Free Maytag DE806 to a good home!

[hippiedoll]

question.....

control panel versus the control knob on both the washer & dryer:

being that these both have the lower aqua/blue control panels and they both have the "diamond" looking control knob, would that date these to a particular year or time frame??

sandy & combo52:

thank you both for your explanations of why & why not, some maytags had the "bleach dispensers" & some didn't.

but now i have a question:
my A208 (sunglow control panel & diamond control knob) has the bleach "funnel" on the lower left hand corner. and i've read sandy say that the A806 has an "actual" bleach dispenser, that is in the lower right hand corner. i understand how the "funnel" works on my A208, cuz i had to reconnect the tube to the upper "funnel" part. and i could put it together in my mind how the bleach was dispensed into the bottom, side of the outer tub, through this tube.

my question is...
how does the bleach "dispenser" work on the A806, since it is different than what i seen on my A208??

i'm sure this question has been asked before. but i haven't ran into the answer yet. so, i would really like to read what or how the bleach dispenser does/works.

thank you....

)

 

[DADoES]

 
Christina,

Here's a pic from an old thread showing the bleach dispenser arrangement on the A906, A806, and some other earlier models.  Bleach poured into the dispenser goes into a reservoir mounted at front/right of the cabinet.  It stays there until agitation starts, at which time a hose connected to an auxiliary port on the pump flushes water from the tub into the reservoir to displace the bleach and move it slowly into the wash water in the tub.  It's a "timed" dispenser such that the bleach doesn't dump immediately and directly into the tub.

 

[hippiedoll]

dadoes...

ahhhhh, i think i get it now.

thank you for posting the picture so that i could see the hoses & the reservoir container, so that i could try to figure it out. and also for the detailed explanation of how it works.

but here's another question:
wouldn't some of the wash water stay in the bottom half of the reservoir container after the wash cycle was completed, since the tube that goes into the bottom of the outer washtub is connected 1/2 way up the reservoir container??? wouldn't water/liquid be constantly in the reservoir container??? or is my brain just not comprehending how this works???

 

[danemodsandy]

John:

I don't think you and I will ever agree on the cleaning ability of Maytags!

My machines before my first Maytags were a Whirly Design 2000 DD pair. When the washer was destroyed by my late partner, I replaced the machines with a pair of used Maytags - and the washer was the lower-end LA206.

A huge improvement in cleanliness and brightness was highly noticeable from the very first load. No changes to detergent, additives or anything else were made - just the switch from a DD Whirly to the 'Tag.

Big difference. BIG difference.

 

[appnut]

Maytags without bleach dispensers

This was never a problem for me. I always removed the filter and poured the LCB down the center of the agitator. Replaced filter & fs dispenser and closed the lid. Wash went back to being washed.

 

[d-jones]

Wow. Look how far off topic this thread has gone!

It just goes to show, once a good conversation gets started there's no telling where it'll lead. Meanwhile, I still have a DE806 looking for a home

Please pass the word.

 

[coldspot66]

I think John combo52 was talking about BELT drive WP/KN washers. They did have stronger agitation than a Maytag. There was no Design 2000 washers until the 80's. The first ones had a narrow tub and single action agitator, so I agree a Maytag had better cleaning than the first generation direct drives.

 

[appnut]

I still have a DE806 looking for a home

If jamesclarke gets that harvest gold 806 washer in Dallas area, this dryer would be a perfect match.

 

[whirlcool]

We had a Maytag set we bought in 86, got rid of them in 93' to get a Whirlpool DD TOL set. We never really liked the Maytags. We thought they had very weak to almost non existent roll over. They were sooo boring. We have always been happy with our Whirlpool set.

 

[maytagmodela806]

I'm looking for that type of dryer but my washer is white but I wouldn't mind the color just have no way of getting one

 

[d-jones]

The liberated washer control panel.

This thing is in very nice condition. The buttons for the load size selector look pretty bad, but I have new ones ready to install when the time comes.

 

About the only real issue it has is the loss of blue paint in that lower portion of the control panel, but in looking it over I think it's repairable. The control panel is made of die cast pot metal that's been chrome plated just as you'd find on any number of older car dash boards. That chrome plating is clearly applied to the lower part of the control panel as well, then a matte or satin finish clear blue grey paint was applied to the top of it. I believe the chrome plating showing through the blue grey paint is what gives the finish its metallic sheen, and no; I'm not talking about those places where the paint has come off and the chrome is clearly visible. Since I'll be having paint mixed for the Harvest Gold cabinets in a few weeks, I think I'll see about matching that shade of translucent blue as well.

 

[beekeyknee]

David,

I have the same problem with my 806 dryer control panel. Luckily I have a detached washer control panel just like you show in the post above that the paint is perfect on. I'm going to carry the washer control panel into the automotive paint shop and have them try and color match the paint on the washer panel for painting the dryer. It probably won't be a perfect match and I'll have to do them both.

I'm not really looking forward to this project. I'm sure I'll have every single piece of those machines torn apart and the painting will require intensive masking and prep work.

B.[this post was last edited: 3/30/2014-19:13]

 

[d-jones]

Brian

When I was fixing up the HA806 for my folks I took the top panel in to the Sherwin Williams Automotive Paint Store to have the paint matched. They did such a good job that the new paint actually matched the top panel better than the original paint did, so I'm hoping they'll be able to work the same magic for me again with this blue grey control panel paint. But this will be a bit more tricky. Since the paint is translucent, if it's applied too thick the color will appear darker than it should. If applied too thin the color will appear lighter than it should, so there are more opportunities to screw things up even if the paint is matched perfectly. I'm really anxious to see how this turns out.

 

[beekeyknee]

Yes, I know what you mean. I've been studying the paint closely and it's a strange color and finish. Somewhere around flat and eggshell with a bit of a metallic look to it. Kind of blue/greyish.

 

[d-jones]

Exactly!

And as I mentioned above, I think that metallic sheen is due to the chrome plating being visible through the translucent paint. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it can be accurately copied, but I'm sure not going to hold my breath. But as you mentioned, if I can get close then the obvious way to get them to match would be to do them both.

 

[beekeyknee]

David,

If you're interested you could try some Retrobright on your old yellow buttons. I have some on a machine I have. I think I'll try the Retrobright, get a fine tipped artist brush, some burnt umbra (or the closest color I can find), one of those desk top magnifiers with the swing arm and florescent light in it and try and restore some of those old worn out buttons. It will take a steady hand and lots of patience, but I want to try sometime.

B.

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

 

[combo52]

Repainting 06 and even earlier MT W&D Control Panels

These are fairly easy to do with even off the shelf spray paints as long as you paint both the washer and dryer in pairs. I repainted the silver on my CDE750 dryer and on my CA900 washer and it looks great and I have also repainted the later blue and later gold lower panels on 06 MTs with no problem, I wish it was as easy to repaint the colored cabinets.

The chrome does not show through the blue paint on TOL models, if you look at MTs cheaper models with the lower panels that were painted blue the color looks exactly the same, the metallic silver, blue and gold MT used was very opaque.

 

[d-jones]

John

After reading your post I went over to my folks place where that control panel with the flaking paint is and I managed to lift a small section of paint off. I'll be darned if it isn't opaque just as you said. That will certainly make things easier. Thanks for butting in.

 

[beekeyknee]

Thanks for the painting tips, John. Do you remember what off the shelf brand of Maytag blue you used?