Nice machine!
Beautiful machine, Laura! I would love to find one of that model. I have had many of the wonderful reverse racks, but none of that early vintage.
In October, 1968 Consumer Reports tested that model, and it received a "Check-Rating" which is their indicator for an appliance that is exceptional in overall quality/performance. This Maytag also has special comment from CU stating that it was more effective at washing glassware than any of the other tested machines.
Their one caveat was that the user could get a unintentional shower if, while the machine was running, if they opened the lid too quickly.
Your machine is a different kind of animal, in many ways, that the reverse racks of a few years later.
Using their knowledge of physics, Maytag engineers redesigned the wash arm and changed the pump mechanism.
The new wash arm consisted of very small diameter (almost pinpoint) holes. The venturi effect causes an increase of water velocity, giving a jet effect, as the name Maytag "Jet-Clean" implies.
You may notice this in an adjustable shower head, where a vey fine spray gives you a stinging effect on the skin. The same reason many sink sprayers use fine holes, to give a needle spray, for a scouring effect.
These fine jets of water have a higher velocity and smaller diameter, so they can wash in small crevices and closely spaced dishware.
Maytag, spaced these pinpoint holes very closely, to affect an increase in water mass, per area unit. You are getting close to the same mass of water (in a given area, say a square inch) as if you had a larger hole, but you are getting a higher velocity of spray with the ability to dislodge food, through a scouring effect, at the same time. A clever arrangement.
The downside is it takes a much more efficient filtration system, so the holes don't clog. Therefore Maytag came up with the continuously self-cleaning (through backwashing) "micromesh" filter.
The reverse rack system was a best seller for Maytag for approximately two decades. However, in the nineties, consumers were wanting lower prices over quality. Many people were just not willing to pay for premium machines such as the Maytag with the heavy steel frame, the steel tub, and the porcelain interiors.
They just wanted a dishwasher. Most didn't care if it had a porcelain tub or a plastic tub. It's expensive to use heavy gauged steel, coat it with porcelain, and then fire-it in an oven...time consuming as well. And time is money on the assembly line.
So Maytag, in the early nineties, downgraded their dishwashers, giving them a plastic tub and conventional racks.
Maytag advertised their reverse rack as holding more dishware than any other dishwasher, and Consume Reports agreed. But the one thing the reverse rack couldn't do was hold very tall stock pots, or large cookie sheets, etc. So by conventionalizing their racks, they lost capacity but gained ability to hold extra large items. Consumers were now beginning to experimenting with gourmet cooking with the likes of the pre-Gordan Ramsey, Julia Child, et. al. TV food stars. They now wanted to use these fancy stock pots, etc.
So...the end of the era. In the fifties and sixties consumers were willing to pay a MUCH higher percentage of their salary for appliances. That is why non-appliance corporations GM, Ford, RCA, Borg-Warner, Nash, Raytheon, et. al, got into the home appliance industry. Profits were large.
Times changed and many of the corporations dropped out of the appliance industry as consumers wanted cheap appliances and many were not willing to pay for premium machines.
Thankfully we have people, such as members of AW.org, who are willing to preserve appliances of the past and the days when premium quality machines, such as this Maytag dishwasher, were built to last. [this post was last edited: 8/29/2021-14:02]
