ken-n-nancy
Active member
Hello,
This is our first posting to AW, although we've been reading for a while now. We don't see ourselves becoming washer collectors, but we would definitely like to keep our vintage washer & dryer operating for regular household use!
We have a 1992 Maytag Washer / Dryer pair that we bought new. The washer is an LAT9700AAL. It has worked great for us for over two decades, but lately has started leaking water. Opening up the front panel and looking around inside, it was immediately apparent what the problem is -- the outer tub has rusted through in the upper back right corner, leaking water out on larger loads. If there were just the one rusty spot, it wouldn't be so bad, but there are about three other spots that are rusting significantly, but just haven't broken through yet. Our outer tub definitely needs to be replaced. The rest of the washer, however, is working well.
Our first thought was just to buy a new washer. However, we've researched new ones quite a bit and decided that if one wants a reliable, dependable washer that gets clothes clean and from which one can expect more than a decade of trouble-free service, buying a new high-efficiency washer isn't the way to go. Furthermore, our "almond" washer and dryer are in our first floor bathroom, which is the one used by guests to our house, so the color of the washer and dryer is important as a part of the decor. Our washer/dryer (and bathroom) color scheme works well with an almond washer, but not so with a white one. We are planning to renovate much of that bathroom, but we were hoping to keep the almond appliances so as not have to replace the toilet and tile floor (which currently match well with the bisque washer but aren't as good with white.)
Having ruled out the possibility of getting a new washer, our first thought to repair our 1992 Maytag was to simply buy a new outer tub and install it. However, we haven't been able to find any supplier who has a new outer tub for our washer.
Our next thought was to buy a washer just like ours on craigslist and swap the tub in to our washer. However, even if we do find a replacement outer tub, the task doesn't seem like a cakewalk, as we don't currently have the needed tool to remove the inner tub. If we find an identical washer on craigslist, it might be easier to just use the "new" one, rather than swap the tub into ours.
Alas, we still haven't found an LAT9700AAL for sale, but have seen quite a few older A412 - A712 washers for sale. Most of these, though, seem to be white, rather than almond. However, we've also noticed that the cabinet seems to be very similar (identical?) between our washer and the older A412 - A712 washers. It occurred to us that if we find an A412 - A712 washer in good condition, but with a white cabinet, it might not be too difficult to swap out the white cabinet for our almond one.
Anybody know if it is likely that all the various screw holes, etc., line up for us to just pull the cabinet off of an A412 - A712 and swap in the cabinet from an LAT9700AAL?
Thanks!
Ken and Nancy
PS: As an interim solution to solving the immediate need for a working washing machine, this weekend we got a free 1997 Maytag washer (white) on Craigslist. It wasn't as clean as a new washer when we got it, but with some elbow grease it cleaned up real nice. Plus, it works and doesn't leak! So, at least this other washer is working for us as a temporary fix until we come up with a more permanent (almond-colored) solution!
This is our first posting to AW, although we've been reading for a while now. We don't see ourselves becoming washer collectors, but we would definitely like to keep our vintage washer & dryer operating for regular household use!
We have a 1992 Maytag Washer / Dryer pair that we bought new. The washer is an LAT9700AAL. It has worked great for us for over two decades, but lately has started leaking water. Opening up the front panel and looking around inside, it was immediately apparent what the problem is -- the outer tub has rusted through in the upper back right corner, leaking water out on larger loads. If there were just the one rusty spot, it wouldn't be so bad, but there are about three other spots that are rusting significantly, but just haven't broken through yet. Our outer tub definitely needs to be replaced. The rest of the washer, however, is working well.
Our first thought was just to buy a new washer. However, we've researched new ones quite a bit and decided that if one wants a reliable, dependable washer that gets clothes clean and from which one can expect more than a decade of trouble-free service, buying a new high-efficiency washer isn't the way to go. Furthermore, our "almond" washer and dryer are in our first floor bathroom, which is the one used by guests to our house, so the color of the washer and dryer is important as a part of the decor. Our washer/dryer (and bathroom) color scheme works well with an almond washer, but not so with a white one. We are planning to renovate much of that bathroom, but we were hoping to keep the almond appliances so as not have to replace the toilet and tile floor (which currently match well with the bisque washer but aren't as good with white.)
Having ruled out the possibility of getting a new washer, our first thought to repair our 1992 Maytag was to simply buy a new outer tub and install it. However, we haven't been able to find any supplier who has a new outer tub for our washer.
Our next thought was to buy a washer just like ours on craigslist and swap the tub in to our washer. However, even if we do find a replacement outer tub, the task doesn't seem like a cakewalk, as we don't currently have the needed tool to remove the inner tub. If we find an identical washer on craigslist, it might be easier to just use the "new" one, rather than swap the tub into ours.
Alas, we still haven't found an LAT9700AAL for sale, but have seen quite a few older A412 - A712 washers for sale. Most of these, though, seem to be white, rather than almond. However, we've also noticed that the cabinet seems to be very similar (identical?) between our washer and the older A412 - A712 washers. It occurred to us that if we find an A412 - A712 washer in good condition, but with a white cabinet, it might not be too difficult to swap out the white cabinet for our almond one.
Anybody know if it is likely that all the various screw holes, etc., line up for us to just pull the cabinet off of an A412 - A712 and swap in the cabinet from an LAT9700AAL?
Thanks!
Ken and Nancy
PS: As an interim solution to solving the immediate need for a working washing machine, this weekend we got a free 1997 Maytag washer (white) on Craigslist. It wasn't as clean as a new washer when we got it, but with some elbow grease it cleaned up real nice. Plus, it works and doesn't leak! So, at least this other washer is working for us as a temporary fix until we come up with a more permanent (almond-colored) solution!
