Mint doesn't even describe this new find!


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Thread Number: 58058 / Tag: Vintage Dishwashers
Mint doesn't even describe this new find!

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Post# 805412 1/22/2015 at 20:37 (3,381 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes 1 This made its way home today and I couldn't resist. The only thing is the rubber fitting over the nipple for the power shower wash arm was so brittle I broke it off. I will have to find a replacement, any suggestions? I would be interested in a copy of the owners manual as I enjoy reading these.Also, the model # is 1SP40T1 and the serial number is RT7-05311. If I dated this correctly it is August of 1960, experts can weigh in! Very quiet machine in my test, I was surprised at that and it was empty when I tested her. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size

Post# 805414 , Reply# 1 1/22/2015 at 20:45 (3,381 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes *A question....* If you look at the 2nd picture of the racks, what are the ones higher up with the two prongs together in sets? They are on both sides of the interior. Haven't seen these, too high for saucers.

Post# 805416 , Reply# 2 1/22/2015 at 20:51 (3,381 days old) by pulltostart (Mobile, AL)
Checkrate/Likes *Just guessing* Maybe coffee cups/mugs? Suspended interior of the rack, out in the open space. A beautiful appliance - congratulations on your new toy! lawrence

Post# 805418 , Reply# 3 1/22/2015 at 21:09 (3,381 days old) by moparguy (Virginia)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Congratulations, that is beautiful!

Post# 805420 , Reply# 4 1/22/2015 at 21:19 (3,381 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Very cool.

Post# 805424 , Reply# 5 1/22/2015 at 21:48 (3,380 days old) by washdaddy (Baltimore)
Checkrate/Likes *Great looking Mobile Maid* Check out the auto ephemera section to see if there's any paperwork there you could use for your machine. They do have several models listed. Perhaps they could give you some guidance. As far as those double tines I would think it would be for loaded a double row of glassware, mugs, and cups. some of which would hang over the midsection of the open area. Congratulations on getting a great looking machine!

Post# 805425 , Reply# 6 1/22/2015 at 21:51 (3,380 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes 3 *Great find!!* These were the only impeller dishwashers I found that could scrub dishes like the spray-arm machines. I love that Formica pattern, so groovy! Congratulations on a great find!

Post# 805430 , Reply# 7 1/22/2015 at 23:23 (3,380 days old) by rpms (ontario canada)
Checkrate/Likes 3 Was there a reason why the dishwasher was so short compared to the counter height? I realize ladies were shorter then, but they were wearing heels when they loaded the dishwasher.

Post# 805435 , Reply# 8 1/23/2015 at 00:43 (3,380 days old) by bigalsf (Salt Lake City)
Checkrate/Likes *Congratulations!!* That's a very nice looking machine. Can you tell me what the stainless part is attached to the bottom of the tub, just above the impeller? Is it a baffle? I may have a complete water feed for the Power Shower that you could have. Let me check. Have fun with it!!

Post# 805446 , Reply# 9 1/23/2015 at 05:59 (3,380 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes Don, those rows of pins on either side are indeed "cup shelfs" for coffee cups--so popular back then. One of the PODs featuring this dishwasher, it shows these being used. Just don't know which POD.

Post# 805447 , Reply# 10 1/23/2015 at 06:04 (3,380 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes *Congratulations!* The machine is short because it is basically the interior tub of the built-in machine without the frame around it, just a hinged top added. One advantage of this was that it could be "garaged" under a countertop if the housewife did not want the dishwasher visible when not in operation. That was not a convenient way to have it for adding things during the day unless you accumulated dirty dishes in the sink before loading the machine. The baffle at the 12 o'clock position in the sump was an important addition to this machine. When the machine drains, the motor spins in reverse. The baffle was placed there to direct the water and food particles down into the drain and to keep it from being swirled up the sloping walls of the sump as the impeller turned in reverse direction. This was a big advance over the previous GE dishwashers where the timer ran off the main motor so the main motor could not stop during the drains. The water and any food soil could not settle out near the drain because the impeller kept spinning. At the end of each drain except for the drain from the final rinse, a sub interval timer opened the fill valve for maybe 3 seconds to flush clean water through the machine. GE did that with their combos also to remove as much soiled water as possible from the sump after each drain since the combos did not spin until after the final rinse. I think the secret to this machine's superior washing action was not only the shape of the impeller, but the fact that it was metal so it did not develop dull leading edges and, in being hard enough not to develop the dull leading edges, it was hard enough to grind up food soil it hit in the water. The patterned top is GE Textolite, not Formica, but a similar product. We sure enjoyed ours. I hope that you have fun with yours.

Post# 805456 , Reply# 11 1/23/2015 at 06:57 (3,380 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes Don this an amazing find! I have only seen one other GE impeller dishwasher with the extra cup racks and I believe it also had been a 1960 model. I think you found a low-use machine here!! The hoses of the GE Mobile Maids are something of a weak point so check them out carefully. I still have to try this out, but I managed to unscrew the water supply hose from the Unicouple assembly of one of mine and got someone who works with hydraulic hoses to attach a new high-pressure hose to the original threaded connector. I haven't tried it out yet, alas so I am not sure that will be a good solution or not. In a pinch, you could substitute a more recent hose assembly but you probably wouldn't be able to save the original Unicouple... Can I guess the cycles base on the four buttons?? Fine China and Crystal, Utensils, Normal Soil, Heavy Soil (with water heated IIRC) Wash are what I'd think of first. I know some in CT who will be chiming in about this one!! This post was last edited 01/23/2015 at 07:18

Post# 805458 , Reply# 12 1/23/2015 at 07:09 (3,380 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))
Checkrate/Likes *Verv nice* Good find for sure. Wk78

Post# 805461 , Reply# 13 1/23/2015 at 07:27 (3,380 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes *Wahhhhhhh !!!* I want one of those sooooo bad. Congrats. We had the Princess Pull out when I was a kid. These clean great and with the sound of a Mack Truck roaring though the kitchen. I have some parts somewhere for this and some other models if you should need something. Good Luck with this Beautiful Machine.

Post# 805482 , Reply# 14 1/23/2015 at 10:05 (3,380 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes Thanks for the input, I wondered what that baffle was for Tom, now I know. Paul the buttons read: Open Cover Daily Dishes Mixed Loads Utensils Pots Pans Fine china & Crystal I will have to be careful with the hoses as they seem a little hard, I do have an extra set that I could part out but of course I would want the shiny stainless uncoupler on them.... This model has the feature that the top pops open in the dry cycle, kind of fun. As far as the top sets of tines, cups don't stay up there and even my smallest juice glass would prevent the top from closing. Maybe it's just my cups and glasses....

Post# 805483 , Reply# 15 1/23/2015 at 10:10 (3,380 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes There are three cycles and Cover Open so it was China and Crystal, Daily Loads and Pots and Pans. China & Crystal did not heat the water and skipped one pre rinse, as I remember. The Pots and Pans cycle also skipped an initial rinse and shortened the dry to 5 minutes in ours. All cycles except China & Crystal operated the water heater during the wash and rinse portions of the cycle. If you wanted something grungy cleaned, it was best to use the regular cycle and check when the lid popped up to see if it needed any further cleaning. I used to take out the top rack and put the round charcoal grill in for a good cleaning.

Post# 805485 , Reply# 16 1/23/2015 at 10:17 (3,380 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes *And fully featured she is!* I noticed that the water was being heated, this really was (from my small pool of impeller knowledge) about the most fully featured, best performing of the impeller machines I believe. I am really impressed so far and I have always kind of written them off. Tom you are correct about the cycles skipping the first rinse for china and pots/pans. Seems that pots/pans would have the longest cycle. It appears the lid opens soon into the drying cycle, is this correct?

Post# 805494 , Reply# 17 1/23/2015 at 10:50 (3,380 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes *Three cycle buttons* Don, thanks for the info - of course this would have to have a 'cover open' button... LOL Pretty darn difficult to load if not, eh? I guess it was only the SU70 Undercounter that had the 4 cycles. I was thinking about the connection sleeve for the power shower; maybe the flexible part of a faucet adapter meant to go on a tap where one could not disconnect the aerator would work. They should be in the plumbing department of the larger hardware stores and they usually have a standard 3/4 inch garden hose connection on one end.

Post# 805503 , Reply# 18 1/23/2015 at 12:18 (3,380 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes It's maybe 4 minutes into the dry cycle when the lid opens. If you look down into the opening for the Unicouple you will see the opening into the front of the tub where the cool air enters to set up the convection draft for the drying. They gave it a few minutes to build up heat before the lid pops. It was neat to lift the lid slightly and look down into it in a dark kitchen and see the Calrod glowing red. Another neat thing is to take a powerful flashlight and shine it into the Unicouple opening and on down into the tub (where the water fills at the front) during the washing and rinsing. It's easier to do now with LED lights. If you angle the light just right into the tub opening down there, you can see the water moving around at the edge of the sump area. My parents finally got tired of asking what I was doing when I was looking at various things while the machines was running. If I were designing it, I would have put a light in the dial. I wonder if somehow baby bottle nipples could be used to fashion the seal for the Power Shower feed. I wonder if the Pan cycle was shorter because they used to recommend that you wash the pots while you ate the meal. With the noise that thing made, you would have to have one of those colonial houses with the kitchen in another building to be able to talk while it was running. It used to be fun when we would have people over and as the table was cleared, the women would want to help mom do the dishes. She would take them out to the kitchen and tell them that there was nothing to do and show them the dishwasher. They would be amazed the first time they saw it. We did not have a disposer at the old house so she would show them how she removed any excess food into the kitchen waste container and would load a few plates, maybe. She would then brew the coffee and get the dessert ready and then get them back into the dining room for dessert and coffee. We had this beautiful Inland Glass carafe that had a round bottom and a long neck that was silver on glass. That had to be heated with hot tap water before the coffee was poured into it. That was another of the entertaining rituals. The letdown came with the extinguishing of the candles after the guests left and, to this day, the aroma of coffee and candle smoke evoke sad post-party feelings.

Post# 805518 , Reply# 19 1/23/2015 at 14:17 (3,380 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes *Pots and Utensils cycles* I think the "logic" behind those first Utensil/Pots and Pans cycles was that the cycle would help soften the heavy soils for hand-scraping OR that one would scrape and pre-scrub the pots then use the dishwasher to de-grease and thoroughly rinse 'em. Either way the shortened or skipped heated dry was probably intended to not have gunk baked back onto the pots and pans. I believe it's actually suggested in the KDS-14 dishwasher owner's manual to use the Utility and Utensil cycle to loosen the gunk on pots, scrape off whatever was left at the end of cycle, then reload and run a Full Cycle. I look forward to trying that approach out someday in the very near future...

Post# 805524 , Reply# 20 1/23/2015 at 15:02 (3,380 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *Pretty machine!* Our undercounter must have been a 1959 as it did not have that baffle at 12 0'clock and it only had a cycle dial no buttons. Just turn the dial start the wash. Dad bought it on sale at the GE store, I think it went in in 1961 maybe 1960.

Post# 805543 , Reply# 21 1/23/2015 at 17:09 (3,380 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes Jon, do you remember what sort of impeller protection your family's GE had under the lower rack? The protection got increasingly finer until it decreased to the size in this machine. Earlier machines had a vinyl coated grid that was attached to the lower rack and the openings seemed to be close to 2 inches square. I think that there is a POD showing the first of these machines with basically a few concentric circles supported by one cross member in each direction. The grid openings in the pictured machine were less than an inch square. This is the hardware cloth like stainless steel protection that we had in the bottom of ours along with the baffle. When we had our Mobile Maids, we had a Homart water heater that was kept at 160F. That and the commercial chlorinated dishwasher detergent probably greatly helped the performance, but the best cleaning was with the full cycle in the machine with the pink interior. The newer one with the blue interior and white racks had a cycle that was shorter by one final rinse and that did something to the performance. It just was not quite as powerful a cleaner, but it was a beautiful dishwasher with beautiful white trim, a gallery across the back of the cover and a beige and white stripe pattern in the cover's Textolite.

Post# 805658 , Reply# 22 1/24/2015 at 07:59 (3,379 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *TOM* I remember our machine had a big pink grind I'd say they were an 1" to 2" square. It didn't prevent silverware from dropping thru but that was only on loading-unloading. It was separate from the bottom rack, I remember that too. Our machine looked like one in the 1957 brochure. Flat large dial to the right, ivory grill about with the slider in the middle. One strip of chrome handle across the top which dipped down for the dial to show. Ours had the walnut wood front.

Post# 805776 , Reply# 23 1/24/2015 at 18:32 (3,379 days old) by bigalsf (Salt Lake City)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Power Shower water feed* Hi Don, i have the part (see pic). Send me your address & I'll get it out in the mail on Monday. Tom, thanks for the explanation of the baffle. I had not noticed it there in previous pics of other MM's. The interior of the machine is in really good shape! The pink color is looks really bright! Enjoy! :) View Full Size

Post# 805845 , Reply# 24 1/24/2015 at 23:57 (3,378 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes *I am so enjoying all your stories....* I don't bring that much home any longer but I have had so much fun listening to all your memories, expertise, advice and contributions for this little gem of a find. It makes it so personal when you all share your memories of this or other appliances that we are all passionate about. Tom, Paul, and everyone else I will make you a deal, you plan a trip to Minneapolis at the same time. I will have you over for dinner and we can put the pots and pans in the dishwasher to loosen up the cooked on debris, than we will wash them as usual to test the 1960 strategy for cleaning pots and pans. The best part Tom is that I will use big pillar candles for the dinner party and we won't blow them out at all-"we'll stay up all night and sing them all" as Judy Garland said in her Carnegie Hall concert! Bigalsf I will send you my address in response to the email you sent, thank you so very much!

Post# 805893 , Reply# 25 1/25/2015 at 07:38 (3,378 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes *Pots and Pans Party* Don, that sounds like a blast! I'll bring the Jersey Milk.... This post was last edited 01/25/2015 at 08:27

Post# 805895 , Reply# 26 1/25/2015 at 07:53 (3,378 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *I'll make pudding* and be sure some burns to the pan, then you'll see the power of the bowtie- or better yet mom always burned the peas -- always! Thats a good test !! LOL The '57 was the perfect machine to use Dawn in !! I was once young and down at the Cape where we reinstalled that machine after upgrading Schenectady with a KA-19. I loaded the GE , had no powdered detergent so thought just a drop of Dawn would suffice. Well the machine started and slowly the GE ROAR started to die down, then it got nice and quiet - almost soothing. Then my friend Gail screamed, I turned around and saw-- GOBS OF SUDS pouring out the white grill at the top down the walnut front and across the kitchen floor in one wide swath of pure white suds !! It kept coming! I opened the machine, the entire tub was a solid block of suds - nothing was visible, even the pink dispenser was gone! We scooped out what was "shaving cream" at this point with pots !! Restarted the machine - again SudsNiagara ! Again we scooped. Repeat rinse repeat! Finally I got the idea to throw in some fabric softener. That got the water flowing again but it left a bizarre scum all over the dishes so the next morning out I went got Cascade and ran the whole load again !! The kitchen floor was really clean that day.

Post# 805905 , Reply# 27 1/25/2015 at 08:37 (3,378 days old) by ovrphil (N.Atlanta / Georgia )
Checkrate/Likes Hi Don - I love it. Portable dishwashers are cool - three dimensional works of industrial art and this MM is one nicely carved out/assembled appliance. I too like to read other's experiences and memories of their dishwashers, etc. Happy dishwashing!

Post# 806045 , Reply# 28 1/26/2015 at 00:00 (3,377 days old) by A440 ()
Checkrate/Likes Don what an awesome find! It is in beautiful shape! B

Post# 806448 , Reply# 29 1/28/2015 at 10:40 (3,375 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *Aferim!* I have the 1961 iteration of this exact model. Yours is definitely a 1960 model and for some reason you got cup racks (that I covet) and I didn't. Does yours have the automatic cord reel? I love my machine and got it in almost new condition. It was stored outside so there were a lot of exterior flaws (the hoses were stiff as bones and disintegrated when I pulled them up and out of the front to connect the machine to water) but the inside was pristine. The only difference that I can spot besides the lack of cup racks (that I covet) is the new-style plastic silverware basket. These machines were fantastic and I will never stop looking for the late version SU-70V that was my first dishwasher (with cup racks AND rinse dispenser). Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size

Post# 806499 , Reply# 30 1/28/2015 at 16:55 (3,375 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes Your GE has been taken over by Maytag pods!

Post# 806506 , Reply# 31 1/28/2015 at 18:11 (3,375 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *CT chiming in yet again* I thought you'd like that picture! I have the manual for this model and I'm in the process of sending it to the twin-cities for scanning into the Ephemera library. Please be a little patient; if there's anything you need to know urgently post the question and I'm sure five of us will answer. Be aware that the Calrod heater on the bottom of the tub gets hot enough to melt and cook any plastic that happens to be in the lower rack and is within a few inches of the coil. Our melamine dishes in the early sixties survived this assault but a lot of the plastics that I use now are not as hardy. The China/Crystal cycle pretty much eliminates that danger but heats the coil for the first 5 minutes of the dry period. If your machine does indeed have the rinse dispenser as well as the cup racks, would you be so kind as to post some pictures of these features? Thank you in advance. View Full Size

Post# 806584 , Reply# 32 1/29/2015 at 09:59 (3,374 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes *Cords and Calrods* I do have the automatic cord reel on this machine but not the rinse aid dispenser. I was surprised as full featured as it is it did not have that on it. I recall our mobil maid (mid-60's) when I was a young child and learning that nothing plastic can go anywhere near the carload element. We had some interesting shaped tupperware, one that actually melted enough to form a pour spout. Mom thought it made a great manhattan cocktail shaker as she could pour it out through the newly melted pour spout!

Post# 809056 , Reply# 33 2/13/2015 at 10:53 (3,359 days old) by cadman (Cedar Falls, IA)
Checkrate/Likes How in the heck did I miss this thread?? Don, that GE is a real beauty! I have to say, I've always been suspect of portable dishwashers but I think I'm coming around : ) That formica top is pretty sweet, too. -C

Post# 809057 , Reply# 34 2/13/2015 at 11:05 (3,359 days old) by jetaction (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes *That is why I parted with the Princess* Hi Cory, I have several very cool built in dishwashers that I am slowly replacing with portables so I don't have to install/reinstall each time I get an itch for switching them out!

Post# 809063 , Reply# 35 2/13/2015 at 11:25 (3,359 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes A wise strategy... Well, not according to Hubby, but tough... LOL

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