DG906 Work Finally Begins

[d-jones]

Some of you may recall that earlier this year, Christina(cmlrobison)found a DG906 for sale on Craigslist here in the Los Angeles area, and posted it on the blog. (Thank you Christina!) Well, to make a short story even shorter, I bought it and took it to my folks house knowing I couldn't work on it until later. Now that their washer is up and running, later is finally here.

Here's a picture of it to refresh your memories

 

[d-jones]

I started by pulling the back panel off to have a look inside. Yikes! There's so much lint and miscellaneous fluff in here it looks like it's been flocked! It kind of makes me want to drape it in Christmas lights and sing a carol or two. "Oh 906, oh 906, how linty are thy switches." Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[d-jones]

Ah, that's much better. Now we can actually see what we're dealing with. So far it looks very encouraging. Very little in the way of corrosion or obvious defects. Lets see how it looks once the cabinet is removed and it's wiped down a bit.

 

[d-jones]

Well now I'm really impressed. Hardly any corrosion to speak of, the original painted finish is in excellent condition throughout with only a couple of minor exceptions, and again, no obvious major problems to deal with at all. Both of the belts are shot, but I've already got new ones on order. The little carbon brush holder appears to be damaged, but not in any way that'll effect it's performance, so I may decide to just leave it alone.

 

[d-jones]

Here's a different view of this well preserved machine that leads me to a question. Mark(Kenmore71)was working on his DG806 last year around this time, and he posted some photos of this area showing a felt seal in place that this machine doesn't seem to have. To make matters even more confusing, the parts manual doesn't show this area well at all. Is there supposed to be a strip of felt around the drum opening you see here?

 

[d-jones]

As they so often are on older dryers, this seal is shot and will need to be replaced, but I already have the new seal sitting here ready to go so it's not a problem. But again, one of Marks photos seems to show a white felt seal secured to the inner drum opening that's missing here. I know a number of members here have rebuilt Maytag HoH dryers in the past, so would it be too much trouble to ask one of you to post a photo or two of the seals in this area so that I can see what I'm missing and how it should be installed? It would be very helpful if you could.

Thanks
David

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Ask and yee shall receive...

That is one smart looking 906! Speaking of the white seal, here's a link to my CDE906 that I rescued and reworked. Included are the part number of the seal and the info on mounting it. Hope it helps!

By the way, I'm STILL lusting after the matching CA906 washer...

RCD

Ending "May is Maytag month" with a bang!

Jeri and I brought home an orphan yesterday...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[combo52]

Seals for Gas HOH Dryers

The seal that is glued to the front drum lip of HOH dryers was to keep coins and bobby pins from escaping the drum and shorting on the heating element on the electric models. And while it was usually on gas models as well it is not important to the performance of the dryer at all as this was its only function, and I am not certain that all gas models even used them. The larger shroud seals you mentioned diffidently need replacing. You should also get a new motor pulley as yours is still the aluminum pulley and on a dryer that has a lot of use on it this pulley is usually worn enough that the machine will not tumble properly with a full load.

Overall it looks like you got very restore-able dryer, keep us posted as to your progress.

 

[d-jones]

Thanks for your comment John

There's no indication that the seals in question were ever installed on this machine, no glue remnants around the opening, no dried out strips of old felt laying about in the cabinet. So unless I've misunderstood your comment, based on what you've said I guess I could just replace that outer felt seal and leave it at that.

I'm still a little puzzled by something though. In the link posted above by redcarpetdrew(thanks for that link), the dryer he's working on is an electric model. So going by John's information the additional seals it has make sense. But if you check out the link below to Marks thread about his DG806 rework, in the posted photos it's plain to see that his gas dryer has the same seals installed. My first thought was that perhaps his machine is a little older, and that by the time my dryer was built these additional seals were no longer being used on gas dryers. But it turns out that both my dryer, and Marks, were built in 1967, so what gives? As old as this dryer is, I suppose someone could've already been in there and removed all the bits and pieces of evidence, but who knows. Perhaps they really were never installed in the first place. So at this point should I go ahead and install them, or would that just be a waste of time? If they aren't really needed as John suggests, I'm inclined to leave them out.

Time to begin on the 1967 DG806

With the washing machine at least partially rehabilitated, I have decided to turn my attention to the dryer. I knew this would be more challenging than the washer. When I opened it up and started to disassemble I was not disapointed. Here is what I found: The inside is a MESS and will...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[kenmore71]

I would not bother with that front seal. As John points out on a gas dryer the only thing it would do would be to prevent coins, etc. from dropping into the front air housing. One of the bigger challenges will be finding a NOS large front seal or creating something yourself that would serve the same purpose. It is my understanding that those large seals are rare as hen's teeth. I bought the last one that Larry in Parma had last summer. I'm sure there are some more of them out there. Best of luck! 906 dryers are rare enough and I think think the gas ones are even more rare. It'll be a purty machine when you get it all spiffed up.

 

[d-jones]

Thanks Mark

That makes two of the more knowledgeable techs here saying skip the extra seals, so I'll skip them. As far as the larger outer seals go, I already have two sets standing by, so no worries there. But you know, in looking over these new seals, they're nothing more than cheap industrial grade pressed wool felt, and the stitch used to form the butt splice is one that nearly every sewing machine in existence is capable of producing. I'm seriously thinking about having a go at making a set or two, if for no other reason than to prove to myself how easy it is. After all, the supply of new old stock seal sets IS drying up, and it would be a shame to have a vintage dryer rendered useless by something as simple as this.

 

[kenmore71]

Incidently, when I put the new wool seal on I used the usual high-temp adhesive that most repair guys use when they replace these. Then...to be extra sure and safe, I applied a strip of 3" foil-faced flue pipe tape all the way around the housing. It seems to have made a really nice seal.

 

[beekeyknee]

David,

John (combo52) and I were just discussing this a few weeks ago on Mark's (Kenmore71) thread #40918 and after seeing the seal up close I think I, or anyone with some basic sewing skills, could make these. I'd be willing to give it a try. But where does one obtain that felt?

Great idea about the furnace tape, Mark.

Brian

 

[cmlrobison]

Felt

Here's site I shared with David.

Home - FilzFelt

FilzFelt carries German-milled 100% Wool Design Felt and felt products including acoustic solutions, drapery, floor coverings, hanging panels, wall panels and custom services.

www.filzfelt.com

 

[d-jones]

In addition to Christina's link, here's another I found. They're a domestic manufacturer right here in Michigan. They sell pressed wool felt in rolls or pre-cut into strips of whatever width and thickness you require. The only question is will they process small orders for the general public, or do they only deal with large orders for the manufacturing world. I haven't called to find out yet.

http://sutherlandfelt.com/wicking.htm

 

[d-jones]

Felt Seals

I just spoke to Phil at the Sutherland Felt Company regarding the material to make dryer seals, and he was very helpful. I'll be sending him samples of what I need, cut from good sections of the old seals from this dryer. At this point he sounds very confident that he'll have what I'm looking for, so cross your fingers. The only drawback is that the rolls of felt are sixty inches wide, and to form a loop with the correct diameter the strip of felt will need to be about eighty two inches long. As you can imagine, they won't cut two or three strips out of the roll. I would need to take twenty of the three inch wide strips so that the entire sixty inch width is used. Of course the narrower strip is only one inch wide, so I'll end up with sixty of those. However, if they have the material I need in a partial roll, that changes everything, as they would be willing to cut just what is needed from a partial roll.

With any luck this will actually work.

 

[combo52]

Felt Seals For MT HOH Gas Dryers

The wider seal is larger in diameter than the narrow seal as the narrower one is designed to pull the wider one in against the rotating drum. I am glad you found a source of the felt material if someone wants to repair this or any number of other dryer brands or models. The larger problem in keeping these HOH dryers running is going to be controls, blowers, rubber door seals, and main bearings.

 

But keep us posted and thanks for sharing your rebuilding with us , John.

 

[d-jones]

More disassembly

With the pulleys removed, it was time for the blower assembly cover to come off, which exposed the blower itself. Once I pulled it off the shaft for inspection, no chips, scratches, or flaws of any kind were found, so the blower just needs a good cleaning prior to reassembly.

 

[d-jones]

With the blower removed we can see a yellow spacer and a snap ring that will need to come off in order to pull the drum. be careful with the snap ring, as opening it wider than needed will bend it out of shape and cause a loose fit when you reassemble.