DE806 operation and refurbishment...

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

volvoguy87

volvoguy87

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
2,575
Location
Cincinnati, OH
It's been awhile, but Elginkid and I finally got our 1975 DE806 put back together and we have some issues and questions.

I finished reassembly, plugged the old girl in, and pushed Air Fluff (to test the motor without heat) and she purred quietly to life. I opened the door to turn it off and I found out I've got a bad door switch. There was not a way to stop the dryer! I ended up flipping off the circuit breaker to stop the dryer. I turned the dial to Regular and pushed the dial again. This time it came to life, heated as it should, burned off the dust from the element, and ran like a champ. How long should it run empty before shutting off? Ours went several minutes before we flipped the breaker off and called it a night.

We are running it with a 3-prong plug. I did not connect a cabinet ground (might that explain the not shutting off?). Where is the cabinet ground screw anyway?

806 dryers are new to me,
Dave
 
The drum.

Notice the shaft? It's thicker where it passes through the drum support bearing and is thinner after the plastic spacer where the blower wheel sits. It's amazing that this shaft bears the weight of the drum and its clothes without any rollers on the drum!

Oh yes, the shaft was well-lubed prior to reassembly. Also, the retaining ring that goes on the shaft on the back side of the drum support bearing can be a ROYAL PAIN to remove. We ended up bending ours out of shape so I went to Lowes to get a new one only to find out they don't carry them that big. Home Depot was worse in that they didn't carry them at all and the employees did not know what a retaining ring/snap ring was. I got one today at my local mom & pop hardware store. 5 minutes and 60 cents!

volvoguy87++5-4-2010-01-13-30.jpg
 
Elginkid working.

Actually, he's oiling the drum support bearing prior to reinstalling the drum.

My question is: "Is the crazed look really necessary?"[this post was last edited: 5/4/2010-02:37]

volvoguy87++5-4-2010-01-18-35.jpg
 
How long....

Seems like it should take about 10 min for the electronic control to "sense" the clothes are dry on any of the heated cycles. At that point the chime would sound "ding" and it would move on to the 10 min cool down part of the cycle. Air Fluff cycle is a pre-determined (I think 20 min) timed cycle.

Jim
 
How long should it run empty before shutting off?

To test the electronic control unit, make sure the dryer is empty and select the "Damp Dry" setting. The machine should automatically turn off somewhere between 7-17 seconds.

The door switch for these machines have been NLA for a while, but they're still readily available. I don't have the part # handy with me right now, but if you go back to the post where I scanned the factory service manual, you'll find the part#. I believe there's a door switch right now on eBay for this machine.

I have 5 or 6 electronic controlled HOH's (lost count) and never grounded any of them. They all function correctly. Who knows, maybe I'm lucky or these old girls know I saved their pretty tushes from the crusher and decide to behave ;)
 
The drum shaft bearing.

This shot is looking through the drum support bearing. The metal sleeves (it's a sleeve bearing after all) at either end hold oil and sweat it out as it heats up from friction during operation. This film of sweated oil keeps things spinning smoothly and silently. The felt in the middle between the sleeves holds the oil. Yes, we oiled the felt quite a bit. It was interesting to watch the oil flow from the tube and onto the felt, sit there for a moment, and then get sucked into the felt.

We really oiled the heck out of this bearing. At one point I was oiling the bearing and this stuff started dripping out of it. "Hmmm" I thought to myself. "What is this stuff being displaced by oil in this bearing? I know! It must be the bearing's heck! I really am oiling the heck right out of this bearing!" For the record, heck closely resembles excess oil. Just remember that it's not excess oil, it's heck.

Hopefully this bearing should be good for a few more decades of regular use.[this post was last edited: 5/4/2010-02:42]

volvoguy87++5-4-2010-01-23-56.jpg
 
Oh yes, the shaft was well-lubed prior to reassembly.

Did you soak the wicking that sits between the drum bushing? That's critical for long term operation. I usually end up over oiling them and oil floats a wee over the wicking. It doesn't harm anything though.

Never mind, your post just popped up. Good Work!![this post was last edited: 5/4/2010-01:31]
 
Drum installed.

Note the new front felt seal glued in place with Maytag High Temperature Adhesive.

The dryer has been reassembled and tested but this is the last pic on my camera. I'll have to take off the cabinet again to replace the door switch though (aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!).

PS: We also oiled the bearing in the blower wheel and the idler pulley. I greased (not oiled) the slider that holds the idler pulley. I also put in new fiber washers in front of and behind the blower wheel. The blower runs great without any rubbing and the belt is perfectly aligned.

This is one QUIET dryer.

That's it for tonight,
Dave[this post was last edited: 5/4/2010-01:39]

volvoguy87++5-4-2010-01-35-58.jpg
 
This is one QUIET dryer.

Yes, indeed!

Once everything cleaned, lubed, and worn parts replaced (usually includes belts only), you'll be hard-pressed to find a quieter dryer.
 
DRYER GROUNDING

All dryers gas or electric must be grounded not only for safety but if it has an electronic sensor control it may never shut off or at best work erratically. On electronic sensor dryers one of the sensor strips is grounded directly to the cabinet this is one reason the cabinet must be grounded. Normally on an electric dryer its grounded by a connection from the cabinet to the center post on the terminal block this provides a good ground through the three wire cord. This is often an aluminum strip on MT dryers brass or copper on other brands newer dryers usually use a green insulated wire that may be part of the wiring harness. You should always be sure this ground is in place or another good ground is attached to the appliance before you even think of plugging it in, this also goes for old washers stoves etc. I think when Dan said he didn't ground any of his dryers he was talking about an auxiliary ground wire. MT left a screw connection on the back of thier dryers for a separate ground wire which is not required is most areas although its never a bad idea to be double safe.
 
You'll be hard-pressed to find a quieter dryer.

Umm... I just happened to know a "certain" avocado green GE V-16 dryer that is VERY close, if not tied - or just ahead of the HOH. I think you saw it and heard it Dan!

Ducks & runs?

LOL

OK, seriously, yes they are incredibly quiet dryers!

Question: Is the 806 supposed to have a "cool down" period, on the regular cycle, prior to shutting off??

My 1970 H-gold DE806 doesn't seem to. When it chimes, it stops immediately and the clothes inside are still very hot! (tho I also noticed the '70 GE V-16 is too) I also have a newer DG808 and (I'm pretty sure) it chimes once (at cool down?) and then again when it shuts off.

Thanks!
Kevin[this post was last edited: 5/4/2010-13:36]
 
Damp Dry works!

I'm taking off the cabinet again to swap out the door switch., but before I started, I ran a load through on the Damp Dry setting and it worked! It shut off when the clothes were damp dry. I think this will be the perfect mate to my Ironrite.

Now back to the dryer,
Dave
 
Umm... I just happened to know a "certain" avocado green GE V-16 dryer that is VERY close, if not tied - or just ahead of the HOH. I think you saw it and heard it Dan!

Yeah, the GE was pretty darn quiet too. It's shame I didn't have a refurbished HOH handy at the time for a side-by side comparison with my DB meter.

My 1970 H-gold DE806 doesn't seem to. When it chimes, it stops immediately and the clothes inside are still very hot! (tho I also noticed the '70 GE V-16 is too) I also have a newer DG808 and (I'm pretty sure) it chimes once (at cool down?) and then again when it shuts off.

The DE806 should run a couple of minutes after the chime sounds, before stopping. If it doesn't, you have a bad cool down thermostat. Usually the cool down thermos fail in the other direction and the machine never shuts off after the chime. The 606/806/906 machines had a relatively short cool down cycle. Usually it was around 2 minutes or so. However, I just select "Air Dry" right after the first chime as a poor mans "Wrinkle Guard" for the shirts and it'll turn off at about the 10 minute mark.
 
COOL DOWN THERMOSTATS

If I remember correctly the MT cool down thermostat is 125F so on damp dry the dryer doesn't even reach that temp so the dryer stops when the sensor trips the bell and the solenoid is activated. On reg dry the control stops the dryer with a little moisture left in the load so with the continued evaporation taking place the thermostat resets fairly quickly resulting a fairly short cool down. On PP the clothes get dryer and hotter resulting in the longest cool down. But a lot depends on the room temp where the dryer is located. I had one customer that installed an adjustable thermostat calibrated in degrees so he could set it about 20F above room temp and get a nice long cool down. You could of corse just install a cooler fixed thromostat but if the room temp was too high the dryer may never stop. I remember we had a DE606 that was installed in a hot boiler room and they complained that it often would't stop maytag sent us a hotter thermostat for that machine.
 
I took the cabinet off again.

You REALLY have to take this dryer apart to change out the door switch! This is inside the cabinet after I took out the heater. The offending door switch is visible at the upper right of the door. The hinge is sandwiched between the cabinet and the switch. Also note that someone at the Maytag factory wrote 806 above the door. This was covered by the heater and I had no idea it was there before.

The old door switch had a date stamped on it of 1973. We think the dryer is a 1975. Were they just using up an old stock of switches?

volvoguy87++5-5-2010-00-44-8.jpg
 
The pair.

Finally! Both the washer and dryer are working properly, hooked up, and are in service next to each other! This dryer is taking the place of our DE306, at least until I can install that second dryer socket and vent.

volvoguy87++5-5-2010-00-48-53.jpg
 
806 MT PAIR

Dave great looking pair with the lights on, one thing I always think about doing with one of my MT 806 style pairs is to install longer florescent bulbs in the panels for more even lighting across the full width of the control panel. As I restore my A900 pair I my even try to custom taylor some LED lighting strips into the console as long as it looks authentic it might be fun to see how even a look I can get.
 
They look great Dave!

You and Wes did a great job, CONGRATS!! Plus they look fantastic too!

Kevin

P.S. Thank you for the 806 cool down info Dan!![this post was last edited: 5/5/2010-07:22]
 
I wonder...

Could you place colored LEDs behind the glass on the control panel to indicate what part of the cycle the machine's in?

No, I'm NOT customizing these machines. Too many others to work on now,
Dave
 

Similar threads

pierreandreply4
what would be the chance of finding refurbish as new (full restrore) ands still repairable a kenmore washer like this with matching dryer or equivalen
Replies
9
Views
517
Chetlaham
Chetlaham
A
Whirlpool gas dryer service manual - late 90s vintage?
Replies
3
Views
154
aribert
A
ToddBailey
Maytag LDE712 Repair Questions
Replies
4
Views
344
ToddBailey
ToddBailey
countryford
Prewar Bendix
Replies
4
Views
116
Unimatic1140
Unimatic1140
barcoboy
Acquired some Kenmore 80 and 90 series machines
Replies
12
Views
802
markvturner
M

Latest posts

Back
Top