1950's Maytag model 641 dryer

[rickr]

The Shock of it ALL!

Yes Venus,it was a "shocking" experiance"! How long do you think that diaper pin was in there? I mean REALLY! Women have been using disposables for how many decades?? That poor woman that owned this dryer had prolly gotten shocked every washday Monday since the Kennedy administration,or there abouts. LOL!

Rick

 

[rickr]

Thanks Kenny!

 

[rickr]

Dryer works A-ok!

I just dried a set of bed sheets with this Maytag. Worked just great. I even got the ozone bulb and drum lights working. I did not see any evidence of a felt ring as a seal,or gasket at all. Does anyone know if a felt ring was used on a Halo of Heat dryer this old,(1950's)or was that something they added in the 1960's or 1970's?? I do notice a gap appx 1/4 wide between the drum,and heater shroud. If a sealing ring (other than the rubber door seal,which is in place) should be there,I want to install one,if I have to purchase,or fabricate it.

Thank's
Rick

 

[bpetersxx]

mystery appliances

whats the turquoise machine by the water heater

 

[fixerman]

When I was rebuilding the old Maytags, I found that on old ones, the seal was not there. I didn't know weather they didn't have them and Maytag added the seal on later models. I used to add the seal even if there wasn't one on it in the first place. The seal is Part no 311534 (double check me on this number) It is about 3/4 inch wide and fits around the front opening of the drum. I used to fabricate them if I didn't have one on hand. I simply used 5/8 or 3/4 inch felt weather strip and fitted it to the front drum and glued and stapled the overlapped ends together then glued it on with 3M brand 847 glue designed for this purpose.

 

[kenmore1978]

shocking

So let us know the resolution of the "shocking" HB mixer.

 

[rickr]

whats on the other side of the water heater?

1965 Kenmore 800 set,and half of a 1964 Filter-Flo.
Rick

 

[retromom]

A perfect pair

Wow Rick, that is a really nice looking set. I guess I'm just a sucker for lighted controls

Venus

 

[Unimatic1140]

Please do make sure the dryer is properly grounded, hopefully the dryer was properly grounded at the pervious owners home so they never knew there was an electrical leakage.

Rick those pictures are beautiful and they are perfect viewing size. I added a new routine in the code recently that if an uploaded picture is too big, the server will automatically resize the picture to 1000x750, very conveinient to view in 1024x768. So no one has to worry about having to resize their pictures anymore.

 

[rickr]

Dryer seal

Thanks Fixerman, I will check with my appliance parts people to see if they can get me that part number for the seal. If n/a I will fabricate one,per your instructions. Too bad the dryer has to come back apart,but it will be faster this time! LOL
Rick

 

[rickr]

Dryer grounding

Hi Robert, I did ground the dryer when I was finished. This was a scary situation! I had bought the dryer about a year ago for $100.00 at a used appliance store.I had nver used it as I only had one dryer vent until Saturday when I installed another vent.The appliances store had checked it out,serviced it,and even cleaned the lint out of it,so I figured all was ok. I have learned it is best to check these vintage appliances yourself, and ground them also.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[coldspot66]

Rick,

I have one of those 311534 seals that I prolly will never use. If you can't get it froma aprts dealer, let me know. My email is in my profile.

John

 

[partscounterman]

Felt seal

That felt seal is only for use on the GAS halo of heat dryer. The ELECTRIC model does not use the felt seal

 

[fixerman]

Felt Seal

I just looked up a DE606 and it does show the seal. As I said earlier, the older ones may not have had them. The DE641 should have the same drum opening so it should fit. My thinking is that the seal may have been put on later models to prevent objects from getting to the element and causing problems.

 

[fixerman]

Felt seal

Partscounterman, You may be thinking of the felt seal that goes around the outer ring of the element housing. It is correct that the electric dryers don't use them. The 311534 goes around the front of the drum opening.

 

[partscounterman]

Ooops-Your right

 

[rickr]

So the jury is in...

Looks like I have a Sunday afternoon job to do.... LOL!!
I will call my appliance parts source tomorrow and see if they have a felt seal for the dryer. Might as well get the door seal too I guess. It was a little "crunchy" around the edges. May as well fix up the old Halo of Heat to it's "original splendor". Now I want a Maytag washer to match it!! (and I was saving that space for a Frigidare!!!)
Thanks for all your input guys!! This club is a GREAT place to be!!
Rick

 

[rickr]

Dryer job all done....

Well I got the felt seals and special heat proof cement at the appliance parts store this morning. The repair people told me to install the small (port) felt seal,and include the large(drum) felt seal also,even though my dryer is not the gas model. They said that they always added the extra seal whenever they had a Halo of Heat dryer down that far. So I took their advise and it is now back together and works fine.
Cost $44.27 Large drum seal:$27.00/Port seal:$10.98/Glue pack:$3.78
The rubber port to door seal was not in stock and had to be ordered. I think I can install that part without much disassembly. I did not ask the $$$ on the rubber door seal. I guess it will be a surprise!! LOL
I am really impressed by how quiet this dryer is. It is much quieter than my 1965 Kenmore 800,and the Kenmore has been rebuilt with:new rollers,motor,belt,all felt seals,etc,etc....
The Kenmore seems "tinny" in comparison to this 59 Maytag. It was evident while both were in use at the same time for the first time.(last night) I guess they started "cheating" on quality even in the 1960's. The 1960's stuff is still "megatons" better that what is manufactured today though.
Thanks to all once again for all your advice and help!!

Rick