GE Washer Dryer Combo saved

[turquoisedude]

As promised, here are some pictures and further information about the washer-dryer combo saved from the crusher! The machine was part of a GE Wonder Kitchen that was up for sale in the Syracuse NY area - I had seen it before heading on the big road trip and was kind of surprised it was still there when I got back. Well, I figured I had nothing to loose, so I contacted the seller about the washer dryer and the wall oven. And I got 'em both! More about the oven in another thread.

So, here's the combo - a bit grimy from being stored and moved around several times in the past years, but nothing horribly bad in terms of damage.

 

[turquoisedude]

I thought these were missing, but nope! The control dials (very fragile creatures) are in wonderful shape and still nice and solid. Bonus!!

 

[turquoisedude]

The door boot looks kinda rough, but it's still surprisingly soft and pliable.

 

[turquoisedude]

Inside the tub, there are some rust stains, but no evidence of 'rot-through'. Not sure how intact the inner tub is, but initial inspections did not show anything (it could still leak in the drain sump, though - I'll only know that with some water in it),

Best of all, the dry control thermostat probe is present; I was keeping my fingers crossed that the probe wire to the thermostat was also present!

 

[turquoisedude]

Now, this is interesting... Note the selections on the pushbutton control. What looks different here?

Here are some clues:

The model number is a 1WD562N1G. That makes it a washer-dryer combo made specifically for a Kitchen Centre in 1956 and turquoise.

The serial number is RN301986. According to my GE 'decoder ring', the machine was built in April of 1956 and was the 986th unit built in the month.

Debate and discuss.

In the meantime, I am going to do some more tinkering... LOL

 

[paulc]

Congratulations

Paul. I think these are my favourite US combo's. I just find them fascinating.Looking forward to seeing it up an running.

 

[goatfarmer]

Nice machine, good luck with it!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations!

I love the red area for the spin. Did it indicate Danger? According to the buttons, this has the water heating option. Like the Maytag, it used indirect water heating by using the dryer heater to heat the drum and then the water instead of an immersion element like Bendix. Did you notice when you looked into the tub if it only has 4 tub vanes? If it has, it is the transmission model that spins after each drain period. After the first year, the machine was radically redesigned. The tub got 6 vanes and the transmission was scrapped in favor of the variable sheave pulley for speed changes.

 

[turquoisedude]

Spin danger

No doubt a warning of the 200 RPM spin speed.... LOL Seriously, I think that it may indeed have been to alert users that with the 'normal' dry setting, the calrods did power up to preheat the clothes.

Surprisingly, this machine has but three baffles (like the 56 combo in my Kitchen Centre). I can't recall if the 55 combos did, too (Jon, please chime in if you're out there!!). If it's like the combo in the kitchen, there's no spin until the indicated segment on the timer.

 

[jetaction]

How fun this is!

Congratulations Paul!

 

[bellalaundry]

Paul...

What luck!

 

[jetcone]

I bet yours is not too far after mine

they only had "OMIT DRY" the first two model seasons, my combo has 4 baffles in the tub, it is a 1955 model. It has the transmission and a separate motor/pump combo. Yours probably has a clutch connect to the big motor but the same balance mechanism as mine.

 

Nice find but so amazing you got it in your color scheme. thats serendipity!!!

 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Ding Ding Ding! We have a WINNNAH!

Well done, Jon - I thought the Omit Dry option was only on the 'standalone' units like your '55, but my guess is that they switched sometime midway through the 1956 year run.

Now, what on earth should I do with it... Cannibalize it for parts or try to restore it?? HMMM.... Let's see what's inside it...

 

[turquoisedude]

Further exploration...

I had to see what was 'under the hood' with this latest Combo. code-named "Project Syracuse" so that Hubby doesn't figure out what this is...

I took it apart and noticed some well-eaten insulation... BUT good news - the wiring and most importantly, the probe wire for the dry thermostat seemed to be intact.

Guess the New York mice don't have the same taste for copper as the Texan mice do!

 

[turquoisedude]

The wiring diagram is gone... Good thing I actually have a manual for this one!

 

[turquoisedude]

The cabinet base and components are pretty rusty... Those water valves scare me, given the wonderful luck I have with them.

 

[turquoisedude]

The pump seemed good - I could manually turn the drive shaft. I had almost expected it to be seized up!

 

[turquoisedude]

The remaining drive components still seemed OK, too. I could still turn the tub and when I turned the motor pulley, it in turn made the tranny and tub turn. This was starting to look encouraging!

 

[turquoisedude]

Now for the BUT....

I always like to test the timer motors on my new acquisitions. This one has a case of 'dead'...