impeller types
Hi Mike, I believe to the best of my knowledge that the stainless steel "bow-tie" impeller came out in '59 or '60 after the "bakelite" impeller and only lasted for two or three years, none of the impeller machines were great performers. I think the "bowtie" impeller DW's had stronger motors too, but not sure. I personally think the style and design of the older, bakelite impellers threw the water on to the dishes better than the "bowtie". Shorter cycles on the older machines (were made such due to "caustic" detergents) did not help. You needed preferably 160 degree water too for best performance. Sometime in 1963, I believe they went to the stainless spray arm with the white/plastic/rising/collapsable water tower in the middle. GE and other mfg's, increased the # of wash/rinses and overall cycle times too. As far as built-in and portable, I am not sure which or who came out first. I have two round 1949 GE dw's that are semi-automatic and they are suppose to be GE's first DW's ever made. But I have also heard of a square built-in or attached to sink GE DW, maybe that came out in 1950 ?
