Early Mechanical Dishwashing

[toploader55]

Wow Colt Auto San

Holy S--T,
Does that bring back memories. I had totally forgot about them. When did they go out of business ? I remember seeing a few of those as a child.
But Tom...You are absolutely right. Hobart did say and there are no more true words..."Either the dishes have to move or the water has to move". My Dad's restaurant had a Insinger "Ensign". A 16x16 rack, stationary spray tubes and was a roll top model similar to the Hobart LM and SM models. The Hobart Rolltops had a revolving lower wash arm where as the Insinger had stationary spray tubes. The results : Horrible on the Insinger that is. I used to love to go to the used restaurant equipment warehouses and see all those Mammoth Hunks of Stainless Steel waiting for either a new home or just waiting there destiny. Blakeslee wan't too bad of a machine. Their "Sani Stream Spray Boxes" were some what of a disappointment though.
I do believe that Insinger now has an exclusive with the U.S. Navy and builds all their machines for ships and aircraft carriers. I was at their Web Page last year. I'm still not too impressed with the design. One of our service techs for the restaurant highly recommended them though.
What are your thoughts on Insinger and Colt Autosan stevet ????????

 

[bestcleaning]

Oh My. Dishwasher 1911? Very cool. Thank you for posting this.

 

[stevet]

A COLT by any other name would be a ....

Vulcan-Hart!
Yes beleive it or not, Vulcan took over that line many years ago and they continued building dishwashers until the very early 90's. They were very heavy duty machines as were their Mixers..Yes planetary mixers like Hobarts and Blakeslees and Univex's!

Vulcan used to have a very full line of Food equipt but after Hobart bought them out in 1981 or so, they saw no need to have a competing line. When I began working for Acme American in Brooklyn in 1989, they were already beginning to phase them out and then they just stopped providing parts for them. Only if the parts were used on another line would they still be available. The dishwashers had stationary washarms which even Hobart had gone to. Gone were those revolving arms with the cool bearing housings on top. I have actually worked on a few down here in Daytona and in Deland. The one in Deland is gone now but the one in DAB is still cranking along.
As far as Insinger is concerned, their bread and butter is definitely the US Navy and the joke in the industry was that anytime a ship went to sea, it ordered up a load of spares for their machines and when they returned to port, they tossed them overboard. Really keeps Insinger in the Parts business.

What you have to realize is that while there are many great ,machines out there, the basic idea is the same and most manufacturers all did it pretty much the same and continue to build the same basic machines as they have been building. No reason to change a successful platform. You will see this more and more from the niche players but when it comes to Hoabrt and Champion and now some of the european mfr's they will constantly change their designs and take advantage of technology and materials.
Ed, wait till you see the NEW Hobart C-Line machines..would you beleive no more up and down doors? How does two swing open cabinet style doors per section grab you?

 

[stevet]

Waffle House???

Yes WH used to use the good old SM machines in their restaurants and I am sure there are still many in use as we speak. Hobart ceased productioon of them way back and when Waffle house needed new ones, they wound up going to Champion to have them build one for them.
Of course it looked nearly identical and they both used a 16x16 inch dishrack which allowed for the in counter mounting in a standard 24 " deep counter.
IIRC, the model designation was RM-16 for rolltop machine.

The LM was a full sized version using the 20x 20 racks.So they would not have used it in their restaurants.
Guess I will have to stop in now and see what they are using in and around my area.

 

[duetboy]

I'm sure you've all seen this on you tube

but I thought I'd post it here, too! It's a Hobart dishwasher at a show. They've put in a clear plastic panel to show it's wash action. Watch out tupperware!

Jeff

 

[toploader55]

Meiko at Work

I'll post a few pics of the commercial machine at my job. It's a Meiko. Sort of new around here. Made in Germany, not too reliable(considering it comes from the land of BMW and Daimler Benz). Note the I, II, III pads. I is Short Wash,II is Normal Wash, and III is "Intensive Wash". I is about 60 seconds. II is about 120 seconds, and III is roughly 4 minute wash. All cycles depend if the final rinse booster and tank are at specified Temperatures.

 

[toploader55]

Second Shot

Is the lower spray arm. it's a fairly well thought out Spray Pattern. The machine cleans very well. (As long as there is not an issue with the circuit boards), Ohhhhhh, I long for the old days with the cam timers.

 

[toploader55]

Up Shot

This is the top Wash arm. Same spray as the Lower one, They are interchangeable. The smaller arm with the pin holes are the Fresh Water Rinse Arms.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Seems like having the wash chamber raise like that lets a lot more heat escape than just having doors on two sides, but what do I know?

 

[toploader55]

You're 100% right Tom

As I said, the machine cleans well. But is horrible in design. Our machine is 3 years old and we've already replaced the Rinse Pump, Drain Pump,fill solenoid,2 Main Circuit Boards,and a Start Switch. I am always walking by the machine closing the door to keep the heat in. The owner said she chose that machine because a Hobart wouldn't fit in the space. I told her she got bamboozled because there used to be a Hobart there. And they're all pretty much the same size for replacement reasons.As a tech told me many years ago when they started to incorporate circuit boards into Commercial Dishmachines "This is nothing but trouble. This kind of electricity and water just don't mix".

 

[toploader55]

Hey STEVE

Have you checked out the Meiko ?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, however I believe I just found an image of the absolute very first General Electric dishwasher from the early 1930's after GE acquired the Walker Dishwasher Company. Just wanted to put it here for reference as this is the thread it should go in...

 

[tomturbomatic]

Is that your downstairs kitchen, Robert?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Is that your downstairs kitchen, Robert?

That would have to be the sub-basement below the main basement Tom lol.

 

[tomturbomatic]

It is so beautiful, like something you would do, I thought maybe you had excavated out to the side. There was a rock group called the Walker Brothers and every time I heard their name, I used to think of the Walker Dishwasher people.