106 Dryer.
Maytag Dryer model nomenclature as follows:
1st character is a color code.
L = Almond
K = Avocado Green
H = Harvest Gold
Blank = White
2nd Character (1st on white machines): Appliance Type
A = Automatic Clothes Washer
D = Clothes Dryer
3rd Character (2nd on white machines): Heat Source:
E = Electric
G = Gas
4th Character: Position in the model lineup
This is a number that indicates what features might be found on the machine.
1 is BOL (Bottom of the Line)
2 adds features, but there is no 2 series dryer.
3 larger capacity washer, a few more features on the dryer.
4 more features.
5 There is no 5 prior to 1981.
6 Nicely equipped washer and dryer with moisture sensing.
7 There is no 7 prior to 1981.
8 The famed 806 washer & 806 / 808 dryers. Fully featured with lights.
9 All push-button operation, no knobs, and all the lights of the 8s.
5th Character: 0. I have no idea why this is a zero, but it is, prior to 1981.
6th Character: I call this the phase or era identifier.
6 = Early incarnation of the 1966-1980 era. The 06 machines were in production for a long time and nearly always have a blue lower portion of the control panel. They underwent some changes which added features, like permanent press.
7 = An intermediate step from the 1970s, circa 1975 - 1977 I think. The lower control panels are gold. I don't know if there are any 07 dryers.
8 = A late center-dial machine. More washers have bleach dispensers. Dryers are the large-capacity stream of heat design, as opposed to the older Halo of Heat design.
9 = Late dryers. I don't know of any 09 washers, but I do know there were 309 & 409 dryers.
EXCEPTIONS:
The 806 washers were always 806. There were no 807 or 808 washers.
106 dryers. There were 106 dryers available in the Halo of Heat design (small square door, lint filter in rear of drum) and 106 dryers in the Stream of Heat design (larger rectangular door, lint filter at the 7 O'Clock position around the door opening. The later Stream of Heat dryers were sold to match late 106 washers which were produced with the blue portion of the control panel through 1980.
It is possible to have a BOL washer, like an A106 and pair it with a higher end dryer without lighted controls hand have it match, like a 606 dryer. Maytag allowed models to aesthetically match throughout most of their offerings, until you got up into lighted control territory. This way the sales team could upsell one appliance and not the other.
Clear as mud?
Dave
PS: If you're getting an '06 Halo of Heat dryer, the gas versions have a standing pilot light and can be a bit more tricky and less-forgiving than the electric versions.
PPS: An A106 washer is white. A matching dryer would start with DE for electric, or DG for gas. If there is a letter before that, like an HDE, that would indicate a color other than white, in the case of an H, it would be Harvest Gold.
