POD 1/30/2017

[brucelucenta]

Maytag had a good dryer with these and kept that design till the 70's. It was kind of annoying to clean the lint filter out though, but it was still large enough in capacity to handle the loads from the large capacity washers. At some point earlier Maytag had an actual condensate dryer that had a drain hose and cold water hose. I remember the one I saw was one that matched an old AMP style washer toward the end of the run.

 

[bajaespuma]

The HOH dryers did what they claimed; they dried loads gently, effectively, usually underdrying to avoid textile damage. And they looked nice when matched to a Maytag washer which, when it comes right down to it, was the only valid reason to buy one. They just didn't compare as favorably to their mates or to most of the dryers of their competition.

 

They were large bulky machines with stingy capacity, had lint filters that were very effective but inconvenient to deal with, had almost no cycle or temperature flexibility and required the user to stoop very low to move loads in and out of a small porthole with barely enough clearance for an average laundry basket to stop dropping clothes onto the floor. GE and Whirlpool dryers clearly led the pack back then.

 

[DADoES]

 
Family friend in the 1970s had a Maytag set with HOH dryer.  We'd visit and enjoy the pool.  Washing-up the towels after, that HOH needed a l-o-n-g time to dry the load.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Maytag's earlier dryer design with the perforated drum earned a color check rating from Consumer Reports. The HOH dryers never did get high ratings. The drum was designed for the smaller capacity washer loads and not enlarged until the 08 series and Maytag introduced this dryer with an antiquated drum drive when some manufacturers were already introducing much simpler designs. I believe that John told me that Maytag had water dryers, as they were called, into, but not through, the 06 series, even with the electronic control. The heating element was so close to the front of the drum that large loads could have items up front scorched. The heating element was only 4600 watts and the gas models had an input in the teens, I think I remember, because of the close proximity of the heat source to the fabrics in the drum, so in spite of what the ad says, they were not fast dryers. 

 

I had mentioned back during warm weather that I would test my DE806 with a load of king sheets to see if it balled them as badly as the modern GE and WP dryers. It is slightly better at avoiding that. I will have to experiment with loading to try to figure out how I loaded it decades ago to get optimal results.  Since I had it warmed up, I dried a load of undershirts and my knee length socks after the sheets. Stupidly, I left the control at REGULAR and it shut off when the tee shirts were dry but the socks were still damp so I ran it through another cycle on Permanent Press to get the socks and a few other things dry.

 

[twintubdexter]

"Branded" like a steer...

I occasionally would see one of these dryers come in as a trade where the cycling  and high-limit thermostats failed and the dryer got super hot. The electric element would burn a big ring into the enamel paint around the door. It must have been a shock to the owner. 

 

[brucelucenta]

I have seen worse than that, gas dryers where the solenoid stuck open and burned the dryer up along with anything in it or around it.

 

[twintubdexter]

Fire In The Hole!

Bruce, I have probably seen every kind of major appliance fire imaginable. The most bizarre being The Frigidaire bottom-freezer models from the 1960's that caught fire inside the food compartment. The fan/light switch (or one or the other) shorted out and caused the wiring to heat up like the element in your toaster. In turn, the fiberglass insulation caught fire along with the plastic molding around the door. The compartment liner was spared since it was porcelain on steel. What a mess it was. These were all fairly new appliances so the warranty covered the repair. Even after all of the parts were replaced it was almost impossible to get that burning-plastic smell to disappear...and they tried everything. This was the age when things like this could be hushed-up. There was no way to spread information like you can with today's Internet. Frigidaire kept this defect confidential. They were fortunate that the fire was kept confined to the inside of the box. 

 

I remember the Frigidaire rep telling the service people to never admit to having seen this happen before and never to say things like "oh, another one of those!" If I helped with the pick-up or delivery with one of these "fire jobs" I was instructed to keep my mouth closed...pretty much the rule whenever I was in a customer's home. 

 

[brucelucenta]

I hear ya, I have seen probably 3 or 4 Maytag dryers that the valve stuck on like that. A couple that burned some, but not up totally and one that actually stuck open on me that I was able to shut off before any damage was done. And one that actually melted down to a puddle and caught the house on fire. They were the old style dryers Maytag used to make with pilot lights.

 

[gyrafoam]

Late to join the gas dryer brigade was Frigidaire. That burner on top sure could get things hot.
I have a nice low mileage '67 that I don't use. It is unique enough to keep, and I do use its mate, but I'm too cautious to use it.

Curious if any fire stories to tell on this design.

I understand the gas HOH was scary, however, seemed like most of the HOH's I used were gas. I never noticed how long it took to dry a load.
Probably wouldn't matter when paired with a Unimatic.
Irregardless, I'm sure it wasn't that big a deal to most people who were delighted to end the clothesline routine.

A minor issue, however, I always wondered why other brands had many models with features such as tub lighting, temperature control, lighted consoles,etc. and a "premium" brand such as Maytag only had those features on TOL models? Evidently Maytag didn't care. More importantly is lack of an automatic moisture sensor except TOL models.[this post was last edited: 1/30/2017-18:22]

 

[neptunebob]

Maybe the way it gets so hot is why it is called a "Halo from Hell".

TTD: With the Frigidaire freezer units, why didn't Frigidaire just replace the appliance? It probably wouldn't cost much more than doing all those repairs. It had to be a horrible situation to deal with, with all the spoiled food inside.