Parting with an A806 Original Series

[rfonseca]

Hi all,

I was pretty amazed at the level of knowledge about the A806 in some posts in this forum! I have a working A806 in good (not perfect) condition, it is white, and from what I could gather it is from October 1971 (Serial number is 206000MW, no series number).

This seems to be a classic (!), any suggestions on how to find it a new home?

Any idea on how much it is worth?

I am in Providence, RI, and have no means of lugging it anywhere.

Thanks!
Rodrigo

 

[DigAPony]

Fair Craigslist asking price is $50-75 to someone who can appreciate it.

Appears to have some rust on the cabinet bottom, not a good sign, could mean a water leak that has been going on for a long time.

 

[danemodsandy]

Rodrigo:

Your A806 is the second of three major iterations of the model.

The first one, which I own, had a totally different button setup with three water levels, not four. It also had the blue accent color on the panel, a tub light, a chrome-top lint filter and the "real" bleach dispenser with the fill opening on the right side of the lid opening. There were Wash 'n Wear and Permanent Press versions of this one.

Then came yours, with the button setup that continued all the way through to the end. Panel color and other goodies were the same as the first version.

Last came what I call the "do-over" A806, a.k.a. The Bean Counter's Special. These can be easily spotted by the gold accent color on the panel. The tub light, the chrome-top lint filter and the nice bleach dispenser were all eliminated; the new bleach dispenser (with the fill opening at the left of the lid opening) just let bleach run down into the space between the inner and outer tubs, to (hopefully) be diluted quickly enough to avoid damage to clothes.

A photo of the first version's panel is below - as you can see, it's very different to yours:

 

[rfonseca]

Thanks DigAPony and danemodsandy for the prompt replies!

It is possible that there is a leak indeed, especially because the floor where the machine was, unmoved, had an accumulation of what looked like a mixture of dried up detergent, lint, and with a tint of rust.

As for the model, that is a very good clarification, thanks danemodsandy. Mine does have the bleach dispenser on the right, and a tube light.

As I said, I hope if finds a good new home

Cheers,
Rodrigo

 

[DigAPony]

You may want to take off the front panel and post a photo of the insides.

Just remove the two lower screws and raise the panel outward from the bottom.