Thread Number: 43754
General Electric Filter-Flo Set
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Post# 643034   11/30/2012 at 21:55 (4,136 days old) by bwoods ()        

Finally got the GE set in from the garage. Found the set in a Craigslist posting.




Post# 643035 , Reply# 1   11/30/2012 at 21:57 (4,136 days old) by bwoods ()        
the washer..

mid-line

Post# 643036 , Reply# 2   11/30/2012 at 21:58 (4,136 days old) by bwoods ()        
the dryer

a little higher in their line..

Post# 643049 , Reply# 3   11/30/2012 at 22:39 (4,136 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)        
Very nice set......

yogitunes's profile picture
I would say a little higher than Mid line.....plenty of options for variable cycle choices, virtually endless combinations.......

and for the most part, a matched 6 cycle set.......

looks like its turning out to be a FilterFlo month for quite a few members....

that should be the deeper concave tub, exlarge capacity dryer......bigger than the standard size for that cabinet width....

I have the same set, only the dryer is gas


Post# 643105 , Reply# 4   12/1/2012 at 08:11 (4,135 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
GE Super Capacity 27" Electric Dryer

combo52's profile picture

This was an interesting dryer for GE, this dryer replaces the wide 8 cubic foot model that they had built since the mid to early 1970s, this new one is smaller closer to 7 CF. On this new dryer GE for the first time since 1958 moved the electric heating coils away from the drum and installed them in a round heater can under the right side of the drum. This was a better design from a safety standpoint [ all GE Harmony and GEs new line dryers are built this way also ] and it allowed for a larger drum as they could extend it back a little. Unfortunately these new GE dryers were often slow because of rear drum seal problems, this and anything but a nice short ideal vent system caused the safety thermostat on top of the heater box to keep cycling, this often resulted in burned out hi limit thermostats.

 

So keep this dryer on a nice short clean vent as the heater assembly's are no longer available for these neat dryers.


Post# 643114 , Reply# 5   12/1/2012 at 08:56 (4,135 days old) by pulltostart (Mobile, AL)        

pulltostart's profile picture

That's a nice-looking set.  The black-and-silver styling was SUCH an improvement over the faux wood.  Enjoy!

 

lawrence


Post# 643118 , Reply# 6   12/1/2012 at 09:59 (4,135 days old) by Volvoguy87 (Cincinnati, OH)        
Dryers.

volvoguy87's profile picture
I have one of these electric GE dryers which is in need of a heating element. It's free for the taking should anyone want it as I am not a GE dryer fan.

Dave


Post# 643141 , Reply# 7   12/1/2012 at 11:02 (4,135 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA)        
Nice Set

mrb627's profile picture

I have always wanted to rebuild a two speed clutch on these.  I have heard a Filter-Flo is operation that was amazingly quiet and others that rattle and roll during agitation.  I have always wondered if the noisy suspect was due to a worn clutch assembly and wished I could have gotten into it.

 

Malcolm


Post# 643194 , Reply# 8   12/1/2012 at 14:20 (4,135 days old) by kenmoreguy89 (Valenza Piemonte, Italy- Soon to be US immigrant.)        

kenmoreguy89's profile picture
I like them so much! I like that handle on the dryer door, I think is better this kind of shape than the other that GE dryers usually came with.

Post# 643241 , Reply# 9   12/1/2012 at 17:44 (4,135 days old) by applianceguy47 ()        

I second that, but I always liked GE dryers in general.

My first dryer was a 1970s Versatronic TOL dryer in Avacodo. I liked the upfront, inside filter that was easy to clean.


Post# 643252 , Reply# 10   12/1/2012 at 18:47 (4,135 days old) by TwinTubber (Toronto)        
Really nice set there bwoods

And in great shape it seems too!
Curious, does it have the Spiralator Activator or the straight vane Activator?


applianceguy: I also always liked that GE had the largest opening of all the brands long before the others started to make their openings wider.
It makes a big difference when loading and unloading large sheets and blankets.


Post# 643260 , Reply# 11   12/1/2012 at 19:21 (4,135 days old) by bwoods ()        
spiralator

It has the spiralator agitator, Scott.

Post# 643286 , Reply# 12   12/1/2012 at 20:53 (4,135 days old) by applianceguy47 ()        

Some other things I liked about GE dryers were, the swinging large door. We had a Wirlpool hamper door, that folded down. I didn't like having that door in the way.

Also, they usually have a light. I know that isn't exclusive to GE, but GE usually has the light up front.

They also had a porcelain speckeled drum that held up better than a typical painted Whirlpool drum. I've never seen a damaged GE drum, But Whirlpools easily stain, scratch, and wear.

They also had a kick space on the front, which most dryers didn't have.

Of course, the hallmark GE toggle switches on their BOL and MOL lines.

Then there was the sound. It always sounded like it meant business, not harsh, but effective. Compare this to the predictable plodding of a Maytag, which might be accompanied by squeaking or the uneven sound of a Whirlpool as the belt does a loop around the drum.

Oh, and the feel of it. GE had a certain solid feel to the cabinet. Not over the top, like a Maytag or Speed Queen, and not flimsy like a Kenmore. I mean, we all know how easily a kenmore/Whirlpool top can pop off in the front. And the top of an older Maytag dryer can easily be crushed, re-rolled, and have the entire components for a new Kenmore dryer punched out of it.

The wiring disconnect between base and top on a GE. Neither Maytag or Whirlpool had one. If you wanted to remove the top on these, you had to remove the wires right up to the components.
On GE. they had a wire strip where you could remove most, if not all the wires and easily lift off the top.

Something I didn't like about GE dryers(minor): The stubbly little feet usually rusted in place, weren't easy to adjust, and didn't have rubber covers. They were actually sharp and would easily scratch or puncture linoleum. Newer Whirlpools (approx. 1978) had wide plastic feet. Maytag had metal feet but they were large and had rubber covers.
On GE doors, they had a piece of cardboard between the inner door and outter door which would sometimes warp. Also,there are/were sharp edges in the door air channel and when lint would get sucked through the door into the filter, sometimes lint would build up and eventually start to hang down, even getting stuck on the rubber door seal. A minor thing that can easily be vacuumed out.

I didn't like that the GE door wasn't reversible. I know they are now.


OK, I dont' know if I'm in the right blog to be talking about such details.

Someone, tell me to leave..




Post# 643294 , Reply# 13   12/1/2012 at 22:08 (4,135 days old) by bwoods ()        
appliance sounds

No. Don't leave, Erik! :) You have captured the fine details of many of the various popular dryers and described them very effectively.

I like your descriptions. Right on target with the General Electric dryers' sound, "It always sounded like it meant business, not harsh, but effective." Wow. You are exactly right, the GE dryers do have a distinctive sound. You described it very well, in a creative way most of us would never had thought of.

A little bit off the subject, but General Electric dishwashers, the older pre-90's models also had a very distinctive sound that I found very comfortable, comforting and familiar. Also, just exactly as you said, "effective, but not harsh." The Maytag Reverse Rack dishwashers surely sound like they mean business, but in more of a "airplane engine in a rainstorm type sound". (Maybe that's why they called it, JetClean)

On the other hand, the General Electric filter-flo washers, I find a little raucous,when it's in a living area. The the water fill is noisy, the brake drum clap a little loud (not nearly as loud as the Westinghouse front loader though) and the speed changer on the clutch sometimes rattles a little, like Malcolm pointed out. The actual agitation sound is really cool. It also has that sort of on-task, meaning business, sound. But just as you say, not harsh, like a Frigidaire 1-18. Well, if not harsh, then maybe the Frigidaire could be described as VERY intent sounding. :)

My mom had a late 70's GE with the straight agitator (activator) and she said the sound of the agitation brought back memories of her grandmothers wringer washer when she was a little girl.

Maybe GE engineers have sound engineers who make sure their appliances sound pleasant and effective, hehe.

[BTW, totally off subject. If you want to see some pictures of NASA Astronaut, Greg Johnson, who piloted the final Space Shuttle Endeavor mission. Go to "Dirty Laundry" thread 42626. I was Greg's teacher for physics and chemistry, when he was in high school, and I found some old pictures I had taken of him and his class when he was 17 years old.]


Post# 643324 , Reply# 14   12/2/2012 at 01:16 (4,135 days old) by westingman123 ()        
distintive GE sounds

Don't forget the GE swivel-top vacuums. Distinct sound, distinct smell. I love a Westinghouse, but GE's got it hands-down when it comes to sounds. As Jean Kerr said, I just want to lay on the sofa and listen to the hum... (but I believe she had a Bendix)!

Post# 643569 , Reply# 15   12/2/2012 at 19:41 (4,134 days old) by applianceguy47 ()        

Other appliance sounds.

Dishwashers:
Maytag, I've had very little experience. One I had in 1998 was in a rental unit. It was a TOL. I ran it without the bottom panel. If I remember it had a belt, which I never seen. It must have been from the 80s. It was like a TRAIN, and not in a good way. It didn't sound like there was anything wrong with it. Even with the bottom panel installed it was loud. I replaced it.

GE:
the plastic tub models do tend to be something you can fall asleep to, especially if they have good sound insulation. There is something about the sweep rotation that isn't too fast.
My parents had a 1985 2800 that developed a squeak later in life ?...

KitchenAid:
The 1997 Superba I replaced my parents GE 2800 with, VERY QUIET. I remember the first time I heard it, I had to open it to check if there was water in it.

Frigidaire:
1999 Frigidaire TOL with separate/reversing pump for each level. It was kind of plasticy. lol. But it cleaned, OK.
This versus, the same year BOL, aweful cleaning. Entirely different system.

Whirlpool. Force. It doesn't seem to matter what year I've had, from mid 70s, the late 90s Whirlpools badged as KA's. It sounded like those dishes were getting the ass whooping of their lives, in there. Not the quietest DW. I couldn't subject my dishes to that kind of abuse. I had to return that phoney KA with plastic console. That's when I got the Frigidaire.

Kenmore.
My first DW experience was with our 1969 portable, MOL,in avacodo. As a child of course, this new green box that got hot enough to melt chocolate if you left it on top, had wheels so you could push it around the kitchen when people weren't looking, was interesting. It had hoses and a plug and it made different noises. ?For some reason I always liked to push the dishwasher around to different places that it wouldn't normally go. ? lol. I pushed it into the bathroom and figured out that if you put the aerator on the faucet in there and plugged the DW into the light, you could run the DW in there and not block the kitchen sink.
I think the most annoying was when it would drain INTO the sink. All that splashing. I devised a 1 1/2" hose thing that fit loosely on the drain line and diverted the water directly into the drain. Also, when the washer would pause you could hear the roto-rack continue to spin, usually not an even sound, as it slowed down. Then, at the end, the fan would kick in and it was like a final quiet time to bring everything back to completion. Picture is from another asteemed member. Our was Avacodo but I'm thinking it might have been 1968 because the 2nd level sprayers was black one piece without the removable cap. It was kind of scary looking.

washers and vacs next time.


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