Hello everyone! I'm brand new to this forum and collecting vintage appliances.
Last week I impulsively picked up a GE Mobile Maid SP-60V1 for $30, not knowing anything about the history of these machines or the condition of this unit. The seller said its been sitting in a vacant East Texas home for a long time. He was told by the previous homeowner that it worked, but he was unable to get it to run because the door latch wouldn't hold the door shut.
Without taking anything apart, I cleaned out the latch mechanism best I could. I pulled out a piece of foam that almost looked like the inside of cigarette filter and wiped up decades worth of grime/dust. I wiggled the latch mechanism a little using some plyers and brought the door down, gave her a little push and… “CLICK”. The sweet sound of victory.
I hastily pulled the racks out, which are in great shape (cutlery basket is solid but a little rough), and examined the tub. It also seems to be in decent condition. There is some discoloration and some rust just above the sump but it’s not terrible.
The Unicouple lines were completely dry rotted and pulling it out of the machine sent shards of dried plastic flying everywhere. I quickly got the front cover off and replaced the original hoses with a modern unicouple I had lying around from an old GE Nautilus that bit the dust.
I got her hooked up to the sink, plugged in, and started a wash cycle. This is one angry maid. The motor sounded like it was trying to run me off. I pushed the wheel from rinse to wash and it tripped the GFCI immediately.
I unplugged the machine and took a peak underneath and saw water dripping from somewhere above the motor. Not a lot of water, but not a tiny bit of water either.
The next day I pulled the machine apart and gave it a much-needed cleaning. This thing must have been sitting undisturbed for at least 30 years. The amount of spider eggs and dusty muck that had accumulated on everything was extraordinary. Overall, though, the wiring is fine, some contacts had minimal buildup given its age, components have continuity and don’t appear to be shorted.
I put it back together and gave her another test run… this time WITHOUT water (I was thinking clearer without the adrenaline pumping from hearing the door latch click shut lol). I quickly pushed the dial through all the cycles twice and everything seems to work, but the motor still seems abnormally loud. I can see some sparking from behind the clear dial as the switches engage, but I guess this is normal since its engaging under load. It wouldn’t be visible with the front panel installed. Opening the door, I could already feel some heat from the elements even though it only took me 10-15 seconds max to manually push through two complete runs.
Now to the bad news… I found the leak. It’s coming from a hole in the bottom of the pump housing. Something hard must have caught under the impeller and scratched the rubber coating. Over time a hole as rusted through. There are a couple other small nicks in the rubber as well, and the rust has spread from where the hole is under the rubber, causing it to bubble slightly. I can’t tell how bad it is because the impeller is crimped onto the motor shaft, blocking direct access to the bottom of the housing.
I’m about to start taking the motor apart from the other side to see if I can gain a little more visibility and give the coils and interior a proper cleaning.
I will keep you updated as I go. The plan was originally to JB weld the hole and cover it in silicone, just so I could run a cycle to trouble-shoot any more problems. But with the other nicks and bubbling I've since noticed, I'm really not keen to run a wet cycle and risk causing more damage.
Any ideas and information about this machine would be greatly appreciated. Any diagrams, manuals, and sources for parts will put me forever in your debt.
Last week I impulsively picked up a GE Mobile Maid SP-60V1 for $30, not knowing anything about the history of these machines or the condition of this unit. The seller said its been sitting in a vacant East Texas home for a long time. He was told by the previous homeowner that it worked, but he was unable to get it to run because the door latch wouldn't hold the door shut.
Without taking anything apart, I cleaned out the latch mechanism best I could. I pulled out a piece of foam that almost looked like the inside of cigarette filter and wiped up decades worth of grime/dust. I wiggled the latch mechanism a little using some plyers and brought the door down, gave her a little push and… “CLICK”. The sweet sound of victory.
I hastily pulled the racks out, which are in great shape (cutlery basket is solid but a little rough), and examined the tub. It also seems to be in decent condition. There is some discoloration and some rust just above the sump but it’s not terrible.
The Unicouple lines were completely dry rotted and pulling it out of the machine sent shards of dried plastic flying everywhere. I quickly got the front cover off and replaced the original hoses with a modern unicouple I had lying around from an old GE Nautilus that bit the dust.
I got her hooked up to the sink, plugged in, and started a wash cycle. This is one angry maid. The motor sounded like it was trying to run me off. I pushed the wheel from rinse to wash and it tripped the GFCI immediately.
I unplugged the machine and took a peak underneath and saw water dripping from somewhere above the motor. Not a lot of water, but not a tiny bit of water either.
The next day I pulled the machine apart and gave it a much-needed cleaning. This thing must have been sitting undisturbed for at least 30 years. The amount of spider eggs and dusty muck that had accumulated on everything was extraordinary. Overall, though, the wiring is fine, some contacts had minimal buildup given its age, components have continuity and don’t appear to be shorted.
I put it back together and gave her another test run… this time WITHOUT water (I was thinking clearer without the adrenaline pumping from hearing the door latch click shut lol). I quickly pushed the dial through all the cycles twice and everything seems to work, but the motor still seems abnormally loud. I can see some sparking from behind the clear dial as the switches engage, but I guess this is normal since its engaging under load. It wouldn’t be visible with the front panel installed. Opening the door, I could already feel some heat from the elements even though it only took me 10-15 seconds max to manually push through two complete runs.
Now to the bad news… I found the leak. It’s coming from a hole in the bottom of the pump housing. Something hard must have caught under the impeller and scratched the rubber coating. Over time a hole as rusted through. There are a couple other small nicks in the rubber as well, and the rust has spread from where the hole is under the rubber, causing it to bubble slightly. I can’t tell how bad it is because the impeller is crimped onto the motor shaft, blocking direct access to the bottom of the housing.
I’m about to start taking the motor apart from the other side to see if I can gain a little more visibility and give the coils and interior a proper cleaning.
I will keep you updated as I go. The plan was originally to JB weld the hole and cover it in silicone, just so I could run a cycle to trouble-shoot any more problems. But with the other nicks and bubbling I've since noticed, I'm really not keen to run a wet cycle and risk causing more damage.
Any ideas and information about this machine would be greatly appreciated. Any diagrams, manuals, and sources for parts will put me forever in your debt.
