Maytag; sudslock proof?

[johnb300m]

So i was home for the weekend, meaning i had laundry to do and got to play with the 511 washer and Neptune dryer.
I was doing a small load of socks and i guess put too much soap in. It was super sudsy.
I watched the machine to see how it would handle this.
Since it was so sudsy, the machine could not get up to speed. A little over a minute later, the timer rapid advances [i can see it move!] to the spray n' spin part.
It sprays for 30 seconds then pauses. the washer still is not up to full speed so it sprays a second time for about 45 seconds and then finally reaches full spin.

WTF? does the machine know when there is a suds lock? does it sense spin speed somehow?

you more experienced gents' what did i witness?

 

[peterh770]

What is a 511 washer?

 

[scott55405]

Peter, I think it's one of the earlier post center dial ones, the ones with the vertical rows of buttons and timer off to the side, but still basically the original design.

 

[brettsomers]

i dont know about it sensing, but i tried to suds-lock my moms maytag as a child, though i was too young to know what *suds-lock* meant. it WAS nearly impossible to do. i DO think its important for a machine to begin spray IMMEDIATELY after the water has finished draining. this was, i think, the secret to avoiding suds-lock in a maytag.

 

[cehalstead]

suds-lock

I can't explain what you witnessed in technical terms, but my older Maytag will do the same thing with too many suds. However, I don't think that it gets a "second" spray rinse to combat suds. The spray rinse on this generation of Maytags is 90 seconds in duration, and it stops if there are too many suds for some reason, and then the spray comes back on.....or at least that is what mine does, and it sounds like the one you were using does the same....

 

[kenwashesmonday]

If the water level is not set to high, suds lock will trigger the pressure switch and shut the water off. As soon as the pump begins pumping, the water level drops and the pressure switch turns the water back on.

I had this problem with my A606 when it had to pump too high in to a improperly installed standpipe drain.

Ken D.

 

[trok_99]

Ken, you are correct. Although it is somewhat difficult to suds lock a classic Maytag, it is in those low water level situations where the suds lock "satisfies" the water level switch and turns off the water until the level drops.
The A511 is actually part of the "10" series. It is nothing more than an A510 with a bleach dispencer.
The A510 and 11 were single speed Fabric Matic machines and had 1 minute timer increments. The wash spin would be 2 minutes of spin/drain, spray rinse would be 1 minute in duration and then another minute of spin before the rinse.
The "10" series 2 speed machines had 1 minute 30 sec timer increments with a 1.5 minute spray rinse and a ridiculously short 1.5 minute deep rinse.

 

[brettsomers]

consider me ignorant or playing devils advocate. if the machine is not overloaded and the clothes are turning over, i would imagine a 1.5 minute rinse would be sufficient? after all the soil had already been loosened in the wash?

 

[kenwashesmonday]

I think 1.5 minutes might be a little short considering you also want to fully distribute the fabric softner during the deep rinse. The late 60s/70s machines were 2 minutes which is just enough, as you imply, as long as it's not overloaded.

Ken

 

[brettsomers]

good point. i didnt think about fabric softener, since i almost never use it.

 

[trok_99]

2 minutes did the trick in a standard capacity machine as long as it was not overloaded.
In a fully loaded deep tub machine, even 2 minutes was always a little skimmpy in my opinion. 3 or 4 minutes would have been great.
I do think it's funny that Maytag still offers one classic style model with the orbital transmission and it has a 2 minute rinse. The Atlantis machine has a 6 minute first rinse and a 3 minute second or extra rinse.

 

[spinout]

WP/KM tried 2min rinses in the early direct drive models and it didn't cut it (my mom has one), so it was back to 4 min rinses for their later machines. In my experience, a 2 min rinse just isn't satisfactory, especially with limited spin sprays and in cold water.

 

[tomturbomatic]

1.5 minute deep rinse

Depending on the items, the load size, the water temperature, etc., even the 2 minute agitation period can have trouble with pulling the stuff on top under water, let alone turning the load over. Getting the roll over started can take almost the whole two minutes of rinse agitation. Rinsing is where the soil removed in the wash is supposed to be flushed away with the remaining detergent that has held it in suspension and good circulation is needed to do that. Older Maytag Gytators and the pregnant Roto Swirls had an awful time dealing with the big air bubbles the rinse fill could put under sheets. A great percentage of the time, the sheets, especially if wrapped around the agitator when loaded, would be positioned so that the sheet could not be pulled under sufficiently to allow the bubble to escape. A cold rinse does not relax the fabrics as much as a warm one and that, too, can make it difficult to get the items moving properly in a short rinse. This can be noted with a load of blue jeans. Maytag was cutting it pretty closely with the 2 minutes of rinse agitation. 1.5 minutes was not sufficient for best rinsing if it was the only deep rinse.

 

[trok_99]

air bubbles in sheets/pregnant roto swirl

Wow, you just brought back my memory of the first automatic washer I ever saw. My mom still had a wringer and we lived in a duplex. The owners of the house had an early 50's Kenmore w/ roto swirl. I have seen that machine a few times here...I know some one here has a non suds saver version of it. It's the one where there are 2 dials on the front of the machine...Temperature on the left..warm, medium and hot and the timer on the right.
The roto swirl had a black flexible rubber ring around the neck of the agitator(right above the water line) that could be removed. The lady that owned it said that when she got the machine, she complained to Sears that sheets would air bubble in the rinse. So they came out and put this ring on the agitator. She said it fixed her issue. For years I thought that was what the ring was designed for.
When this club was on Yahoo in the early days, someone told me the ring was actually made for customers with suds savers, with roto swirl agitators. The ring blocked some of the up splash during "return suds" on high speed agitation. The pregnant roto swirl produced much more up splash than did the later super roto swirl or straight vane agitators did.
The lady who owned that washer did not complain about splashing during return suds because she would soak the second load in the saved suds water while the first load was finishing. During return suds she would load the machine with the wet clothes as the water returned which greatly reduced the splashing.
I still have fond memories of that machine. During the last minute of wash there was a loud bang. I asked what it was. She told me that it was a signal to let the person washing know that the wash cycle was over. Those were still the days when even though you had an automatic, most women would still be near by and paying attention to what was going on. So I believed her.
A few years later, came across another neighbor with the same machine. No rubber ring, no loud bang during the last minute of wash, no suds saver. I was 6 y/o and very confused.
I now know that the bang was the diverter valve setting up to store the suds water, in fact those early machines may even had a seperate suds save/store/return pump.

 

[johnb300m]

wow, thanks guys...........that's all very facsinating.
yeah, our 511 is a Fabric Matic, one speed with bleach dispenser and right side dial.
Yeah it really is impossible to suds-lock. I've never dumped enough soap in to certainly lock it, cuz it's a waste.
I love it. I hope it lives long enough for me to possibly steal from my parents.