Maytag panel swap for machine upgrades?

[lowefficiency]

Hello! I've read in several places that some of the older Maytag washers (and dryers?) can be upgraded to TOL or at least to a higher level by swapping the panel and control boards behind it.. And some with a bit more work beyond that (sensors, wiring, motor).

Are there any guides or general rules as to which models can be upgraded this way, and/or how far they can be upgraded? Is it different for the pre-80s center dial models and the post-80s models with the dial on the right?

I've passed over some sets for sale recently because they were BOL or lacking the features we were after... But I'm starting to think, that getting these units and upgrading them in place might be a better way to get what we want without waiting months/years for a needle to emerge from the haystack. . If I could just look for "anything with the large tubs" and go from there, I'd have a lot more options.

Thanks

 

[panthera]

Yes, but

There's a few things to pay attention to.
The most important:
1) Maytag used single-speed and two-speed motors. You'd need to change out the motor on a BOL to get all the advantages.
2) The bleach dispenser, obviously
I'll leave it to the experts as to how easily you can cross years.

 

[yogitunes]

it can be done for the most part, but you have to be a bit more specific...

I have traded a control panel from a center dial to the dial on the right, it was sort of the combination I wanted, the newer control panel, but the older transmission....

I have upgraded a few filterflos as well......

I think the main thing is starting with the base you want, we think alike for the biggest capacity, then switched out control panels for more features....

some things you have to consider, and have to move along to the new machine, like if your base is a single speed motor, but now the new control panel is a two speed, you may need to change the motor as well in cases like this...

I prefer to remove the control panel and all wiring that belongs to it, rather than try spicing everything back together.....

a lot of times, you can flip two machines, keep the one you upgraded, and sell the other.....you got what you wanted, nothing lost....

all in all, for the most part, it can be done....

 

[panthera]

Oh,right the transmission

Yes, definitely the older one-longer, slower stroke with the flip at the end.
As to Filter-Flos, they're easier - nobody ever shed a tear over that nasty two-speed clutch. Just throw in a one-speed and be done with it.

 

[db130]

I've had three Extra large capacity 80s vintage Maytags come my way this year:

1) A free 1987 A512 that needed only a siphon break that came with a gouged front panel

2) A 1980 A610 that with a transmission on its last legs but w/ a good cabinet and front panel - $20

3) A free 1989 A712 (with the newer style transmission) with a good motor but a rusty cabinet

It could be argued that I overpaid for the A610! Using the best parts out of the 3, I converted the 512 into a 712 and finished it off by installing the A610's front panel

With what was left over, I lifted the good cabinet+control panel from the A610 and dropped it over what used to be the A712.

I have seen a free A612 and a free A712 on Boston craigslist/freecycle w/in the past two weeks. Unfortunately, you can't save them all.

 

[rp2813]

Nice work Jeong!

 

This type of swapping out reminds me of old air cooled VWs, where much the same thing was possible across the model line, pretty much a mix and match of running gear to choose from out of nearly two decades of manufacturing.

 

[lordkenmore]

First, maybe this is a Murphy's Law type law...but it seems like when one buys something, something better often comes along shortly after. So maybe you can invoke this law by buying a lesser washer, and then just plan to immediately upgrade to the something better when it crosses your path 2 days later!

 

[lordkenmore]

More seriously...

I know people's needs with laundry equipment vary wildly. But...it might be worth considering what features are really necessary? Are the features one wants really that important?

I know I have a list of features I consider worth having. But the funny thing is that I get by just fine with simpler washers. They put a BOL WP in my laundry room last year, which replaced a well equipped WCI Frigidaire. I miss some features, such as variable water levels, as well as a separate temperature dial. But I get by just fine day to day.

Another thing that I found that may not apply to everyone is that small capacity washers can work fine day to day. The best washer I've used here--and one I really miss--was a small capacity Kenmore. It's nice having capacity for bigger things...but for day to day laundry, the KM was more than adequate. It helped, of course, that I live alone, but even if I were doing laundry for more than one person, I think the KM would have worked fine. Keep in mind--those smaller washers were a standard in an era when big families were common. It's strange, in fact, thinking that the bigger families of the 60s made due with a small washer, and the small families of today have a front load washer that could be used to wash an adult elephant if one were so inclined.

 

[lordkenmore]

And I know what I say is stunningly obvious to a degree in my post above (#7). But I find it easy, speaking for myself, to overlook the obvious--particularly when making a major purchase decision. I don't know how many times I've fretted over features that in the end I didn't really need!

 

[moparwash]

Here is the BOL 1978 DG106 that had the plastic console with the white knob upgraded with the light up console and sungold dial of the TOL.. I had to get the dial that had just the timed cycles, add a ballast, drill a new mounting hole for the BOL timer, and wire it in the 'old' timer. It was not hard and looks so much better. Since the new console had the 4 buttons for selecting dryness, I got the 2 button 'Low Temperature' and 'Regular Temperature' buttons and will hook them to the thermostat. My goal is to convert it to the DG408(?)where the dial has both Auto Dry and timed selections. Since that model senses exhaust temp, it shouldn't be too hard.(anyone got parts and a wiring diagram)?

 

[lowefficiency]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

You all hit the key questions. I don't think I can be more specific, because I don't actually have a unit in front of me to upgrade (yet), it was just a more general inquiry about what was possible.

Trading up to different machines, or swapping parts between two and flipping what's left are always options, but there is some appeal to being able to buy specific parts from members here or other places online, and not have to haul around a "parts washer" to get there. Particularly when you live somewhere where the full units don't come up for sale very often. (That is, like John mentioned, until right after you have bought something else!)

So I suppose cosmetics is one big driver (being able to make a matching set when you couldn't otherwise buy a matching set), and then the thought of upgrading your way to TOL without having to actually find a TOL locally. Just thinking out loud about the options.

Thanks again

 

[lowefficiency]

Jerry- that's a great example of what can be done. Nice work!

Martin- do you know if the opposite of your swap can be done? (Putting a center dial control panel on one of the newer dial-on-the-right machines?)

Ralph- Right on! Was it that obvious? If I end up working on another washer, I'll actually have to pull my old Beetle out of the garage for a while to make space for it.

 

[yogitunes]

I have done it a number of times......as mentioned, I swapped a center dial for a right-dial.....and then of course, put the other machine back together, and sold it....it actually paid for both machines.....so I was able to get the TOL machine I wanted, a bit of knowledge along the way, and broke even on the cost.....

I was also able to add a diluting bleach dispenser from a 906, a feature I really wanted with a maytag....the port on the pump was already there, just had to drill it out....

as with a Filter-Flo.....taking a non-mini-basket machine, and adding that feature....plus a few more options...would like to change one of mine to a SpotScrubber machine.....someday.....

but as mentioned by a few......I grew up with a basic machine, seemed to run forever with minimal repairs.....longing for TOL one day.....once I got one, oddly enough, every load was run on normal cycle, warm wash/ cold rinse, full loads at normal speed.....never touching the other cycles or features...just ironic

I always favored the larger capacity, I can always reduce the water level as needed, I can't make capacity bigger by the flip of a switch...

keep us posted as to what you create or come up with.....

 

[panthera]

I suppose the 'features'...

...aspect is one of the hardest to reconcile with reliability and need of all.

Next, of course, to colour. A Thumper in PANK!, even if 'only' Deluxe, beats a WCI "Frigidaire" with all the bells and whistles any and all days.

 

Here's a list of the Maytag features which we have found to be genuinely worth upgrading to:

Low speed wash/high speed spin (This is the setting I use when I wash a small load in little water).

Hot wash/Warm Rinse (Not often, but sure helps in the dead of winter)

Automatic Soak followed by wash (The reason I restored a 702).

 

One I'd love to have and for which I'd be willing to rebuild and swap parts:

Automatic Soak/Wash/Second Rinse

 

I've never needed automatic bleach or fabric softener dispensing or permanent press cycles, but I can understand why they'd be useful to some people.

 

As to the 'Fabrimatic', Maytag's version of intermittent agitation is adequate.

 

Unnecessary but would be fun: Console lamp, that little red light behind the top of the centre dial on upper Maytags.

 

We have a deep-dish Maytag which has set, unused for nearly five years now. I don't see the value to the enormous capacity machines they built at the end - they're not good at comforters, the only reason for which I'd need such tub size. Our wash loads are separated by eleven parameters, so even a small tub would suit us fine.

 

[db130]

+1 for these fuctions

Hot wash/Warm Rinse (Not often, but sure helps in the dead of winter)
Automatic Soak

These are the reason I converted my A512 into an A712 and also why i chose an A610 panel instead of re-using the A512 panel on a 2nd machine.