Well as few of you heard through the grapevine, Roger in Tucson had recently found a 1950 model AW6 GE washer. He offered it to me as a parts machine and it arrived the other day. By 1950 GE had cheapened the AW6 line, removing the recirculation and filtering system as well as the soak cycle and other features, but there was still good parts that I could use to restore the very rare, full-featured 1947 machine. The entire transmission is dead in this parts machine, so something serious is going on inside this drive unit. But most importantly the top is in much better shape so I will be able to use the top and lid to replace the badly rusted top and lid on my ’47 machine.
Here is what I’ve done on the ’47 recently:
#1 Took the controls apart and cleaned them and reinstalled them.
#2 Took both electric pumps out, one was able to be taken apart and saved, the other is rusted through.
#3 Part of the rubber recirculation flume had cracked on the outside of the outer tub, so I cut that section off and replaced it with braided PVC hose
#4 The parts machine doesn’t have a recirculation system, so it only has one electric drain pump, so I took that pump and installed it to replace the rusted through recirculation pump in the ’47.
#5 Took the top and sub-top off of the parts-machine and bolted the white sub-top from the 1947 to the 1950 machine top, its fits perfectly on the 1947 and looks exactly the same, yay!
I gave the machine its first full test, and here are the problems that I am currently addressing:
No spin. So I pulled the timer out and I see that spin contact is worn way down, so I took a contact out of the timer from the parts machine and replaced the spin contact in the ’47 GE and it now spins perfectly.
The electric pump from the parts machine (now the recirculation pump) was slow, loud and then started to smoke. As I suspected when I removed the ground wire from the washer the pump work just fine. This is a big deal. It turns out the electric pump that I took from the parts machine is grounded. That means that the insulation around the copper windings inside the pump motor has worn and is touching the case. This is a dangerous situation and the pump cannot be used like this. It appears that the stator case of the rusted old pump seems to be OK and a quick check of my meter shows that this unit is not grounded, just rusted through. So this weekend I’m going to take the old pump apart and switch the winding case between the grounded pump and the old pump. Hopefully this will solve the problem. I can always use a new electric pump, but I would really like to keep this machine as original as I possibly can.
After that it appears that the water temperature switch is off, it seems to be giving warm water on hot, hot water on medium and no water on warm. Something isn’t right and I need to investigate that as well.
Since I fixed the spin problem last night, I’m going to work on the pump problem tonight and the water temperature switch after that.
I can’t tell you all how much I’m looking forward to doing the premier wash load in this machine. After I determine that the machine is working perfectly, pictures and videos will be following the premier wash load for everyone to join in the fun.
Then I get to take the machine apart once again and get the poor dear painted!
Here is what I’ve done on the ’47 recently:
#1 Took the controls apart and cleaned them and reinstalled them.
#2 Took both electric pumps out, one was able to be taken apart and saved, the other is rusted through.
#3 Part of the rubber recirculation flume had cracked on the outside of the outer tub, so I cut that section off and replaced it with braided PVC hose
#4 The parts machine doesn’t have a recirculation system, so it only has one electric drain pump, so I took that pump and installed it to replace the rusted through recirculation pump in the ’47.
#5 Took the top and sub-top off of the parts-machine and bolted the white sub-top from the 1947 to the 1950 machine top, its fits perfectly on the 1947 and looks exactly the same, yay!
I gave the machine its first full test, and here are the problems that I am currently addressing:
No spin. So I pulled the timer out and I see that spin contact is worn way down, so I took a contact out of the timer from the parts machine and replaced the spin contact in the ’47 GE and it now spins perfectly.
The electric pump from the parts machine (now the recirculation pump) was slow, loud and then started to smoke. As I suspected when I removed the ground wire from the washer the pump work just fine. This is a big deal. It turns out the electric pump that I took from the parts machine is grounded. That means that the insulation around the copper windings inside the pump motor has worn and is touching the case. This is a dangerous situation and the pump cannot be used like this. It appears that the stator case of the rusted old pump seems to be OK and a quick check of my meter shows that this unit is not grounded, just rusted through. So this weekend I’m going to take the old pump apart and switch the winding case between the grounded pump and the old pump. Hopefully this will solve the problem. I can always use a new electric pump, but I would really like to keep this machine as original as I possibly can.
After that it appears that the water temperature switch is off, it seems to be giving warm water on hot, hot water on medium and no water on warm. Something isn’t right and I need to investigate that as well.
Since I fixed the spin problem last night, I’m going to work on the pump problem tonight and the water temperature switch after that.
I can’t tell you all how much I’m looking forward to doing the premier wash load in this machine. After I determine that the machine is working perfectly, pictures and videos will be following the premier wash load for everyone to join in the fun.
Then I get to take the machine apart once again and get the poor dear painted!
Stay inside with the air conditioning going!! 
