Pic-O-The-Day-Preway

a440 · Apr 24, 2011

Who here has used a Gas Preway Dishwasher? Any known to be in use or storage now?

My childhood friends had a Norge titled Gas Preway. It said NORGE where the PREWAY is in the picture here.

It was fun to hear run. Not to mention load. 

It would be fun to play with one these days.

Does John have one at the warehouse? I faintly remember someone having one in storage.

Brent

appnut · Apr 25, 2011

Brent I immediately thought of you when I saw the POD because I remember you'd had friends in your childhood that had one. I wonder if the one on the set of The Beverly Hillbillies ever got used for crew meals?

a440 · Apr 25, 2011

Bob thanks for remembering. 

You have such a great memory.

I remember none of them knew how to load it correct.

I don't know how I figured it out to tell you the truth.

I remember the sounds when the water would heat. To me that was 

the best part! Lot's of pinging sounds. 

They had this dishwasher for a very long time. Over 20 years. They replaced

it with a Maytag.

I would say it was ran about 2 times a day. 

I did not know at the time that it was anything special. I just liked it a lot because

it was so different!

Brent

combo52 · Apr 25, 2011

PREWAY GAS DISHWASHER

Yes Brent we do have a Preway gas DW and a huge box of spare parts. I plan to install it out on my screen porch as part of my miracle all gas kitchen. The other appliances that I have or will have out there are the Coloric convection microwave GAS range, two wall mounted top sections from Hardwick hi-low gas ranges one plain oven and one with the micro-ray inferred gas broiler with rotisserie. I have also had a WP gas dryer out there for over ten years and am building an eight cubic foot 1969 KM gas dryer to replace it when I do the final installation. I am going to have my partner paint some of the panels and appliances a custom color to coordinate things a little as it will be a diverse group of appliances not even of the same decade.

But back to the Preway DW. It is a very interesting appliance, I played around with several of these around 30 years ago, we were still pulling these out of there original installations around this time. In fact I had one hooked up to clean washer parts [ transmissions etc in ] and we would add a cup of varsol to the wash and it really got things clean with the solvent plus the 160 degree wash. It is amazing I didn't blow the place up, and I do not recommend this as it did smoke a little. But I do look forward to using it to wash dishes in again some day. Out in the Cleveland Ohio area years ago I found lots of promotional literature about the unique machine, they were really talking it up and the American Gas Ass. though they really had something that would change history.

mickeyd · Apr 25, 2011

Thanks Brent

I saw the POD just before bed, and then was disappointed becasue I realized it would be gone in the morning,

and I wouldn't ask about or start day old bread (thread)

......forgetting that although it was after midnight here, it was still Sunday in the world of Aworg. blah blah blah.....

Fascinated by the 180 degree heat up. And by the huge wash arms on the SIDE of the tub. I tried to imagine what it would sound like, and how cool it would be to have an all gas diswasher, and if it would make fresh scents the way a gas dryer does, with the moisture combining with flame, etc.

So glad to know one of these "PREWAYS" is still alive thanks to John.

Brent and John: Can you think of any more details about this unique machine?

tomturbomatic · Apr 25, 2011

One thing you might not have noticed about that machine's racks was that the top rack was stacked on top of the lower rack since they could not have side rails for the upper racks with the wash arms swinging around. It probably was not the easiest of machines to load among its contemporaries. Some Hotpoint bol machines into the late 50s or maybe early 60s had the top rack stacked on the corners of the bottom rack, but that was a pretty undesirable way to do it. I was going to post something about that, but thought back to my mother's advice about not calling attention to an unfortunate situation.

There was no combining of the steam and the gas. The combustion tube was under the tank and vented out through the toe panel (keep toes clear of the toe panel). The burner ignited via a spark plug and it still needed electricity to run that, the motor, timer, valves and the door latch that popped the door open at the end of the plastic warper cycle.

mickeyd · Apr 25, 2011

There was no combining of the steam and the gas.

I meant the scent in the air when operating a gas appliance and the water vapors come forth. For me it's quite intoxicating. Thanks for the help, though! Of course, you need to plug it in, just like a gas dryer or furnace. As far as I know, the only gas-only "appliance" is the hot water tank in my basement.

akronman · Apr 25, 2011

"Gas only"

Various gas stoves through the years were Gas Only. No clocks, no timers, no electric spark. My late 40's Chambers Range has a pilot flame for the burners and one for the deepwell, then you take a match or lighter to the oven and the grill. No electricity, cooks wonderfully.

I think nowadays, only the least expensive bottom end stoves still have pilots and no electric power.

appnut · Apr 25, 2011

top rack was stacked on top of the lower rack

John, I'm glad you pointed that out because I hadn't noticed it nor had it occurred to me. Brent, do you remember anything about having to dealw ith that? Several of my mom's friends had those Hotpoints you mentioned John, as that was what the builder put in their houses. I thought all Hotpoints of that era were like that until i saw Harriet loading her Hotponit on the commercials.

hydralique · Apr 25, 2011

Varsol!

Oh my, did the thought of adding varsol to a dishwasher make me laugh . . . I'm not surprised that all the dirty washing machine parts came out sparkly as a load of Cascaded wine glasses. When I was in college I had job one summer working for a guy who repaired and rebuilt service station pumps and pedestals. Back then most of the "computers" that showed gallons pumped were fully mechanical and used fragile aluminum and plastic wheels with the numbers imprinted on them. These could be refinished by painting them white, then inking the face (leaving the imprinted numbers white), after which they'd be painted clear and then baked in a Kenmore electric wall oven. Much cheaper than buying new wheels, but first they had to be cleaned without scrubbing as that would dent them. The solution was a large gas-fired steamer and a little varsol. I quickly learned to steam first thing in the morning, as the combination of varsol and steam on a hot summer afternoon looked, felt, and smelled like Dante's Inferno. That poor dishwasher!

a440 · Apr 25, 2011

Sights and Sounds....

I remember the wash sound was very strong. It was a very different sound that is for sure. Many times plates that were not very heavy would clank against each other.

The total cycle was quite fast if you had good hot water coming from the the hot water tank.

I remember the racks not being connected. The upper rack was very strong and the "rail" the the top rack rode on was above the wash arms. The bottom rack was on wheels just like a regular front loading dishwasher. Notice the picture I attached. The cutout picture at the bottom of the "gas" version shows how the upper rack "hung".


It was very easy to load. The glasses would slip onto tines that were shaped upward on the upper rack. You would have to see the rack design to understand. You could only load the glasses in the upper rack one way. You loaded the lower rack with plates like a normal dishwasher. If you were loading pots you kind of loaded them the way you do today like the "Zone" washing in some of the dishwashers today. The silverware basket was on the top and I felt this was an issue. It was sandwiched between the plates. 

Brent

appnut · Apr 25, 2011

Thanks Brent.

combo52 · Apr 26, 2011

PREWAY GAS DISHWASHER

Yes Brent you are correct the racks are completely independent I went out to the shed and looked at mine.

tomturbomatic · Apr 26, 2011

Well, the ad mentioned the stack on racks and the picture did not show the upper racks attached to any rails and they were both fully extended so maybe it was an earlier model. I guess it will cycle around again.

mickeyd · Apr 26, 2011

Sights and sounds galore

A feast for the eyes and ears--Thanks, Brent! In the last pic, you see the arrow suggesting revolution of the round upper rack. Was this the forerunner of the rotorack? How cool! And not having seen very many DW underbellies, at first glance this one looks so much like the Unimatic's mechanism--such unusual treats, both of them. You guys are turning me into a DW lover--as if I needed another addiction

a440 · Apr 26, 2011

Preway Scan

Don't know why it disappeared from post #513729

Here it is again.

Unimatic1140 · Apr 26, 2011

Hey you guys, actually I deleted the uploaded picture of the POD as I have done a many times in the past.

I've asked in the past that the POD's not get posted into the threads. My reasoning behind this is posting PODs sort of takes away my whole reason for having the POD in the first place.

This is clearly my fault for not this making this request more obvious. I will work on placing a message on the POD view screen to that effect that you guys are welcome to do anything with them but post them in threads. I really don't want to prevent you guys from downloading them so I'm going to look into options like digitally watermarking them so the system wont upload them when it recognizes them to be a POD. But that wont be for a bit yet.

My apologies for not making that more clear and I appreciate everyone's understanding.

a440 · Apr 26, 2011

Oh Robert,

Sorry I had no idea.

Is is okay to cut and paste a portion of the picture? For instance my describing how the racks fit into the dishwasher? If I was to only cut and paste the portion of the picture and post to illustrate a point?

Just want to make sure before I do a No-No again.

Thanks

Brent

Unimatic1140 · Apr 26, 2011

Hi Brent, no need to apologize what so ever, it's really my fault for not making that clearer. I've stated that over the years but its not been a hard rule and I'm sure not everyone has seen it when I posted it. If it helps make a point it would be ok to cut out a small portion of the pod and repost that. By small portion I mean no more than lets say 15% to 20% of the POD ad at the most.

a440 · Apr 26, 2011

Sounds Great!

Thanks Robert!

Brent

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