Wash-Test weekend in Ogden

[turquoisedude]

After a two-week absence from Ogden, I was itching to get a couple of machines tested that got snuck into the basement and hooked up the last time we were there.

It was our anniversary weekend, but once I got the vichyssoise made, the cake for dessert baked, and the first load of dirty dishes into the 56 GE dishwasher, I made it a point of testing the first machine: the 1951 Kenmore washer.

I concentrated on shooting moving pictures of the Kenmore's Maiden Wash - this unfortunately used up all the camera memory (D'OH!!). There are not a lot of stills, but I did put together a fairly detailed movie chronicle of the wash test.

The video is still loading as I am posting this, and I have to get to bed (damned new job is wiping me out), so please don't be disappointed if this doesn't work right away![this post was last edited: 8/20/2012-22:35]

 

[turquoisedude]

The results?

 

[turquoisedude]

I have to give this one a pass!! This is possibly the quietest washer in the collection at the moment - bonus!

 

[turquoisedude]

So on Sunday...

I was on a roll, so I figured it was time to give this washer a test run...

 

[turquoisedude]

I needed to do a little bit of cleaning to make this Filter-Flo presentable, but it didn't take much!
Oh, and I used some of that porcelain touch-up paint for sinks and tubs on the chips on the washer top - it worked reasonably well.

 

[turquoisedude]

Time for a test load! 12 pound capacity or not - I threw in a load of towels that is bigger than I usually wash...

 

[turquoisedude]

Filter-Flo pan in place with detergent, just like I remember doing with the family's original V-12!!

 

[turquoisedude]

Wahoo! There's the wash starting up! I will get some videos of this machine while I am on 'staycation' down in Ogden over the next couple of weeks.

 

[turquoisedude]

here comes the 'but....'

Is it me, or does this water level look dangerously high?? The last filter-flo machine I used was a late 70s model and I don't recall the water getting this far up the tub... I fear a water-level control issue here...
Oh, and I noticed a pretty good leak from under the machine. I think the problem is with the hook-up hoses, though. I had some trouble with them when I first hooked up the machine two weeks ago and I thought I had resolved the problem... Guess not!! I will play it safe and get a new set just to be 100% sure otherwise Hubby has 1-800-GOT-JUNK and the local scrap metal dealer on speed-dial down in Ogden...

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

YAY PAUL!!!

 

CONGRATS on the maiden wash of the '51 KM... it's Bea-U-ti-ful!    The GE is nothing to sneeze at either!   CONGRATS on getting both!

 

Hope you are well!

 

Kevin

 

[gansky1]

Lucky devil!  What a beautiful and fun washer - love that gentle slope on the ramp Activator!

 

[philr]

Nice to see them being used!

 

 

 

[qualin]

That's an absolutely beautiful Filter Flo that you have there.

I bet it probably would be easy to lower the water level on the pressure switch.

I can't believe that I'm suggesting you use less water... what is the world coming to!?!

 

[jetcone]

Fantastic Video Paul

well done! And yay for Schenectady!

Yes-the infamous neutral drain!!!

Don'tcha hate it when work gets in the way of "the hobby"?

Next restore for me is my "56 FF. Got to put a halt to the indexing tub syndrome!

 

[bajaespuma]

Respectable collection there, sir.

'Bout time you sent the Hubby away to the Bedrock bowling convention and had a wash-in. I'd like to try out my new passport.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Beautiful GE

Hi Paul, no that is correct, my '61 does the same thing on high fill. I also remember the machines in 70s when I was a kid filling about a 1/3 way up the balance rim.

 

[combo52]

Great Washer Progress Paul

The GE FFs water level is about normal, this is about where we would see these running. This is one reason why we so often got service calls to remove socks from outer tubs of GE washers as people would start stuffing the washer too full when they saw all that water. If you look in the service manual it gives the correct spec for water levels as measured from the basket bottom. We have often found as machines age the WL creeps up a little and it is very easy to adjust it up or down a little.

 

I always remember before we started our business my brother Jeff  was working for another company and he did a service call on a GE washer and removed a sock from the outer tub, the customer paid him and he left. About a two weeks later he got another call at the same house and found another sock. The women absolutely refused to pay him telling him he didn't get the second sock the first time. He tried to explain that it would be extremely unlikely that the washer would complete even one load without pulling the sock down into the drain and clogging it.

 

So after the customer still refused to pay Jeff told the customer that he thought he left one of his tools in the basement and went down stairs and slipped the old sock back into the outer tub of the washer then went up stairs and left. They never heard from her again LOL.

 

[combo52]

Great Washer Progress Paul

The GE FFs water level is about normal, this is about where we would see these running. This is one reason why we so often got service calls to remove socks from outer tubs of GE washers as people would start stuffing the washer too full when they saw all that water. If you look in the service manual it gives the correct spec for water levels as measured from the basket bottom. We have often found as machines age the WL creeps up a little and it is very easy to adjust it up or down a little.

 

I always remember before we started our business my brother Jeff  was working for another company and he did a service call on a GE washer and removed a sock from the outer tub, the customer paid him and he left. About a two weeks later he got another call at the same house and found another sock. The women absolutely refused to pay him telling him he didn't get the second sock the first time. He tried to explain that it would be extremely unlikely that the washer would complete even one load without pulling the sock down into the drain and clogging it.

 

So after the customer still refused to pay Jeff told the customer that he thought he left one of his tools in the basement and went down stairs and slipped the old sock back into the outer tub of the washer then went up stairs and left. They never heard from her again LOL.

 

[mickeyd]

Hey Paul,

The movie wasn't ready when last I tried, but now it is and when it's over, there is another--unlinked, you prankster-- of the same machine doing a suds-return. Yes the tub is dark, but WHO CARES? It's a 6O year old machine doing a standard issue suds-return. "Sweet," indeed , as you say, and fabulous too. So, thank you!