Maytag Performa Dependable Care

[Chetlaham]

From another thread (much thanks to Launderess!) I never knew these existed, but I want to know- how did the performa name get on a Maytag Dependable care? Was it part of some marketing pitch or bait and switch?   

 

 

I really like seeing this. In a perfect world Maytag would have put their names Neptune, Performa, Amana, Magic Chef, Caloric, Jenn-Air, Atlantis, Crossly, Hoover, ect on their Dependable Care line and would not have bothered with other mechanical designs. This might have saved Maytag and given them an increase in sales. 

 

 

I liked the Atlantis and Neptune concepts, it would have been so nice seeing them on a Dependable Care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[launderess]

It pays to wander about the archives...

It's all in AW archives, though often bit long reading.

IIRC "Performa" was name originally given by Maytag to Magic Chef/Norge washers that they began offering after buying said company.

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?10502

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?40675_10

 

[launderess]

It seems with or without "Performa" name Dependable Care washers lasted until WP got their mitts on Maytag.

IIRC "Performa" was used by Maytag to distinguish between Dependable Care washers and those with Norge under the bonnet.

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?9764

Why did Maytag eliminate the Dependable Care Line?

I believe these were amongst the best laundry appliances ever designed. Their elegance was in their simplicity. They were ultra durable, inexpensive and easy to work on. They were the machines that made the Maytag repairman "Old Lonely". They were almost universally respected as the "bullet...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[goatfarmer]

Always liked Performa's

 

[panasonicvac]

My grandfather has the electric dryer at his house, I like it. Would've been cool if he had the matching washer but his older one from the 80's was still working just fine until 2011. But even if he did had the matching washer, I would've still liked his old Neptune more from his cabin since I prefer using front loaders. I'm really sad that set is gone now, hopefully his new Speed Queen will work just as well if not better than the old one.

Regarding other brands, I highly doubt branding a Performa set on their other brands including Hoover would've saved Maytag. I know one of Maytag's mistakes was buying Hoover, they didn't needed to.

 

[Chetlaham]

Launderess, thank you for those links! As always they are a treasure chest of information and rich detail. I'm going to have some great reading days ahead.

 

 

Personally I think that Maytag should never have built a single Norge, Herein, or Performa platform. Just stick those names on the Maytag Dependable care line. Do a slant front lid, various stainless steal and porcelain tubs, BOL and TOL, various control panel styles, dual action agis, ect but never ruin your reputation with cheap, leaky products.

 

With a spray rinse system like shown below (the 1:30 second warm spray rinses are for you Sean!), Maytag could have kept the Dependable Care line into production until the late 2010s.

 

Of note, the actual fill duration isn't 6 minutes, the fascia marks are about 2 minutes in, making the fill period about 4 minutes before the start of agitation. The long periods are to take slight decal errors into account and to make sure all the correct contacts are fully advanced forward into a closed state. All cycles have ~1 minute lead in buffer and ~ 1 minute lead out buffer assuring timer contact 02 is always the first to close and the last to drop open. A 1 minute soak period between agitate and spin assures timer contact 12 is fully dropped open before contact 14 is allowed to rise into close. OFF increments are 2 minutes long in the 120 minute timer and 7 minutes long in the 135 minute timer.

  

 

 

 

[this post was last edited: 3/16/2025-15:43]

 

[launderess]

" I think that Maytag should never have built a single Norge, Herein, or Performa platform."

IIRC Maytag was facing a few issues with DP line up of washing machines.

One was capacity, something CR and others dinged Maytag about since WP, Norge and other washers offered at time machines with greater capacity.

A Norge built washer could handle a full 18lb load and move it about rather easily with good rollover. Their design had less issues with unbalanced loads, something that plagued Maytag washers for years.





Next was fact Maytag's laundry appliances were expensive to build and that reflected in cost. They needed one or two lower tier price points to remain competitive against other manufacturers. Rather than cheapen their main bread and butter (Dependable Care or whatever line), Maytag looked about for an acquisition that would scratch that itch.

Yes, Maytag did offer washers at different price points with more or less features, but they still had same labor and other costs regardless. Under the bonnet largely everything would still be same so there you are.

Things got better (or worse depending upon point of view) when Sears/Kenmore patents expired on "load sensing", cork screw or whatever you want to call it agitator. Maytag and it seems everyone else were quick to jump on that design. In came Maytag's Atlantis line of washers...

 

[Chetlaham]

Launderess, I agree with what you're saying. However, the way I see it Maytag was better off not competing with Whirlpool and GE. Maytag had established a small yet loyal fan-base. The limitations of the DC lineup pale into comparison with the reputation Maytag received after their top load washers began leaking, burning up pulleys and just being cheesy all around. The failures of the fake Maytag investment piled on debt and drove away potential customers. 

 

I think if Maytag had stuck with their DC lineup, they would have won more customers over as traditional top-loaders began to decline in reliability.    

 

[launderess]

"However, the way I see it Maytag was better off not competing with Whirlpool and GE."

Again what other choice was there?

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-02-fi-43219-story.html

https://archive.ph/YTcVM

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1997/0310/5905064a.html

http://205.209.45.153/iabar/CLEINDE...f6d88625725d006a664e/$FILE/Roger Scholten.pdf

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE!

Speaking of GE, they copied maytag and whirlpool and have stated that their agitation is about 154 strokes to compete with them.

 

[maytag85]

Honestly, I can’t really complain about the capacity on the older Maytags like my Maytag 806 and the DC machines which had the same size of tub, just a larger opening on the DC machines.

While Maytag may be on the smaller side to some, more than makes up for it in terms of reliability.

 

[Chetlaham]

Those are great links Launderess! Thank you again!

 

 

 

I still say those troubles were set in motion in the mid 80s to early 90s when Maytag decided to release designs beyond the DC and Jet-clean. Whether Maytag could've survived until 2025 on just the DC and their own Tall Tubs is up for debate. I still feel like they could have gone another 10 years just with a much smaller market footprint. 

 

 

Ultimately it boils down to consumer ignorance. Consumers at the time didn't think 'oh, this DC will last me 30 years based on its past history and all metal design', rather, they lunged at larger capacities and sleek looking designs which Whirlpool and fake Maytags offered.   

 

 

Truly a tragedy. How I wish DC sales spiked to the point Maytag would be building new factories with modern tooling. If everyone were like me Maytag DCs would have been so popular they would have overtaken the Kenmore lineup in an even split with two belt Raytheons. 

 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

chetlaham

I remember using a Maytag performa once. It did have a slanted angled top. The last Maytag I used was a direct drive model at my dorm. I remember seeing an Atlantis that had both a whites speed and a colors speed.
What was the difference between the 2 speeds?

 

[thatwasherguy]

The last washer I flipped was an Atlantis...

And it had the whites and colors speed selections as well. The difference was that whites had high speed agitation, while colors agitated at what was labeled as medium speed, despite the machine only having a two speed motor. This ‘medium’ speed was achieved by cycling the motor between high and low speed periodically, around 3-4 times depending on the cycle. I’m 99.5% sure there’s something in the timer that allows for this, as it always changed speeds at the exact same positions on the dial. Both selections used high speed spin.
Hope this helps,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

atlantis

So, that's interesting to know that whites speed was basically the heavy duty fabrics similar to Kenmore 80 series.