GE Dryer

[114jwh]

Here is a recent find I couldn't pass up. The lady that owned it refused to use a dryer - all of her laundry was hung on a line. As such, this dryer has almost no evidence of use - no scratches, wear marks etc

I'm curious about the push button open - Ive seen threads with pedal operated doors on GE's but never push button.

 

[114jwh]

Based on what I've been able to find out, appears to be a 1967 model. It has automatic dry, interior light and the panel lights up too! I really like the porcelain drum and having the porcelain top.

 

[114jwh]

Connect to 120V

I'd like to try this out on a 120V line however there at no instructions to do this on the back and the wiring appears to be a bit different on this GE. I've attached the wiring diagram below. If I connect the hot wire of a standard cord to the terminal with the two red wires (L1) and neutral to neutral, the motor and accessories power up. I wondering about the heating element - appears I could move the black wire from the L2 to neutral?

If anyone has any insight, that would be great.

 

[trainguy]

Congratulations!

What a great find! Who can resist a lighted console?

 

[turquoisedude]

Nice find, James!  Is it a V14 model?

 

Have a look at the tags on or around the door - the instructions on how to wire the dryer for 120-volt service were often there along with a switch that needed to be adjusted to compensate for the lower voltage using the automatic dry cycle.

My 62 V12 dryer is buried at the moment and am pretty sure it had these instructions.

 

[turquoisedude]

Ah Ha!

I found this picture on my laptop from the 57 GE dryer - this should be what you need to do.  Hope this helps!

 

[bajaespuma]

Interesting

Thank you for posting this. I believe this is indeed a 1967 model, the only year with that particular chevron over the control panel and blue backgrounds for the "OFF"  positions on the dial.

 

Very interesting that:

<ol>
<li>The door pushbutton is news to me. I would ask you if you could take some closeups of that button and the mechanism inside the door to see if it's the same as the one for the pedal openers. I have NEVER seen this before on any other GE dryer nor have I seen this in any brochure or cut-sheet. GE was about to discontinue the "automatic" door opening feature from all of its models; possibly they were trying out an alternative before scrapping the thing entirely. You have a rare beast.</li>
<li>The word they are using on the Electrical Schematic for the backsplash is the original from the early '50s when appliance manufacturers started to attach splashguards to the backs of the units that later housed the controls: "backsplasher".</li>
<li>I will look in my collection of instruction manuals for a model that's close to that one for the conversion from 220v to 110v. I think it's standard for all of those GE models but with electrical stuff you want to be very careful. The heater will work on that current but wont get very hot. It will take the load 3-4x the time to dry.</li>
<li>It would be helpful if you could take a closeup shot of the rating plate that's inside the dryer door. That plate, BTW, has a screw on one side that you will need to remove to get to a small control that needs to be reset if and when you want to convert the power setting. This plate has the model and serial numbers embossed into it.</li>
</ol>

 

[pulltostart]

I agree with Ken

I've never seen this push button feature before.  Very interesting!  They lost the pedal when they introduced the larger capacity dryers without the toe space.  Could be that like Ken says, this was one way to keep the convenience feature.

 

Great score - love the illuminated console!

 

lawrence

 

[circlew]

It looks a great deal like the GE Versatronic dryer my former neighbor Thelma had for many years. However, I think it had the foot operated opener rather than a pushbutton; I know it didn't have any handle for the door. The tag says made in USA, but could this be a model intended for sale only in Canada?

 

[pulltostart]

Reply #2

The wiring diagram that you included indicates this is a Model 90D81 unit.  That nomenclature doesn't agree with any US General Electric dryers that I know about.  So, as suggested above, this is probably a Canadian product.  In US terms, a "D" in the model would indicate a 1968 product; might this be a 1968 model?  Could help to explain the push-button feature as well.  While no specific capacity was ever advertised for their dryers, by 1968 the washers were claiming the 16-pound capacity.  The washers featured the 14 over the "V" crest, but the dryers only had the "V", just as this one has.

 

lawrence

 

[philcoford]

Nice!

I was happy to see this, looks exactly like the one my parents bought in the summer of 67, matched set. Dryer Wes still going when the sold the house 30 years later. I always loved those lighted consoles, I would love to find do a set around here.
Congrats on your find.

 

[bajaespuma]

Yeah,

I wondered if this was a Canadian model but since I didn't see any French on the control panel I dropped the thought. If we can get a picture of the rating plate, we'll see.

 

[114jwh]

Sorry guys for not mentioning it in the beginning - this is a Canadian model.

Appears that the pushbutton uses the same mechanism as the foot pedal from what I've read. There is a screw right under the pushbutton that I believe shouldn't be there. When you close the door it just contacts the screw head, preventing it from making full contact with the magnetic latch. I think it was probably riveted on at one point and someone maybe drilled out the rivet to facilitate lifting the top to change the lightbulb or something? The machine really shows zero use but I'm pretty sure that screw is not supposed to be there.

Paul - thank you for that scan. This looks very similar to how the terminals are wired on this dryer. As such, I think the step I need to take now is to move the black wire from L2 to neutral to get the heater to go.

Ken - thanks for all the insight. I had thought this was a 1967 model as I think I read a post you made that the blue markings on the dial were a 1967 only feature. However, I guess this could be different in Canada. I was wondering the other day why the rating plate had a screw and a rivet so that explains it. I never would have known there was a reset switch behind there. Thanks for that important tidbit!

Here are some more pics

 

[114jwh]

I found this newspaper ad for this dryer and the matching washer. The newspaper is dated October 1968 so appears you might be right Lawrence, a 1968 model!

 

[pulltostart]

Wow!

That's just beautiful.  Such a great find!  Thanks for the photos.

 

lawrence

 

[bajaespuma]

Thanks for the photos

Every time I see a Canadian iteration of an American appliance I ask, "Why do our companies produce better versions of their products for the Canadian market than the ones they sell here?" Is it because of the companies or because of the different customers. I wonder if Canadians, like Europeans, wont accept the amount of mediocrity that Americans have been accustomed to.

 

[114jwh]

thanks for the replies guys!

Appreciate it!

I know that prior to the trade agreements, it was more cost effective to have separate Canadian divisions/factories to produce their products than to import from the US. There were also different safety regulations, for instance, we've had appliance outlets on ranges way after the US had to discontinue the feature due to some kind of regulatory requirement I've read. But we were also behind on technology to some degree - I believe belt drive WP/KM/Inglis washers survived on this side of the border much longer than the US. So many different factors I guess!

Does anyone have an equivalent US version of this dryer from 1968? Has anyone ever seen the matching washer (or equivalent) to this dryer? The model is 91W81 according to the newspaper ad above. What I really like about this model is the blue stainless backsplash - really looks timeless on this model. Would love to find a matching washer but probably easier to find a needle in a haystack!

I did remove that screw on the model plate and there isn't any switch behind there so not sure if perhaps this model isn't meant to work on 120V? Don't know why the screw is there since that is the case.

Thanks again guys!

 

[eddy1210]

James, what a great find! Congrats on that beauty, I think a trip to the Okanagan should happen soon!

 

[combo52]

Nice GE Dryer

Nice score James, this is truly a classic GE dryer, it is always interesting to see the differences between US and Canidian models.

 

Hi Ken, In regard to reply #15, US appliances during the 50s through the 90s were always more feature equipped than Canadian or European appliances. This lovey GE dryer does not have GEs great compensated auto dry or electronic dryness or foot-petal door opening that the equivalent TOL  US model would have had.

 

The list is long of TOL appliance features that we had in the US that did not make it to Canada, In laundry appliances few if any all push button washers & dryers, few or no 3 speed or variable speed washers, very few combination WDs, many fewer console lights, dispensers and self-cleaning lint filters and with WP laundry they always had the older cabinet stamping s and older styling.

 

And the list of features is even longer on refrigerators and ranges.

 

John L.