Positive ID on a GE Mobile-Maid top-loader


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Thread Number: 15601
Positive ID on a GE Mobile-Maid top-loader

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Post# 262170 1/29/2008 at 13:17 (5,924 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes If anyone recognizes this, it was posted here on the site in late September - it was for sale in upstate New York and well, I just had to have it! It is now my full-time dishwasher in our weekend house in the Eastern Townships (the late 80's Maytag in the kitchen is just not working well enough to use regularly), so I brought this baby out of storage. When I purchased it, I was told it was a 1958 model - can anyone confirm that? It is a model SP-40 and the owners manual I got with it is almost identical to the one I got with an SU-60 undercounter model that I was told was a 1959.

Post# 262171 , Reply# 1 1/29/2008 at 13:18 (5,924 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes *And an inside shot...* Here's the inside, with a partial load of dirties...

Post# 262174 , Reply# 2 1/29/2008 at 13:29 (5,924 days old) by frontaloadotmy (the cool gay realm)
Checkrate/Likes *I can't verify the year Paul* But my Ma's friend loaned her mobile maid to us in the midsixties, it had the same formica finish on the top as yours. It was a great dishwasher. I don't recall if Miriam said she had been packing it around for almost ten years ; I think we took possession about 1966.

Post# 262175 , Reply# 3 1/29/2008 at 13:30 (5,924 days old) by bellalaundry (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada)
Checkrate/Likes *WOW...* That is a beautiful dishwasher!

Post# 262177 , Reply# 4 1/29/2008 at 13:36 (5,924 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes *Lisa Douglas on "Green Acres" had one, too* And hers was all pink - sigh! I do love that pink finish on the racks and tub.

Post# 262178 , Reply# 5 1/29/2008 at 13:50 (5,924 days old) by gadgetgary (Bristol,CT)
Checkrate/Likes *Paul* Good Luck with that machine. Looks FAHBULOUS~!

Post# 262181 , Reply# 6 1/29/2008 at 14:08 (5,924 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes Thanks Gary! When I bought it, they said it leaked a bit - the hoses are still the original ones and the pink coating is crumbling so I thought they were shot. Turns out it was just a bad washer on the inlet valve. Darrel, What became of the borrowed Mobile-Maid? Was it white, too or in a cool color?

Post# 262194 , Reply# 7 1/29/2008 at 15:39 (5,924 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes "P" in the model number indicates 1957, but it could have easily been bought from a dealer's stock in 1958. Congrats on the fun dishwasher - I had a piece of plexiglas cut for the top opening to see the water action, that was quite entertaining at the '05 convention here. We do love splashing water!

Post# 262208 , Reply# 8 1/29/2008 at 17:27 (5,924 days old) by frontaloadotmy (the cool gay realm)
Checkrate/Likes *SP- 40* Loaded, run, and unloaded by frontal. Paul: it eventually perished due to dropped fork and knife pink perma-tuff piercing syndrome. I don't recall ever seeing one of those in any of the decorator colors , but they probably were available, ours was white too. I know you just love that beefy unicouple, too bad things aren't so sturdy these days. (no, no ; I was never so clumsy as to drop and pierce, those injuries were prefrontal)

Post# 262234 , Reply# 9 1/29/2008 at 22:49 (5,924 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *Beautiful machine! Aferim!* Could you post a couple of close-up pics of that detergent dispenser? That's the magnetic one, right?

Post# 262248 , Reply# 10 1/30/2008 at 04:55 (5,923 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes *Wow* I haven't seen one of those in years. our neighbor had the exact same machine. They got theirs in 1960. Cool Impeller action.Sounds like a truck coming though the kitchen. I see there is no Power Shower on the lid. Excellent Machine. We had the roll out tub version of that machine in 1961

Post# 262249 , Reply# 11 1/30/2008 at 04:57 (5,923 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes *Wow* I haven't seen one of those in years. our neighbor had the exact same machine. They got theirs in 1960. Cool Impeller action.Sounds like a truck coming though the kitchen. I see there is no Power Shower on the lid. Excellent Machine. We had the roll out tub version of that machine in 1961

Post# 262257 , Reply# 12 1/30/2008 at 07:26 (5,923 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes I will make it a point of getting some close-ups of the detergent cup this weekend, but it is exactly like the one shown in the manual! It's actually a bit tricky to fill; I find I accidently trip the lower cup when I close the top one and I have to watch where longer cutlery is placed in the cutlery basket. When did the 'power shower' get added to the lid? I remember that neighbors of ours had a GE Top-Loader portable with one; it was avocado, so it had to be a mid to late 60's model. Question: I am concerned about the pink coating wearing off the cutlery basket now that I am using it regularly. Any suggestions on what I could do to protect it??

Post# 262266 , Reply# 13 1/30/2008 at 09:34 (5,923 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E)
Checkrate/Likes "Question: I am concerned about the pink coating wearing off the cutlery basket now that I am using it regularly. Any suggestions on what I could do to protect it??" Personally, I'd begin looking for a cutlery basket from another machine that would fit reasonably well. As many different brands and models of DW as there have been, someone surely has made a modern, all-plastic basket that would work.

Post# 262269 , Reply# 14 1/30/2008 at 09:50 (5,923 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes GE had several styles for the impeller protector in the redesigned machines with the bow tie impeller. The first consisted of two rods that basically divided the area into four quadrants with two or three concentric rings overlaying the perpendicular rods. The dishwasher shown has the second cover for the impeller, the medium vinyl coated grid which, I believe, was attached at the corners to the lower rack. At first they were not as worried about the stainless steel impeller being damaged by a falling piece of silverware which would usually break the Bakelite impellers. The last design was a grid of stainless steel hardware cloth with the much finer squares. It was held in place by two S hooks mounted on the Calrod element. When those little plastic disks from baby bottle covers would fly loose during the cycle, they made a loud scraping noise as the two plumes of water from the impeller would drag them across the underside of hardware cloth type cover. While the impeller was turning, the water level was lower than the edges of the grid, so the little disks would slip under it. The easiest way to retrieve them was to stop the machine while the water level was even with the grid and then use fingers, if they would fit, or the handle of a spoon or fork to move it to the edge and then push it down to get it past the turned under edge of the grid where the buoyancy of the plastic would let it bob to the surface. What the picture of the top rack does not show is the little vinyl coated fence added like an afterthought to the corner of the top rack under the detergent dispenser. It was not squared with the pins so it never looked quite right. It prevents anything from being loaded close enough to the dispenser to block its fall. At the end of the cycle, it was immediately apparent if the cover had not been closed before you even looked at the cup because the dishes would not be clean. One morning, I noticed that the baby bottles were flecked with bits of food. Immediately my father said that it was not a bottle washer and it could not be expected to clean them; never mind that we had been washing them in there since my sister was born. Then a glance showed the little cup with the detergent sitting under a layer of water (my mother had started the dishwasher the night before). The next detergent cup had a hinged cover and pivoted over on the timer shaft but it had the same fence. The KitchenAid portables with the pivoting dispenser on the back wall of the tank have a similar blocked area in the fixed rear portion of the upper rack. Remember to use those 5 rectangular holes at the end of the slverware basket for cooking spoons and spatulas inserted handles down. Our owner's manual had very detailed instructions for removing stains from dishes and the Plastisol tank. After the machine was loaded with dishes and glasses, but no metal, a measuring cup with a cup of liquid chlorine bleach was placed on the grid over the center of the impeller and the cycle started. The water circulation caused the cup to overflow adding a continuous bleaching solution to the two power pre-rinses and the wash. A similar process with vinegar, but without detergent, was used to remove hard water film & deposits.

Post# 262388 , Reply# 15 1/30/2008 at 22:34 (5,923 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes *I have the same dishwasher* Model - SP40S1 Mine is beige with a white front and speckled formica top with stars and glitter.

Post# 262389 , Reply# 16 1/30/2008 at 22:36 (5,923 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes Here's a pic of the inside. Thanks goes to Dan Langdon for giving it to me.

Post# 262828 , Reply# 17 2/1/2008 at 19:24 (5,921 days old) by bpetersxx (laf in on the banks of the Wabash River)
Checkrate/Likes could we have more instruction manual pages pretty please with sugar on top

Post# 262830 , Reply# 18 2/1/2008 at 19:29 (5,921 days old) by frontaloadotmy (the cool gay realm)
Checkrate/Likes *Patrick* That tub looks pristine!!

Post# 262840 , Reply# 19 2/1/2008 at 20:20 (5,921 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon)
Checkrate/Likes *Thank You Darrel* Yes, the tub is in very good shape. There is 1 little scratch in the vinyl coating but it's hardly noticable and not rusting either. I think this dishwasher saw very little use in it's lifetime. There aren't even any cut marks in the silverware basket at all!

Post# 262843 , Reply# 20 2/1/2008 at 20:36 (5,921 days old) by syndets2000 (Nanjemoy, MD)
Checkrate/Likes This is the dishwasher I grew up with, in our house out in Potomac, MD- in Sunshine Yellow, 1960-It had a very unique sound towards the end of the drain cycle- It was also connected to one of those airgap that were built into the splash board of the countertop just above it-interesting gurgle noises from that too-the tank assembly rolled out from under the counter, & we could never push it closed completly- the water leaks resulting from that killed the motor in 1966- I hung mugs & coffee cups in the inside of the top rack!They never broke either!Ours had the plastic sw basket, soon seen in the front loading models- but ours was in pink too!

Post# 263404 , Reply# 21 2/5/2008 at 08:47 (5,917 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes Syndets, Our neighbor used to hang cups in her GE roll out also. She had that neat Franciscan pattern where things were not exactly round and the pattern was stars and space stuff. The cups were low and wide. Why are such neat patterns discontinued? They could sell a million sets of that today. Anyway, my parents were against hanging cups, saying that the handles would weaken and fall off, but they never did. We only hung them from the pins in the center of the top rack. Does anyone remember the funny side rail racks GE put into the last of the impeller machines? They went front to back above the top rack and had little prongs on them, ostensibly for cups, but you would not be able to put cups on the racks and still be able to put taller things like glasses or bowls toward the back of the rack. We never had that many cups anyway. Contrast this top rack with the top rack in Robert's D&M Frigidaire portable; the difference in capacity is amazing. In ours, the back corners of the top rack generally had saucepans in them, although sometimes they were in a corner of the lower rack. One corner of the lower rack was where either the top bowl of the glass Cory or the Ecko-Flint percolator was loaded at a backward tilt for washing. The pump stem was put through one of those 5 rectangles in the end of the silverware basket. The ivory Fiesta salad bowl was usually in the lower rack. Yes, these were noisy machines, but I took a Westinghouse rollout and glued heavy rubber-coated hair carpet padding to the tank walls, the cover that locked down on the top of the tank and the three walls of the metal housing which held the tank and it not only cut way down on the noise, but provided good thermal insulation as well. The water stayed hotter and the drying performance was improved to where the machine could be turned off after half of the dry cycle and things would continue to dry in the residual heat.

Post# 263416 , Reply# 22 2/5/2008 at 09:50 (5,917 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *Those cup rack rails* Oh yeah I remember them. It wasn't until we'd had the dishwasher for about 8 years that I dug out the manual for the machine from my father's files. Up to that point my mother thought those side racks were for carving knives and such and never used them. It also showed that you could "perch" tall glasses over the open hole on the top rack using the rack finger extensions. I remember, after a dinner party, fully loading that thing according to the manual and it held, and cleaned, an amazing amount of dishes. It wasn't exactly good at accommodating pots and pans, but my family never ever put pots and pans in the dishwasher.

Post# 263420 , Reply# 23 2/5/2008 at 10:01 (5,917 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes Here's another portable, but it's exactly what it looked like when loaded

Post# 263425 , Reply# 24 2/5/2008 at 10:25 (5,917 days old) by jons1077 (Vancouver, Washington, USA)
Checkrate/Likes *pdub* keep your eyes peeled for one for us! Until that kitchen is remodeled we'll need a portable. :-)

Post# 263477 , Reply# 25 2/5/2008 at 18:57 (5,917 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes *I need one of these.* So Bad...To bring back my childhood memeoriesFull Tub Roll Out or Mobile Maid with the "Blade".

Post# 263546 , Reply# 26 2/6/2008 at 09:01 (5,916 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes Our owner's manual showed some loading capabilities. One of them was titled "64 glasses in one load". The were loaded over the pins hanging into the opening in the top rack and then in every bit of space behind that first row all the way back to the walls. There was a picture showing the GE broiler pan loaded so that it stood up in the center, resting on the wire impeller covering. The top part of the pan was placed across the opening in the top rack to catch the strongest wash action. We actually got better results placing the broiler pan against the wall in the lower rack with the top in the suggested position. When we had the gas stove, we would regularly add the gray porcelain burner grates & the white porcelain burner pans that went front to back around each pair of burners to a not quite full load, not that any part of my mother's stoves ever became dirty. Less regularly, the oven bottom and shelves and the drip trays were put in for a good scrubbing. The GE also did a very good job cleaning the round chrome rack from the charcoal grill. We even put the Revere 6 qt Dutch oven in a corner of the lower rack. Of course, nothing could go above it except for some shallow bowls standing on edge. About the only pans that escaped the dishwasher were the cast iron skillets. Sometimes, they and or any other pan for which there was not room in the dishwasher were placed in the sink under the Unicouple. The detergent solution would drain into them and they were quickly washed. When the next fill was completed, the Unicouple was briefly removed from the faucet to rinse the pans then snapped back on. Mom has seasoned the skillets so well, baking them for three days with suet, that they stood up to brief detergent washings except for the large Griswold pan that mom used to place in the bottom of gas oven and add about an inch of water when baking some things. It rusted. I later sanded the rust and we re-seasoned it.

Post# 263556 , Reply# 27 2/6/2008 at 09:36 (5,916 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes Wow, you really utilized that dishwasher for everything, Tom. Everyone I knew would have had a stroke if any of their pans, even stainless steel or enamel, would have gotten too close to the dishwasher. It wasn't until I had my own place before I was able to put cookware into a dishwasher - I still have scars ;-)

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