Building a GE FF from scratch

[qualin]

It makes me wonder now, posting on another thread..

Would it be possible to build a completely "Brand New" GE Filter-Flo machine using parts found through EBay, Appliance stores, etc, etc?

Considering that GE hasn't built a new FF machine for nearly 20 years, it makes me curious now.

I know it probably would be extremely expensive, but on the upside it would be a "new" machine.

Just a thought...

 

[vintagekitchen]

Well..

If I understand corrctly, there would be a few basic peices like the base and outer cabinet that one probably couldnt find new, as well as possibly a small bit or bob along the way, but theoretically, it should be very possible, but also very expensive..

Of course, it would also be beyond my mechanical abilites as well.

 

[pierreandreply4]

or there is always the option to buy a machine like this one

or there is always the option of buying an old set like this old 1970 eaton viking set washer and dryerstrip it a part use the cabinet of the washer replace the control board with a ge control board replace the top that has the side lid with a genuine ge top modify it for those that would like a mini basket option paint it in the color of there choice and voila a ge ff washer

 

[qualin]

Well, I kind of wonder what it would cost, assuming one could find all of the pieces.. My guess it would be a bit north of $2000..

Pierre, my question was regarding building a washer from "New Old Stock" or NOS parts, not piecing together something from old equipment. I appreciate the input, but that's not quite what I'm looking for.

I can only imagine how many parts go into a GE FF... Timer, water level switch, selector switches, control panel, outer cabinet, outer tub, inner tub, agitator, hoses, agitator, transmission, seals, motor, belts, pulleys, braces, etc..

 

[badgerdx]

OMG! Eaton Vikings, Pierre... I hadn't thought of Eaton's in AGES and just yesterday I was telling someone about them. HOW FUNNY~!

 

[pulltostart]

Pierre,
Cool-looking set! Thanks for the pic.

lawrence

 

[combo52]

Building A New GE FF Washer from left over NOS Parts.

This could be done in theory, but why. Even if you could do this you would likely end up with a lower quality machine than if you found a very low mileage washer and just put everything that needed attention back into like new condition.

 

The Reason, quality control on replacement parts is sometimes not as good as when the machines were in full production. And many NIB parts you will find and use are as old as the original machine would have been anyway and have deteriorated just sitting there in a box. This is why a new car or appliance will often go 100,000 miles on the original hoses, belts, spark plug wires etc but once you start replacing parts the replacements often do not last as long as the original parts did.

 

An Appliance Repair friend of mine tried to rebuild a 1978 LKM about ten years ago by replacing every mechanical and electrical with brand new parts. The machine came out great but he was surprised when in the first year or so the machine suffered several failures of what were brand new parts.

 

It is just much easier for the factory to assemble a high quality machine when they have complete control of the whole process.

 

[jetcone]

Fascinating!

Makes sense to me. Replacement parts if not factory replacements are probably designed for 5 years use that would put the original machine at about 12-15 years out.

Love those Westward parts now there's high quality!

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Speaking of other threads, in one recently I mentioned having "re-parted" a 1983 Kenmore washer that had been parted out by a sales and repair buddy of mine. This was in 1992 or so. The machine was less than 10 years old, and I had to buy a baseplate for it. The original had been consumed in the repair of another machine more easily saleable by my friend. The rebirthing of that machine was quite fun and educational.

At that point I wondered about the same thing - is it possible to build a WP/KM belt-drive washer completely from parts. Just as John said, the answer was "well, technically speaking YES, it can be done", however, even back in 1992 there were challenges to building a copy of even the most recently built belt-drive, which were made only 6-years earlier.

It you want to be true to your plan and use nothing but factory repair/replacement parts, even at six or seven years, some pieces were hard to find. A new cabinet being the toughest, followed by the console. There were four or five commonly used consoles for BDs in 1986 but by the early 90s their parts supply stock was gone. Common service parts would be easy, but the not often replaced items would have been difficult. Today it would be nearly impossible, even with much better search technology to find slow-moving parts stached here and there.

The baseplate I bought was $82 if I recall. It had bearings pressed in, but no upper and lower seals. I can't imagine the repair bill to actually use one of those for a customer. We estimated that a parts-built BD would have cost over $1000, even at wholesale parts prices. This was 20 years ago...

Gordon

 

[geextrarinse]

WOW!!!

I Love that Viking set!!! Can anyone tell me if they were like Hotpoints inside with the filter ring? Then they had a side opening lid to contrast with their GE products? Just wondering - who has a set of these? Tell me more!

 

[doug]

Ge or hotpoint?

The inside of the Viking washer has a ge set up with the ff pan! I actually have pictures save on my flash drive of this set, ill see if i can upload some!These look like fun to do ur wash in

 

[tecnopolis]

I have an extra Stainless steel basket from a newer GE I thought of having modified to fit the Filter-Flo. The newer tub uses a mounting hub and it is that hub that would need to be drilled to accept the filter flo tub mount.
I spoke to a welder about possibly welding something together and he was afraid the Newer tub hub was made of "pot" metal and would not stand up to any temperatures welding would create.
He also mentioned it would be very hard to get everything "hubcentric" to eliminate any balancing issues. Not to big a deal for washing, but not ideal when spinning.

 

[tecnopolis]

It would be easy to modify a drain pump from any washer or dish washer to act as a re circulation pump, the rub would be in creating an opening deep enough into the outer tub to provide for pickup and prevent cavitation. It would also be very noisy since it would have to run constantly during the wash cycle, sometimes as long as 14 minutes?
And I would also have to create some kind of balance ring as I don't think the upper stainless steel tub would be able to resist deformation during a high spin without some kind of bracing.

 

[tecnopolis]

...Of course these would be all Genuine GE parts.

 

[tecnopolis]

...if you look at the handwash agitator for the filter-Flo, it kind of looks like the hydrowave activator. If you remove the centerpost you could almost picture the fabric softener dispenser.

 

[tecnopolis]

Ok, maybe not identical, but the low profile is similar.

 

[tecnopolis]

..

 

[pierreandreply4]

fliter flo pan on this particular model

geextrarinse to answer your question one of my aunts had this excat set and this set is like a ge filterflo and have a pan on top of the agitator if my memory serves me right and this would also be one of my dream set to own as daily driver if i ever hd to buy vintage.

 

[fido]

FF?

I was expecting this thread to be about a fridge freezer!