806 Washer in Atlanta

[danemodsandy]

Bill:

All things considered, you're right to hold out for earlier machines if possible. The differences are pretty substantial, and only two are drawbacks.

On the washer, you get the following items that later ones don't have:

- The tub light
- The chrome-topped lint filter
- The old-style bleach dispenser, which many people feel does a better job of dispersing the bleach
- The chrome strip at the top of the front panel
- The chrome timer knob, which I personally prefer over the acrylic one

On the dryer, you get:

- The porcelain-finished drum
- The chrome strip at the top of the front panel
- The chrome timer knob, which I personally prefer over the #!%@*! acrylic one.
- The Halo of Heat drying system, which is, I feel, a bit gentler than the later conventional drying element.

Two dryer features are drawbacks, if you want to look at them that way; I don't see them that way:

- The drum is small by present-day standards, but it will hold as much as the washer can wash comfortably, and what more anyone would want, I don't know.
- The lint filter is located at the center rear of the drum; cleaning it does involve a bit of stooping. I personally can live with it.

And Halo of Heat dryers are more complicated to work on in some respects. But all in all, I like the earlier machines more than the newer ones. That is not to say that the newer machines are anything to sneeze at - they are great. But just not quite as great as the older ones.

Did I mention I don't like the acrylic knobs?
[this post was last edited: 11/22/2014-22:45]

 

[scoots]

Sandy:

Your dislike of the acrylic knobs is funny... I also dislike them a lot and always saw them as a pander to the tastes of older women in the 70's, which had sort of a craze for over-sized crystal stuff (think of those coffee table lighters from the period).

I've heard different things about the "Halo of Hate" dryers and wouldn't mind trying one for myself. I have a 1976 DG308 dryer with "stream of heat". No complaints, but it's got timed-only heat and always seems to take forever to dry, much longer than the wash cycle per load. It only puts out about 22,000 BTU.

BTW, that DG308 and the matching A208 were my first "vintage" machines, purchased second hand about 1995. The washer started leaking as soon as I got it home (grrr) and is now long gone (slight remorse, but it was the days before internet support for these washers and after commercial repair men were interested in looking at them) - but I still have the dryer.[this post was last edited: 11/23/2014-00:19]