Topload dishwasher ID needed

[akronman]

hmmm

John and Paul and Ken----all your advice is pushing me to run to Home Depot for a unicoupler and get that Maid in my kitchen tonight to start on it!

 

[combo52]

Mid 60s GE Mobil-Maid DW

Hi Mark, your GE DW has a reversible main motor, no drain valve or solenoid. All TL GE portable [ and even some GE built-in ] DWs do not have any type of float, water level or overflow protection of any type, if the pump fails to pump out water or if the timer stalls during fill it FLOODS, LOL. Fortunately TL portable DWs can hold a LOT of water before the floor gets washed, unlike a regular built-in machine where the water just starts flowing out from under the door if the machine misses one drain cycle and fills a 2nd time.

 

[mickeyd]

HI MARK

For 20 bucks, a total steal. Let me know if the Top Load bug bites you as bad as it bit me. I've also fallen in love with unicouplers; they're amazing.

So glad you found a new toy.

Flooding a top loader.......hmmmmmm. Don't give me any more temptations, John.

 

[akronman]

toplaoders

Thanks for advice--John and others. This will be a decent amount of work, true, but a damn simple design underneath it all, far fewer moving parts than any washer!

 

I haven't used a toploader in years, and have a KUDS23 installed in the kitchen, so this is really just for fun/hobby/conversation piece when it's done.  I remember a 50's Mobile Maid in Grandma's kitchen in the mid 60's, very rounded tub/cabinet, no lid insulation at all, and impeller wash. And a 1960 GE metal blade impeller design built-in in our own house as a kid, the entire tub rolled out on rails. My mother was an invalid so we used Melmac/plastics due to light weight for her to set the table, etc. (I am not a sexist pig. She was born in 1925, had 7 kids before MS diagnosis, and described herself as Wife and Mother. No women's libber her) I also remember lots of burned/melted dishes and cups, top rack only once we learned. The GE rail rollout was replaced in 74 with some routine brand typical front door model. I remember one cycle only, Dad wasn't rich.

 

Who am I kidding? I want this machine in the kitchen NOW

 

[bajaespuma]

Mark, you're not going to find a Unicoupler at Home Depot but what you can find is a female hose-end adapter that can be mated to a male faucet adapter. Make sure they match because there are a couple of different types. Also, when you attach the adapter to your kitchen faucet make sure you use a good new rubber washer and tighten it very well. They like to leak and sometimes spray a small jet of hot water across the kitchen. Portable dishwashers really were only for people who didn't have the money to remodel their kitchens back in the day. Their use installations are NOT convenient.

 

Paul, you are right about the cycle; the Pots & Pans cycle turns the heat off for most of the dry cycle to prevent bits and pieces of leftover food from "cooking" onto the pots and pans. GE was realistic about what a dishwasher could and couldn't do early on. The early pieces of service literature describe a short cycle with no heat so the housewife could quickly dispose of all the cookware used to make dinner with the idea that she could easily and quickly remove whatever food was left on the pans without vigorous scouring after going through the dishwasher. And this is exactly how I use those cycles.

 

I use these top-loading dishwashers as auxiliary dishwashers and pan-washers. Depending on need I'll either throw excess dinnerware or cookware in the extra machine so I can clean everything up in one shot after a party. It's very nice for someone like me to "put everything in" and not have to wake up to a kitchen sink full of dirty stuff. Somehow the top-loaders fit more easily in a crowded kitchen because you don't need more floor space for a door that opens down and out. The Maytag WP-600, however, my favorite dishwasher ever made, is the exception; that Mother F**ker is a beast.

 

[akronman]

disassembly, leaks, successes

The motor spins wonderfully. I took off the spray arm and the black assembly underneath it. The black blades you see poorly in this pic spin when it's in WASH, smooth running motor. I tricked the lid lock and watched, motor is fine. Then I turned it off and poured in a pan of hot water, it instantly tripped the GFCI in my kithen and the water was on the floor in 30 seconds, seems to go out the motor assy, not the tub. I think??? Do I  need additional dis-assembly in the tub still, from this photo, or can I now undo the clamps holding the motor to the tub and slide it all out?

 

[akronman]

more

Excuse the terrible pics. The switch is GE #ASP3224-08. Googling and Ebay locate various ASP3224, but always a different last few numbers, which I assume is pretty important. The switch has 6 blades going into the 3 buttons. Only 4 wires for 4 contacts, other ASP3224-?? have a variety of different contacts, so I strongly guess I need the exact one. I believe it works electrically, and I cleaned tons of gross gunk out, but it's harder than hell to push the diff cycles. If I can't replace it and it's stuck on either Normal or PotsPans, I'll live. You have to help it along by pulling on the down buttons while pushing other cycles.

 

 

This pic is my sticking one, ASP 3224-08, made by GE

 

[akronman]

more

this pic is an Ebay pic, for clarity. It has 3 blades, not 6. And way too many contacts below instead of my 4. But's it's the overall body and style ASP3224, if it helps anyone help me. Thanks in advance.

 

[akronman]

more

Here's the front off. No Uni-coupler yet, so no idea if the water valve is good, etc, but everything seems to work, motor and timer and solenoid and detergent cup, as I slowly click thru the timer dial. I took the top pushbuttons and switches off for good cleaning, everything else looks OK to go.

 

You can see my KUDS23 behind it!

 

[akronman]

last question for now

Is this spray arm/tower supposed to have a gasket? Or just plastic to metal, with some leaking?

 

[bajaespuma]

No gasket is needed where the "power-tower" meets the wash arm, just make sure the screws are reasonably tight when you reattach it.

With the switch bank, try a little, AND I MEAN A LITTLE, Teflon spray on the metal switch supports on top (what you're calling the "blades"), not the electrical leads. Let the spray soak in and down for a couple of minutes and then see if you can't loosen the switches by pushing them one after another.That has worked for me in the past. I have a service manual for these dishwashers that I will check to see if there are any service options for the switches other than replacement. Unfortunately these old bakelite switch banks were riveted, not screwed together, so, unless you have that equipment and skill, once you pry them apart to get at the rust and gunk inside, y'aint gettin' it back together again unless you're really talented with the duct tape.

And by the way, thank you for mentioning the 1968 manual for these dishwashers in the Ephemera library. Somehow I missed it when it was first offered and it is a perfect reference for my SM-301A, even though it's three years older.

 

[akronman]

link

here's the second thread, the rebuild

Mobile Maid Akron OH rebuild

here's the link to the original find, but this here thread will be repairs. HOLY SH%T. IT knocks glasses over, I can hear the plates banging against one another rhytmically as that spray arm sweeps around the machine! That is a powerful spray system, very glad I don't own fine china. ...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[danemodsandy]

Isn't It Amazing....

....How the portable/convertible dishwashers in ads never made the kitchen look crowded or junky?

And how the ones in real life always did?

(Don't anyone hit me - I own a KitchenAid KDS-55 portable/convertible)

P.S.: "Conolite" is a laminate made by Panolam, formerly Pioneer Plastics. I would be willing to bet the Conolite itself is not actually rotted, that it's the substrate material it's glued to that's the problem. That laminate looks like it's dirty as Hell, probably with grease buildup or old Contact paper adhesive. I'd try some lighter fluid on it, and you might be amazed. If it comes clean, it can probably be carefully dislodged from the old substrate and a new substrate cut; you would then re-glue the Conolite to the new substrate and re-install the panel.