is working again!  

I was so stoked at getting the 57 GE washer up and running (still alternately crying and hurling expletives over that....) that I figured I should make at least an attempt to see what did and didn't work on the matching dryer. 

I knew the timer was kaput but I had never hooked the dryer up to 230 volts.  So I did.  

I was delighted to find the heating elements still worked!

I decided I also had nothing to lose by having a peek at the timer motor.

How this happened is the biggest stroke of pure dumb luck... the motor from a mystery timer in a box of parts I happened to have looked like it might fit.

It did!

I reassembled the control panel and gave the ol' start button a push...

The dryer still worked! I ran a timed cycle with no trouble, then decided to try the automatic setting. Well, that worked too!  It was truly bittersweet that the clothes dried during this test were "washed" in the 57 GE washer. Frag danging garb dibbling.... Oh, sorry, there go the expletives again.

I will still take the dryer apart for a good de-linting. I haven't decided if the drum rollers should be replaced or not yet. I probably should even though the set won't be in service any time soon.

So, who wants to bet on how badly I can mess up not one, but two Norge Timelines that need tweaking???

Question:  What's better than a restored 1957 Laundry Appliance?

Answer:  TWO!!!!

Way to go, Paul.  Those two are going to look stunning beside one another again.

lawrence

Is that the lint filter with the cloth bag underneath the grille?

Lawrence, Christina - thanks for the compliments!  I have a funny feeling that the dryer is going to be on active duty whether or not the washer is.  I always liked the style of the 'one off' control panel GE used on the '57 models!

Ken - yes, this one has the mesh lint bag instead of a screen.  I had a 58 for a while that I think also had this.  

Tom - that's right - the '58 model mentioned above did have that 'De-Wrinkle suits' mentioned on the dial.  And yes, there is a pretty good explanation of the atomic, er, sorry automatic drying on the door.  Bonus that it's still readable!!    BTW, I know I got this dryer it was shipped up from the Warehouse in Beltsville - did this one once belong to you or was it John's?  

Uh-oh... you did it now!!  Jon and Phil will be following this post with a slapfest!!

Even though the 57 GE dryer is fully functional, I still just HAD to take it all apart to investigate and clean it up. 

Surprisingly, there was not a huge accumulation of lint and dust in the machine.  I still gave everything a nice cleanup and I figured while I was in there, I might as well replace the drum idler rollers.   There was a small-ish flat spot on the ones in the machine and I just happened to have a set for the 1958 model which were more or less the same, so I changed 'em!

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the inside (it was really hot and uncomfortable this weekend...) but I got a couple of the cabinet before I got too far with the clean-up.  It is astonishing how much dirt stuck to the cabinet while it has been in storage! 

And just in case anyone wondered, that hole in the rear of the drum is the inlet for the 'Air Freshener'.  I'd love to know more about how that worked and what product was put into the air freshener tray.  I believe the action of the air flowing through the drum simply siphoned the scent from the tray into the drum.   I am actively searching for an owner's manual for this model.  This will hopefully explain that 1-2-3-4 notation on the 'automatic dry' section of the control dial.  

It took some doing to reassemble the cabinet, but I did it despite sweating like a pig.  The last thing I needed to do was to replace the 3-wire supply cord with a 4-wire one.  Easy, right?  Nope....   True to form I managed to mess that up, but good.  I could not get the new supply cord tightly bolted down to the terminal block.  After trying to tighten the nut and realizing it was just not biting on the screw terminal, I gave up.  I had to detour to the appliance parts fellow in Stanstead, but I did manage to find a replacement block (from an Inglis dryer... gasp!) and it worked.   

Yes, I tested the dryer... everything worked.  I stopped short of moving the dryer down to the laundry room where it will be paired up with the limping washer.  The set is just too darn cool-looking to keep apart!   

With any luck it will be cooler next weekend and I'll be more inclined to make the move... Stay tuned!

I had to move the newly-restored GE dryer into the house; I wanted to see how the 57s would look back together again.

They look marvellous, dahling!

I do still have to hook up a vent to it and I did phase 1 of a major laundry room re-arrangement (the Duomatic will be down there this summer, so help me...)

Of course the GE washer is going to be dismembered once again but I am not going to even think about that until I know I can get a new brake made (still waiting on a reply from that place in CT where jetcone - Jon had some made in 2013).  

It was a interesting design for sure.

And possibly only I would think of this but these pink toggleswitches had me channelling Kay Thompson....

I just wanted to flick them all and bellow "Now hear this"...

I think one really nice feature of this pair is the fact that they're white.  With so much emphasis at the time (1957) on mix-or-match colors, the white is really unique.  They make a beautiful pair, Paul.

Congratulation on everything you've accomplished so far!

lawrence

Paul, your tenacious and amazing.