40+ year old GE Washing Machine.

[tinbarreiro]

Hello Everyone,
I have a Durex machine. It was made in Ecuador under General Electric license. In not exactly sure how old the machine is but I do know that my parents bought it to wash my sisters dirty diapers, from back in the day when diapers where not disposable around 1980. This machine is built like a tank. There is hardly any plastic on it, the transmission is all metal gears and it even has a couple of cinderblocks as counterweights to balance it all very nicely. Using another thread on this page ( https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREADM.cgi?82804 ) I was able to service it about a year ago. I am surprised to still be able to find some replacement parts for it. From that other thread I got a lot of help from these 2 members, John, Combo52, and Ben, Swestoyz; I wound not have been able to work on it without their help.
Today I was trying to fix a recent problem as the machine does not switch to the spinning cycle to dry the clothes at the end. It does everything else normaly. The water level stops at the right time and it actually changes with the knob and all the other cycles work properly. I did a bit of research and decided to check the pressure switch. Apparently this switch not only manages the water level, but it can also tell when the tub is empty of water so the spinning cycle can begin. To my surprised, once I took apart the top part where all the dials and knobs are, I found an actual Service Information Manual. It was in a very old paper envelope just tucked in there...(see pictures) I'm not sure if that is a fire hazard but it has been there for ever. It is a super cool find and it actually has been used before as It has some technician's writing in the back of the envelope. Now that I took everything apart Im gonna have to call another technician to take a look and see if he can figure it out. Im mechanically inclined but don't have any training on it and even using a multipart can be tricky sometimes lol. Any way I will report back once I get the washer checked but for now I just want to share pictures of my machine and the awesome document that was hidden inside.

Cheers
Martin

 

[DADoES]

 
Your machine resembles U.S. Hotpoint (and JCPenney) models from that time period, 1970s into the 1980s.  Hotpoint was part of the GE for many years.  JCPenney appliances were rebadged GE at the time.

Serial numbers are coded for the manufacture date (year and month) but it's missing on the tag per your photo #3.  The model is WWA-3600.

It's normal practice nowadays that a tech or service document is stashed somewhere on appliances.  Perhaps a bit unusual at that time, although a wiring diagram was typically affixed to the back panel if no hidden service document.

I'm sure everyone here would like to see an interior pic (drum and agitator).   

(edited) I found a few pics of your machine saved from a post you did in December 2022.

 

[DADoES]

 
Regards to the spin problem, the machine should spin twice during a full operation ... after the wash period (before the agitated rinsed) and after the rinse.  Does it fail to spin at both times or only for the final spin?

 

[tinbarreiro]

Wow you have a lot of information on this model. I think it is in ok shape for a machine that has been in service for that long. On a normal week we do 4 separate loads. Here are a couple of shots from the top and one from the control know for all the cycles. I use the Regular Cycle, Heavy Soil. The agitator spins no problem and there are no weird noises. The water level seems fine, the pum actually send water through the Filter Flo and it looks like it's all working fine. It drains water and fills it back up for the rinse. The agitator does the back and forth motion no issues. Im not sure if the machine spins fast in any other cycle than the final spinning cycle which seems to be the one missing. According to the "technician" that just look at it today, there is something wrong inside the transmission. According to him the motor spins properly on the washing cycles and the it spins in the oposite direction, however the drum does not spin fast at it keeps on doing the back and forth motion for the duration of the spinning cycle. Im not 100% convinced in the gearbox tranny diagnose. He also said the pressure switch has noting to do with the spinning cycle and that the Regular Cycle timer is the one in charge of that job. Now the transmission is a pain in the but to get to and if there is something wrong in there its imposible to find parts. Do you think I should be checking something else?

 

[dominic20]

cool mechiene

filter-flo resemblance harvest gold color

 

[Chetlaham]

The document inside is showing up kind of blurred on here, can you email me the pic?

 

[circlew]

I assume the color is "Harvest Wheat", the unshaded gold introduced in 1977. The machine has parts from both GE Filter-Flo and Hotpoint models.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE filter-flo

GE filter-flos were the best in my opinion. The washers and dryers that followed were stupidly cheap. It was a crime what GE did! More like a felony! The thugs at GE didn't care!

 

[Chetlaham]

@circlew: I took apart the two speed Hotpoint version of this machine. It had a dark grey basket with a unique hole pattern which others on here have referred to as a pseudo solid tub. 

 

@Jerome: I agree, these were great washers and what followed them was awful in every way.