New to me vintage Canadian GE Filter-Flo

[raypierrewit]

Hello, I'm new to the forum/vintage appliances and just purchased a very clean set of vintage Canadian GE Filter-Flo washer and dryer. Our previous washer, 2008 front loaded LG TROMM, gave us 13 years of mostly trouble-free duty. I never liked that machine though and told my wife that our next one would be a vintage top loader. Found this set locally for a great price and promptly picked them up.

The previous owner clearly took good care of them, they are both in great working order and I'm totally invested in repairing the washer myself when needed. We were both flabbergasted by how much cleaner our clothes are! No doubt these machines outperform what we had previously. I believe they are 1978 models.

I'll include a bullet list of quick questions for the knowledgeable FF people out there, many thanks!

- I know this a large capacity (not extra large), but can't tell where on the BOL - TOL it stands? Is it a two speed machine?

- Are all models of FF Lint Filters compatible? Mine, sadly, was not included in the sale... we have two huskies and a cat and often hang our clothes to dry.

- If I were to gather pieces likely to fail in the future off of ebay, what would be important to purchase?

Daniel

 

[pulltostart]

Daniel,

Congratulations on your new-to-you Filter flo pair!

 

I'm not familiar with the Canadian offerings, but just looking at the washer console it appears that yours is by no means a BOL machine.  It appears to have 5 water temperature combinations, 3 speed combinations and 3 water levels, and a bleach dispenser.  About the only thing missing from an American counterpart might be an optional second rinse (and I can't say with certainty that a second rinse feature was ever offered on the standard capacity models after the large capacity machines were introduced).

 

Not all filter pans are created equal; however, as long as you aren't trying to place the filter pan on top of a mini basket, I think even one of the large capacity pans should work.  Check ebay, they do crop up from time to time.  And, sometimes others here at aw.org have parts they're willing to sell.

 

Again - congratulations and have fun!

 

lawrence

 

[rpms]

If you need a mini basket I have one.

 

[raypierrewit]

Thanks for the responses!

Many thanks for the information Lawrence. You deciphered the washer console very well. The only nuance is that there aren't just 3 water levels, appears to be several intermediary steps between the three pictograms. I don't think there is a second rinse cycle, not sure I'd use it anyways as I've noticed it uses quite a lot of water is is.

RPMS, I will send you an email regarding the mini basket, very kind!

 

[appnut]

Having difficult time reading the control panel--does this model have mini basket/mini wash setting on the water level knob (it's a notch below the lowst area of the variable water level section) as well as a specific mini-wash cycle on the timer dial.

 

[raypierrewit]

appnut

There doesn't appear to be a mini basket/mini wash setting on the water level knob and no specific mini-wash cycle on the timer dial. Here are some close up shots of the control panel. I really like the pictograms, too bad the timer dial's are a little worn out.

 

[pulltostart]

Oops

My bad - infinite water level (ILO 3 levels).  No mini-wash level.

 

lawrence

 

[raypierrewit]

Mini-basket?

So seeing as how the machine hasn't got a mini-basket water-level or mini cycle, am I to understand that the mini-basket wouldn't be useful?

 

[pulltostart]

Pretty much.

 

lawrence

 

[repairguy]

Congrats on your GE pair. Search eBay for WH45X141 and you can get you a filter pan.

 

[DADoES]

 
The speeds settings from left to right are Normal (fast agitation, fast spin), no-iron Permanent Press (probably fast agitate, slow spin), and Delicate (slow, slow).

Mini-Wash water level is lower than the regular Low level ... essentially just enough water fills into the big tub to then fill the Mini-Basket via pumping it up through the filter circulation port and provide a continual overflow out of the Mini-Basket for filtering recirculation.

 

[raypierrewit]

Thanks for all the responses, what a great community of folks here. A member has graciously offered to send me a filter pan, he also owns a Husky and assured me that it's a godsend for the amount of fur and lint it collects!

 

[whitetub]

Interesting 5 different wash/rinse temperatures selections:

From Left to Right: Cold/Cold, Warm/Cold, Hot/Cold, Warm/Warm and Hot/Warm.

 

[DADoES]

 
Standard 5 choices for a fully-featured machine.

 

[barcoboy]

raypierrewit, try turning your water level knob past the low setting. On my Canadian Filter Flo, it will go past low and click into position at 7 o'clock and 5 o'clock, resulting in a much lower water level. It is possible though that my control was replaced by the previous owner.

 

[raypierrewit]

Wouldn't you know it, it does click into position at 7 and 5 o'clock! Thanks for the suggestion, haven't tried to see if the water level is lower but it sure seems promising. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[appnut]

That additional notch proves you have minibasket wash function capability.