after considering importing one from Cyprus because of how seemingly impossible they were to find in the UK, i stumbled across one on Ebay at a seemingly shocking £425
not many would consider a Maytag at those prices for such a seemingly "old" machine, but i suppose that's the average user, not a collector in some cases
i first used one of these mean machines when i was about 3 years old in 2007 with supervision and help from my parents
the utter madness of the experience got me hooked on Maytag Orbitals from then on, i just needed to find a MAT12 or 13 with microprocessor controls
luckily, a few weeks ago, that little (seemingly impossible) dream became a reality for me
all it took was a rather big ask of my parents, "a loan from the bank of mum" as my father put it, she agreed and so did he when i explained that i was originally planning on importing one at a much greater cost
so, i bought it, arranged delivery as it came from Swanage (a significant distance from home) and had a nice chat over the phone with the rather perplexed seller who also had a few other machines on offer at the time too
2 days after booking the delivery, the beast arrived on a pallet, tied down with ropes
after checking it's general condition i found it to be quite good, with the belts just needing a bit of tensioning that was later done
my true fear about the entire thing was confirmed later on though, the machine was coin operated which wasn't an issue as i could change the vend price to nothing, meaning i could press any of the 6 cycle keys and it would go
but how does one change the price on a MAT12PD?
by opening a door on the top of the coin box with a key of course
but where was said key?
well..............
i still have no idea, but it was nowhere to be seen (luckily i had the key to the coin box
)
so after many trails and errors, i managed to drill the lock out, fortunately there are suitable replacements around for the lock i unfortunately had to drill, but it was worth it
upon the first run of the beast it sprang to life like nothing happened to it, quite the incredible thing as i mildly expected a rather expensive amount of magic smoke, but it just went
the machine filled, washed, drained, and spun damn near perfectly, the whirling spin drains were definitely something to behold as someone who had never even seen one happen with his own eyes
anyways gentlemen and ladies, here it is
a near pristine 2000 Maytag Orbital MAT12PD from Newton, Iowa
i say "near pristine" because well, it has the usual dust balls of a machine that's been in use for 25 years, and definitely a lot of soap scum around, but otherwise seemingly in good order
a fair few people have asked me about the "super wash" addition that the machine can do for i believe all of the cycles, it adds 3 minutes of wash time to whatever you've programmed and an additional warm rinse too, which is handy for drying things in my opinion
i did decide to see how ridiculously long a cycle could be on it with a load of white rags i had used to clean it up a bit, 52 minutes isn't too bad for a 23 minute wash with 3 rinses i'd say, though it ended up being a ridiculously boring wait for it to fill, as my cold water pressure isn't exactly the best at times
thankfully though, the rags themselves came out like i had just bought them, which was quite impressive for any machine to do as even my Whirlpool Direct Drive had dealt with them a few months previously with oil stains and such
the Maytag took all of it out, it truly is a remarkable machine and Sean is right in saying that they are some of the best machines ever made in my opinion, as i have seen them shake off a lot in my time in the rare launderette that has them here
my only slight gripe with this machine is it's use of security torx screws, i ought to get a bit for my screwdriver
all in all, it was an expensive but very well worth it endeavour, and i will be filming some rather interesting load and cycle requests from a few who have asked for them when i get the chance
so far it has practically excelled at everything i have thrown at it, from oil stained rags to large loads of clothes, and even a full size comforter (that managed to roll over multiple times, shocking me)
anyways, i suppose i'll be keeping this one around for as long as i possibly can, perhaps even getting it a sibling at some point, but till then, it'll be the only Orbital i have
thanks for reading
Matthew
not many would consider a Maytag at those prices for such a seemingly "old" machine, but i suppose that's the average user, not a collector in some cases
i first used one of these mean machines when i was about 3 years old in 2007 with supervision and help from my parents
the utter madness of the experience got me hooked on Maytag Orbitals from then on, i just needed to find a MAT12 or 13 with microprocessor controls
luckily, a few weeks ago, that little (seemingly impossible) dream became a reality for me
all it took was a rather big ask of my parents, "a loan from the bank of mum" as my father put it, she agreed and so did he when i explained that i was originally planning on importing one at a much greater cost
so, i bought it, arranged delivery as it came from Swanage (a significant distance from home) and had a nice chat over the phone with the rather perplexed seller who also had a few other machines on offer at the time too
2 days after booking the delivery, the beast arrived on a pallet, tied down with ropes
after checking it's general condition i found it to be quite good, with the belts just needing a bit of tensioning that was later done
my true fear about the entire thing was confirmed later on though, the machine was coin operated which wasn't an issue as i could change the vend price to nothing, meaning i could press any of the 6 cycle keys and it would go
but how does one change the price on a MAT12PD?
by opening a door on the top of the coin box with a key of course
but where was said key?
well..............
i still have no idea, but it was nowhere to be seen (luckily i had the key to the coin box
)so after many trails and errors, i managed to drill the lock out, fortunately there are suitable replacements around for the lock i unfortunately had to drill, but it was worth it
upon the first run of the beast it sprang to life like nothing happened to it, quite the incredible thing as i mildly expected a rather expensive amount of magic smoke, but it just went
the machine filled, washed, drained, and spun damn near perfectly, the whirling spin drains were definitely something to behold as someone who had never even seen one happen with his own eyes
anyways gentlemen and ladies, here it is
a near pristine 2000 Maytag Orbital MAT12PD from Newton, Iowa
i say "near pristine" because well, it has the usual dust balls of a machine that's been in use for 25 years, and definitely a lot of soap scum around, but otherwise seemingly in good order
a fair few people have asked me about the "super wash" addition that the machine can do for i believe all of the cycles, it adds 3 minutes of wash time to whatever you've programmed and an additional warm rinse too, which is handy for drying things in my opinion
i did decide to see how ridiculously long a cycle could be on it with a load of white rags i had used to clean it up a bit, 52 minutes isn't too bad for a 23 minute wash with 3 rinses i'd say, though it ended up being a ridiculously boring wait for it to fill, as my cold water pressure isn't exactly the best at times
thankfully though, the rags themselves came out like i had just bought them, which was quite impressive for any machine to do as even my Whirlpool Direct Drive had dealt with them a few months previously with oil stains and such
the Maytag took all of it out, it truly is a remarkable machine and Sean is right in saying that they are some of the best machines ever made in my opinion, as i have seen them shake off a lot in my time in the rare launderette that has them here
my only slight gripe with this machine is it's use of security torx screws, i ought to get a bit for my screwdriver
all in all, it was an expensive but very well worth it endeavour, and i will be filming some rather interesting load and cycle requests from a few who have asked for them when i get the chance
so far it has practically excelled at everything i have thrown at it, from oil stained rags to large loads of clothes, and even a full size comforter (that managed to roll over multiple times, shocking me)
anyways, i suppose i'll be keeping this one around for as long as i possibly can, perhaps even getting it a sibling at some point, but till then, it'll be the only Orbital i have
thanks for reading
Matthew
