The Maiden Wash

[bajaespuma]

OK. You asked for it. Here are the pictures of the 1966 GE turquoise set which I've just cleaned top to bottom. Works like new, only problems I've encountered so far are a leaky drain hose (in multiple spots, but I don't want to throw away the cool vintage GE drain hose with it's spiral wire sheath, and the drum light on the dryer wasn't working.

My all-time favorite GE filter-flo activator:

 

[bajaespuma]

Ok, so this machine is a V-14 meaning, in GE parlance, it can hold up to 14 lbs of "mixed, heavy fabrics". So for good contrast I loaded it to the clothes retaining ring with 11 lbs. (I weighed them on a balance scale) of towels:

 

[bajaespuma]

In fairness to my LG, this was barely a medium-sized load:

 

[bajaespuma]

As things should be:

 

[bajaespuma]

Now, here's a sight I haven't seen for over 30 years:

 

[bajaespuma]

Was able to fix the dryer light and replace the bulb with a new 25 watter. It turned out to be the safety which is a 3-way switch (never mind). Even the safety switch came apart and was reassemblable neatly. It required some cleaning and I guess, some repositioning of the leads. I'm actually more curious about how this GE Automatic system is going to work after not using it for 30 years. Even when we owned one, no one in the house ever used the automatic cycle, I guess it was just too darn new-fangled for them. All lit up:

 

[northwesty]

kindof a turquoise GE week! That is one clean looking pair, very attractive.

 

[pulltostart]

Very nice pair. Congratulation on your acquisition!!!

Lawrence

 

[appnut]

form the very beginning, and first load I dried, when the "new" Norge dryer showed up 2 months after the washer arrived, I used auto dry cycles. It was rare when I didn't. Mom on the other hand, went through the Norge and GE dryers without ever using auto dry cycles. It wasn't until the LDG96xx electornic control Maytag dryer did she finally start using an auto dry cycle. She was a firm believer, 45 minutes to dry any load and if it wasn't dry, it got thrown all over the furniture in the den until it did lol.

 

[gansky1]

Very nice machines - you must be in heaven! Congrats on the new machines, you've done a wonderful job bringing back their original shine and glory!

 

[jons1077]

Wow!

Those are awesome!!! I sure hope to see and HEAR videos of these soon!

Jon

 

[mickeyd]

How beautiful, Ken

almost as pretty as your drawings. Isn't that ramp agitator a real surprize, even in a Bob-load of towels. Love your orange/red/pumkin towels. Speaking of color, to your naked eye, is the machine more an ocean blue or ocean green?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Boy that is a beautiful machine Ken, congratulations! And what a colorful towel wash for the maiden wash no less.

 

[peteski50]

GE

Hi Ken,
Real awsome washer.
Best Of Luck with it.
Peter

 

[bpetersxx]

There`s nothing like Filter Floing

 

[brettsomers]

having limited experience with Filter Flo, ive told myself that i dont like them. recently i discovered a laundromat with vintage Filter Flos and decided to try them out and really see. i have to give the GE Spiral Activator its props. it seems to easily turn over bulky and full loads. looks like you could stuff it real full of dirty work clothes or messy diapers and still feel good about the load turning over properly and coming clean.

 

[pierreandreply4]

in florida in 1998

hello

i went to walt disney in orlando florida and my mother and me rented a villa and the washer and dryer was a ge filter flo washer and i can tell you that it is a very good machine to bad they change the model because i wonder sometime how the filter flo pan would look in a 2007 ge washer if they still made the filter flo desing.

enjoy your new vintage machine.

 

[rickr]

Beautiful turquoise machines!

Great looking set! They look showroom new!
Thank you for sharing the maiden wash with us.

If you are concerned about the slight water deposits on the underside of the washer lid, this worked for one of mine.
I removed the lid from the machine, and laid paper towels into the underside of the lid. Next I would pour just enough white vinegar into the lid to keep the paper towels wet, but not wet enough to allow any vinegar to seep onto the outside of the lid. I let it soak like this all day, and was then able to scrub the underside of the lid clean.
I had tried most everything else to clean the stains prior to this with no success.

 

[geextrarinse]

Beautiful!

What a great colour washer - have fun with it!

Can we see more pics of the backsplash and with the lid closed?

I am eagerly awaiting my 1960's FF washer to arrive this week here in LA. Its been soo long!

Enjoy!

Matthew

 

[bobbyderegis]

Awesome, Ken.
What better than a turquoise GE pair and a pink Maytag pair. Congrats on the sets of twins! When do us New Englanders get to sneak a peak in person??????
Bobby in Boston

 

[turquoisedude]

Love that GE set

Congratulations on your find! Did you get them locally or did you have to trek to the other side of the universe to get them?

General Question: How long was turquoise offered as a colour for major appliances? I thought it vanished in 1965 when the 'new' colours like avocado green were introduced.

 

[aldspinboy]

Hello great find there ken! Imagine a little boy in 1969, looking at 15 of them all in a row with the filter flow on the leads and that color it was washer heaven my mom had to rase me up to whatch them and dont rase the led to high or know filter flowing LOL dont u just love that loud BA BUCK sound when breaking ONLY G.E. HAS IT ENJOY.Thanks Darren k. Great collection How about a control panel shot if u can?

 

[toggleswitch]

Amazing.

Just the sounds of the tranny at first gearing up and shifting only to finally settle-in are heavenly!

Never understood why GE, a maker of motors, just didn't have a two-speed motor instead of a one-speed motor and a multi-speed tranny.

 

[bajaespuma]

Two Speed Trannies:

I think that's a question for Robert, although I'd venture a guess that a two-speed motor is more liable to break down than a one-speed. I've rarely heard of GE motors breaking down although I know they have had frequent transmission problems. Our 1962 GE Filter-flo lost its two speed ability fair early on because so many people were using it. I'm sure somebody just flipped the speed switch back and forth so many times they just broke the clutch. Nobody except me, of course, noticed it. Two-speed trannies are just too quirky:

 

[bajaespuma]

Front Panel

Here's the front panel shot you requested:

 

[tnmike]

Two-speed trannies are just too quirky

Hilarious!!! They do look like two really bad drag queens.

 

[gyrafoam]

Beautiful GE's.
I miss both of those Fat Ladies. Really enjoyed their show.

 

[bobbyderegis]

Not a two speed tranny, just a simple pair of clutch shoes. These were very easily repairable. The shoes tended to wear out with a lot of use, but the biggest problem was folks changing the speed selector from fast to slow while the machine was running. This was also an easy fix. The two short knocks as the machine kicked into high speed were the two clutch shoes making contact with the clutch cylinder.
Bobby in Boston

 

[DADoES]

It's my understanding that a one-speed motor with two-speed clutch was used so that full-speed water circulation was always running for the FF. Yes? No?

 

[coldspot66]

Yes. The speed was controlled by the centrifical clutch(and speed control solenoid and lever) attached to the 1 speed motor. Ge also had a 4 speed clutch for a short time, and the "versatronic" variable speed clutch. Both didn't last long.