Potscrubber?

[spacedogb]

Hello everyone,
I gave my neighbor said her dishwasher went out. I went over and saw her GE handle would not shut all the way. I gave her the Maytag that came with my house and took the GE home. I think the porcelain tub is rusting out around the sump, but other parts are good. Anyone need parts from it before I throw it out?

 

[Chetlaham]

Not a Potscrubber- or porcelain- rather steel with a vinyl coating. I have dibs on the timer, knob and pic of the tech sheet glued on the other side of the door.

 

[Chetlaham]

Special Request

And oh- can you take pics of the underside of the machine?

 

[spacedogb]

I’ll take one in the morning. Everything works including motor. Something inside the door latch mechanism went bad. When I manually shut it. The pump runs and sprays perfectly.

 

[Chetlaham]

Thanks

Minus the sump rust, that machine is in good shape overall. This is why GE went to Perma-tuff, the tub and door liner is incapable of rusting.

 

[combo52]

Basic GE DW

The latches would get balky on these and refuse to move properly to latch the door, all it takes to fix is about 3 drops of oil.

 

These early - mid 70s GE DWs had a lousy sump design that often rusted out badly, GE did come up with a clever plastic rump repair kit that you pushed in from the top with a good bead of silicone sealant around it and it would easily fix DWs that are as rusted as this one. I must have fixed more that a hundred GE DWs like this.

 

John L.

 

[spacedogb]

Is that kit still available? I’ll try the oiling the latch today.

 

[Chetlaham]

It might be identical to the ones used today- do you have a model #?

 

[Chetlaham]

Keeping this

BTW, there is no shame if you want to keep it as part of your collection. Minus the rust its in descent shape and the outside is in really good shape. Not many of these are still around, and the few that I have seen on occasion (being thrown out) were absolutely trashed both on the inside and outside.

One nice thing about this machine is that the whole cycle from start to finish (wash and dry) is about an hour. Only catch is you need screaming hot water (150 and over) in order to wash well.

 

[spacedogb]

Doubt I’m going to keep it. Just curious about the repair because they have about 60 of these in our townhouse community. So was going to try repair on this one after I pull your parts. Just in case someone else needs it done.

 

[whatsername]

You gave her the Performa? Judging by the comments on that machine's thread you must not like that neighbor much

 

[spacedogb]

Lol you sir are very observant.

 

[Chetlaham]

60

Yup- these were very popular for builders. There are apartment complexes around me that literally had hundreds of these machines. Most replaced by newer GEs though I am certain some still exist in less used apartments.

I'd try the oil drop routine as john stated.

When pulling the timer, make sure include part of the harness (down to the door) if you can. Sometimes water gets behind those screws and also eats away at the terminals.

 

[spacedogb]

I’ve looked high and low for the sump repair kit. I can’t seem to find it

 

[combo52]

Smup Repair Kit

They were probably not that popular and GE DWs were seldom worth fixing when they were 10 years old or so.

 

The main place we used these SRKs were on the under-sink models because these DWs had such a high replacement cost. The condo building named the Cairo in NW Washington DC had 100 + of these DWs installed in around 1975 when it was converted into condos, and I personally used at least 35 of these SRKs in that building alone.

 

I checked and I still have one of these kits in stock, but I am going to hold on to it for now in case we find a nice hi-end GE Americana DW that needs it for the museum some day. I am looking for the model with the three control dials in addition to the timer and the triple detergent dispenser.

 

John L.

 

[Chetlaham]

I know Maytag had some red stuff that dried like steal, would that work? Minus the sump the rest of the machine is in good shape.

@Combo: 100+ units, 35 repairs? Sounds like the apartments around here. There had to be over 1000 of these in my county, the only difference is that when the leaked they just replaced them with another Potscrubber. Many of the 80s Permatuffs are still around though and were repaired rather than chucked.

 

[rpms]

What is that vent like thing for on the inside of the door?

 

[spacedogb]

Tech sheet

Chetlaham,
Tried to pull tech sheet to send to you but it wouldn’t come off in one piece.

 

[Chetlaham]

Tech sheet

Its glued to the back as it normally is. Those pics are more than good enough and its all I need to hook everything up. Much thanks