another '99 GE washer...

[cfz2882]

... and this one just might be savable-unlike the last couple ones I had got,one the aluminum basket hub was badly corroded and broken.These other two machines were also made in 1999 Vortex type drain pumps with shaded pole motor.I know these are supposed to be craptastic,but compaired to what you can buy today,perhaps not so bad ? Decent looking timers on these '99 machines,but timer on my '08 GE hydrowave is just about the crappiest POS and is a weakness of that machine. Horribly noisy wet rotor drain pump on the '08 GE too .Plenty of spare parts salvaged from the junked machines,so should be able to get this latest one running to see what it is like.

 

[repairguy]

On some of the plastic wash basket models the pot metal hub could be replaced without purchasing the whole tub assembly. To my knowledge that option was not available on the stainless basket models and the wash basket on the stainless models was priced at $500.

 

[maytag85]

Those GE washers with the plastic tub have to be one to the cheapest top loading machines ever made, no wonder why GE lost market share since their appliances were so cheaply made after the Filter Flo washers in the mid to late 90’s.

 

[repairguy]

I don’t think GE lost much with these washers. They were very popular and many were sold through the big box stores. I worked for an old GE dealer in the early 2000’s and they were struggling to compete when a Lowes came to town and a Home Depot not long after. A lot of these machines made 10 years with no repair and some really lucky ones made it 15-20 years though not near as common. They had issues with the lower transmission bearings from the time they debuted in 1996 to the early 2000’s. Once they got past that they did good until they moved to the mode shifter and electronic controlled motor. After that they lasted about 3-5 years on average because the repair was too expensive to replace a mode shifter or motor. Yes they were absolutely built cheaper and nothing will ever compare to the filter flo.

 

[sambootoo]

Mine made it 17 years with never a repair. It suffered the lower bearing issue, just too expensive to repair. It was a good performer albeit noisy and flimsy. Matching dryer is still going strong

 

[askolover]

My sister had one...the trans started leaking oil and it just could spin very fast anymore.  I found her a barely used REAL orbital Maytag and she gave me her GE to play with.  I found a new trans on ebay and installed it.  It worked like new.  But that plastic tub has all kinds of places for water to hang around and begin to grow.  Hers had that red looking stuff growing in it...now I know it as serratia Marcescans.  I cleaned that thing really well and then sold it.  I made a little profit on it. 

 

[Chetlaham]

Friends don't let friend buy GE

Speaking from the heart and backed by robust personal experience: post GE filter flo washers are utterly thee worst piece of appliance history which could ever have existed.

There is so much wrong, in every way, with these machines being an insult to the human experience one could write a book about them. I've got the passion to do such, as nothing ingrains memories than wishing to forget them.

I can understand why the full water level and real hot fill would be a plus over a modern machine but personally I would trash those washers and buy a new BOL Aamana before those become NLA.

The Amanas have a real porcelain washbasket and a real DA agitator. They fill to the top and will outperform the GEs in wash-ability. Down side will be the time, but you get a much more durable, reliable, and honest product.

BTW, can you take pictures of control panels? I want to see those cycles.

 

[Chetlaham]

@Repair guy. GE lost a lot IMO. The only reason they sold the amount they did was because of the previous (good) reputation of their FF washers and the fact GE primarily appeals to landlords and builders who didn't care. Coupled with advertising boasting the largest capacity of any washer and the least amount of repairs it convinced just enough people to fall for them.

When they began putting these machine in new apartments and condos around me they began ending up scrapped within years. So much so a prominent rental company around 2009/2010 switched to using Whirlpool.

Though to be fair biggest offender by far (which I think did it) was their Dishwashers. Where you previously had 80-90s Potscrubbers that would outlast the kitchens the were placed in, the late 90s onward Potscubbers began dropping like flies. Timers stalling out, rinse aid leaking (triggered an ugly recall), leaking drain vales, leaking main seals, half moon washability... It was enough for the building owners.

And to icing on the cake was the customer service. The didn't want the company involved in making any repairs or honoring warranties. They just wanted someone to buy a new GE machine.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE from 2000

My GE pair from 2000 lasted from then to 2017. We have a Kenmore Elite matching pair by lg.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

2000 GE pair

The GE pair sounded and felt like the worst disaster EVER!!!! The machine shook so aggressively that you thought it will fall apart. The dryer had that silent scraping noise when it tumbled. I'm surprised they lasted for 17 years. Their agitation sounded like a carbon copy of whirlpool.

 

[combo52]

Post 1995 GE top load washers

Did not sound anything like a whirlpool, direct drive when washing, and they were very smooth when they took off into the spin cycle and handed out of balance loads very well.

Back in the 60s GE filter flow washers had a terrible reputation for walking. The story still goes around in Bowie Maryland in Levittown about a GE Filter Flow washer that actually walked through a wall. It was so violently out of balance.

Our customers with older Ge Filter Flow washers, often tied the cord in a tight knot, so that when the machine started to walk away from the wall, it would just unplug itself,

The post Filter Flow washers were not as easy to repair or probably as durable in the long run, but they sure worked a lot better. They cleaned better. They spun the clothes drier and did not redeposit scum and lint on clothing like the earlier Filter Flow machines did. and they also didn’t use water like Niagara Falls. Lol.

 

[cfz2882]

more spare parts...

...was the fate of '99 GE #3: had this machine in position for test and evaluation at backyard test stand with front panel off,when a big hailstorm came through and smashed it up:battering the control panel and breaking up the plastic outer tub...
GE washer motors in the filter-flo era could vary in quality and running quite a bit: When the motor of my "high miles"'81 filter flo wore out,i found a new one in spares stash and it was a nasty runner-tried another and that one was good-serving in the machine to this day There is also the clutch shaft runout situation and wore-off iron particles fouling lower tranny seal problem

 

[ryner1988]

My dad and stepmom had a GE filter flow all the way up to around 2011 when they replaced it with a Maytag Bravos. Oh my gosh that thing really did walk too, my bedroom was right above the laundry room and I would hear when it happened -- sounded like it was going to come up through my floor LOL and it was right off the garage so I always kinda wondered whether it would go right through the garage door. It was an okay machine otherwise but honestly I've never understood why people liked FF's so well. The walking issue coupled with the fact that in my opinion they kinda smelled bad, and the scum left on clothes as John noted above, made them subpar washers in my opinion.

My ex's aunt had a post-filter flow GE in her townhouse and I would take my laundry and wash it there often when I was in college. Never did have an issue with it being hard on my clothes and it sure did spin fast and well. However, I noticed in agitation it just didn't sound like it was all that durable, you could just tell the parts inside were cheaper than the parts in the FF's and that it probably wouldn't last super long. Personally I think it was louder than the direct drive Whirlpools by a considerable margin.

I feel like spin-drain machines are more prone to getting out of balance than neutral-drain machines unless they are really well-designed like SQ's. I've noticed that since the gearcase was replaced in my DD and it now neutral-drains properly, the out-of-balance issues are a lot less frequent. Perhaps that's part of why the post-FF GE's tended to spin smoother.

Ryne

 

[Chetlaham]

Off Balance During Spin Drain

Key is setting the water level to match the load. Going above that causes the clothes to clump together to one side during spin drain.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE vs. Whirlpool

If GE post FF didn't sound like the whirlpool DD, how did the agitation sounds compare? You can watch videos of them running and you can hear how similar they sounded while washing.

 

[panasonicvac]

Jerome

Just because they sound similar doesn't mean that they're copies like you claimed they were on your other post, Whirlpool sued GE because they stole the patents on the dual action agitator but not the sound of the motors and/or pumps. In fact, not all laundry brands make every single part themselves including the motor. They'd lease them from motor companies that are designed for a specific washer. If they sound similar, chances are they're using parts that are made by the same company. If you find that a different branded washer would sound DEAD ON the same as the other washer, that would be because both washers are put together by only one company. Like comparing a Kenmore, a KitchenAid, or a Estate to a Whirlpool. Same thing. Or another example is that if you find a GE, Maytag, or a Amana that sounds just like a Speed Queen, they were all made from the same plant. No comparison.

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[gelaundry4ever]

transmission too much torque to handle

And also, GE's transmissions had too much torque to handle. That's probably why they sounded overworked. A whirlpool or maytag transmission will handle the torque because their transmissions are bigger and heavier.

 

[cfz2882]

"plastic" GE washer transmission...

has all iron internal parts-gears and rack are "sintered" iron,can be stamped out with no machine work needed-faster and cheaper to make that way and the transmissions were in good working order on all 3 1999 washers dismantled. These washers were much easier and cheaper to make than a filter flo which was important by the 1990s

 

[gelaundry4ever]

tiny transmissions

So how could such a tiny transmission handle all of that torque without failing. The last time I've heard, these GE's had many transmission failures.