a button or turn a dial to "cock" the mechanism. This style of dispenser was also used on their front-loader models for a while but there must have been service problems that are hinted at on the next page:

 

[bajaespuma]

Slap my face and call me minnie

Voila! (sorta)

 

So at last I get an illustration (figure 28) with yet another infuriating portion of said tube. From the cryptic text I am persuaded to understand that the tube has nothing to do with the injection of the Rinse-Aid, the tube seems to have been part of a "gauge" to let SOMEBODY know where the level of liquid was at and, according to the explanation was filled with a little bit of red liquid to mark the level. Interesting, because when I first got the machine, the second thing I did was to open the cap on the dispenser spout inside to see if it had that little metal dipstick going down its throat just like our pull-out had, which told the user when it was time to add more product. No dipstick (I think one of the more irritating things with dishwasher rinse dispensers is trying to figure out how much stuff is or isn't in there; the dipstick was the best, easiest and simplest solution IMO).

 

I think I got my best and most satisfactory answer to this trivial puzzle from figure 27 where somebody at GE had the smarts to make and publish a cross-section of the part:

 

[turquoisedude]

Ken, check the washer of the hot water hose at the solenoid. All three of my 'maids' needed a new one!

 

[bajaespuma]

Thank you/Merci Paul!

Will do!

 

[bajaespuma]

I have WAY too much time on my hands

So, what seems to happen is that the Rinse Agent in the cylindrical main reservoir and the dispensing tube to the right of the piston (with lighter blue liquid) which is inside the dispenser and not visible, maintain their level until the piston is plunged into the bottom of the well which forces a dose of liquid up through the little tube and over to a hole directly underneath the fill-spout and cap and not visible to the user where it is washed out and into the dishwasher by the final rinse spray. Makes sense. Also might mean there's nothing wrong with my dispenser, I was just thrown and confused by that *%^$($** cut tube that I discovered when I took the front panel off the unit.

 

My latest theory is that the tube and the little dead-end spout at the bottom of the dispenser were vestigial parts of a gauge indicator system that is/was featured on TOL models but not on Front-loaders or lesser top loaders. I remembered a cut sheet that I had scanned a while back that pictured almost the same model but from one year earlier and one model up from mine that had a red "INDICATOR" above the control dial. I thought this was a pilot light to let the user know when the machine was on, but now I'm thinking that is was a visible portion of that clear plastic tube with red fluid to let the user know how much rinse agent was left in the dispenser. Seems to work, but I have no hard data, yet, to conclude this. On my model, I guess they just left the extra part off of the machine and let the tube hang, disconnected. Because of the problems servicing this gizmo as indicated in the literature, they discontinued this feature very quickly. I have only seen it on this particular model from 1964. So much more complicated than a humble dip-stick.

 

As Clouseau would say, "The Case is Solv-ed"

 

[gansky1]

Wow, what a complicated system for rinse agent dispensing.  I'm surprised there isn't a motor and belt.  I'm glad you had the service information at hand, it's fascinating to see how they did all of this - non-electrically.

 

[retropia]

Talk about a potential nightmare for the service technician in the field! I'm guessing there weren't too many 1964 models where this feature worked for very long.

 

[bajaespuma]

Just another bell and another whistle.

Except in really hard water areas, I would bet most housewives ignored the rinse-agent issue entirely, as did me sainted Mother. I remember, clearly, filling the Rinse-Agent dispenser on our GE Pull-Out the time she first used it with the little glass bottle that came with the machine, seeing the dipstick and having that explained to me, and then, never again.

 

NYC had soft water (actually, it's the best municipal water in the country; piped 90 miles in from the Ashokan Reservoir) and if there had been a spot on her everyday glasses, she wouldn't have been bothered with it. She hand washed and dried all the good stuff. For me, it's another nifty little gimcrack that needs to be figured out and played with. Local water here in CT is also soft and I can't tell the difference when the rinse dispenser runs dry; that's one reason I think gauges and dipsticks are useful. Also, I will never buy Rinse Agent that ISN'T dyed a bright color again--you need to be able to see it.

 

I think it's pretty comical how Madison Avenue still makes a fuss over spots on glasses; as if anybody but the Royals and Hyacinth really cared.