"Dream Machine" dishwasher found and eventually rescued

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turquoisedude

turquoisedude

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It so often happens that a "dream machine" turns up  but it's in the wrong part of the universe.  However, if one is determined and patient, there are ways of snagging them.   And after a bit of finagaling with shippers, an unplanned 2-year storage delay due to the pandemic border closures, and a long drive to the NY/PA border area, I snagged one of mine. 

 

Behold one of 5 of my "unicorns" on my wish list, just brought to St-Liboire yesterday

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Yes, it's another GE pull-out dishwasher, a bow-tie impeller model, and it's turquoise.   As if that didn't tick off all the boxes, it's the highly unusual SU70T 'Custom 4-Cycle' model with an integrated rapid-advance timer.  

GE did not make this model for very long, as far as I can tell.  I've seen 4-pushbutton machines with a half-moon timer dial, however.  I don't have a great deal of information about these SU70 models, but I have the impression that the integrated rapid-advance timer was a one-off for 1960.   Unique to 1960 or not, it's a damn cool dishwasher!!

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It will need some TLC, of course.  Mousies got into it in storage and there's no insulation left on the sides of the cabinet - it's mostly all in the tub.  And the tub top gasket is toast, but that doesn't worry me.  Closed-cell foam insulation brought the 59 Princess pull-out back into servicable condition. 

 

My next steps will be to inspect the wiring and timer, then do some dry testing.  I don't have much GE dishwasher service information but in a GE Repair-Master for dishwashers, there is a very specific timer testing procedure for the 4-button integrated timer model.  I will follow that once I am sure that all the electrics are sound. 

 

IF all goes well, this GE is going to be installed in the kitchen in St-Liboire.  Timing is good 'cause the drain pump I replaced on the 63 Whirlpool seems to have crapped out on me.... Never a dull moment with vintage dishwashers.... LOL 

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Ben, you got it... LOL    There are 2 other unicorns waiting for me in Ohio thanks to help from some fellas in the Iowa part of the world... Heee heee heee!! 
 
Nemesis!!!!

Well, if it wasn't in the cards for me I'm very glad it went to someone who appreciates it and will give it the TLC it deserves. I believe this model is an SU-70T (the white grille on top suggests the vintage) and was produced in 1960 (we need a pic of the rating plate) and may, or may not have been offered in 1961 when my Parents bought an iteration of it where there was no PLATE WARM button and the dial was visible. Still a holy grail in either form.

 

Can't wait to see the Empress.

 

Thanks for posting this and here's some literature:

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How about a picture of your new dishwasher from the side and also the back? I'm wondering if this could have been the model my house came with when it was put up in 1961. We still have the original wall oven and cooktop from GE in Woodtone Brown, so I know the place came with GE appliances.
When I pulled out my crappy Bosch dishwasher to pull up the floor for remodeling, I found this behind it- a separate drain just for the dishwasher. I had never seen that before! The Bosch barely fit in there with this pipe in the way and was not using it to drain. I modified the back of the Bosch to allow for it to use this drain but now it will have to go as I'm building in a KitchenAid KDI-58. With the solid steel surround it won't fit in with the pipe but I am wondering what the original dishwasher model was. Since yours is a GE from the era I'd love to know if it might accommodate and could use this type of drain specifically for the dishwasher. Thanks!

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Gravity drain dishwashers

When we first were getting built in dishwashers in the US many were gravity drain.

Most popular ones were GE‘s hot point KitchenAid still had gravity drain till 1964 your house might’ve come with a KitchenAid dishwasher.

I don’t think GE and HP we’re still making gravity drain in 1961 however.

John L
 
Not necessarily a gravity drain

I have the manual for my ‘61 Princess and it shows the option of a separate wall drain. Perhaps some areas had local codes requiring a separate trap for the dishwasher. I think GE promoted full line kitchens.

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Our first dishwasher . . .

. . . was a GE portable with the bowtie impeller. That machine could clean anything you put in it. The impeller was remarkable. However, it could be heard on the next planet when it was running. But CLEAN it could. Loved it.

Jerry Gay
Winston-Salem, NC
 
The house my folks built in '65 had a separate drain for the BOL Hotpoint that was part of the appliance package. It was used with the KA Superba that replaced it and the GE 2800 that replaced that. It remained with the next GE and it's successor.  The copper drain line rotted out before I put the latest KA in a few  years ago and I re plumbed it to the sink drain line - not the disposal.

All these DWs had a drain pump, the drain line had a 20" pipe that ran up the back wall of the enclosure to prevent backflow. In case you are wondering that's 6 DWs over 57  years.

 

Anyway, back to the original topic glad to see a unicorn "captured"!
 

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