kenmore71
Well-known member
Original power cord!!!
1956? MAYTAG GAS DRYER - MINNEAPOLIS
- Thread starter agitatorboogie
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kenmore71
Well-known member
Lint drawer, complete with rusted paper clips!
kenmore71
Well-known member
"Automatic Dryer"
cool pics
and thanks for posting. If the lint drawer is on the lower front, then what is the topside door for?
and thanks for posting. If the lint drawer is on the lower front, then what is the topside door for?
kenmore71
Well-known member
Access to the gas valve and ignitor.
Wow, something is new around here everyday
Have I just never noticed the tan color in the middle of the timer dial? It looks like it has a clean out panel in the drum, like we see pictured in the GE combo's. @tomturbomatic, does the 3 inch vent tube qualify it as "low air flow". I can't stop thinking about those "filtrator towels" in Kevin's thread. Congrats Kenmore71, very nice. alr2903
Have I just never noticed the tan color in the middle of the timer dial? It looks like it has a clean out panel in the drum, like we see pictured in the GE combo's. @tomturbomatic, does the 3 inch vent tube qualify it as "low air flow". I can't stop thinking about those "filtrator towels" in Kevin's thread. Congrats Kenmore71, very nice. alr2903
1956 Maytag Gas Dryer
WOW it looks like you found a good low-mileage dryer, they probably moved it out to the farm 40 years ago and never did anything about converting it to LP so it just sat.
Yes this would be considered a lower air flow- higher temperature dryer and it may indeed produce fluffier towels, a test should be done, Mark. Tom and I have the electric condenser version of this dryer which works pretty well and Tom also has the electric vented version of this dryer, I don't know whether he has ever used it.
These earlier style MT dryers looked to be reasonably well built and durable dryers, the only real weak point I am aware of is the all pot-metal blower assembly and blower bearing was a real weak spot.
WOW it looks like you found a good low-mileage dryer, they probably moved it out to the farm 40 years ago and never did anything about converting it to LP so it just sat.
Yes this would be considered a lower air flow- higher temperature dryer and it may indeed produce fluffier towels, a test should be done, Mark. Tom and I have the electric condenser version of this dryer which works pretty well and Tom also has the electric vented version of this dryer, I don't know whether he has ever used it.
These earlier style MT dryers looked to be reasonably well built and durable dryers, the only real weak point I am aware of is the all pot-metal blower assembly and blower bearing was a real weak spot.
Ha! Good save, guys - a very interesting machine. This same dryer model was in an appliance shop in Newton, in pink, for quite a long time along with a PA700 washer. They wanted a fortune for it, IIRC.
The Maytag sickness was rampant this weekend - saw this lovely 606 on CL and just couldn't rest until it was in the garage. It's amazing how much "heavier" this is built than even the later '08 series machines.
The Maytag sickness was rampant this weekend - saw this lovely 606 on CL and just couldn't rest until it was in the garage. It's amazing how much "heavier" this is built than even the later '08 series machines.
Money shot - this was in an apartment building basement, sitting for a few years. The current tenant said it was there when she moved in to her unit, after an old lady had vacated and left this behind. They thought it didn't work and pushed it aside.
Wow, the dryer looks to be pretty good shape. Will be curious to hear how the gas system has held up over the years.
Many moons ago I noticed a pink Maytag dryer at the local St. Vinnies warehouse. I inquired about it and was told to just take it. The dryer was a 740C, but it had sat outside for several years and was not worth getting up and running again. I saved parts from it but I'm not sure if I held on to much.
Greg - nice save there on the 606!
Ben
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?1607
Many moons ago I noticed a pink Maytag dryer at the local St. Vinnies warehouse. I inquired about it and was told to just take it. The dryer was a 740C, but it had sat outside for several years and was not worth getting up and running again. I saved parts from it but I'm not sure if I held on to much.
Greg - nice save there on the 606!
Ben
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?1607
agitatorboogie
Well-known member
thanks for saving it Mark
....even if its temporary
....even if its temporary
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Greg:
Interesting you should say that about 06-series machines vs. 08-series machines. I'm getting that exact impression as I work with my "new" early 806 pair. The later machines I've had aren't quite up to the same standard in terms of finish. In particular, the porcelain of the dryer drum was replaced by paint in the switch from HOH to the big-door format. And the bleach dispenser setup on the washer is nothing but a funnel and hose on later machines, of course, but the difference between the early bleach dispenser fill funnel and the later one is pretty substantial. I'm not talking the design difference - I'm talking the heaviness and quality of the part.
And at that, Maytag didn't indulge in '70s cheapening to nearly the extent that some other manufacturers did.
Interesting you should say that about 06-series machines vs. 08-series machines. I'm getting that exact impression as I work with my "new" early 806 pair. The later machines I've had aren't quite up to the same standard in terms of finish. In particular, the porcelain of the dryer drum was replaced by paint in the switch from HOH to the big-door format. And the bleach dispenser setup on the washer is nothing but a funnel and hose on later machines, of course, but the difference between the early bleach dispenser fill funnel and the later one is pretty substantial. I'm not talking the design difference - I'm talking the heaviness and quality of the part.
And at that, Maytag didn't indulge in '70s cheapening to nearly the extent that some other manufacturers did.
Greg, have you determined the age of the A606 yet?
kenmore71
Well-known member
More pictures...and a MOVIE!!!
I took the back off this morning and this is what I found. I think Ben will be PLEASED!
I took the back off this morning and this is what I found. I think Ben will be PLEASED!
kenmore71
Well-known member
Another view.
The guy I got this from said that he had pulled the back off and vacuumed it out before he listed it on CL. That would explain the generally good condition!
The guy I got this from said that he had pulled the back off and vacuumed it out before he listed it on CL. That would explain the generally good condition!
kenmore71
Well-known member
Close-up of gas valve and burner.
kenmore71
Well-known member
Blower.
kenmore71
Well-known member
The MOVIE!
kenmore71
Well-known member
For those who are wondering...
Here is a scan of the parts catalog page where you can see the dryer from behind with the cabinet off.
Here is a scan of the parts catalog page where you can see the dryer from behind with the cabinet off.
kenmore71
Well-known member
Here is an air-flow diagram from the service manual.
Not many manufacturers used this kind of air-flow design for their gas dryers.
I know Speed Queen also had their burner at the top of the drum for a time. Were there any others?
Not many manufacturers used this kind of air-flow design for their gas dryers.
I know Speed Queen also had their burner at the top of the drum for a time. Were there any others?
That is remarkably clean inside. It makes me wonder if it's been wrapped in plastic somewhere for the last fifty years.
kenmore71
Well-known member
In doing some more research through my stash of service literature, here is the information on the thermostat. As John mentioned above, this would definitely qualify as a "lower airflow, high temperature dryer. In the image below you can see the thermostat temps. Compare that to a year later when the thermostat temps on a Halo-of-heat dryer would be 155 degrees and 135 degrees!
kenmore71
Well-known member
Actually, to all who are wondering about the story of this dryer here it is:
This machine was purchased by the son of the guy I bought it from at an estate sale in Apple Valley, MN. It was in the home of a little old lady. The son then moved half way across the country and lost interest in trying to move the dryer with him. Dad decided it was too nice to scrap and thought he'd try to get out of it what had been paid for it.
As to the aforementioned little old lady, I'm guessing her husband bought her this dryer new in 1957 or 1958. She probably line dried 99% of her clothes so that this machine was only used for "fluffing" line-dried towels and perhaps drying a few loads in the deepest cold of winter. I bet this machine only actually dried a few dozen loads of laundry a year. And, as is often the case with "old lady" dryers, it likely saw no use at all during the last years of her life since laundry was likely done by family members at their homes.
I know this situation from personal experience. My grandmother (now 99) has a late 1960s Kenmore "Match-all" dryer that looks almost as if it came off the catalog store floor! As a child, I helped her wash in the Maytag E2L and then everything was hung outside or in the basement. If it was a particularly still summer day or in the winter, towels and jeans would get a 10 minute air tumble in the dryer before folding so that they were not "stiff as a board" as my grandmother would say! [this post was last edited: 2/4/2013-17:56]
This machine was purchased by the son of the guy I bought it from at an estate sale in Apple Valley, MN. It was in the home of a little old lady. The son then moved half way across the country and lost interest in trying to move the dryer with him. Dad decided it was too nice to scrap and thought he'd try to get out of it what had been paid for it.
As to the aforementioned little old lady, I'm guessing her husband bought her this dryer new in 1957 or 1958. She probably line dried 99% of her clothes so that this machine was only used for "fluffing" line-dried towels and perhaps drying a few loads in the deepest cold of winter. I bet this machine only actually dried a few dozen loads of laundry a year. And, as is often the case with "old lady" dryers, it likely saw no use at all during the last years of her life since laundry was likely done by family members at their homes.
I know this situation from personal experience. My grandmother (now 99) has a late 1960s Kenmore "Match-all" dryer that looks almost as if it came off the catalog store floor! As a child, I helped her wash in the Maytag E2L and then everything was hung outside or in the basement. If it was a particularly still summer day or in the winter, towels and jeans would get a 10 minute air tumble in the dryer before folding so that they were not "stiff as a board" as my grandmother would say! [this post was last edited: 2/4/2013-17:56]
Hamilton dryers also had a gas valve at the top of the dryer. There was a built in mirror you used to light the pilot.
kenmore71
Well-known member
Why are you lost?
maytagbear
Well-known member
Nice catches, Gentlemen!
I'm wondering where the gas input might be found. In the shots, I don't see anything I recognize as an input.
When we got our A208, I really wanted an A608......Ma thought about the A308, so we compromised on the 208. My Dependable Cares from 1997 don't seem much flimsier than the 208. However, modern Maypools seem like "tinsel and spit" in comparison.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
I'm wondering where the gas input might be found. In the shots, I don't see anything I recognize as an input.
When we got our A208, I really wanted an A608......Ma thought about the A308, so we compromised on the 208. My Dependable Cares from 1997 don't seem much flimsier than the 208. However, modern Maypools seem like "tinsel and spit" in comparison.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
Early Gas Dryers
Many early gas and electric dryers had the heat source at the top like this. I think that MT and others borrowed this design from the inventor of the modern dryer Hamilton. In addition to Hamilton and MT Blackstone also used this system on their early gas dryers and several makes like GE and Frigidaire did this on their early electric dryers, GE and FD did not have gas dryers till the 1960s.
Greg good save on the MT A606, they really were not that much heavier you are just getting older and weaker, LOL.
Many early gas and electric dryers had the heat source at the top like this. I think that MT and others borrowed this design from the inventor of the modern dryer Hamilton. In addition to Hamilton and MT Blackstone also used this system on their early gas dryers and several makes like GE and Frigidaire did this on their early electric dryers, GE and FD did not have gas dryers till the 1960s.
Greg good save on the MT A606, they really were not that much heavier you are just getting older and weaker, LOL.
Older and weaker! That's funny. The young soccer player for Iowa Western College (you should have been there!) that helped me carry it out of the basement and to the parking lot commented on how much heavier the Maytag was than the Kenmore they just moved out of the basement to their new place.
Radial-heating & exhaust patterns seem like a very efficient way to dry clothes tumbling in a drum. I still would like to have one of the ADC built machines they did for KitchenAid right at the end of the KA laundry era.
Radial-heating & exhaust patterns seem like a very efficient way to dry clothes tumbling in a drum. I still would like to have one of the ADC built machines they did for KitchenAid right at the end of the KA laundry era.
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