Vintage Mobile Maid Available

[d-jones]

I stumbled across this little Mobile Maid out here in L.A. and wondered what you guys might have to say about it. Apart from needing a good cleaning and polishing it seems to be in decent shape, though the lady that's selling it tells me one of the hoses has developed a leak. It's been in storage for quite some time and saw relatively little use prior to that.

 

Here are a few photos so you can judge for yourselves.

 

[d-jones]

The interior looks very nice.

 

[d-jones]

No corrosion, just a little dirt and dust from storage.

 

[d-jones]

The original plug is intact

 

[d-jones]

Dispenser

 

[turquoisedude]

WOW! That's in good shape! The leak may just be a bad washer where the unicouple hose connects to the water inlet valve...

 

[d-jones]

Detail shot of the impeller and heating element. That object below the impeller is just some random debris that fell in there.

[this post was last edited: 11/4/2013-16:11]

 

[d-jones]

The data plate.

 

[d-jones]

And finally the back panel. The only real visible wear I could find is on the cabinet and could honestly be called storage wear. Really a nice machine with tremendous potential if it gets into the right hands. The original Craigslist ad has expired but I can pass on the contact information to anyone that's interested. I'm waiting to hear back from her, but if I remember correctly she was asking somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty dollars for it.

[this post was last edited: 11/4/2013-16:27]

 

[bajaespuma]

Can't recommend these too highly

I love mine! I'm guessing this is an SP-40S, or a late version SP-40R. Either or, your dishes, glasses, cups and silverware WILL be clean and dry. Mine is surprisingly quiet for an uninsulated tub.

 

[turquoisedude]

OOH! It's a 1958...

 

[d-jones]

Paul - How were you able to identify the year of manufacture? According to the data plate it's an SP-40P, but being new to vintage dishwashers I have no idea what that means when compared to the S or the R model mentioned by Ken.

 

Anyone - I was just looking at the timer dial seen in reply 2 and wondering whether or not it lights up? It probably shouldn't matter, but for some reason lights always increase the fun factor.

 

Also, does the heating element just dry the dishes, or does it heat the water as the dishes are being washed as well?

[this post was last edited: 11/4/2013-20:17]

 

[washdaddy]

Why she sure do look all purty and Pank inside!!!

 

[d-jones]

I went looking through the archives(I suppose that's what they're there for)and managed to find the answers to my questions myself. But in looking through all the photos in the various threads I noticed that this machine seems to be missing the silverware basket. I think it's supposed to hang on the device that looks like a handle seen in reply 4(below the two screws). Would this be a difficult thing to find?

[this post was last edited: 11/5/2013-02:10]

 

[tomturbomatic]

Great find!

It is definitely the second year of the bowtie design. You can tell by the grate over the impeller which got finer over time, eventually going to a stainless steel hardware cloth construction. The year before this there were rods from the 12 to 6 and 3 to 9 o'clock positions with an inner and outer ring centered on the axis, all covered in vinyl. Also note at the 12 o'clock position above the impeller, when looking down from the front of the machine, there is no baffle. An angled piece of stainless steel baffle was added after this year so that during the drain, when the impeller was moving in reverse, it kept the water from swirling debris high up on the sloping sump and instead channeled them down into the pump. The location of the power cord was moved to the back of the machine in later models of this design.

Once GE went to the bowtie impeller design, there was no light for the timer dial, a small price to pay for the improved washing.

 

[turquoisedude]

Year of Manufacture - whoops it's a 57!!

David, it's the "P" in the model number that gives the year of manufacture. GE's coding in those days used the letter "P" to identify the year as 1957. I should know better, I have one! Better still, I was convinced mine was a 58 also... LOL

 

[bajaespuma]

That door latch is from later years...

...and so is that lower rack.

It really does say "P" on the rating plate so then it is definitely a 1957 model. Small problem with the 1957 vintage: they used a 750 Watt Calrod heater on those machines which got so hot that they had, eventually, a roasting effect on the plastisol and racks near the coil.

 

[d-jones]

Paul - Thanks for clearing up the year of manufacture for me. That may be helpful at some point.

 

Tom - Thanks for all the information about the machine. For some reason, at least for me, knowing those sorts of details tends to make a machine more interesting.

 

Ken - That bit of information about the Calrod is actually kind of alarming. To your knowledge is there anything that can be done about that? Considering how well preserved this machine is, it would be a shame to have it damaged by this sort of thing. And thanks for posting the ad. It clearly shows the silverware sticking up in the front, so there's definitely a basket of some sort missing here. I can't help but wonder how hard it'll be to find that.

 

[christfr]

love it