We seem to be on the subject of vintage GE dishwashers lately, so now is a good time to set-up this post.
A little background...in 1993 I built my second new house. My first was new but was a builder's spec house which had Whirlpool appliances in it. The dishwasher was a Whirlpool DU6000, which I liked but it wasn't the GE Potscrubber 2200 that I had in my condo in the 80s. Since my mother had three GE dishwashers, all if which we liked, and I had the 2200, I wanted something different than the builder's GE Potscrubber 600 which they were offering as standard fare. They gave me a $300-something credit on the house contract, and I was to supply my own machine.
When the house was being sheet-rocked, I found a stack of new-old stock GE dishwashers at the greeting area in a local Lowe's store. They had been there a while based on the dirt/dust on the top of the boxes and the different style and color print on the box sides. Three were late 80s Potscrubber 900s exactly like my Mom's 1987 model, and the other two were Potscrubber 1200s. One box had been cut open for display, so I grabbed the other. It was 50% off, and I got the machine for nearly the same amount as the builder credit. This was a GSD1200L05 model, my favorite dishwasher of all time for me.
I used the machine for 10 years exactly, before my third house was completed, and I sold the second. I left the 1200 in the house, along with my 1990 GE range that I had brought from the first house (I sold the WP range within two weeks of moving in, in favor of a GE JBP26). Stupidly wanting to start over in a new modern kitchen, I didn't bring the 1990s era appliances with me again.
The same builder built house #3 as #2, but by this time they had gone upscale with GE Profile models in the kitchens instead of barely MOL stuff. Included was a GE PDW7300 tall tub dishwasher. I loathed it from day one, in part because it was faulty from the factory and it leaked and flooded the space between the subfloor and the hardwoods, causing the hardwoods to warp and get ruined - $1800 bucks for GE to fix. The machine itself I hated too, mostly because it felt so cheap and flimsy, and could NOT be used in the same manner as I had the 1200, the DU6000, and the 2200. I could not let a week's worth of dishes pile up in the machine, and expect proper results. My comment to GE at the time "This is the most unsatisfactory appliance I've ever owned, and I should put it out to the curb with the trash". Keep in mind this was an $800 dishwasher. Lady from GE says "Well you do that sir, anything else I can do for you?". Gordon says "Yeah, you can kiss my lilly white..." never mind. So, I have not liked this GE Tall Tub dishwasher just a tad now for 8 years.
I did learn eventually to use the water temp boost feature, which helped, but many many times I wanted to kick it for delivering dirty items that used to come clean in real dishwashers.
Fast forward to 2011 when John LeFever mentions to me that he has a stache of GE 1200s, two of which he wants to rebuild. Naturally the idea of going back to the same model I had was very appealing, so the plan was born. I forgot to take a before shot, but here's what had been, now relegated to the garage.[this post was last edited: 9/18/2011-11:44]
A little background...in 1993 I built my second new house. My first was new but was a builder's spec house which had Whirlpool appliances in it. The dishwasher was a Whirlpool DU6000, which I liked but it wasn't the GE Potscrubber 2200 that I had in my condo in the 80s. Since my mother had three GE dishwashers, all if which we liked, and I had the 2200, I wanted something different than the builder's GE Potscrubber 600 which they were offering as standard fare. They gave me a $300-something credit on the house contract, and I was to supply my own machine.
When the house was being sheet-rocked, I found a stack of new-old stock GE dishwashers at the greeting area in a local Lowe's store. They had been there a while based on the dirt/dust on the top of the boxes and the different style and color print on the box sides. Three were late 80s Potscrubber 900s exactly like my Mom's 1987 model, and the other two were Potscrubber 1200s. One box had been cut open for display, so I grabbed the other. It was 50% off, and I got the machine for nearly the same amount as the builder credit. This was a GSD1200L05 model, my favorite dishwasher of all time for me.
I used the machine for 10 years exactly, before my third house was completed, and I sold the second. I left the 1200 in the house, along with my 1990 GE range that I had brought from the first house (I sold the WP range within two weeks of moving in, in favor of a GE JBP26). Stupidly wanting to start over in a new modern kitchen, I didn't bring the 1990s era appliances with me again.
The same builder built house #3 as #2, but by this time they had gone upscale with GE Profile models in the kitchens instead of barely MOL stuff. Included was a GE PDW7300 tall tub dishwasher. I loathed it from day one, in part because it was faulty from the factory and it leaked and flooded the space between the subfloor and the hardwoods, causing the hardwoods to warp and get ruined - $1800 bucks for GE to fix. The machine itself I hated too, mostly because it felt so cheap and flimsy, and could NOT be used in the same manner as I had the 1200, the DU6000, and the 2200. I could not let a week's worth of dishes pile up in the machine, and expect proper results. My comment to GE at the time "This is the most unsatisfactory appliance I've ever owned, and I should put it out to the curb with the trash". Keep in mind this was an $800 dishwasher. Lady from GE says "Well you do that sir, anything else I can do for you?". Gordon says "Yeah, you can kiss my lilly white..." never mind. So, I have not liked this GE Tall Tub dishwasher just a tad now for 8 years.
I did learn eventually to use the water temp boost feature, which helped, but many many times I wanted to kick it for delivering dirty items that used to come clean in real dishwashers.
Fast forward to 2011 when John LeFever mentions to me that he has a stache of GE 1200s, two of which he wants to rebuild. Naturally the idea of going back to the same model I had was very appealing, so the plan was born. I forgot to take a before shot, but here's what had been, now relegated to the garage.[this post was last edited: 9/18/2011-11:44]
