I think there are few people that are going to really like this ...

Oh yes, I like...  LOL

Great  Doctrine - now I finally understand the point behind that massive clutch system!! 

Get me a pre-pilot machine people !! Get going !!

Yes Yogi- I was wondering how many companies nowadays actually build a working prototype for testing? I think its only in the Space Program that happens now.

No words...

I think one of the reason for the long testing is to avoid over-engineering any part so that a machine that lasts 15-20 years won't have parts that have failed 3 times because of bad design or weak materials and other (too cost-prohibitive) parts that are still like new when the machine reaches the end of it's life cycle.

In some cases, this testing still doesn't work as I have seen newer fridges that were just out of warranty with a sealed system failure which meant "not worth repairing". Or expensive laundry equipment that ended in the dump after a few years because of major failures due to design flaws.  Well, if the same situations happened in the 1960s (and it did happen), the owners who paid $600 for their fridges then were more likely to have it repaired than those who paid about the same price 5 years ago!

Cheaper doesn't always mean less functional, less durable or less reliable.  But one thing that most appliance manufacturers did away with is trying to make machines that look luxurious: Lighted panels, heavy chrome trim, porcelain coatings and exciting styles that changed almost every year are things of the past... And that's why I have interest in vintage machines. 

I'm still savoring this article, the information and the pictures which are very informative in and of themselves. A couple of quibbles:

1. Even though V-12 is my"street" name, I question GE's claim. According to my math and the measurements in the article, the old solid tub's volume was better than 4853 cubic inches, while the V-12 tub's volume was little less than 4866. 13 extra cubic inches means a 20% increase in useable capacity?? Really? Last time I looked, you couldn't fit 2 lbs. of dry laundry inside a 2 1/2" cube. Also, maximum fill in the solid tubs went up to the clothes retaining ring. Not so in the perforated tubs. That new spiral activator also displaces a lot more volume from the tub. Perhaps GE was claiming that the whole system was designed to accommodate and move more laundry jammed into a similar space.

2. V-12's were introduced in 1961; curious that were using a 1962 model for this study.

3. How wonderful to now know the name of the plastic used on the mini-baskets (and maybe also the filter pans?), Cycolac!!!

4. They say that the activators are made from Phenolic resin. Is that the same thing as bakelite?

5. Interesting that they pictured the same style of perforated tub that was in my first Filter-Flo. I still wonder if there was a distinction; most V-12's had a basket with double the amount of perforations than the one pictured. Compare the tub in the article with the tub on Robert's WA-757W. I've never seen the difference mentioned in any of the literature I've seen. Probably amounts to nothing but why go to the expense of two different tubs when one would do?

yes Phenolic resin = bakelite but the word Bakelite was trademarked so GE had their own molding plant in Pittsfield and had to call it by its process name. 

Ken, did the '61 FF have the flume still at 12 0'clock? And then moved it in '62, and was that how they were able to reduce cabinet depth?

GE plastics were done in Pittsfield? Is there still a factory up there?

The FF flume began at 12:00 (following the Solid Tub configuration)early in the 1961 model year but, as with most GE production years, there were at least 9 versions indicated in the model numbers. Sometime in the middle of the run they moved it to the 1:00 position where it remained. Somebody figured out that it would be easier and cheaper to run the recirculation nozzle through the rubber splash guard than through a piece of the metal cabinet flange requiring cuts in both the top and the lid.

I have 3 1961 FF's in my collection and only one of them has the old 12:00 recirculation flume. The 1:00 flumes IMO were made better and worked better than the old ones.

Malcolm, you made a good point about the Activator and increased ability to move the loads, but I'm a stickler for truth in advertising and I think GE's capacity claims were outright lies. We had a scale near the washing machine in our bathroom and I weighed out a 12 lb. load and tried to stuff it into the machine. There was no way that machine could effectively clean and rinse that load; it wouldn't have broken the machine, but it wouldn't have worked to anyone's satisfaction. I think Consumer Reports at said that the realistic maximum load size for most 1960's vintage machines was 8 lbs. and I'd have to agree. What GE did accomplish with the change to the V-12's was still really significant; pre selectable water levels (although the difference between max. and min. amounted to very little), effective filtration at all water levels and Activator and that powerhouse  to run it.