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Chetlaham

Chetlaham

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What is everyones favorite dryer?

My all time favorite dryer is the GE GE DDE5300BAL and most 1970 onward 29 inch top filter Whirlpool dryers with a 120 minute timed dry.

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Minus the electric heat source being behind the drum on the GE dryers; these dryers dried fast, lasted forever, sounded soothing, quiet, simple, easy to fix and provided excellent garment care when the thermostat was replaced with a medium 135-140*F cycling stat. I miss them very much.
 
Honestly I have two favourite dryers, one is my Australian made Westinghouse (Malleys made under license) dryer and My Simpson infrared dryer, surprisingly both take roughly the same amount of time to Dry a load of laundry, even though the Simpson does use double the the Westinghouse does as the Simpson uses two elements, while the Westinghouse only has one
 

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Pre 1966 Whirlpool 29” top filter dryers and Maytag HOH’s.

Some people might argue about how the older Whirlpool 29” dryers were slower with the design of the bulkhead behind behind the drum perforations and while that is true if you were to jam them full, but since it doesn’t have that lint screen plenum which can get choked down with lint (think of it as a bottleneck that gets narrower with time, especially drying things that generate a lot of lint), will run for awhile without getting choked down with lint which will slow down the drying time substantially. Also like how the baffles are stamped into the drum and is more of a speed bump type of shape which is for sure gentler on certain types of items, definitely can tell it’s more gentle since there’s not much lint on the lint screen afterwards.

The other is the Maytag HOH, seems to dry certain types of loads fairly quickly since they are always in the air stream, definitely drys blankets and bedding to completion even when jammed full. Though HOH’s aren’t the fastest dryers in the world, definitely more than make up for it in terms of quietness when they are tuned up properly.
 
My personal favorite is the Maytag Halo of Heat. That’s what we had when I was a kid, so I have a lot of fond memories attached to them. My second favorite would have to be the Maytag Stream of Heat design. Third would be the 1966 to 1990’s Whirlpool built top filter models.
Thatwasherguy.
 
Chetlaham said:
Adam, way cool! How does that infared dryer work and how many watts is the heater? Your limited to 20 amps at 230 volts, correct?
Click to expand...
Yes, apparently the thing has oven style heater elements, and the cool thing is I actually was able to electrically isolate the two elements, that way even though the dryer consumes 20 A, I can split it across two 10 amp circuits, and it’s a negative Pressure Dry, as in it pulls air through the heating element through the laundromat style drum into the fan then out the lint filter while the Westinghouse is a positive pressure dryer, as in it blows air through the heater into the drum then out through the lint trap
 
1st - 1960-1975 Maytag HOH with electronic control.

Dead on accuracy with 3 sensors in the baffles in the direct path of the clothes. Thick rugs, thin dress shirt, stuffed to the gills or one small item....doesn't matter. It's coming out dry with perfect accuracy. Hums along quiet as a mouse.

2nd -1976-1989 Maytag SOH with electronic control.

Reasonably quiet and pretty accurate. Fast and easy full frontal disassembly and reassembly, no need to move the dryer or remove the top, rear, or side panels.

3rd. Norge dryers through 1967-ish. Built like a Sherman tank!

4th Early Hamilton. Zero experience but heard they're a great design.
 
maytag85 said:
Pre 1966 Whirlpool 29” top filter dryers and Maytag HOH’s.

Some people might argue about how the older Whirlpool 29” dryers were slower with the design of the bulkhead behind behind the drum perforations and while that is true if you were to jam them full, but since it doesn’t have that lint screen plenum which can get choked down with lint (think of it as a bottleneck that gets narrower with time, especially drying things that generate a lot of lint), will run for awhile without getting choked down with lint which will slow down the drying time substantially. Also like how the baffles are stamped into the drum and is more of a speed bump type of shape which is for sure gentler on certain types of items, definitely can tell it’s more gentle since there’s not much lint on the lint screen afterwards.

The other is the Maytag HOH, seems to dry certain types of loads fairly quickly since they are always in the air stream, definitely drys blankets and bedding to completion even when jammed full. Though HOH’s aren’t the fastest dryers in the world, definitely more than make up for it in terms of quietness when they are tuned up properly.
Click to expand...
Sean, our previous dryer had the front lint screen. I did have to vacuum out the plenum once per year, and take it apart once to do a good cleaning. Our new one has the top screen, which is huge. It dries just as fast.
 
adam-aussie-vac said:
Yes, apparently the thing has oven style heater elements, and the cool thing is I actually was able to electrically isolate the two elements, that way even though the dryer consumes 20 A, I can split it across two 10 amp circuits, and it’s a negative Pressure Dry, as in it pulls air through the heating element through the laundromat style drum into the fan then out the lint filter while the Westinghouse is a positive pressure dryer, as in it blows air through the heater into the drum then out through the lint trap
Click to expand...




Do you have more pics of the drum, control panel and insides? I am really interested in what I'm seeing. I would be willing to try such a dryer if I had it.
 
pierreandreply4 said:
just posting here another dream set and in my fav color alsoView attachment 316479
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Well, I think I now have a new dream set. There is something so nice about that pair! The washer even has a recirculating lint filter. And a dryer rack in the dryer too. Hot/warm, warm/warm on the washer, two speeds. Everything one needs for a wash day. The harvest color with wood panel wall and orange counter top is a good color scheme btw.
 
Fisher & Paykel ED56 front-load compact sensor dryer

I'm not sure if they're considered "vintage" yet, but I still have one in my house, wall-mounted upside down above my top loader. It was in continuous service for 20 years, until I "replaced" it with a cheap, shitty Aldi special dryer a few months ago (I'd like to get the F&P serviced eventually, just don't currently have the time)

That thing got absolutely thrashed in its lifetime! It still operates, spins in both directions and dries well with its original sensor, but I think the bearings are gone and belt needs replacing; makes the most horrible sounds, even worse when spinning anti-clockwise
 
I'd say the Kenmore dryer that my grandparents got with their (now mine) Kenmore 90 Series washer would be my favorite. Sadly I didn't remember it too well before it got replaced. I also really liked the Whirlpool Duet dryer we had as well.
 
Chetlaham said:
Do you have more pics of the drum, control panel and insides? I am really interested in what I'm seeing. I would be willing to try such a dryer if I had it.
Click to expand...
It uses a commercial laundromat style drum which was actually the reason why I wanted to get this specific dryer so instead of the clothes tumbling through the the airflow horizontally, the airflow goes from the heating elements at the top of the drum at an 11 o’clock position down to the 5 o’clock position on the other side where there is a lint clean out before the fan and the lint trap after the fan
 

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Fascinating design choice for the drum, I like it. All the US dryers I've seen have a solid drums, and the GE drum is only perforated in the back, so this stands out for me in a good way.

I think that you can switch off one of the two heaters in your dryer is a nice feature. The DDE5300BAL lets does the same thing the low/knits setting- decreasing heat input. The DDE5300BAL regular dry cycle offers up to 130 minutes of dry time, and when coupled with a 5000+ watt heater you could dry literally anything and any size load conceivable.


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Chetlaham said:
All the US dryers I've seen have a solid drums

I think that you can switch off one of the two heaters in your dryer is a nice feature. The DDE5300BAL lets does the same thing the low/knits setting- decreasing heat input.
Click to expand...

There are/were dryers on the US market with perforated drums. Early Hamilton, Frigidaire Filtrator. And of course all combination units from early to current.

F&P SmartLoad has two elements. One operates alone for low and medium temps, both for high.
 
DADoES said:
There are/were dryers on the US market with perforated drums. Early Hamilton, Frigidaire Filtrator. And of course all combination units from early to current.

F&P SmartLoad has two elements. One operates alone for low and medium temps, both for high.
Click to expand...


How did those compare, what were the advantages in having a perforated drum?


I am envious of you again DADoES! Personally, I think the best dryer is one where you can regulate the output of the heating elements in addition to what temp the exhaust stat opens at. Add to that temperature modulation or swing reduction and you've got true clothing care IMO.
 
Chetlaham said:
Fascinating design choice for the drum, I like it. All the US dryers I've seen have a solid drums, and the GE drum is only perforated in the back, so this stands out for me in a good way.

I think that you can switch off one of the two heaters in your dryer is a nice feature. The DDE5300BAL lets does the same thing the low/knits setting- decreasing heat input. The DDE5300BAL regular dry cycle offers up to 130 minutes of dry time, and when coupled with a 5000+ watt heater you could dry literally anything and any size load conceivable.


View attachment 316611
Click to expand...
I know for a fact that the dryer does have technically three settings, hot, warm, and no heat, the first two are used on the normal Dry settings, the last one is its own timer section
 
adam-aussie-vac said:
It uses a commercial laundromat style drum which was actually the reason why I wanted to get this specific dryer so instead of the clothes tumbling through the the airflow horizontally, the airflow goes from the heating elements at the top of the drum at an 11 o’clock position down to the 5 o’clock position on the other side where there is a lint clean out before the fan and the lint trap after the fan
Click to expand...

That looks a neat design, I haven't seen a dryer with a perforated drum before. Mind, I haven't been in a launderette for a very long time.

I did wonder why they don't make heat pump dryer with a drum with the holes in the side like that, with the heat pump evaporator below the drum, so the water can drip into a tray at the bottom, and the condenser at the top, which should allow much more room to have heat exchangers with a much larger cross sectional area even in the smaller appliance cases we have in the UK, which coupled with a bigger compressor should speed the drying time up and also make it take longer to clog up with lint, but I'd assumed it would be difficult to get a satisfactory enough seal to the rotating drum, to prevent too much air bypassing around the outside.
 
Last edited:
me said:
That looks a neat design, I haven't seen a dryer with a perforated drum before. Mind, I haven't been in a launderette for a very long time.

I did wonder why they don't make heat pump dryer with a drum with the holes in the side like that, with the heat pump evaporator below the drum, so the water can drip into a tray at the bottom, and the condenser at the top, which should allow much more room to have heat exchangers with a much larger cross sectional area even in the smaller appliance cases we have in the UK, which coupled with a bigger compressor should speed the drying time up and also make it take longer to clog up with lint, but I'd assumed it would be difficult to get a satisfactory enough seal to the rotating drum, to prevent too much air bypassing around the outside.
Click to expand...
Because this will be a reliable heat pump dryer and no manufacturers wants to do that nowadays...
Since I work in HVAC I see that most of the dryers are really badly designed in terms of air circulation (too much restrictions and bypass).
And for the heat pump ones it's really terrible too, most of them uses capillary tube for metering, combined to a bad air design and the impossibility to clean the evaporator, that usually ends in a dead compressor after getting liquid refrigerant (if the copper/aluminum joints weren't leaking)...
 
Chetlaham said:
Not bad, that is respectable. Many use dryers today offer both timed dry and auto dry as well as two or more heat settings.
Click to expand...
Yeah, as I know my West is literally a timer a hitting element and a motor that’s it and contact us that way the Motor contacts or timer Contacts are not switching heater current directly and the only cool down period My Westie has is five minutes from the end of the timer although surprisingly it can go from almost something wet to bone Dry if I let it run the entire essentially 360° of the timer
 
adam-aussie-vac said:
Yeah, as I know my West is literally a timer a hitting element and a motor that’s it and contact us that way the Motor contacts or timer Contacts are not switching heater current directly and the only cool down period My Westie has is five minutes from the end of the timer although surprisingly it can go from almost something wet to bone Dry if I let it run the entire essentially 360° of the timer
Click to expand...


Now that is a dryer! Lucky you. I think all dryers should be like this today.
 
@Chetlaham would you happen to know what was the matching washer to this inglis liberator dryer when i took the pic my grandmother had a direct drive whirpool washer but she had this dryer paired with a 3 cycle push to start inglis liberator washer with just the 5 wash rinse temp knob no water level then with a 1988 kenmore belt drive and till 2009 with the direct drive whirlpool washer in the pic 66540-d868b5f08553617c41d6ce1090933b0c.jpg
 

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