Maytag Porta-Washer on eBay

[westytoploader]

Coppertone color, in excellent condition. Includes owner's manual, rubber clothes guard for spinner, and faucet attachment hose for filling the tubs. Works great and appears to be well taken care of! Much better condition than the one I owned; lid is attached this time. I'd buy it if it wasn't local pickup only. Wisconsin; $40.

Many Maytag Porta-Washers leak, regardless of the condition, so I'd question the seller before bidding.

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[geoffdelp]

I won this auction ...

Hi Everyone ... thought you would want to know that I won this little machine! I drove down to Wisconsin today to pick it up. It was a long trip ... took about 7 hours total. Beautiful drive, however ... we've had really no snow to speak of, which is very unusual for this time of year in Minnesota. Besides, it gave me a chance to try out my new car!!

The machine is in fairly good condition. I didn't ask him to run it, as it was in the garage and our weather has been pretty cold. It is inside now and warming up. Tomorrow, I will start it and see what it is all about. I always worry that people overload their appliances.

I was surprised that the Owner's manual, fill hose, rubber gasket for placing over the clothes in the spin basket, and the clip for connecting the drain and fill hose together were all there!! The manual indicates that it was printed in 1979, so I'm guessing this machine was made around the same time.

The paint is OK, some yellowing on the top, sort of dirty ... but will probably clean up OK. I took the back panel off and noticed there is some belt "dust" on the bottom. I think it needs a new belt; I'm going to try our electric motor service company in town ... they usually have, or can get, odd-sized belts.

I bought one of these machines brand new in the late 1970's when I had my first apartment - it was my first credit purchase! Loved it. It was white. I washed everything in site!! If memory serves me right, I have to make sure that this little unit is on level flooring before I turn on the spinner, otherwise it will "walk" all over the floor. Also, you have to "mix" your loads; that is, if you wash sheets, wash one at a time with a pillowcase, a towel, shirts, etc., to keep it all from rolling into a ball in the wash tub.

Wish me luck ... I'll post pictures when I have them.

 

[westytoploader]

Hi Geoff,

That's excellent news; I hoped that someone would bid on this machine! The yellowing is pretty much the norm for a machine that age; I had an Avocado Maytag Porta-Washer up until this summer and the top was yellowed as well. Now the important thing is to clean under the top as well after cleaning the tubs and the exterior. Open both lids. Remove all visible side screws on the cover, then take off the chrome Maytag strip and remove the screws under there. The top should come off easily, and you can slide the drain hose through. There's usually a lot of grime build-up under there... Another thing is to tighten the cover screws gently, and use an appropriate-sized Philips head to avoid stripping, which I had a problem with.

The Achille's heel of this machine, from my experiences is the diverter valve, controlled by the wash drain/spin drain knob on the front. It controls which tub is being pumped out during spin, and don't be surprised if it leaks. Unfortunately it is a bit complicated to remove/reinstall and requires a lot of patience; it took me about an hour to change the diverter valves out. This machine isn't the easiest to work on; as "working space" is VERY limited inside the cabinet. I have a replacement valve that I used on my machine before the pump failed in case you need one. Let me know what happens.

The wash motor was whisper-quiet, in fact so quiet that all you could hear is the water rushing around the tub when washing. Very peaceful sound...I miss it. The spinner and pump, at full speed, were louder and sounded like a swimming pool pump when it was running. Later I found out that the spin tub turns at 2000 RPM. I did jump when I disengaged the spin latch for the first time, as the 1-second brake made a slamming noise as it engaged! This is what probably caused the belt wear; the brake was a metal bar that the belt ran through, and was pulled back by a cable controlled from the latch. Held back, the belt moved freely, but when the latch was released, the bar moved forward, grabbing the belt, and the resulting inertia brought the tub to a halt VERY quickly. Needless to say I took it off, and even then the spinner didn't take too terribly long to stop.

Fun machine; be sure to take lots of pictures!

--Austin

 

[geoffdelp]

Hi Austin ...

Thanks for the info!! I will start "putzing" with it in just a little bit. The guy I bought it from assured me it didn't leak ... but, you never know. I'm going to use "Glass Wax" right off the bat to clean it up. Have you ever tried that? I can't find Jubilee appliance wax here anymore. Used to get it all of the time. Glass Wax works great, too.

I've always wanted to take one of these apart. My first one was used as a trade on a Maytag set when I got my home; I didn't think anything about it!! Stupid, huh?

The guy I bought this from said he got it at a garage sale from an elderly couple and their name is on the front of the Owner's manual. Nice touch. His daughter used it a few times in an apartment she had ... not sure how well she took care of it. I think they decided to get rid of it because of the impeller belt; I'm sure Maytag doesn't stock it anymore. I'll check it out this week.

Yes, I'll keep you updated ... I'll let you know how it runs after I play with it this morning!!

Geoff

 

[gansky1]

A couple of years ago, I was able to still get the impeller belt from Maycor - factory part. The belt is a neoprene belt, but long, same material as the 'Tag dishwasher belts were. Check Ebay for parts too - I've seen a few on there as well.

Congrats Geoff -have fun!

 

[geoffdelp]

Little Maytag Needs Help!

Hi Everyone ... I tried this little baby out.

The impeller belt is pretty much shot. I already have it off. I tried washing my flannel sheets, queen-sized, one at a time and it kept stopping the impellers. The spin, however, is fantastic!! Wow ... it really dries the clothes. I was impressed. I forgot how nice this spun clothes.

Of 14 (I think) screws on the back holding the panel in place, there are only 5. Needless to say, there was a lot of rattling. That's easily solved.

I'm not the most tolerant of other people's gunk, so I disinfected the machine well with hot water and bleach. You should have seen the gunk come out of the hose! Gross.

I think there will be very little I need to do to get this baby back in shape. I'm going to work on her through the next week, so I can do a wash next Saturday!!

You know what's great? Is the fill hose! That's a nice little hose. It also reaches to my wringer washers ... that's kind of cool.

I had to break out my Maytag N to finish this project, but I put the rinsed clothes in the spinner ... could not believe the water that came out!! I thought I was pretty efficient with the wringer ... guess what?

Greg ... thanks for info. I have a contact at the local Maytag shop and I've seen their parts lists for these little machines. Hopefully, I can order a new belt ... I think that's all it needs. I'll see about the hoses, too.

If I have time today after getting Christmas up I'm going to try to take it mostly apart and start cleaning it.

Wish me luck!!

Geoff

 

[westytoploader]

Hi Geoff,

I have a clear neoprene impeller belt in great shape from my TT 'Tag if you want it. It looks like it didn't get much use, and it gave the impellers much power. Email me. I'm also going to check if I still have the back cover screws. I have a bunch of parts leftover from my machine if you need anything.

Disinfection is PRIMARY; I have always washed my machines out with hot water, a cup of Tide or Gain, and bleach before starting any kind of load.

Good luck, and let us know if you need any help!

--Austin

 

[geoffdelp]

Hey Austin ... thanks! I'll let you know what I find out from the local dealer.

I appreciate all of the input!! I'm pooped from getting the Christmas tree up and I still need to make my bed, so no taking apart the little machine tonight.

 

[geoffdelp]

Belt

Hi Everyone ... I zipped into the Maytag dealer on my lunch today and think I hit "pay dirt". A lot of parts are still available, however, in limited supply. The impeller belt is still available, but the pump belt is not. The screws on the back of the machine are available, if I want. Also, I was able to order a new drain hose. That's good.

The best was that he is allowing me to copy the parts manual AND he had a service manual that I can copy too. I've got to get the originals back to him tomorrow. Piece of cake. Nice guys. They knew a lot about these little machines. They told me they sold a fair amount ... also repaired a few.

They also told me that belts normally stay available for quite a while. That's good!!

Should have belt by end of week ... I'll let you know.

Geoff