The Raytheon Mark V

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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cadman

cadman

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Sep 7, 2004
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1,560
Location
Cedar Falls, IA
First a big THANK-YOU to Paul, Phil and Jon for the pickup and storage of this Mark V until we could get to Mass. RR or not, it made a great excuse to get out east for a couple days. When last we left off, we were attempting to load this RR into the Suburban.... No doubt about it, its weight approaches combo territory! Finally I had enough people around yesterday to unload this behemoth and there's a good reason for the massive handrails screwed into the sides...it's literally a four person job.

After some looking around I found the rubber date stamp of Jan 1963 on the back that Paul had indicated. The factory cord is 4 conductor 6ga with a 50A plug. The internal breakers add up to 42A so maybe it's not far off. I did buy a 4ga extension cord designed for powering a travel trailer...just in case. Sure wish I could find a data plate.

No schematic but it is similar to other early commercial RR's. This one uses a pair of QK-707 magnetrons good for 800w cooking power each. Rectification is by way of 866A mercury rectifier tubes that require their own care and feeding. There's one N.O. door switch with no other interlocks or monitors and dual timers so you can manually "dial it in" or hit a colored preset and get a slide-rule count-down.

There's about half a dozen ways this thing will try to kill a person so I'm taking my time before a formal power-up. Today I did get the coolant pump working and had the fan operating for oiling. Meanwhile, I'll keep searching for power requirements to see if I need to go big-league with a 50A circuit, or if my 40A recepts will cut it. That is, if my steelcase table doesn't give out first. -C

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Hey Cory.

Good Lord. That almost looks borderline like a A/C from the 50's. I have never seen a Micro that large. I should say Huge !!!

I know nothing about that machine.

Quite the cooling system. Which component needs cooling ? The Magnetron Tubes ?

And it was great meeting you last week.
 
Eddie, good meeting you, too!

I bet I could fit two full size turkeys in that oven cavity...no guarantee on results, however ; )

In pic 4 you can see the two return lines dumping into the reservoir. There are two circuits in the radiator at the rear that cool both magnetrons AND the transformer (lots of copper and rubber lines in this thing). Clip-on thermal cutouts cut power in case of overheating at either tube. Makes sense given this thing was designed for continuous duty.
 
Rare and interesting

Fascinating find and like Toploader55, this is a never-seen-before for me. I didn't realize these things are even around anymore…would have thought they ALL got scrapped(good it didn't). Thanks for sharing, Cory. Good luck with the amp requirement determination and maybe you'll be showing it off more in the near future?
Phil
 
I've burnt a hole in Google trying to dig up any info on the Mark V, other than finding out that a model III and IV existed at the same time (the III had one magnetron and the IV was dual). The V resembles a IV but perhaps uses improved magnetrons. There's essentially nothing out there on these early machines. A schematic pasted in the lid would have been nice.

Phil and Phil, I think the only reason it survived was because it was too heavy to move, I can barely lift a side to slip a block under it, it's ridiculous. For coolant, when I pulled one of the lines the liquid that dripped out appeared to be water (reservoir was empty). Distilled water with methanol would probably be a good bet for heat transfer and freeze prevention but then flammability comes into play. I'm running tap water right now but will probably switch to distilled. At least it won't attack the hoses.

There was not a light in the cavity but I think I can fix that without making permanent changes...

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Holy Moly Cory that thing is a BEAST!    Very, very cool!   I look forward to your progress reports!    Can you post a photo of the interior with something in it for a size reference?

 

A bunch of years ago our local community college was selling off a bunch of random stuff that was replaced / upgraded / no longer used in a silent auction.   They had a very large, old microwave that kinda looked similar to the one in the B&W photo (as I recall).  

I "think" I remember one knob was the main power switch (step 1), another was the timer (step 2) and another to start it (step 3).   I wanted it!   However my parents said "no"..... probably a good thing too, I don't think we could have afforded to install or use that beast, LOL.

 

Kevin
 
Wow, Cory, I can't wait to see more!  Glad no one got hurt moving it - that is one heavy beast.  Glad to see the coolant pumps still work, too!
 
Absolutely fascinating.   Thanks for the size reference and measurements, it's difficult to imagine the size from just the pictures.  

 

What's the first thing you will cook?  This could give a whole new twist to the Dam-fest!  Popcorn for everyone - in 30 seconds flat.
 
It looks bigger and taller than what I remembered with the DrPepper can and Banquet dinner inside! 

 

Do you know how much it weights? When I carried it from the basement where it was to my truck with Paul (we didn't have a dolly!), I estimated it should weight something like 275-300 pounds, or just a bit less than myself! And it was front heavy! It was much easier to carry it with you, Ben and Paul! 
 
A model ~2 years newer-- and likely more deluxe-- than the one my cousin had. Which was also twice as tall and permanently installed, NOT countertop. Looked like 3 or 4 modules, each the size of a 1980 fullsize. Power unknown.

One can't help but wonder which development made it possible to dispense with water cooling in the much more powerful countertops that followed not long after.
 
Slowly but Surely...

After getting the 120v loads sorted, I found time yesterday to put in a 50A service for this beast and brought up the magnetrons without high voltage. Everything behaved as it should- the initial time delay circuit works and both timers operate correctly. Even the stirrer works great.

The pushbuttons are rather clever..you adjust the timeline indicator with a screwdriver to the length of time you want to assign, then set the preset like an old car radio, with a pull, then push of the button. Once a preset is hit, the machine will give you that same amount of time every time you hit 'Cook'. If you want to deviate, you can use the manual timer knob.

What's a little unnerving at first is that the magnetron filaments are designed to come on and stay on the entire time the main power is switched on. And boy do they generate some heat!

After letting the 866A mercury rectifiers cook for 45 minutes I applied HV and had terrible arc-over. I really hope nothing was damaged. I have a pair of 3B28 rectifiers on order which I'm told will work over a much wider temp range and don't require the special care and warmup of the 866A's (which, incidentally, appear original). There are also solid-state replacements but let's not get too nuts just yet!

So now the waiting game begins.....
(2 pics attached)

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Phil, me too! Those mercury rectifiers are pretty tempermental. They require around a minute of warmup before use to get the mercury back into vapor (or they'll arc over) and if they're moved, you need to give them a 30 min burn-in (or they'll arc over). I had at least an hour of warmup on them but no luck.

Based on what I'm seeing inside the glass, it's quite possible the machine was previously moved and this precaution wasn't taken leading to failure.

I guess we'll know in a few days! -C
 

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