a few questions about the Maytag Twin tub

[kitty]

I have a few questions about a Maytag twin tub to ask before I get one. Please answer them if you can, and always, your support is GREATLY appreciated!!!

1. Why can't you spin-rinse?

2. If you set the drain knob to "wash drain" will the spinner still drain ?

 

[mr-maytag]

The Maytag twin tub wasn't engineered to take the load of that much water weight - it would be hard on it to use it to spin rinse. Wash Drain drains only the wash side of the machine. Spin Drain drains only the spin side.

 

[mickeyd]

HI Kitty

You can: use half of a wooden clothes pin or something else to bypass the door latch on the spinner, and squirt the load as it spins, being careful, of course.

If that sounds too risky for you: Spray down the load, getting it quite wet, then close and spin, repeating till discharge is clear.

Or simply fill the spinner with water, and slide your arms along the sides of the tub and slosh the load up and down; it's a good forearm workout.

I can't exactly remember if you can drain both tubs at once, but I think the switch closes one drain and opens the other, if I remember correctly.

 

[mickeyd]

OOPS !

Asked and answered, Ted. I had the page open for a while watching "The Good Wife," and couldn't see your answer.

There's quite a bit of water in the spinner when you load the wet wash, especially towels.

 

[kitty]

I know about overriding the spinner lid switch

I was just wondering why you cant fill the spinner up w/ water. I saw a video on you tube and he said that it can't spin rinse. I am just guessing that the motor would overload when it's full of water because the pump is on the belt that drives the spinner and there's no clutch that allows the motor to accelerate all the way without allowing the spinner not to turn.

 

[mickeyd]

I hear you and I understand, and I would be aghast if I caused someone to weaken or break a machine.

For a summer before I joined this club, my A 50 sat on the deck, and I would fill the wash tub with steaming hot solar -heated water from an enormous hose arranged in long links on the side lawn. Then I'd rinse with cool tap water using the the garden hose to which I had attached a nozzle featuring 10 different sprays all of which mimicked the various fill flumes I now recognize from all the washer flix featured here at AW.

The spinner would be spinning and drained of sudsy water when I started the spray rinse, so there was never too much water in it. I would enjoy the different sprays, but if I had too much pressure, the sound would change, and I'd lighten it up. Honest. the machine is still fine, and I had no problem doing this But if you're not comfortable.......

Remember, the biggest strain on the motor occurs when you begin the first spin after loading the water-laden laundry from the wash tub. There is no draining away as you load. It's all there when you start the spinner. So there is actually much more water in the spinner then, than when spin-rinsing.

I agree that if you were to operate the spinner continuously with a full spinnerful of water, you would injure the machine, but that's not what I was doing.

 

[kitty]

I hear what you're saying

I could spray them w/ water to do a spray rinse. If I do it with the hand shower it might go on top of the clothes because it is going 2,000 RPM. Cheers!

 

[mr-maytag]

I'd think they would have added spin rinsing in the instruction manual if it were ok to do so…but that's just me…by the book…

 

[mickeyd]

I agree, Ted, but then they'd have to tell you to bypass the lid switch, and that would not be a prudent option for them to suggest.

 

[mr-maytag]

...I guess we just have a difference of opinion, Mickey.

 

[mickeyd]

The way gentlemen know how to do it, but how I'd LOVE to tempt you into trying even just a small spin rinse, so you could know the joy ;'D

It's not CRACK, after all, Ted LOL.

 

[mr-maytag]

HAHA! well….I might bend the rules a little…just for you, Mickey!

 

[kitty]

Oh well...

I guess that I'll just have to try out the spinner/washer drain. Thank you for posting anyway.

 

[kitty]

Electric pump

Do you think I could put an electric pump on it wired to the motor and I would do fine? Thanks.

 

[gizmo]

spin rinsing technique

I have never seen a Maytag twinnie but the principle of spin rinsing remains the same in all twinnies, whether it is mentioned in the instructions or not.

It is much more effective to wet the load down thoroughly with the spinner stopped, rather than with it spinning. With the small diameter of a usual spinner can, it is difficult to get water all the way to the bottom of the spinner if it is spinning - the water tends to hit the clothes at the top of the can and get spun away before it penetrates to the bottom of the can. So if you spray while it is spinning, you rinse the top clothes but not those lower down.

Hoover demonstrated this with the Hoovermatic Deluxe, which would alternate between soaking up water with the spinner stopped, and spinning away accumulated water. It would still have water flowing when spinning, but that was just because it didn't have a shut off valve, not because the spray over the spin did anything useful.

So you can easily "spinner rinse" in the Maytag - spin away the sudsy water first, then stop the spinner, run your hose over the clothes in the spinner can till they have plumped up with more water (allow time for the water to penetrate through several layers of fabric till even the clothes on the bottom are saturated) then shut off the hose and spin away the water. 3 or 4 such rinses will do a great job.

Don't fill the spinner compartment right up with water - you will overload the spinner. Enough water to soak the load is enough to do the job.

 

[combo52]

Spin Rinsing In A MT TT

Chris described very well a good way of SR in a MT TT, MT did not design the spin tub area to be filled with water and then activate the spinner and pump, also you will actually get a better rinse with much less water wasted using Chris's technique.

 

[gansky1]

I've used Chris' method many times with the Maytag twinnie.  Usually, when pulling clothes from the wash side over, I'll use the hose (since it's running around loose anyway) to rinse as they're going into the spinner.  When using fabric softener, I stop the spinner and add water until there is enough to slosh the clothes in, add softener, soak for a minute or two then spin them out.  I've never noticed the motor strain when spinning out any amount of water in that spinner and you're not going to hurt that Maytag poly-pump with "too much water".

 

Have fun and get wet

 

[kitty]

@ gizmo, combo52, and gansky1:

The spray rinse problem can be solved by putting a broom stick in the bottom of the spinner prior to loading, pull it out before starting it. That will make a donut of clothes 'round the spinner, so when you run it open the water can get all the way to the bottom. My maytag TT has a loose belt, so when you start the spinner, all the water in the tank will drain out then it will start accelerating. I have used your spin rinse idea, tilting the spin drum enough so I can see the water build up in the tank, then start. I LOVE MY MAYTAG TT!!!!!!!!!! IT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!

 

[twintubber]

Hi Kitty!

If I may chime in.....

"If you set the drain knob to "wash drain" will the spinner still drain ?"

Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but it seems to me in both of my A50's that it is a diverter valve between the two tubs.
However, it seems that priority is given to the wash tub.
I once forgot to change the control back to spin drain when loading a soapy batch into the spinner. The water level that the load created in the spinner plus the detergent sudsing up caused the spin tub to never reach full speed.
The water was spraying out the hose into the sink, but I couldn't understand why I could not "hear" the spinner reach full speed.
Stopped and checked a few times and the outer spin tub was still full of water and sudsing up even more from the action. Checked it 3 times. Then lifted the lid for the wash tub and noticed nearly all the water was gone.
"The light bulb went on".
I checked the dial and sure enough, I hadn't switched from wash/drain to spin/drain.
So really, it will drain the wash tub, won't drain the spin tub, will never reach full speed, and could "cut-out" due to overloading the motor.
Which brings me to your first question and one that many have replied to.

"Why can't you spin-rinse?"

Although others have offered their opinions and/or suggestions, I once overloaded the 1980 A50's spin basket during the brief time I was able to use that machine.
And ya know what happened?
The motor "popped"!
And it rendered the spinner completely useless. It was several hours before it 'reset' itself and worked again.
So I learned a lesson, and maybe some of you A50 users/owners/collectors have never experienced, but the spin motor will CUT OUT and reset itself if you overload it.
And that's Maytag dependability for ya!
Even if the user overdoes it, the machine will stop, rest and come back to you when it's darned good and ready!
Hope that helps.