Reviving the 63 GE V-12 dryer

[turquoisedude]

It was a wet and cool weekend in Ogden and I have a bunch of machines in need of attention, but the GE set is my priority. I want to get them into the laundry room as soon as I can and I knew I had to do some work on the dryer, so I started with it.
I do like to give vintage dryers a good cleaning before getting them into production and to be honest, I like working on GE dryers.
Surprisingly, when I got the front off, there was not a ton of accumulated lint.

 

[turquoisedude]

I can't remember where the thermostat bulb was in the 58 dryer - Here it is at the lint trap inlet on the V-12!

 

[turquoisedude]

It took some doing to release the rear shaft clip, but I did get the drum out of the dryer. The lint accumulation here is surprisingly light - I do believe that this dryer got used occaisionally (it may have been in a summer home) or it got put into storage after a short life. It sure doesn't like nearly 50 years of lint build-up!

 

[turquoisedude]

The heater unit looks just fine - no scorching or evidence of heat damage.

 

[turquoisedude]

Remember the rattling and rumbling noise this dryer made when I first tried it out?

No surprise that this is the cause - the front drum rollers have a really bad 'flat spot'. Further evidence of having been in storage a long time, I guess...

I hope that I will be able to find a replacement set this week...

 

[turquoisedude]

After clean-up, the dryer base looks much better!

Hopefully next weekend will be the re-assembly... Stay tuned!

Oh and something I had to check - I took the console cover off and found there was no light for the timer dial on this model. I am thinking about putting one in, 'cause I really thought the lighted dial on the 58 was cool...

 

[badgerdx]

Very cool post!

 

[firedome]

Glad they are working out well Paul...

their better than expected condition makes that trip to get them worthwhile!