Thread Number: 39001
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
The last GE Filter Flo ever made |
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Post# 578329 , Reply# 2   2/26/2012 at 08:14 (4,414 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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We have a restored fully functional GE WOW Profile washer at the warehouse like the one described in the last post. I wanted to keep this one because it is the last and because it has the Spot-Scrubber feature that works with the Mini-Basket.
As to reliability I didn't see any real difference on these 1990s models. We always replaced a lot of transmissions on GE washers, whether you are talking 1960s, 70s, 80s or 90s. They would usually leak oil on the clothes, on the floor, agitate and spin at the same time or just stop doing one or the other. I always thought GE washers were the appliance equivalent of air-cooled Volkswagen's as they frequently needed new engines during their normal life. Certainly no other washer came close to the number of transmissions replacements that GE and Hotpoint experienced. To GEs credit they offered reasonably priced high quality rebuilt transmissions so the break down didn't always result in trashing the washer.
Of the well over one thousand rebuilt washers that we have sold we never sold more than a few dozen GEs as they were just to unpredictable when it came to reliability. We warranty every rebuilt appliance for one full year of free in home service and you could put a GE into perfect working condition and it would often come back with unexpected repairs, sock in water pump, off-balance and walking problems, two-speed clutch problems, top outer tub seal leaks, FLOODS from the unexpected transmission boot pulling off at the outer tub and the a fore mentioned oil leaks with upset customers about ruined clothing and floor damage.
About 90% of the washers and dryers we sold were WP built models. If you did a through job repair and rebuilding these you would have very few problems or consumer complaints for 5, 10 and even 20 years even on a rebuilt washer or dryer. We also sold some MT washers and SOH dryers but the MT washers usually gave us more customer complaints about performance, [ capacity, cleaning,stopping due to being off-balanced and machine vibration due to the difficult to level design of their washers. |
Post# 578497 , Reply# 3   2/26/2012 at 17:32 (4,413 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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Post# 578498 , Reply# 4   2/26/2012 at 17:34 (4,413 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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Post# 578696 , Reply# 8   2/27/2012 at 13:13 (4,412 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD)   |   | |
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UV light exposure seems to do it-happens with some plastics worse than others My neptune apparently hasn't had much UV light exposure as it's white plastic is still white,but i have seen neptunes that were yellowed... |
Post# 578769 , Reply# 9   2/27/2012 at 18:24 (4,412 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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Yeah, I thought about repainting them just to brighten them up and make them match....would have worked out well if the whole machine was almond!....
the white on white seems bright and clean, but awfully plain, and the gray lettering just fades into the background......they should have chosen a few colors to make them pop......like on the black consoles, a little shiny chrome, some brilliant stand out colors, and some detailed print.....just more appealing like one of these......shiny beads, just so purdy! |
Post# 578771 , Reply# 10   2/27/2012 at 18:33 (4,412 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon)   |   | |
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Post# 578772 , Reply# 11   2/27/2012 at 18:34 (4,412 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon)   |   | |
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Post# 578773 , Reply# 12   2/27/2012 at 18:35 (4,412 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon)   |   | |
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Post# 578793 , Reply# 13   2/27/2012 at 20:15 (4,412 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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Post# 578799 , Reply# 14   2/27/2012 at 20:33 (4,412 days old) by magic_clean (Florida)   |   | |
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think there were ever any plastic gears. Combo52 can confirm. GE did change the upper transmission housing to plastic many years ago. Don't think it impacted performance. It improved servicing. |
Post# 578813 , Reply# 15   2/27/2012 at 20:56 (4,412 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)   |   | |
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Jack Welch was putting the screws on every department at GE to strip down to profitability (real or cooked) at any cost. Many GE babies were thrown out with their bassinets. I remember seeing a couple of disembodied washing machine backsplashes on the upper floors of the East Building in Easton (where Welch and his lieutenants had their offices) sporting the new company graphics at that time. Must have been the last gasp from Louisville. The dryers must have been cheaper to produce than the Filter-Flo's and appealed to a lot of different markets because the basic design from the late 50's still exists in modified form. I have a couple of the last brochures that I will try to dig out, scan and post. Stay tuned. |
Post# 578953 , Reply# 17   2/28/2012 at 08:00 (4,412 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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Yes there were no plastic gears in GE Transmissions [ if there had been the lower oil seals would probably have lasted longer ], I do believe that many of the lower transmission oil seal failures that GE was famous for were caused by the fine metal that settled to the bottom from the metal gears wearing. GE did change to a plastic outer housing in the 1980s for the transmissions case. Like most times in automatic washer history when a part was changed from metal [ especially aluminum-pot metal ] the machines durability improved.
This was again the case with the plastic transmission case, I never saw a single problem with the plastic cases. On the aluminum cases we would occasionally see the top corrode through and the water would enter the transmission and the oil would float up into the wash water BIG MESS. GE also had a problem in the 1970s with the brake assembly breaking and knocking a 3/4" hole in the lower side of the aluminum transmission case, this resulted in two quarts of oil on the floor in less than a NY minute, LOL.
I remember trying to lift the broken transmissions out of these washers when there was still oil on the floor and my feet were sliding out from under me. I even remember one customer that had a newly redone laundry area in the master bedroom with a TOL GE pair that did this and the shag carpeting was soaked in two quarts of spilled oil. And we think that we have problems today with appliances LOL. |