The Brand Spanking New 1962 GE V12 Comes Home

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Congrats Robert. Great find.

You are right the new GE's are not the same, they are horrible. My mother recently bought the washer to the left of the one you are looking at. She has to stay in the basement when she washes so that she can reset the machine for a decent rinse. The machine only agiates for about 20 seconds then soaks so she turns it back to the wash cycle for a few minutes.

Enjoy this washer.

David
 
I've always wondered how merchandise looked back in the day when it was "new" - because even with restores, you really never get the true look back. This machine is so chrome laden, like a trophy or something, I can imagine anyone being thrilled just to look at it. No plasti-chrome here, I tihnk.
 
Unbelievable find, Robert!!  Congratulations!!   I can't wait to see it washing - I hope there are not too many issues from having been stored for so long...

What great memories seeing that V12 tub again - our family's first automatic was a later model, Canadian-made version.

Enjoy it and have fun!!
 
Pedestals

Danmantn, some GE models (more TOL machines) had control panels mounted up in the air on a couple of legs, which served as "pedestals" that elevated the control panel off the cabinet.

It's tres cool. The ultimate in tres cool was the Hotpoint Touch Command :-)
 
New Twice

Robert, you had a few adjustments to make before the NOS Kenmore took off and at that time you decided not to use the new agitator. In the time that has passed how often do you use the Kenmore. Aside from rubber and plastic parts aging are there any expectations for mechanical issues with a new machine that's been stored?
 
Amazing washer find!

Good luck...What a beautiful machine, my neighbor had that washer when I was little. I love the clipped corners GE used to use on there lids. God ...I love those older GEs'!
 
Nice Machine

Robert,

I am so glad you have saved all these woderful vintage machines over the years. They are not only master pieces of engineering and craftsmanship, but also a reminder of our past. I grew up with Filter-Flo washers. My Mom and my grandmother owned them for a period time that spanned forty years. The sound of a Filter-Flo brings back precious memories of my childhood.
 
In the time that has passed how often do you use the Kenmore. -- Kelly the brand new Kenmore had quite a few issues, hardened hoses, leaks and the drive block also knocked terribly after about 10 loads and needed to be replaced.  I believe the drive block issue would have happened when the Lady Kenmore was first delivered new in 1957, it was probably defective right out of the factory.  I use the machine once a month or so now.

 

We popped the top open too record its virginity intact.   Just a few more shots to record its newness.

unimatic1140++8-15-2011-23-16-25.jpg
 
The large flume on the right is the fill flume, I'm not sure if the smaller flume is the overflow tube or the Suds-Return flume.  I'll have to look at that tomorrow.

unimatic1140++8-15-2011-23-18-59.jpg
 
NEW GE V-12 WASHER

Robert the smaller flume on the left is the inlet for the overflow tube, it has a head on it so water will not be thrown into it while the machine is spinning out the water. The suds water returns through the main drain in the sump, through the same hose that the washer drains through. It is certainly amazing how clean they kept this machine, it is truly new.
 
One of many great things about your find Robert, is now I know what those activators looked like brand spanking new. I always assumed an embossed "GE" emblem on the top of the cap just wore off; now I know there wasn't one!

 

The smaller flume is for overflow protection. The earlier solid-tub models had a dedicated suds return flume; starting with the 1961 V-12's the suds water returned from the bottom via the pump, the way it went out.

 

I was always thought the inlet flume on the perf-tub Filter-Flo's was defective. Especially when compared to the solid-tub flumes inlet water from the V-12's spewed and barfed into the washbaskets. It did the job when spray rinsing but it was messy, like watching a woman take a leak. After learning what I've learned on this site, like suds-lock, I imagine it was designed to go all over the place so some would end up in the outer tub when spray rinsing. Again, on the solid tub models, there was a neat little slot underneath the main inlet flume that directed water precisely into the outer tub to wash out suds.

 

 
 
Ken you bring up an interesting point about the wording/design of the top of the early V12 filter mounts.  What I found odd was (see image below) is the 1961 machine I sent you (left image) had the words Activator on the mount, which are worn but visible.  The 1961 near TOL model that I have (center image) never had anything printed on top and the 1962 machine (right image) clearly has Activator printed on it.  I wonder what's up with that, how come they would have used different molds for different models.  It could be that the middle machine was the earliest and they decided to make a new mold sometime later in '61.  Not very important but none the less fascinating.

unimatic1140++8-16-2011-09-20-4.jpg
 
Nosy Question

NONE OF MY BUSINESS--------Robert--can I ask if your day job has anything to do with either clothing or appliances or industrial/mechanical design? Or is all of this laundry apparatus interest and knowledge purely an intense hobby? Like I said, it is NONE of my business at all, I know.

And I think I misspelled NOSY anyhows, should have an E in it
 
Fantastic, Robert! I am so happy for you! The washer gods surely are watching over you. I hope to come visit in 2012 and see this beauty in operation. Are you going to put her next to the 58 and 61 and make a Filter Flo corner? Does the timer dial light up like your 58, 61, my mom's old 59 and Greg's 60?

I look forward to pics of it after she's de-virginated.
 
I always assumed the words "ACTIVATOR" had somehow worn off of the sample from your WA-950V. Now that I see that picture again, it does look like they were never there. I have to read that book on Appliance Park; I'm assuming that none of the parts for these early Filter-Flo's were outsourced but you're right: there's too much redundancy.

 

The washbaskets are another good example of this. From 1961 to 1963, at least, there were two distinct styles of washbasket for these models. They were exactly the same dimensions in every way, but there were two different perforation patterns. Up until you found this 1962 "W"machine I always thought this hole pattern (which was the first) was used exclusively on "V" and "X" models:

bajaespuma++8-16-2011-11-16-48.jpg
 
Combo John's combo:

...and, up to now, every "W" model I ever saw, including the one I grew up with (Pull-to-start's machine BTW), had the offset pattern (and tone) pictured below. Makes me wonder if GE had another plant somewhere that made the same models with different parts. A minor point, as you say, but for a GE psycho like myself, a puzzlement. Especially when one considers that every variation cost the company a considerable amount of money. The first example seems to have more holes than the second, but I wonder if it made any difference in performance. Wouldn't it be interesting if all of this just amounted to mistakes?

bajaespuma++8-16-2011-11-20-30.jpg
 
Now that I think of it, Mark's prototype V-12 had a "naked" activator cap as well (I'd bet my bottom dollar this was a Series 1 WA 850V; they hadn't even changed to escutcheon from 1960 gold to baby blue yet). Now that I think of it, those "naked" activators were probably the first run off of the press. Some exec must have demanded there be some brand recognition stamp on more parts. Compare these machines to those made in the early seventies; the "GE" emblem is stamped prominently on almost every visible part:

bajaespuma++8-16-2011-11-26-6.jpg
 
Agitator Caps and Basket perforation patterns

Robert and Ken wonder about the printed words on agitator caps. My interpretation is that at some point the machine with no words on the cap had either the cap or the entire agitator/cap replaced -- at least that's what has happened to neighbors that had washers with bakelite agitators, sometimes they'd break and the replacements were "generics" even when made by the same company, so they'd fit different models/model years.

Ken wonders about the perforation patterns on the washer baskets. My gut feeling is that the one that has more holes is probably made of thicker walls and more expensive to make -- you do need stronger walls to have more holes and closely spaced holes, the offset/diamond pattern could get away with thinner walls and cheaper materials, which could make the price of the washer/sink combo more affordable.

The tools that are used to make parts like that wear out after a few thousand parts have been made, so they need to be replaced regularly, and it's not significantly more expensive for GE to have two different tools, but it might lower other costs, and thus increase profits.
 
How is the 12 O'Clock filter flume plumbed compared to the changed 1 O'Clock position.....considering the outter tub just about touches all 4 (12, 3, 6, 9 O'Clock) positions......just wondering if it could be relocated to 12 from 1, yet still come thru the splash shield.....

If I remember correctly, the holes in the tub whistled while spinning with no load....at the shop I worked at, if it didn't whistle, something was wrong (loose belt, clutch slippage, bearing drag).....

these GE machines really extracted a lot of water from heavy loads, considering it wasn't all that much faster than a Maytag or Kenmore....of course it could be our only option was a warm rinse, the clothes seems lighter, and fluffed up
 
Do all washers with perforated tubs have that big a gap between the inner and outer tubs? No wonder the GE's with perforated tubs were so thirsty. There's a lot of space to fill between those tubs. It's so cool to see all the photos of a pristine, unused vintage machine!
 

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