Stop appliance genocide

[DavGoodlin]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

I don't know if this is really a fair generalization to make - their medium voltage vacuum circuit breakers and especially their protective relays seem to be as good as anything on the market. GE Multilin protective relays are used extensively in power distribution and from what I have seen they've been reliable and well performing products.

Electrical distribution gear by all manufacturers is getting lighter and cheaper over time... if GE didn't make some changes to keep up with modern needs they would go the way of Westinghouse.

It seems to me that GE is a company which is heavily (or exclusively) driven by profit margins and quarterly reports, but when the giant flexes its muscles it can accomplish great things. Look at their jet engines for example for some very impressive US technology.

The fact is no electrical company in North America will ever again see the glory days where the whole country needs power, and foreign competition is nearly non-existent. Let's just hope GE can hold on and the whole world doesn't get owned by the European giants like Siemens, Schnieder Electric, ABB, etc.

Fair point, I did not mean GE was failing in all markets. My reference was the low-voltage (600V and lower), specifically the discontinuation of the GE's AV line switchboards.

GE medium voltage equipment is still OK, but if you are a specifying engineer, GE has all but eliminated its representation and support compared to Eaton Cutler Hammer, also a US-owned company to date. Therefore, GE can low-ball bids and if there is an issue, you don't have the Engineering support to call like you do with S&C, Powercon, French-owned Square D and German-owned Siemens.

I used to deliver appliances in the 80s between bench sessions and witnessed the declines in the consumer lines, even back then. My employer stopped selling Zenith in 1980 due to system 3 early issues, then Magnavox in 1984 after NAP became less supportive. Then they added Maytag and Panasonic because of the issues starting on the economy-grade GE appliances and Thomsen's combined GE-RCA. Through it all, Sony was a popular line with available parts and support.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by DavGoodlin

Fair point, I did not mean GE was failing in all markets. My reference was the low-voltage (600V and lower), specifically the discontinuation of the GE's AV line switchboards.

GE medium voltage equipment is still OK, but if you are a specifying engineer, GE has all but eliminated its representation and support compared to Eaton Cutler Hammer, also a US-owned company to date. Therefore, GE can low-ball bids and if there is an issue, you don't have the Engineering support to call like you do with S&C, Powercon, French-owned Square D and German-owned Siemens.

I used to deliver appliances in the 80s between bench sessions and witnessed the declines in the consumer lines, even back then. My employer stopped selling Zenith in 1980 due to system 3 early issues, then Magnavox in 1984 after NAP became less supportive. Then they added Maytag and Panasonic because of the issues starting on the economy-grade GE appliances and Thomsen's combined GE-RCA. Through it all, Sony was a popular line with available parts and support.

Yes I have noticed the same issues, it's almost like they don't want to bother competing in all the markets which they could. I work in the electrical industry and to be honest have never specified GE equipment for exactly the reasons stated, but when I've been involved in commissioning it I have been pretty impressed by their quality. Maybe I just like GE because of the history that comes with the little round symbol. I have always been impressed by the way their radios from the 60s were value engineered - they didn't use a single screw more than necessary and still ended up working quite well. A pretty sharp contrast to Zenith radios which used a sturdy metal chassis right to the end of tube radio production.

[Jon A.]

This should last me as long as I don't screw up and break the jar. Got it today.

[Dude111]

Looks quite nice buddy

[Kamakiri]

Just don't try to grind coffee beans with it, no matter how desperate you get for coffee. I tried to do that with my ancient Waring, and while it didn't break, the blade nut on the bottom ended up unscrewing when the blade got stuck, the whole thing flew apart, and half-ground coffee went everywhere.

Still use the blender, I was lucky it was none the worse for wear in the end.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Just don't try to grind coffee beans with it, no matter how desperate you get for coffee. I tried to do that with my ancient Waring, and while it didn't break, the blade nut on the bottom ended up unscrewing when the blade got stuck, the whole thing flew apart, and half-ground coffee went everywhere.

Still use the blender, I was lucky it was none the worse for wear in the end.

Duly noted. Perhaps I'll get a junk Chinese blender to do that with, and make a video of it. Of course it will fly apart a lot faster than the Philips shown above would.

[truetone36]

Braun made a very nice coffee grinder in the late 60's-early 70's. If you see one somewhere, don't pass it up. I have the one my grandma bought new about 40 years ago and it's never let me down yet.

[CoogarXR]

My wife's sister had this weird combo. It's a Modern Maid oven on top, cooktop, and a dishwasher below! It sat in her vacant house for years, and now she's selling the house.

My wife really wanted this combo unit, but didn't want to give up her new gas oven. Our kitchen is currently large, and inefficiently laid out, so there is a lot of unused space. So we decided to get the combo and have both. She'll have the gas stove, and this electric unit too. This will be nice when she has her family over, and they all want to cook a large meal.

Our current (new) dishwasher had a thermostat fail and will only wash dishes with the heat features turned off. So, the dishwasher will handily replace our newer junker. The dishwasher portion is a Kenmore, and I don't think it's original. The opening is standard size, so any dishwasher will fit in there. It was probably replaced at some point.

It's pretty neat. I'll take some real pics once I install it. Right now it's in pieces, as I had to take it apart to move it. I have the bottom half installed, and the dishwasher works great. I just got the 220v run finished today. Once I get somebody to help me lift the oven top, I can finish the install.

It even still has the reversible color panels on the doors. I has 5 options; black, white, coppertone, avocado, and of course, harvest gold. I am using the black, heh.

Here's an ad from 1972 to give you an idea of what it looks like:

[Countryford]

CoogarXR: That looks pretty cool. Would like to see pics of it once you get it installed.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by CoogarXR

My wife's sister had this weird combo. It's a Modern Maid oven on top, cooktop, and a dishwasher below! It sat in her vacant house for years, and now she's selling the house.

My wife really wanted this combo unit, but didn't want to give up her new gas oven. Our kitchen is currently large, and inefficiently laid out, so there is a lot of unused space. So we decided to get the combo and have both. She'll have the gas stove, and this electric unit too. This will be nice when she has her family over, and they all want to cook a large meal.

Our current (new) dishwasher had a thermostat fail and will only wash dishes with the heat features turned off. So, the dishwasher will handily replace our newer junker. The dishwasher portion is a Kenmore, and I don't think it's original. The opening is standard size, so any dishwasher will fit in there. It was probably replaced at some point.

It's pretty neat. I'll take some real pics once I install it. Right now it's in pieces, as I had to take it apart to move it. I have the bottom half installed, and the dishwasher works great. I just got the 220v run finished today. Once I get somebody to help me lift the oven top, I can finish the install.

It even still has the reversible color panels on the doors. I has 5 options; black, white, coppertone, avocado, and of course, harvest gold. I am using the black, heh.

Here's an ad from 1972 to give you an idea of what it looks like:

That baby must've cost an arm and a leg, at that time.
BTW, do you live in Wisconsin?

[CoogarXR]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

That baby must've cost an arm and a leg, at that time.
BTW, do you live in Wisconsin?

Nope, Ohio (although we did briefly borrow some of Wisconsin's weather).

I have seen a few ads for this combo, it's always around $750-$850. I am not sure how that applies to today's dollars, or if that was considered expensive back in the early 70s.

[Dangler]

http://wyoming.craigslist.org/atq/4262505803.html

This has been listed several times with no takers, probably because of the price. Anyway, I thought it was kind of interesting.

[Countryford]

I have seen a few ads for this combo, it's always around $750-$850. I am not sure how that applies to today's dollars, or if that was considered expensive back in the early 70s.

According to an inflation calculator I found online that would equal to about $4,181.86 to $4,739.44.

[truetone36]

I used to have one of those fridge/stove/sink combos. Mine was avocado green with a stainless steel top.

[Jeffhs]

I noticed in the ad for this kitchen combo that the stove has "permacoil" lifetime burners. I don't agree with that. Electric stove burners (and, of course, the oven's heating elements) do eventually burn out in time, depending on how much they are used. Either the ad for this Modern Maid combo unit was overhyped, or else the cooktop elements must have been made of incredibly thick wire that is guaranteed not to burn out for 50 years from the date the appliance is purchased.

I've never seen or heard of any electric stove with heating elements guaranteed to last a lifetime. The only way I can see the cooktop on this thing lasting more than, say, 20 years and still have its original elements when it was finally junked would be if the stove was not used much, "much" meaning only once every few weeks or so. Most stoves in homes with large families, of course, are used much more than that, so the Modern Maid combo's claim that the original burners will last a lifetime is probably, even likely, nothing more than advertising hooey. Some stoves have been kept going for years or decades by replacement of burned-out burners and/or oven elements (even though a 50-year-old stove in, say, avocado would look horribly out of date in a 21st-century kitchen, especially if a modern microwave oven is installed over or near the range), but to expect the original burners and/or baking elements to last anywhere near 50 years...well...

However, as others have mentioned, it is possible to keep these units going for years or decades by replacing old, worn-out components as necessary (as some VK members have done with old combo TV-radio-stereo units after the television develops expensive repair problems). As was mentioned, the dishwasher opening in the MM combo is a standard size, so almost any modern kitchen-size dishwasher will fit in it; as for the stove, as I said, the burners can be replaced when they eventually burn out, so it is conceivable that some of these old appliances will live on for a very long time, even after they are supposed to have been junked. The only drawback is that the styling will be out of date in modern kitchens, as I mentioned.