GE Agitator

[cycla-fabric]

Can someone tell me why this agitator in this GE washer is one of the worst I have seen in washing a load of clothes. This thing has no ability to turn over a load of clothes at all. All it does is swish them back and forth, rollover is a joke. The machine is claimed to be a V16 which isn't true, as the service book claims that the tub will hold either the V12, V14, or v16 agitator in it. Well this straight vane agitator is one I want to change out, does anyone have the curved vane agitator that they want to sell that maybe a replacement for this one. The model number of this machine is wa1040 e a from 1969 as told from my previous post on this washer find. Thanks

Doug

 

[DADoES]

 
Are your clothes coming dirty out of it?

 

[cycla-fabric]

Yes and no, lightly soiled clothing are coming out clean, but heavy soil items such as jeans dont. And I have washed the same load in a Maytag and they came out clean. Rollover is needed for good washing results, and this agitator doesn't have it.

 

[wayupnorth]

I had a GE with the same agitator in a tub not bigger than a pail, must have been an 8 pounder.. It didnt work worth crap on turnover, agitation was too fast and beat everything then I bought my Maytags in 1984 which still work perfectly. Let the GE go with a tenant and far as I know it is still working.

 

[angus]

Ok, this may be an unpopular opinion but "rollover" does not, by definition, mean better washing ability. I know people are quite critical of Consumer Reports lately, but back in the day when they actually gave detailed reviews of individual performance factors, GE washers always scored high on washing ability. I also recall Norge being in that category of "among the best in washing ability". And those were models with the straight vane agitators. Meanwhile, the Kenmore washers with "Rotoswirl" agitators (which promoted "rollover") were always rated as just decent at washing ability, but not at the top of the heap. Were the straight vane agitators rougher on clothes than curved ramp agitators? Perhaps, but we also had GE washers with both straight and curved vane agitators and I never noticed any undue wear or damage to clothes.
Maybe the straight vane models need a little more care in how they are loaded and overloading impacts washing ability, along with wash time, water temperature, detergent dosing, etc... So a lot of variables go into this.
But I guess everyone has their own opinion of this.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Changing the agitator in this water hog isn't going to change the stroke span.
If you don't love this machine, replace it with something with a triple action agitator at least. Maybe a Whirlpool made direct drive model.

 

[bajaespuma]

Easy

This GE Activator known as the "Straight-6" was designed primarily for a larger Mini-Basket with less consideration for the machine as a conventional washer (although I wonder if they didn't switch to this straight-vaned agitator to help them claim a larger capacity from less water displacement). You don't have to be a hydrodynamics engineer to notice that the 6 vanes on the bottom of this agitator are small and short while the 3 vertical vanes are large which isn't particularly helpful if you want a lot of rollover. The original Bakelite version of the Straight-6 was black and had small vanes at the bottom which were slightly longer and protruded outside the circumference of the Activator base (which might have helped a little). 

 

It'll still do the job but only if you don't overload the washbasket at all. The Spiral Activators did a much better job at muscle-ing large loads down, up and around.

 

You can replace this Activator with any Spiral version from the V-12's up to and including the "HEAVY DUTY 16's ( you just need to make sure that the internal spline is compatible with your Activator post)

 

[aircub]

not cleaning!

Hi,
you are doing something wrong if your clothes are not coming out clean, not hot enough water or its your detergent, because i have the same agitator and live on a beef and dairy farm, i have washed thousands of pairs of really really dirty jeans and always came out sparkling clean. sounds to me like your over loading the machine which can also be the problem. try changing things and i know your results will be better. also make sure the agitator is moving not slipping on the shaft, which i have seen happen!
Happy washing!

Darren

 

[laundryboy]

If you want to sell the straight vane one I’ll gladly buy it from you
Chris.