Good-All vintage cleaning machine

[MechanicMike]

 

Hi all

Hope everybody is having a good weekend. I scored a used vintage parts washing machine and believe I got a decent deal considering what I've seen other vintage machines go for, 4, 5 even 600 bucks if not more. The seller says everything works and has a basket, jars/lids that are intact. It's a manual machine which suits my little hobby just fine. The nameplate is marked "Good-All Electric Mfg., Ogllalla, NE,. I did a quick search here and didn't find anything and found a little online about the company and its history. The company still exists today only under a different name, manufacturing electrical devices. They used to make welders, fishing reels and watch cleaning machines.  Check the two pics I have. Anyone have any experience with these? Any intel would be appreciated as I'm anxious to get my hands on it. This along with my little ultrasonic, the habit....er hobby should get a boost. Thanks

Mike

[MechanicMike]

I should mention it's a Model 70. That's all I know. 

[oldhippy]

I did see this on ebay the other day and thought I'd never seen one like this before. I also thought what was that part sticking out for (red mark) Looks as if to the right of the machine it has an ultrasonic bass. Make sure all the wiring is safe, if you are not an electrician I would get someone who knows there stuff to look it over and make sure it's safe to use. I'm sure you will have good results with your cleaning machine.   

[MechanicMike]

30 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

I did see this on ebay the other day and thought I'd never seen one like this before. I also thought what was that part sticking out for (red mark) Looks as if to the right of the machine it has an ultrasonic bass. Make sure all the wiring is safe, if you are not an electrician I would get someone who knows there stuff to look it over and make sure it's safe to use. I'm sure you will have good results with your cleaning machine.   

 Hi Hippy the circled part I believe is a lever to advance a jar to the next cycle. The wiring and terminals from what I can tell here look to be in decent shape. As far as the variable speed (reostat) knob, heater and plate switch I'll have to check when I get it along with the motor. It says the whole thing is semi automatic with no on/off switch and that the motor is bi-directional, changing every 5-10 seconds. Its operational by simply pressing the motor mount gantry to the down/wash position, then up, to off. Thankfully as a Millwright and machinery repairman I have a decent working knowledge of the electrical otherwise I might not touch the thing. Waiting on an email response to questions from the seller. I look forward to getting my hands on it. 

[MechanicMike]

BTW-I'm not sure about the possible ultrasonic unit to the right of the machine goes with the washer itself. The listing says nothing about it, I could be wrong though and will ask for sure. Thanks Hippy.

[MechanicMike]

On 5/30/2021 at 1:44 AM, oldhippy said:

I did see this on ebay the other day and thought I'd never seen one like this before. I also thought what was that part sticking out for (red mark) Looks as if to the right of the machine it has an ultrasonic bass. Make sure all the wiring is safe, if you are not an electrician I would get someone who knows there stuff to look it over and make sure it's safe to use. I'm sure you will have good results with your cleaning machine.   

question for you Hippy-I haven't tried it yet-just had major surgery done. could I use lighter fluid as my cleaning agent, and IPA as my rinse, with this machine? it's all I've ever used by hand and in my ultrasonic and all I have on-hand. 

[oldhippy]

In my cleaning machines I had I always used  L & R cleaner and rinse. I only used Ronsonol lighter fluid for cleaning hairsprings and sometimes pallets.  

[nickelsilver]

The ultrasonic base is from an L&R Varimatic machine. On those the transducer is above the basket, in the head of the machine. I suppose that part could be adapted to a machine like the Good-All, but this one hasn't been converted.

 

L&R cleaner and rinse is fantastic, it's good enough that some major manufacturers here use it rather than some also excellent native solutions. On this machine with sealable jars it should last quite a while, and you can get a good 20 or so watches through on one batch so a gallon goes a long way.

[MechanicMike]

14 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

The ultrasonic base is from an L&R Varimatic machine. On those the transducer is above the basket, in the head of the machine. I suppose that part could be adapted to a machine like the Good-All, but this one hasn't been converted.

yeah saw that when I looked closer. Found out that that was for a seperate sale anyway. The only thing I've found out about the Good-All so far is that it was invented and made by a Robert Goodall out of Ogalla, NE. back in the 40s and 50s . he had a family business that made electrical parts before and then heavily during the war, but was also known to have made Good-All fishing reels that I guess were the hottest ticket back then. he only made wash machines for a short time. this one is in excellent shape and works very well. looking forward to the chance to use it. still trying to find out more about it. His company still remains today, although bought by a foreign company who changed the name.

[CJMiller]

I just found one of these machines in the basement of an old jewelry store in Wahoo, Nebraska, about 250 miles from where it was made. It's complete and it operates (although some serious re-wiring is going to happen before it gets any real use). 

I'ma bit puzzled by the heater system. My machine has what appears to be a giant tube resistor  positioned more or less underneath the drying area, but it doesn't work at the moment. The machine in the photos above seems to be lacking this piece. Is there a heater that I'm missing on that machine? (The light bulb doesn't do anything except illuminate an indicator light--it's not part of the heater system.). 

--Jay

[MechanicMike]

Hi Jay

nice find! BTW I just answered your DM you sent me last Thursday regarding this, but I hadn't seen this thread.

It seems your model is an earlier model than mine. whereas mine is multidirectional and on a cam timer(in other words, the wash cycle "agitates" back and forth, like a modern day washing machine), and the heater is activated by the on/off switch(parallel circuit), your heater seems different than mine. Can't quite discern what that tube is so I'm going to guess-a rheostat of some sort for temp. adjustment or possibly a capacitor? not sure. I also see that you have two levers on the exterior. one for indexing the jar position but the second one I'm not sure of because I can't really see what it is connected to.  with the exception of a few minor adjustments and replacing some of the ancient wires and solder joints it works perfect and is quite quiet. there is a repair shop somewhere on the east coast that repairs/rebuilds parts cleaning machines, ultrasonics, etc and for the life of me i cant find their contact stuff but i do know that when I contacted them about these, they had never heard of Good-Alls. take a few closer detailed pics of the wirirng and stuff, see if we can't figure it out.

Mike

nicklesilver might know who that rebuild company is. I think he was the one who suggested them awhile ago...

[CJMiller]

Thanks Mike.

I've finished the rewiring, not much to it, and it seems to be working 100%.

It must be older than yours because it's much simpler.  It has three controls:

1. An on/off toggle switch that operates the heaters. 

2. The large sliding  lever manually allows the jars to spin when depressed.  (same as yours).

3. The small sliding lever controls the on/off and the speed of the agitator motor.  It does so by sliding along the large tube rheostat. The motor doesn't change direction, but the sliding agitator allows you to operate it far faster than anyone in their right mind should ever attempt.  

That's it, no timer, no fuse, not even a real on/off switch. Simpler times. Probably the most interesting thing is that the heater elements are from a WWI Era electric cigar lighter, and were designed to get hot enough to light a cigar in a matter of seconds. With two of them side by side they produce a LOT of heat (see photo).  https://www.ebay.com/itm/334472065241?hash=item4de016b0d9:g:vZEAAOSwbeNinp2h

 

Jay

Edited June 17, 2022 by CJMiller
typo

[MechanicMike]

Hi Jay

I seem to not get all notifications for responses...I didn't see this one either. does this happen to you at all? this isn't the first time...

wow those heaters! Old cigar lighters thats really cool. my heater also gets very hot very fast (found that out the hard way) but uses coils akin to an old toaster, encased in a ceramic tube/cup.  it's a beast of a machine but works great. The jars were made for it with lead-capped lids for liquid storage and vapor control. it looks like your serial number on front starts with a "4" and mine is "5" which probably explains the progression of design. what do you use for clean n rinse?

[Dalich]

Hello all, recently found this same model in my attic. After hours of searching, I found this forum. Other than that the trail is bone dry. What else have you learned about the machine, if anything? What is the going rate for something like this? I don’t want to test it due to the wiring being old and brittle. I have no interest in keeping it personally. I just can’t find any other info on this. 

[MechanicMike]

Hi Dalich-sorry for the late reply. I'm not getting notifications apparently not sure why. all I know is what you know. I haven't found out anything more except that very few were made but that the ones that were all have some slight veriations but that even after decades they are sturdy and work very well. I even contacted a restoring company out east and they had never heard or seen them before. I'll reply to your email shortly.