Vintage GE clothes dryer from 1950s (Hanover Twp)

[brianl]

Found this dryer on CraigsList this morning and going to look at and pick up either today or tomorrow. Wanted to share this with the group and get some thoughts on the machine. Thanks!

Excerpt from Ad:

Vintage clothing dryer that's been sitting unplugged in my grandmother's basement for several decades. She says the indicator is broken, but otherwise it works. It looks kind of cool in a retro sort of way, but she's moving, and we don't have anywhere to put it.

 

[brianl]

Another pic:

 

[brianl]

3-wire plug:

(Toggles, going to need your electrical assistance for a 4-wire to 3-wire adapter.)[this post was last edited: 8/25/2010-09:46]

 

[redcarpetdrew]

No adapter needed...

The standard 4 wire plug comes with red, black, white and green. Red and black are supposed to be your l1/l2 and go on either side of the terminal block. Doesn't matter which color on which side AS LONG AS THE WHITE WIRE IS ATTACHED TO THE MIDDLE (neutral) TERMINAL. The cabinet is grounded thru the middle neutral lug on a three wire but on a four wire, the green wire is the cabinet ground. You're supposed to attach the green wire to the cabinet itself and disconnect the wire that goes from the middle terminal lug to the cabinet. Install your strain relief and you should be good to go. Remember to reattach the neutral link if you ever go back to a three wire cord!

Nice dryer, by the way! Congrats.

RCD

 

[redcarpetdrew]

It would help if I could read... Sigh...

Sorry, you said you were going from a 4 to a 3, didn't you? I really should pay more attention in class... There is no adapter to make a three fit a four or vice versa.

Simpler... The outside wires of the grey three prong cord are your hots and the middle is neutral. As long as this middle wire goes to the middle terminal, the hots can be either side. Make sure the connecter that grounds the cabinet to the neutral is firmly attached!

RCD

 

[Unimatic1140]

Oooh that is a nice dryer Brian, I believe its a 1960 or 1961 model. If you do end up getting it please post some pictures of it, we would love to see it up close.

 

[combo52]

GE V-12 ELECTRIC DRYER

Neat find Brain it must be a 1962-3 machine I have the TOL 1961 washer and it almost matches but mine doesn't have the linear dial system yet. You could bring it down when you visit these are easy to rebuild if you are faimilar with this vintage GE dryer.

 

[brianl]

To Unimatic & all: I will definitely post more pics when I get it. I can't wait to get it; it's only about 25 miles from my house, so very close by. Either today or tomorrow.

Hey Drew: I had gotten a 1951-ish Filter-Matic which was a 3-wire and Toggles and I converted it to 4 as it had a separate lug for the ground. (and for extra safety.) He then put a 4-wire receptacle up for me. I may just change the wire out on this GE anyway to keep everything uniform and the cord's condition may not be all that great anyway.

Hey Rob: I may not be able to bring it down as my normal cars are sedans and the one I will be using (station wagon) is not so much a traveling car. But I'm sure with everyone's help on here, I should be ok. Thanks for the offer though!

 

[pulltostart]

I believe it's a 1961, based on the console colors. 1961 was definitely a "blue" year - look back at Ken's 1961's. The 1962 and 1963 versions were black and chrome.

Lawrence

 

[blondie]

It has such a pretty panel and the colors are great.

 

[jetcone]

Love that panel!

Go for it!

 

[bygted]

NICE!

Can't wait to see more pics!

 

[brianl]

I got the dryer couple hours ago and it looks very nice! I will try and post some pics in the morning. It has an air freshener button. Do you guys know what that does?? As mentioned in the ad, the knob turns but the indicator does not. Going to check that one out tomorrow.

 

[brianl]

If I read the model number correctly (dark in my garage), the number is 1020V1 W. Does this look about right? When I said 1961, the owner said that sounded about right.

 

[bajaespuma]

Envy is such an ugly emotion

Yeah, I check those North Jersey Craigslists ads pretty regularly, but this one, of course, just got by me.

And yes, this is one of my pentultimate dream machines. Let me tell you about it.

 

[bajaespuma]

1961, you say?

Yeah, I can pretty much guarantee that your new dryer is from 1961. Whenever you see baby blue or sky blue on a vintage GE control panel, just think 1961. Oh, did I mention that 1961 is my favorite vintage?

 

[pulltostart]

1961

Told you so! Another indicator is the "V" in the model number. You asked about the "air freshener" button - there is a small cylinder behind that button and the cylinder basically contains perfume (probably long since gone). When that bar on the console is depressed it injects a burst of the scent into the dryer drum.

Lawrence

 

[combo52]

AIR FRESHENER

The small cylinder is actually a small pressurized aerosol can that you had to replace when empty they have not been available from GE for at least 20 years.

 

[bajaespuma]

And this is why we need a way to identify, locate and contact old, possibly retired and/or out of business exclusive GE dealers with tons of OE parts stock. I know they're out there.

Is there a site on the internet that has copies of old Yellow-Pages phone books? Some libraries had them, but I think a lot of them have been thrown out.

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