A Rareity, A GE in Australia

[brisnat81]

Hi guys,

This turned up during curbside crawling today, I'm assuming that its manufacturing date is early 70's?

These machines were imported from the US by the James Kirby Corp in Sydney. They were only TL machine in use at that stage that wasnt manufactured locally.

It still had its filter-flow pan, and minibasket and has built in suds saver.

The base of the cabinet is made from a different metal to the rest of the cabinet and has rusted badly. An afternoon with my Dad, the Oxy torch, and a welder should be able to sort it out.

No power cord so its still waiting to be tested.

 

[brisnat81]

Lid Up

Only 1 little rust spot in the middle on top.

 

[brisnat81]

Temps and Speeds

The model number I think was 754MG, (This is on the control panel)

The model tag on the front left corner is pretty faded, so I'll need to wait for natural light to read it better.

 

[brisnat81]

Cycle Options

 

[brisnat81]

Tiny Opening

I was amazed by how small the opening is. The filterflow pan when fitted fills up the entire opening, likewise with the minibasket.

Does the 16 designate the capacity or the model series?

 

[bajaespuma]

Thank you so much.

The 16 designated the claimed capacity of "heavy mixed fabrics". In truth the US GE 16's were the same sized tubs as their V-12's introduced in 1961. The tub opening looks standard for that generation of GE's. Thank you so much for posting this. Can we get a pic of the filter pan? I'm curious.

Also, is their a mini-basket??

I'd love to know how these antipodean GE's were manufactured. The buttons and the control knob are from their US 1961-1964 model lines. The control panel is something I haven't seen before. The lid, top, lid hinges, filter-flo flume, washbasket rim, rim guard and washbasket look identical to the last filter-flo's here. The activator looks like a Sears/Whirlpool column and agitator cap with a GE straight-vane sixteen grafted on to it. This is why I'm curious to see the filter pan.

 

[brisnat81]

Filter Flo Top

Sorry about the dirt, it was found 4 hours ago, and I havent had a chance to clean it up yet.

 

[brisnat81]

Filter Flo Bottom

We had the later 80's and 90's styled machines the same as were in the US.

Before that we had the Machines with the toggle switches and the Yellow/Brown/Red woodgrain controls.

Thats what makes me think that these are earlier.

 

[brisnat81]

MiniBasket Top

Mind the dirt.

 

[brisnat81]

Minibasket Side on

 

[gizmo]

Exactly the same as my old one!!!

Hi Nat

That machine is EXACTLY exactly exactly the same as the one we had when I was a teenager.

Our Frigidaire TL was on its last legs after having already been reconditioned twice, I was working part time after school and saved up a little money so I bought a second hand GE identical to the one you have found for $50. It overflowed when we used it so I replaced the pressure switch and from then on it washed every day for plenty more years, long after I moved out from home. It agitated really fast and furious which impressed me no end. I think the clutch thingy was gone as it loaded up the motor something terrible when starting to spin. It ran on the start winding for ten or fifteen seconds which caused the whole machine to growl and vibrate till the motor got up to speed. (this MIGHT have ben the infamous two-speed clutch discussed before by USA owners...) There was what I now understand to be a centrifugal clutch on the motor which should allow the motor to drive the pump without driving the main belt, and a solenoid operated lever which should grab the clutch and stop the belt from driving whilst it pumps out ( > neutral drain). The solenoid didn't work and the lever looked a bit mangled but it washed very reliably for our family of five for some years.

I think you'll find this machine was made in Australia by James Kirby under license to GE. They also made Bendixes, the big Bendix front loaders of USA design, not the later Italian Bendixes. You can tell by looking at components and wires inside - if the water valves are "Goyen" brand or the wires have the letters "CMAPL" or "CMAL" printed on them in very fine script then it is certainly an Aussie machine. CMAL stand for Cable Makers of Australia Limited. I think the Aussies have a Crompton motor, too.

We never had the mini basket.

Ours finally died from a failed top seal and bearing. Part was $58 when you could get a reco Hoover 600 whole machine for about $200. GE were always really dear for parts.

Congrats on your find!

Chris.

 

[nasadowsk]

from memory, two speed in the US worked like this:

* The motor was single speed.

* The clutch had two pieces - the inner piece was effectively a standard GE cluch.

* There was an outer shell. It had a set of shoes that were pressed in by springs and slid out under centrifugal force.

* This gave you low speed - the belt was always driven by this outer shell, and the shoes would come off the inner drum at a lower, fixed speed.

* There was a 2nd set of shoes (actually, 2 sets), on a turntable, that had a ball bearing support sitting on the motor shaft (important).

* The infamous solinoid and flimsy arm would hold this 2nd set in place on low speed. This was easy, since it was ball bearing supported - it turned with little force.

* On high speed (which was just regular motor speed), the flimsy arm was down. This allowed the turntable to spin freely, and since the bearing was supported on the motor shaft, eventually, the turntable would start turning at decent speed. As this happens, the shoes, which were on pivitiong arms, would start to come outward. A 3rd set of shoes would be pressed inward, against the rapidly spinning inner clutch. Of course, as they grabbed on, the turntable would hit full speed, and the outer shoes would press hard against the outer clutch shell, thus giving you full speed.

Properly working, these things would start out on slow, then shift into high speed. Of course, the cheap ball bearing GE used would eventually sieze, thus meaning the turntable would always spin with the motor shaft, which means it would mangle the flimsy arm if you had slow selected, and all you could get out of the stupid thing was high speed. Oh yeah, and these things made all sorts of expensive sounding noises, too.

They were cool when they worked, but GE being GE....

I still want to know the point behind this, vs a 2 speed motor like everyone else....

 

[gansky1]

Aweseome find, Nate! I love the darker blue Activator and filter-pan - how dramatic!

 

[gizmo]

Thanks for your explanation, nasadowsk. Now, over 20 years later, it all makes sense...

chris.

 

[brisnat81]

Choice claims it was an import

Hi Chris,

Do you know how old the machine is, based on your families ownership?

I've got all of the choice magazines between 1960 and 1981 and I was pretty sure that it states the GE's were imported. I will go back and check however.

Nathan

 

[petek]

Does the water level dial have a setting for the Mini Basket? I'm not familiar with the older GE's. My 89 model also has a Mini Quick setting on the program dial to complement the mini basket..basically about a 2 min wash, quick rinse, spin and done.

 

[Unimatic1140]

WOW Nathan!

Now that is really cool Nathan. Once again so familiar to us Americans, yet so very different.

 

[brisnat81]

There is a minibasket water level

You turn the knob past low, and there is a clunk as it moves into the mini water level position.