Maytag A806

[maytag85]

After 5 years of searching and inquiring, I finally have a Maytag A806! It needs some cleaning and tweaking along with fixing some chips in the porcelain top, but otherwise is complete.

Huge thanks and shoutout to waterwitch for giving me this machine.

 

[electronicontrl]

Congratulations!

Congrats on your find!!

 

[maytag85]

Reply #1

Thanks! I’ve been wanting an A806 for quite some time and waterwitch mentioned he didn’t need a machine anymore along with parting it out if no one wanted it, he sent me a picture and immediately knew it was an A806. Definitely am happy that I own a machine I’ve been wanting for at least the past 5 years.

Now all that’s left is to obtain a 808 control panel along with fluorescent ballast to convert my DE306 into a DE806 of sorts but customized with a auto dry timer along with low and regular temperature selections to allow for flexibility and options. Finding a 808 control panel is going to be somewhat difficult since I created a In Search Of thread along with a Wanted thread and haven’t gotten any responses or comments on those threads but I am sure there’s probably an 808 control panel lying around somewhere.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Maybe consider using a LED instead of that fluorescent bulb?

 

[maytag85]

Reply #3

I could, but it wouldn’t look quite right. LED lights are good for certain applications but in lighted control panels on vintage washers, fluorescent lights look best since they have a warm and unique glow to them and the only exception to that would be to use white LEDs in my Whirlpool’s since it would look like fluorescent lights compared to the incandescents they have and originally came with.

 

[maytag85]

This is what the DE306 will look like when I am all done with it or close to it. This was a screenshot I took while I was surfing through the archives awhile back, an 808 dryer outfitted with a 306/308 timer but will put the low and regular temperature selectors in place of where the 4 selectors on the 808 dryer are.

 

[maytag85]

This is what the DE306 cabinet and base look like at the moment along with the A806. Yes, it looks like a disorganized mess in my garage and is to a degree somewhat but have everything all laid out for the most part. Have painted the 306 cabinet and just put some of it together for the time being so I don’t loose or misplaced anything.

 

[bradfordwhite]

I like how easy it is (assuming the base screws aren't rusted) to remove the outer shell of this line of Maytags. Makes fixing, cleaning, and ....painting them easy.

 

[maytag85]

I can take apart and disassemble and entire Halo Of Heat dryer fester than I can a newer style of Maytag Stream Of Heat dryer or any other derivatives from other manufacturers since there’s more screws and you have to try to take the belt off of that idler pulley which can be a bit tricky since you can’t really see what you are doing. Yes, you have to move a Maytag Halo Of Heat dryer from the wall into an open area to remove the cabinet but once you do that, you have access to everything and don’t have to fiddle around with putting the belt onto the motor pulley and idler pulley on most dryers with a belt around the drum setup. Belts last a long time on a Maytag Halo Of Heat dryer since they are v-belts and won’t randomly snap on you like most dryers that use a serpentine belt around the drum.

 

[qsd-dan]

I love the HOH design but SOH is so much easier and quicker to disassemble. One could have an SOH completely disassembled in about the same time it would take to remove all of the screws from the back panel of an HOH without power tools.

 

[maytag85]

I mean I have worked on my HOH dryers more than I have more stream of heat dryers so that could be that I am used to working on HOH dryers compared to the Stream Of Heat dryers. Can’t wait until I have the customized HOH dryer up and running and see how it works with 2 temperature selections rather than the one a majority of HOH dryers made after 1966 have.

 

[potatochips]

I too hummed and hawed over converting the fluorescent bulb to LED. I had to look around a bit to find starters for it, and I eventually did. You can convert it to a more modern fluorescent bulb system with a built in ballast/starter. And while LEDs can be a colder light, you can buy warm colour tone LEDs with a lower K value. 

 

[maytag85]

Reply #11

I could put a LED light in the control panel but again, it wouldn’t look quite right since LEDs just don’t have that glow nor flicker fluorescent bulbs do when turning on. To quote drh4683: “Why alternate the originality if you don’t have to”.

 

[good-shepherd]

Why alternate the originality if you don’t have to”.

Right. And a new florescent bulb will likely last the remaining lifetime of the machine.

 

[thatwasherguy]

Congrats on finding a dream machine!!!!

That’s a beautiful 806 you got there! What year is it? Looks like it’s still in great shape too. I really like the idea of building a DE-806 with the more reliable auto-dry timer and the dual temperature selector. I can’t wrap my head around why they didn’t offer a timer model with the backlit controls from the factory. I’d take it any day over the complexity of the electronic control module.
Good luck with both,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #14

I think it’s either a 1977 or 1978 model, perhaps a 1976 model as well. Definitely newer than 1974 since that was the last year for the blue/sapphire trimmed center dials before they went to the gold in 1975, that lasted all the way until 1980. Reason why I am building and putting together a Maytag DE806 of sorts is I want to have a customized Maytag HOH dryer with the auto dry timer (putting a 306 timer I have on hand for the time being from my small parts stash) along with the dual thermostat setup since Maytag never made or offered a dual thermostat HOH after 1966 since their thinking was one temperature fits all and it did work to a degree but still want to have a low 120F and using a adjustable thermostat for the higher temperature since I can adjust the temperature from 135F all the way to 155F for fine-turning. May even convert it to 120 volts to see how it will do out of curiosity and yes it will dry slower since it’s running on half it’s rated voltage but since it’s a Maytag HOH, probably will dry a bit quicker compared another dryer running on half of it’s rated voltage since the heat is more even and uniform along with moving the air flow front to back.

 

[maytag85]

The most difficult thing about the DE306 project is finding an 808 control panel, I looked all over out of curiosity to see if there’s one somewhere on eBay or perhaps an 808 dryer on my local Craigslist or Markerplace I could take the control panel off of and can’t seem to find one anywhere. If anyone has an 808 control panel, let me know since that’s what I’ll need to complete the 306 project/restoration I am working on. It will take some patience and persistence finding the 808 control panel I need but want to locate one as soon as I can even if it takes a month or two, to find one.

 

[maytag85]

Does anyone happen to have a Maytag 808 dryer control panel laying around or not? Will need it for the project I am working on.

 

[maytag85]

While surfing through the archives, I found this. This is EXACTLY how I want my Maytag DE306 to look like so it’ll be a match my my A806 I recently acquired