todays pod 7/20/10

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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retro-man

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Having never seen an older maytag such as todays pod i was wondering, the lid seems to have 3 unusual items on it. it looks like the top one is a resevoir to fill the middle one where the water comes out and bottom one appears whatever is placed in the top one comes out from the bottom one at a particular time in the cycle. Am i correct or before my time?
Thanks
Jon
 
To try and answer your question . . .

On the underside of the lid, the round white "button" is to select the water level -- high, medium, or low.

The round black "button" operates the control that starts the wash action when the proper water level is reached. In the center of the agitator is a float. When the water reaches the proper level, the float rises pressing against the round black "button" triggering 2 mercury switches inside the lid. One switch shuts off the water entering the tub and the other switch starts the motor for the agitation.

The bottom retangular "button" hangs down inside the tub when the lid is closed. During the spin cycle, if the load is unbalanced and the tub begins to wobble, the agitator hits this button triggering a switch inside the lid which stops the action completely until the load is rebalanced.

I hope this clears up your question. Try to imagine the lid in its closed position. This machine will not operate at all when the lid is raised.

Jerry Gay
 
And because of the way that round button that measured when the tub had the correct amount of water in it worked, there was a hidden mercury switch that shut off all power when the lid was raised because when the lid was raised, even slightly, the round black button would drop out of the "water level satisfied" position and call for more water. To avoid having the machine fill when the lid was raised while the machine was on, there had to be a switch that interupted power when the lid was moved from a completly horizontal position.

This set up was the reason I hated these machines: you could never watch them do anything. Incidentally, once Maytag came out with the water level selector, you would have your older AMP washer modified with a kit from the factory so that it had a selectable water level. They would have done just as well, in most cases with a time fill and been able to offer water level selectability from the get-go if they had used a time fill. The reason many of us suspect they did not do it the simple way and used the "safety lid switch" was because if it would work with the lid open, people would be able to compare the agitation with that of other washers which would not have been favorable to Maytag. The Maytag manual I have for the time fill AMP instructs the user to fully push under the water any item that is added after agitation has started. Take from that what you will.
 
shouldn't I be dead by now?

I remember these old "mercury switch" Maytags coming in as trade-ins. They'd sit there out in the back parking lot at Western Appliance in San Jose just waiting to be picked up by the scrap guy...newer Maytags were fine for the resale floor but not these. I would bust open the lid, cut out the mercury switches (they looked like small radio tubes) and then break the glass and "play" with the mercury. My friends though this was so very cool...who knew?

twintubdexter++7-20-2010-10-47-13.jpg
 
newer Maytags were fine for the resale floor but not these

Joe - very cool story. I've read through a few Maytag Merchandisers from the early 60's which were reporting dealers who were still refurbishing AMP style Maytags by promoting a fresh coat of paint on the cabinet, as well as new seals and a rebuilt pump. I imagine they also turned the brake shoes over for the next 20 years of service.

By the late 60's though - I'm sure they were more of a nuisance than anything which explains why most AMP-style Maytags became scrap fodder.

Great POD!

Ben
 
That's quite true, Tom. I've seem a few where the insulation on the wire has completely deterioated, which would have made for quite a dangerous combination of water and 120v.

I suspect the rubber cap on the end of the bulb could be cut off with new wires being solidered to the switch these days for those who aren't able to procure replacements, but back in the late 60's - even replacing the switch with NOS wouldn't have been worth the effort.

Sell that prospective customer a new A206!

Ben
 
Wow, what liability. I don't think I've ever seen any other washers with wires going through a hinged opening.
I suppose, these were the early days. live and learn.
 
Wonderful memories

On Murray Hill Road, in Little Italy of Cleveland Ohio, the land lady walked us through a lower flat of our home for our senior year. Entering the last room which was the kitchen, my eyes became saucers as I saw today's arresting, stunning POD, and I hooted, but Mrs. M, said, "Sorry, it doesn't work." My three room mates just grinned.

The Mighty Maytag would not fill. I removed the hoses from the back and we filled manually, lodging each hose in the crooks on either side of the lid.
The machine worked with the lid open. (Can't remember exactly what I did...flicking the flapper.)
Everybody loved that machine, captivated by the mercury rising and falling.

The spray rinsing from both hoses open and flowing into the tub was awesome.
And the turnover was fabulous, so steady and powerful.
The backyard was a nice-sized cement patio full of clotheslines. It was pure bliss. So glad Andy will have one. What a movie we'll get!

Robert, thank you for a smile and a warm memory that should last all day!.....unless I get stung on the butt by a bee on my bike ride...OWWWWWWWWWWWWW... HORRORS
[this post was last edited: 7/20/2010-18:03]
 
The float switch also allows for ensuring the water level desired is always reached regardless of pressure. This was a rather simple (and later electrifying way) of offering multiple water leves, which was not offered on the earliest version of the Maytag automatic.

This is the A3MP machine I just got from John in MD - you can see some of the taped and exposed wires on the mercury switches. Also visible is the rusted lid hinge and subsequent chipping and rusting of the top of the machine, a very common problem with these. This can all be overcome, but with some work and patience. Perhaps this is why my dealer hasn't called to schedule the obligatory Maytag Home Demonstration yet!

gansky1++7-20-2010-14-41-11.jpg
 
If you bypass or get rid of the main mercury switch that shuts off power when the lid is raised, could you operate it (once it has filled) with the lid open and leaning back slightly so that the water level button fell back and completed the circuit? If you could do that, you could give the load an overflow rinse if you held the lid partially open.

Robert do you have that transitional machine that was a Helical Drive in an AMP cabinet and had a thick lid without any switches in it? I thought you wrote about it once.

I can understand why dealers would rather sell a new machine instead of the AMP. The AMP only held 12 gallons of water, I think, 4 gallons less than the standard tub in a Helical Drive and even Consumer Reports said that about 5 pounds of laundry was the AMP's maximum capacity. What we now call the short tub was the tub that CU said washed 12 pounds of clothes without being overcrowded in the early 60s. The Kenmore was judged to be overcrowded with 12 pounds. Mendacity.
 
35+ years ago is a long, long time

So help me reconstruct the memory, those of you who know the machine so well. We all really enjoyed the mercury, oh so liquidy, floating in the vial. I always had the lid up. I can not remember what I did. If I removed the bottom of the lid, or if someone else had done so, exposing the vial. It was just the coolest thing, and not easily forgotten.

Maybe it will come to me overnight. I can clearly see myself manipulating the lid, but I can't see the manipulations. I think I see a small non-threatening spark when the mercury connects. It did not take me a long time to get her going. Everybody is so happy that we have a working washing machine. And I remember the unusual water throw, as it slanted gradually away to the unseen outer tub where it was hurled over. What a wonderful washing machine! I may yet morph into a Mayhag ; >
 
I remember manipulating the lid switches . . .

. . . I would take out the 2 screws holding the lid together. Then I'd remove the main power glass tube and simply stand it up in the left rear corner of the lid thus allowing the machine to run with the lid open.

IIRC, I would allow the machine to fill with water with the lid closed, then when the lid was opened and leaned back, the mercury would disconnect from the water inlet switch and connect to the motor switch and I could watch all the action.

My father nearly had me drawn and quartered when he discovered what I was doing.

This was an AMP which had no water level switch. There was a free float in the agitator that would rise as the water reached it.

This machine lasted for 16 years working for a family of 5. I was not at home when it died, so I don't know what happened. But it was replaced with a Frigidaire in about 1965.

Jerry Gay
 
"My father nearly had me drawn and quartered when he dis

"Great story, Jer--ah the days of spankings and more. That helps a lot.

When I saw the huge black agitator, the white perf tub (although ours did not radiate blue light--hate it when that happens!;->....and the nuts around the tub I knew the machine at once, but the white dial for the water level was not present on ours, and the merc vial was still attached to the lid. Maybe our machine was a a little older, and someone else had "rigged" the lid switch, or else I did. I just can't remember. Ain't it aweful. I just remember the fun and the joy of making it work. I'm going to ask my old friends, but they'll just laugh, roll their eyes and say, "You still have your washer fixation...? ;'D

Here's a little conventional Maytag /Mayhem for the day with an EasySpindry in the back for you Jerry, and thanks. The RIP 906 SUDS is getting restored at the wonderful Maryland Restoration Factory and Museum by Engineers-in-chief John and Jason. I can hardly wait: my first automatic Maytag since the mercury bombadier.

mickeyd++7-21-2010-13-05-27.jpg
 
Robert do you have that transitional machine that was a Helical Drive in an AMP cabinet and had a thick lid without any switches in it?

No Tom, we only have the very first model AMP and of course we have that Avocado beast, ooops damn typos I mean beauty 806.
 
Nowadays if even ONE drop of mercury is spilled, you have to call a Hazmat team out to clean it up.

Anyone remember Merthiolate? It was that antiseptic that your parents put on you as a kid when you scraped your knees. It burned like hell. My parents always had it on hand. They wouldn't buy Mercurachrome because they felt merthiolate worked better. Hmph. Merthiolate was withdrawn from the market several years ago. Why?

Because it contained up to 49% mercury!

Well, we are all around to talk about it.
 
Allen, I remember NOT telling my father about a cut and hiding it because that junk hurt so bad way worse than any cut. We convinced hin to stop using it, and indeed we're all here, however damaged we can never know. LOL
 
No Tom, we only have the very first model AMP and of course we have that Avocado beast, ooops damn typos I mean beauty 806.

Oh Robert, someone is going to have some splain to do!!! LOL
 
Our neighbor's AMP had the chromed brass float in the red Bakelite agitator. The chrome was rubbed away in a little circle where the water level button rubbed it. I'm so glad that some brilliant, inquisitive child had the wherewithal to perform surgery on that damn lid so that he could watch the washer operate.

Merthiolate: My parents used it also UNTIL I broke out in a rash in the area covered by the Merthiolate and the doctor told my parents it was the mercury that was causing the rash so we switched to iodine. They would not use Bactine because if it did not sting, it did not kill germs. I wonder if any of our generation has mercury-related brain damage from all of the mercury applied to us in Merthiolate.
 

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