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geoffdelp

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Sep 17, 2004
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Hi Everyone ...

Minnesota was "baking" this past Memorial Day weekend (like a lot of other parts of the United States). We hit record highs in Central Minnesota, topping out at 98 degrees on Sunday. Even though the humidty was about 45%, the air just "hung". I was able to work outside only until noon each day. To think just a week or so ago, we had frost advisories and I actually had to move all of my plants into the garage to keep them from getting frost-bit!!

To keep busy, I decided to do some restoration on my Maytag Model J that has been sitting in my garage, broken apart, for over 3 years! I brought everything into my laundry room and re-assembled it. This dear old machine was made in September 1968 and my cousin's in-laws bought it in the 1970's some time for use on their farm in Dassel, Minnesota. This replaced a 1950's Coronado wringer from Gambles. After my cousin's mother-in-law (Myrtle) passed away, my cousin told me that I could have it. Well ... by the time I got it, it had been sitting in a dark cellar on a concrete slab for almost 4 years and was "seized" ... all frozen. There was still some water left in it!!

I "think" this machine may have been dropped or fell backwards at some point ... the frame doesn't seem square and there is a dent on the wringer post near the bottom.

I took the wringer from another machine I parted out and put newer rollers on it. I had bought an entirely new power unit from a dealer years ago and put it on this machine. And, I had a motor that was cleaned up and rewired for 3-prong. So ... the transmission is new, the wringer is "new" and the motor has been replaced.

Sort of fun ... on the bottom of the porcelain tub, you can see the fingerprints of the person from Maytag who painted or powder-coated the tub!

I've cleaned up the rust as best as I could for now. I want to try POR-15 on it and will wait until I do my 101P to learn how.

I've also met one my little goals; I now own all 3 makes of wringers that Maytag made since World War II ... except for the NX. After the war, Maytag made these 3 models (with slight variations) until November 1983.

Sorry for the shot of my mechanicals with the 3 models. I just don't have a large room!! :-)

Without further ado ...

 
Veg ... no question is stupid.

Yes ... the square vs. round on these Maytag's gave you more washing capacity. The square tubs held 18 gallons of water, the round held 15. The corners on the square tub are rounded and allowed clothing to move through the entire tub for greater washing capacity.

The washing action was the same ... gyrafoam ... in all models, the clothes tumble toward the center and around. If these machine were not overloaded, you can see the gyrafoam method quite well. Same as with their automatics.

Maytag never rated their loads (including automatics) on pounds; it was dependent upon proper loading. The operator was the judge.

Maytag created the modern agitator in the 1920's; they held the copyright on it.

See ... that wasn't a stupid question ... I bet a lot of people didn't know that. :-)

Geoff
 
Labor

Wow, Geoff!
This is like the gay man's experience of being in the delivery room! I'd hate to deliver that thing breech! Your work is amazing and your patience with all our questions is to be applauded. My grandma had a friend who watched her remove the agitator and the blue disk screen over the drain hole, while she was cleaning the inside of the washer. The neighbor looked at her in desbelief. She said she had no idea that filter came out. Her Maytag commander wouldn't drain through the hose, so she tipped it over at the end of the wash day and let it lay on it's side to get the water out. Needless to say, the cleaning was the cure and she was able to use the hose again.
I am amazed that people would buy the machine without the pump. It is a drag to drain if you can't let it drain out the door on a garden hose.
Kelly
 
Thanks Gary and Kelly ... I've had a lot of fun with these machines.

Kelly ... I don't mind helping people learn about these machines. Sharing information is how I have been learning. There's still TONS I don't know how to do; you have to be careful about what you pull apart now as the parts and expertise are slowly fading away. It's a shame ...

Many people, believe or not, did not have the proper plumbing for a pump model. Myrtle was one of them. Their home was built in the 1930's/1940's and she had a floor drain and access to hot/cold water ... that was it. She had stationary tubs that drained into the floor drain, as did the washing machine. I, too, have a floor drain in my laundry room but water still runs all over the VCT and I hate cleaning it up (laziness I would guess). I have a floor drain outside my laundry room door that leads out to the back yard. It works well and yesterday, I just wanted to show everyone the bucket routine! I will, in the future, use the drain out the door. It's very effective and quick.

Geoff
 
Wonderful machines all! Isn't the NX the one with the blue spotted porcelain tub?

I know what you mean about the pump. I don't know why anyone would not have sprung for this $5 (I believe) option. I was always amazed at how many non-pump models I would see. I also thought it was odd they did not make the pump standard on the top line model.

The J has always been my favorite. I like the wide open square tub and completely removable lid.
 
Geoff,

Your machines are so beautiful. Pretty kids all in a row. I know you have been waiting to get your J done for quite some time, and now it looks like your patience has paid off! I really like your interactive pictures, as before seeing your photos, I'd never seen a wringer in action! Now to find the super cool NX... love that blue speckled porcelain tub!

A trip sometime to Foley and Robert's is due later this summer. Thanks again for sharing!

Ben
 
Scott ... the J has been one of my favorites too. You're right, taking the lid off entirely is very easy on loading. The clothes "slosh" like they do in the N, but a little less splash out. I think there is a 4 gallon difference from the water line to the very top of the tub; in the N, there's a 2 gallon difference (I'll check that for sure). So there's more room for the "sloshing" action!

The NX was the blue speckled model. Used as a "bait and switch" in dealerships to get homemakers to "trade up" to the E,J,N ... they (NX) weren't very pretty; looked like a canner to me! They were missing all sorts of features ... lid hanger, no pump ever, two balloon rollers (left a lot of water in the clothes), short agitator, one locking caster, the dull gray color ... a whole "laundry list" of items to help the dealer convince the homemaker to get a better model. I've worked on a couple and let them go. I decided that the three that I have are (for right now, anyway!) the coup de grace of my Maytag wringers. I'm going to put the 1963 Model N2LP safely in the garage and cover it up until I can break it down and replace gaskets that it so needs. I'm not going to get rid of it; it is too new looking.

Ben ... I have been waiting to get this machine going; I like the history behind it and I like having the 3 models somewhat completed. I don't think you finish totally; there's always something! Right now, they all 3 need multiple coats of wax on them to really protect them.

I'm afraid I've spoiled myself by having 3 (E, N2LP, N2LS) brand new Maytag wringers. The J is really loud right now and I have to determine if it is the new gears in the transmission or what.

Geoff
 
Geoff, That water action with no laundry in the tub is probably all the dealer needed to show any somewhat reluctant customer to secure the sale. It's amazing. You mentioned a short Gyrator on the NX. How short? Was it like the glass one in Robert's demo machine? Are there any new rollers for the wringers available anymore?

Thanks for the show. I like my model J a lot. It needs a new drive wheel on the pump, but sounds so smooth when running. The first time I did laundry in it, I called my mom and asked, "Do you recognise this sound?" Then I held the receiver next to the machine. She knew what it was. Sometime either just before WWII or just after, the older of the 9 children in her family went in together and bought a Master for their mother. My mom bought one to use in the basement laundry room in their Chicago apartment before 1950. She never went down there alone so my father always helped with the laundry. After doing the wash, they rolled the Master back into their storage space and locked it in. She did not like the coin-operated wringer washers that the management provided. When we moved to a house in 51, they bought the Kenmore automatic with the waterfall front and sold her next younger sister the Master which she used until 57 when she bought the Highlander pair. It's interesting how immigrant and first generation families learned what brands were the best and that is what they worked toward owning. After my grandfather retired, they moved from Hibbing to a tiny, white two bedroom house in Milwaukee where a few of the children lived. The Master took up residence in the basement with set tubs, water heater and furnace. They left behind the wood stoves in the kitchen and parlor, the hand pump out back and the privy. In the new house, my grandmother had a nice, if not very deluxe Kelvinator electric range. Talk about a radical change at around 70 years of age, to go from a wood stove in the cold months and a kerosene stove on the back porch in the summer to an electric stove and to have a water heater and central heat. Amazing.
 
Tom ... that's a great story of your grandparents!! I wonder what your grandmother thought about all of that? She must have felt like the richest person in the world. God bless her!! :-) All the things we take for granted ... good heating, plenty of water (and to have it hot at that), not having to bring in wood for cooking or buying kerosene ... I'd say we've done really well for ourselves in America!

Yes, the NX agitator was just like Robert's one; except it was black and made of bakelite. They are now pretty rare; I've seen a few NX's on eBay and two of them had the "short post" agitators in them. I think one of members has one but I can't remember who! I also believe that Robert's agitator might have been made during WWII; Maytag tried to make a wooden washing machine (round, like an N) and then used a glass agitator and the only metal was the transmission, motor, and wringer (I think). The government told them "no"; it would use too much material that they needed to fight the war so that model was never put into production.

You should try to order your rollers soon. I heard you can't buy the ones for the N's anymore; they have stopped stocking them. I've got to check that out for sure.

I love it that your Mom recognized the sound of the Maytag over the phone!! I think there's something soothing about the steadiness of those machines.

Geoff
 
Greg ... thanks!

I worked on getting these 3 models; I never thought I'd have all 3 of them!! The J is a lot of fun because of it's background. It was in use with someone I knew from my teenage years and I would see it in their cellar and think, "I'd like to have something like that some day." :-)

To find 3 brand new Maytag wringers was quite the deal for me. I never thought that would happen. When I worked on these for restoration to sell, I would think I would run into one locally, but I never did. One came from the west coast (the E) and the two N's came from the east coast. The 1983 E2LPS was actually STILL on the dealer's showroom floor!!! I couldn't believe it.

Geoff
 
Interesting stories all'round.

I recall back in the 80s, Maytag wringer washers were prized by ecology-minded folks, presumably for the ability to do two or more loads through the same batch of hot water & suds. Though, only one household I ever saw managed to get one; it was sitting in the back yard at the time I saw it, because they were doing some interior remodeling. It was indeed square, which I thought odd at the time. Also it seemed that the washtub was not as deep as I expected (nowadays this makes sense: that would improve the agitation action). I never got to see it in operation.

I'm with Geoffdelp re. not taking our blessings for granted. When I was a kid I used to imagine how I'd explain all of our technology to someone from 1776. Not a single day goes by when I'm not thankful for indoor water & hot water & sewer systems, electricity & gas, and all the rest of it. I fully expect a lot of stuff to slide backwards bigtime as energy prices soar when oil production peaks out in a few years, and as climate change start becoming more severe. At that point we'll be in for a couple of rough decades until replacement energy sources come online, e.g. nuclear, wind, and solar. So if you value modern utilities and labor-savers, and there's any talk of a wind farm or nuclear plant being built in your area, take the time to show up at the public hearings to support it.
 
Great machines, Geoff! You've done a beautiful job with them. Is the "Master" model with a hinged lid considered the TOL? Was there really even a TOL/MOL/BOL stratification? The machines, outwardly at least, seem to have no obvious bells/whistles in certain models. Did all three machines come with the option of pump or no pump? Thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge of these beauties!
 
Geoff,
Beautiful! I wish I had your ambition when it comes to restoring these gems. One day I'll get mine up and running. Thanks for the inspiration and your preserving and sharing these great pieces of invention with us.
Bobby in Boston
 
Thank you all so much for the great compliments!! I wasn't too sure if anyone would be interested in these machines. I certainly enjoy my time spent with them!!

designgeek ... I am sure we will all have to watch how we use our energy resources. But, I think each generation has been doing that. In some of the early Maytag info I've read, they were very adament about how long you would run your washer with electricity as it could be in short supply. Nowadays, we don't even think about using electricity; I know I'm wasteful with it!! :-)

frigilux ... There really wasn't a separation of TOL/MOL/BOL with these machines; it was more "price" oriented. The Master was the most expensive because of the aluminum heat-holding tub, size/capacity, hinged lid, etc. but had the same "guts" (transmission, wringer, agitator, motor, pump, etc.) as the Commander. The Commander was middle of the line priced because it used a single porcelain tub but had all the same "guts" as the Master. The Chieftan was the lowest priced because of the capacity but it had all the same "guts" as the other two except for the wringer head; it is a little smaller.

All 3 were available with a pump ... in the 1950's (and I think part of the 1960's) the cost for the pump model was $10 more. I don't know what the cost was after that; that's a bit of trivia to find out about, however!! I do know that if you purchased a pump kit (complete to add on ... with everything) after these machines were discontinued, it cost $100 or more!

In the late 1940's/early 1950's when these machines were really "taking off" sales wise, Maytag tried to make the Master more TOL. Maytag added features like: a timer on the front of the machine that turned off the agitator (like other manufacturers) but left the machine on so you could wring; they had a device that stopped the rollers immediately if you pressed the red release bar. Things to make it stand out from the other two. They must not really have caught on that well.

Bobby ... I certainly hope you will get yours into working condition!! Once you get the hang of using it, it's really pretty fun (at least I think so anyway). My very first Maytag was an N that I bought because of the septic system in the home I was living in; it was very bad and would back up after a few loads of laundry. It took me a while to use the Maytag and I would have water EVERYWHERE. The shop I bought it from was critical that I even wanted to use one ... "in these days and times" ... it didn't stop me from buying it from them, however! It rattled like crazy and leaked oil; they had the wrong decals on it and the rollers were pretty gone. I didn't know better until I took it apart and had some extra money to fix it up. Eventually, I sold that little N for $300!! That was a while ago.

Geoff
 

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