The Customized Maytag Halo Of Heat dryer comes to life

[maytag85]

Hello all, this is the latest project I’ve been working on. I began putting this dryer together back in June of 2022 when I found out that waterwitch in Pomona no longer needed a Maytag A806 and arranged a time to go pick it up. Long story short, I’ve been working on putting this dryer together but ended up having to be put on hold since I couldn’t find or locate the particular Maytag 808 console I’ve been in search of since last June. Reason why I decided to just put together a customized Maytag HOH together is the DE806 dryers (all Maytag HOH dryers made from 1966 to 1975/1976) only came with one temperature setting which took the guesswork out of what temperature to select but the downside was there was only 1 temperature setting which was medium-low which didn’t allow for much flexibility in options and such. I thought about it, decided the best route to go was to put an 808 console in since it had the opening for low and regular temperature selections which allows you to dry at the temperature best suited for the load of laundry you are going to dry.

Basically I joined a group on Facebook dedicated to genuine Maytags made in Newton Iowa back in December of 2022 created by WoodJack99 (I believe that’s your AW handle). Some more time passes, someone posted an ad for a Maytag A806 and Maytag DE808 and mentioned I’ve been in search of an 808 console since June of 2022 but couldn’t find one to no avail. The author of the post Ron Bartsch basically responded to my comment “Hey, I think I have what you are looking for”, got a message from Ron and he sent me the photos of said console and sure enough, it was an 808 console. I made an arrangement to get it shipped, sent a money order out, and the rest is history as they say. Been busy most of the day getting the console installed, along with the standard HOH cleaning and lubricating of the various parts. I still have quite a bit I need to do such as getting the thermostats wired up, drum light, and console. Literally not that far off from the Maytag A806 set I’ve been in search of since 2017.

Anyways, here’s a photo of the mostly finished product. 90% complete, just need to figure out how to wire the thermostats up along with the drum and console light.

Finally, I have my dream Maytag A806 and CDE806 (C as in Custom DE806) after 6 years of searching and inquiring

 

[maytag85]

Now here’s a question about how I should wire up the console light. Would it be better to wire up the console light to where it’s on when the timer motor is running or would it be better to just have the console light come on whenever the main drive motor is running? Seem to think having it come on whenever the timer motor is running would be the easiest route to go.

 

[qsd-dan]

I vote through the heating element

 

Timer would probably be best.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #2

That’s what I’ll probably do. I wired the drum light and I believe I tap into the neutral since there is a brown wire timer coming off the door switch to the drum light socket.

Also wired up the selector switch which has the black wire coming off of the heating element which goes to the selector, then has 2 wire coming off of the selector (one purple, one brown) which has the purple wire going to the high heat adjustable thermostat and a brown wire going to the low heat thermostat. There’s a jumper wire connecting the 2 thermostats and I believe that’s how Maytag wired up the thermostats since there was a DE808 in the archives with a black jumper connecting the 2 thermostats. Will post some photos tomorrow to show how everything is wired up.

 

[qsd-dan]

there was only 1 temperature setting which was medium-low which didn’t allow for much flexibility in options and such.

 

I've seen this statement thrown around the site for several years but HOH's made after 1967 used a cycling thermostat that was just 5F cooler than the SOH. I wouldn't call a 150F-15 low or medium, especially considering the heating element is almost up against the drum rather than spaced considerably further away like most other designs...minus GE. The clothes coming out of an electronic controlled HOH right after a bell ring always felt hotter to me than an electronic controlled SOH or Kenmore's 29 incher.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #4

I thought about setting the adjustable thermostat to 175F but I ended up just setting it to 165F since that’s what temperature some of the HOH dryers got when set in the permanent press/wash n wear setting. The low heat thermostat is 120F which will work great for drying regular clothes especially t-shirts with vinyl decals/graphics on them.

 

[hippiedoll]

WOOOOO HOOOOOO!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

You finally got your Maytag 808 dryer control panel. I'm so happy for you that you are finally making your dream Maytag dryer happen.

Doing the HAPPY DANCE for you on this side of the computer.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #6

Thanks Christina! Not quite a DE806 but has options that were never available on the DE806 from 1966 to early 1976. Another project I want to do to this dryer is put a 408 auto dry timer but that probably will be another project for another time. Can’t wait to see how it’ll do with dual temperature options on it.

 

[maytag85]

So here’s an update, got the thermostats wired up, plugged it in, and it works! Works on both low and regular drying temperatures. However, the console light doesn’t come on and there’s a weird anomaly with the drum light where it’ll come on whenever the timer is moved from the off position but when you open the door with it in the off position, it doesn’t come on. Probably will look into it sometime tomorrow.