Nope, it's not a Slim Silhouette washer after all...

[turquoisedude]

I was pretty happy to get this unusual, low-end GE automatic washer from Queensbury, NY and into the house in Ogden yesterday (well, actually really early this morning...).

 

I was able to find a model number - WA350T1 so that would date it to 1960.  My first item from that year!

 

The machine looks like it has been sitting for a looooonnnnnng time, but the tub and activator still seem intact.  The control panel is very simple - love the turquoise water temperature switch.  However I was afraid the timer dial was damaged... 

 

[turquoisedude]

But a chance encounter with a damp towel proved that it's just a really heavy layer of crud!  It'll take some detailing, but the cycle control knob is still in pretty decent shape.  Bonus!

 

[turquoisedude]

The moment of truth...  With the 'new' GE refrigerator also plugged in and running in the basement, I nonetheless threw caution to the wind and decided to see what happened when I plugged in the WA350 washer... 

 

Notice that I used the circuit the 51 Unimatic is normally plugged into - I figued I might need the extra power... LOL

 

Well, the results were not optimal...  At first start-up toward the end of the wash portion of the cycle, the tub spun slightly but the activator did not budge.  I tried to make it spin, but there was no movement.  On a positive note, the motor did start up immediately.  The pump drive collar seems to have been disconnected and the drive belt from the motor to the tranny was sliding.   Looks like I've got a locked-up transmission here... 

 

I'll do some more tinkering and get a few more pictures on the weekend, but it looks like the WA350 is going to be a long-term project.  I have already made a resolution that in 2015 I will restore the 57 GE Filter-Flo and hopefully also the 53 WA450 automatic that Mike Haller brought up from Washington last summer.  

 

That 53 model looks very similar mechanically to the 60 WA350 so after I get through with the 53, the 60 should be a piece of cake!  Well, I'll keep telling myself that... LOL 

 

 

 

 

[hippiedoll]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

on your new addition.

it looks really neat. the agitator looks so different, very cool!!
sorry that you couldn't get it going when you plugged it in. i hope it will be easy to get this up & running.

GOOD LUCK!!!
sending positive vibes your way and keeping my fingers crossed for you.....

thanks for sharing the pictures. i've never seen a GE washer like this one. like i said, cute & cool!!!

)

 

[turquoisedude]

Thanks Christina!  This one is going to be... a challenge... Yes, that will do... 

 

I wanted to do some more testing of the washer today and I did.   I fiddled around with the belt and seemed to be able to get the transmission pulley turning again.  I figured 'what the heck' and plugged the beastie in again.   Amazingly, it started to spin!  It revved right and surprise - it ejected some water that had been in the tub.  I wound up with a wet floor, so I stopped the machine and tried hooking up a drain hose.  By then the water had been spun out of course... 

 

So, I figured it would be worth trying an agitation test.  For that I had to cheat the water level switch (it's at the bottom of the tub like the 53 GE WA450) and I just cut and spliced the wires together temporarily.  It tried to agitate, starting with a wee 'sympathetic spin' but got no further than that.  The sounds it made were not calming and reassuring, so I cut the current but quick.  

 

This one's gonna need work... Let's see how long it takes me to better a GE transmission... LOL 

 

[turquoisedude]

I did one final test for today - the timer.   Amazingly, the timer motor still runs!  Noisily, but it runs...  I kinda figured it would, though...  I actually have a spare motor for this style of timer.   

 

Something tells me this one will be leaving the Ogden Laundry/Workshop soon and something else will be taking it's place though... Stay tuned.  

 

[jetcone]

you are Correct Sir Edward - wash cam in the offing

such a washer-tease !

 

[bajaespuma]

In 1960 this machine still cost some folks a pretty penny.

Interesting how in 1960 the BOL cycle control knob is using times and terms from earlier in the decade. Can't wait to see it all cleaned up. I'm curious to see if this thing is designed to do an overflow rinse as it lacks the whole Filter-Flo thing.

 

 

One request: please, PLEASE, remove that jury-rigged backsplash thing that has no business being there. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Always remember - you asked for it!

Ken, I agree that the el-cheapo backsplash had no place on the WA350T....  

 

It's gone now!

 

[turquoisedude]

So I got to tinkering with it a bit this afternoon... It's in the basement, hubby's not here, and the chance to practice on a GE BEFORE messing up the 57 WA855 or the 53 WA450 was irresistible.  

 

Now, recall that I did get the washer to spin and drain, I proved that the timer works, but I can't seem to make it agitate.   I figured a good place to start would be to try removing the activator.  I got as far as getting the cap off previously, but couldn't make the activator budge.  I figured it would be worth my while to poke around under the cap... 

 

What I found isn't pretty....  I had to dig out a lot of powdery residue from around the drive block (detergent and water scum precipitate, I guess).  The good news is that I got out just about all of it and water will now freely flow down the inside of the activator shaft.   I expected a puddle of water under the washer but amazingly enough, there wasn't one.  Perhaps the tranny boot is still salvagable!   More good news - I started up the machine in spin and it noisily accelerated to full spin speed and threw off the accumulated water from the tub.  But geez it's a noisy bugger!

 

But with a clear view, something sure doesn't look right...  I'll need to dig into my service stuff but that drive block looks in awfully bad shape and it sure doesn't seem to align with the activator top opening.  Looks like something jammed the activator and forced it off the block.  

 

So here's the first dilemma... What to do to safely remove the activator...  Would a 'Turban of Terror' work in a case like this?  What would be a good method of re-aligning what's left of the drive block triangle with the agitator top?   

 

I guess I understand why that evil Camco technician assumed they'd have to break the agitator off the family V12 washer back in '73....   GGGRRRRR.....

 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Some further progress!

I am feeling the need to tinker with washers... what can I say...  

 

So today, I figured I had nothing to lose by applying more hot water and attempting to get a grip on the activator from the bottom to try and shift it.   I accumulated a good amount of water in the tub and was grateful that the spin and pump functions still seem to work on this one! 

 

But yeesh, look at the crud that washed out of the activator shaft!

 

[turquoisedude]

Much to my amazement, after a good hard right turn, the activator loosened!

 

I was able to move it on the shaft at last... but only so far.  Something seemed to be catching at the bottom of the activator, like a ridge.  

 

So I went in with the remote inspection camera.  

 

In the first photo, there does seem to be some sort of a ring or seal when you look from the top opening of the activator down into the tub...

 

But when you look up from underneath, there's evidence of some kind of mounting plate (that's my best guess based on those screws).  This boggled my mind... Does a GE activator indeed have a plate that needs to be unscrewed to get the activator off or has the one on this one rusted into place and been snapped off by yours truly's blind efforts to remove the activator?   I can't seem to find any literature on what the underside of the activator was supposed to look like or if there was a special procedure to remove one...  

 

I'll now have to leave this aside until after the 19th when we'll back down in Ogden again...    Dang....  

 

[jetcone]

Most activators

 have a screwed in bumper ring in the post of the agitator, but that doesn't interfere with the mounting on the block, its much wider than the whole agitator post. 

Your activator looks jammed somehow on the agitator block. How that could have happened is beyond me.

 

If you can turn it  you should be able to turn it off the post. The block remember looks like a pyramid so if its off the mount hole of the activator then there won't be enough space to lift it off the block.  The block will have cut under the bakelite triangle hole in the activator;  you've got the get the block lined up again with the triangle hole in the activator to get that off the block.

 

Am I making sense??

 

[turquoisedude]

Yes, this makes sense!  Those WD40 and POR15 fumes must be GOOD for me.... LOL

 

I can lift the activator up off the triangular drive block - that had been the initial trouble that the block and the opening on top of the activator weren't lining up.  I got them to (with a bit of brute force) but when I pull the activator up, it catches on that mounting ring on the underside...  I can rock it sideways but I can't seem to pull up on it.... 

 

[jetcone]

Thats odd

I wonder what that could be.

 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

I've not been down to Ogden for nearly 2 weeks, so I hadn't had a chance to do any further messing around with this GE washer but today, well, I figured it was time...

 

Now, that 'stuck' activator was really annoying me.  I do have some service literature for the 1960 'T' models and while it has a parts diagram for the low-end WA350 washer, there were no specific instructions about how to free a stuck activator.  But I had a theory... 

 

Here's how far I could actually get the darn thing before.   I popped the top figuring I could get a better grip - I was also considering somehow trying to undo the mounting plate on the underside of the activator....

 

[turquoisedude]

It took some effort, plus cursing, plus chanting of seldom-known Latvian insults, but voilà!!

 

[turquoisedude]

Now, the theory I had was that the activator drive bushing was somehow fused to the inside activator shaft.   

 

I just kept pulling and twisting and pulling and twisting... After a few tries, POP! Off came the activator (and I managed to avoid smashing my glasses or giving myself a good uppercut...LOL)

 

Note that corroded ring on the activator shaft - one BAAAAD bushing.  

 

Mark the date on you calendars folks - this is a first:  turquoisedude was actually right on an initial diagnosis!!  LOL

 

I'm stopping here for today, but you guessed it, for my next trick, I'll make that wash tub come out.

 

 

 

[combo52]

Stuck GE Activator

Glad you got it off Paul, GE Activators usually had these lower Activator bearings and I have seen them get pretty worn and sometimes get stuck. KA DWer wash arms can do the same trick on you. I is generally not good engineering to have bearings exposed to water etc, as it often causes problems.