Maytag "Suds Saver" Washer in PA

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That's a 10-series machine from the early 1980's. You can tell by the ivory buttons; the later 12-series as well as the first Orbitals had black buttons.
 
looks like an A510S to me...similar washer my parents had and its still going strong for my aunt. Got the washer in 81 I beleive. It replaced a Speed Queen solid tub washer. The transmission on the Speed Queen cracked in half and oozed green goo all over. That washer was a problem the day my parents bought it. The Maytag not one problem.
 
Does anyone know what year Maytag switched over to the fast/short-stroke agitation? What name did that version have (ie. 'Orbital', 'Helical')

Did all the Maytags with the dark dashboard and gold-pointered cycle dial have the rapid agitation?
 
Hi Eugene,

Maytag switched over to the Orbital transmission in either 1988 or 1989 (according to some literature I read at Glenn's), but they still used the Helical Drive pulley like the others. So, it is somewhat of a misnomer when the earlier machines are referred to as "Helical Drive" and the later machines are referred to as simply "Orbital" or "Non-Helical".

The control panels can be misleading as well when you're trying to find out which transmission it has. The best sure-fire way to tell which is which is to open the lid, unless it has been modified by one of us, of course! If it has a Power-Fin with a wide base, then it's a slow-stroke, and if it has a narrow-base agitator with pointed fins near the base (regardless of the color; the first PowerFlex Orbital agitators were turquoise), then it's a fast-stroke. All of the machines with the ivory buttons on the control panel were slow-stroke. The first Orbital-tranny machines kept the black control panels that the last slow-stroke machines had, which is one of the reasons (besides being unattractive to begin with) why that is my least favorite panel. I prefer the center-dial machines, or if I had to have the timer on the right, it would be the 10 series.

(As a sidenote, the other washer design that was last produced in 1988 was the potato-pulley Westinghouse front-loader, when the (OY) Dual-Tumble was introduced. Those ran from 1989 to 1994, and the worst part is, like the Maytags, they look virtually the same on the outside! One of the ways you can tell, though, is by looking at the controls. If they have silver knobs, then it's a potato-pulley. If the knobs are black, and the timer knob is wider than the others, it's a Dual-Tumble.)

--Austin
 
How old is my Maytag ?

I have not found a site that gives a history of the Maytag automatic top loaders.

From this discussion, it would seem that the agitator is the key, not the control panel.

Here is a picture of the agitator in my black button black control panel Maytag washer.
The plate on the top of the control panel says it is a model 9200. The only other information given is that it is: Extra Large Capacity – Self Clean Filter – Heavy Duty.

It is a great machine as is its matching dryer. Agreed their control panels are quite ho-hum, but I am so glad they are not phony wood grain.

Can someone tell me when they were made ?

Many thanks for you help, David Lewis

10-12-2006-17-31-57--Waterstreet.jpg
 
We had one just like this, but no suds saver, in a house we used to have. When we sold the house we let it stay for the new owners.
We purchased it about 1984-85 or so.
I particularly never liked it. I thought it was a boring machine. It did not have particularly good clothes roll over while washing and the lint filter in the center of the agitator kept getting clogged with calcium deposits.
To tell you the truth, I was glad to see it go.
 
Model 510

This looks like my 1984 510 (not sudsaver). It was an energy saver at the time, as it only had cold rinse. It did have a sliding water selection. I just replaced mine in July and it was still working, with never a service call. While I like the cleaning of my new Bosch FL, I had no complaints about the old Maytag. Just got tired of using so much water.
 
The agitator we had in that Maytag was a turquoise color.
We were visiting some freinds house last night and they had the door open to their laundry room and there was an Almond TOL Maytag from about the same era. It even had three buttons for Wash/Rinse Speeds. I had never seen that setup like that before. Usually the speed control is built into the timer. You select the fabric and the machine knows what speeds to use. They also had the matching dryer and both were in pristine condition. I asked them about the set and they said that they have had them for years now and they never have required any repairs yet!
 

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