GE Washer Dryer Combo saved

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turquoisedude

turquoisedude

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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++6-16-2013-14-24-37.jpg
 
I thought these were missing, but nope! The control dials (very fragile creatures) are in wonderful shape and still nice and solid. Bonus!!

turquoisedude++6-16-2013-14-26-5.jpg
 
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++6-16-2013-14-30-45.jpg
 
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

turquoisedude++6-16-2013-14-35-8.jpg
 
Congratulations

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

 

 
 
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...
 
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++6-17-2013-07-15-31.jpg
 
The cabinet base and components are pretty rusty... Those water valves scare me, given the wonderful luck I have with them.

turquoisedude++6-17-2013-07-22-10.jpg
 
The pump seemed good - I could manually turn the drive shaft. I had almost expected it to be seized up!

turquoisedude++6-17-2013-07-24-43.jpg
 
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++6-17-2013-07-27-48.jpg
 
Now for the BUT....

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

turquoisedude++6-17-2013-07-30-45.jpg
 
Well, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try a 120v test. While Hubby checked my life insurance coverage, I hooked up a highly questionable two-wire supply out in the wet garage...

Well, the son-of-a-gun actually does run!!

 
Discovery and Dilemma....

I must admit that I did not expect the motor to start up so readily. The tub seems to be turning quite easily in 'tumble' mode. I manually advanced the timer through the cycle and I could hear the fill solenoids engage. The pump solenoid engaged and the pump ran smoothly. I heard the spin solenoid buzz but the tub did not accelerate to the blindingly fast 200 RPMs.... And as I had not hooked the 240v supply up, I had no way of knowing for sure if the dry function would work...

So here's the dilemma: Should I try and do any further work on this machine? I bought it as a 'parts donor' not expecting anything to work on it. My gut instinct is to grab the thermostat and swap it with the one in the Kitchen Centre (and investigate and hopefully resolve the timer power issue on that machine).

However, I think I should try a 240v test on 'Project Syracuse' to make sure the darned thermostat even works...

I have a lot of projects on the go, so needless to say, I'll be under pressure to 'get that bloody lot out of the garage' by fall. I guess I should just move down to Ogden full-time... LOL

Thoughts? Suggestions??
 
My 2 point 673 cents worth.....

 

 

Congrats Paul on scooping up another combo!  

 

My thought, as unpopular as it may be, is you bought this as a "parts donor" so use it as a parts donor.   Strip off all the useful / needed bits and say "buh bye" to the rest.

 

The cabinet / chassis, while restorable, looks pretty rusty / rough and would be a lot of work.   You said yourself you already have a lot of projects on the "to do" list, so why add another "major" project to it?

 

As Robert and others have said "You can't save them all......."

 

Kevin

[this post was last edited: 6/17/2013-14:05]
 
Combos raining down from Heaven

If it were a Maytag, John combo would be on a flight to Montreal right now.

You're retired now, and remember when that shop was almost available, and you fantasized about taking the dive and going into restoration full bore.

Well, Mister Paul Turquoisedude--that's what this customer would call you--could the Universe be any more clear of her intent for you, with this clue ?

Restored by you, this manna from above, a Vintage, General Electric, Under-counter, Automatic Washer-Dryer Combination could yield a small fortune in today's market.
Go for it.

And the new shipper Jackie from Washington State has a pick-up next month in Montreal. A practice run for your future Shipping and Receiving Department of the Turquoise Dude's Appliance Emporium. Aworg Karma is now fully at work.

And Hubby could be the Customer Host and PR vice president. (You would, however, have to check shipments to make sure he wasn't secretly adding bonuses to the order from your unappreciated private collection.) Chuckle.
 
Paul,

It's great you got this. The whole kitchen was a priced very low for someone that would have wanted to restore it. Apparantly, few had interest in doing so. Now you have plenty of spare parts for yours. Strip anything you might need and scrap the rest. There's still more antique appliances than people that appreciate them.

Most people only want something if it's very clean and in working condition, even then, they rarely want to pay the price to have it in that condition.
 
I have to agree with Kevin and others...

You have a great looking one right now. I'd possibly hook this one up and see what works and what sparks/squeals/grinds then take what you need for yours and possibly find homes for the good stuff you don't need. I usually think about saving all the machines I can but not everyone can go to the party. SOMEONE has to stay and be a parts donor. That machine could save who knows how many machines by being a donor...

RCD
 
Paul, I have never restored anything but go with your heart.  If you want to try to save it go for it.  There may be many combos out there.  I have only seen 1 in real life.  arthur 
 
Paul

do you know if the pump has its own motor or is it clutched to the main motor?

 

If all those components are working by just powering her up then I'd say you have a daily driver there, she lasted this long running and probably was retired because of the timer issue. That can be fixed. I'd restore this one for two reasons, she has the amazing cast iron transmission and the OMIT button both very rare. Well three reasons she also has the Red Danger Spin Will Robinson timer. Well FOUR reasons, she has the 3 baffle system,never seen that on a GE before, myun has the 4 baffle and as you well know mister later combos all have 6 for piece by piece washing!! So there are FOUR good reasons your other machine should become the parts donor----Heavens!!!

rare is rare.

 

I can't get over how LOUD she is.

Myun, the motor to tub belt is snapped , the motor is quiet and the tub turns easily enough but I have to take the whole thing apart to get at that belt. Haven't had the time yet.

 

 
 

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