Turquoise Maytag Set / $200 / San Diego

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Dan, I will run through your list on both of these machines before powering either of them. I certainly don't want to risk damaging these by prematurely running them. Thank you for providing such detailed instructions.

How many loads a week would you consider safe for a machine like this? I'm trying to get a sense of what everyone considers a daily driver. I live alone and don't run too many loads a week. Maybe or 1 or 2?

Having multiple machines would be a great idea except I don't have room for extra machines. However, I live right by a laundromat and could run heavier loads over there if necessary. I will try to brainstorm and see if there's anywhere I can keep my modern machines running.
 
If it helps, my 'daily driver' 65 turquoise Lady Kenmore washer and dryer at the house in St-Liboire (Quebec) run 2-3 loads per week. I wash very large comforters at the local coin-op laundry (we only have a couple of those, fortunately). Not to rain on your parade, but there is always the possibility of a breakdown of a vintage machine when it gets put back into regular service!

The Lady K washer needed bearings when I got it; I did a half-assed job of it and the machine quit on me two summers ago. It was no fun at all not having a working washer, but I had the 9 or so machines connected and working down at the other house in Ogden (also in Quebec). I ran into one issue after another with the Kenmore - wound having to replace the pump as well as the basket drive tube and it took me nearly 18 months to "get it right". And I've done some fairly intense work on the Whirlpool-built belt-drive machines before so I should have known better...
 
I came up with a pretty good solution. Right now, I have 2 fairly large Samsung washer and dryers that I have no room for with the Maytag's in there. I'm going to get rid of those and buy one of those stacked washer and dryers that would fit in the space I have next to the Maytag's. That way, I can run heavy duty loads in there and will always have a backup.

The only thing I have to figure out, is how to split the water line so it goes to both machines. I would have to do the same obviously for the drain hoses. I don't have a sink in that room.
 
Those Maytags will need work before they are used on a regular basis. My A606 washer worked when I got it, but I will have to look into the damper pads soon. The DG606 I converted to a DG306 needed a lot of work done to it before I even plugged it in or hooked it up to gas. The DG306 needed a new outer felt seal, and I installed a new inner felt seal s8nce my had a felt seal on it when I got it.

The Gas HOH dryers are different from the electric versions, and some will need painting to the drum pulley and rear panel if they are rusty from the constant burning pilot light, as well as piling the drum bearing and blower shaft, as well as greasing the slider and tensioner shaft.

Another thing is if the pilot safety is shot, you will have to convert it to automatic ignition and switch the 18,000 btu orifice onto the new dual gas valve.

If you don’t use your gas HOH dryer for a long time I’d suggest turn the pilot off, and light it on the days it will be used.

My gas HOH dryer takes 75 minutes to dry a large load of towels. I will say it’s pretty fast with small loads though.
 
Thanks Thomas!

I'm also running into a bit of an issue with the vents. If I get a "laundry station" I'll have to install a 2nd vent. My other option is to order a ventless combination unit but I've heard those things take an eternity to dry (if they ever.) They also have a tendency to make the room hot and steamy.

Anyone come up with good solutions for venting multiple dryers?
 
Do you have a window nearby? I'm great with finding this kind of solution.

Is the property yours or a rental property? It's easy to drill the wall and add a second vent, if needed.

If the dryer is gas, you MUST have them vented outside and, just in case, add a CO detector to your laundry room for added safety.

Well, that's according to the codes.

HOWEVER.... If the laundry room is super well ventilated (for example my laundry room back in Brazil that was in a balcony with two walls completely open and always windy, high floor), then of course i didn't care about the vent

In my laundry room one of my gas dryers won't be vented... But I have two windows and a door constantly open, plus a fan, plus a CO detector.

Regarding the water lines.

In my laundry room I have only one laundry hookup on the wall... many washers have only one inlet (so you select the temperature on the tap, as they're portable). Other washers have the annoying ATC and some washers have both hot and cold fill and (thank God) no ATC.

I don't need to say my laundry room is a world of Y connectors and 4-connector manifolds and Y hoses. Right on the hookup, the very first connection is a Y-hose, so I control the temperature for all washers ONLY opening and closing the hot and cold valves. For washers that have "warm", i keep the selector always on warm so the washer fills faster, using both valves for whatever temperature I selected on the tap.

In my case it's even worse, because i have some washers with imperial threads on the valve, others with metric... Sometimes I change the layout and I have to stop and think.

For draining, it's even worse... i have a world of goose necks and drain hoses hanging on both sides of the laundry sink.

When I do laundry I usually use 5 washers, sometimes up to 8 at once. I never had to use more than that. Over the time, i learned how to sort everything first load all the washers, and then I mentally count seconds or minutes to start each washer in a certain sequence, so they don't drain all at the same time, otherwise it would be a disaster with the laundry sink overflowing as it's too much water for only one drain and a tiny sink. To make things worse, my apartment is 100 years old and the pipes are super old. (My apartment is so old that I have a coal gas heater, an octopuss heater and a Kenmore incinerator abandoned in the basement under the front house) Also, I synchronize the water temperature need, because if I run 5 washers I can quickly use all the hot water from my heater, so I start with the super hot and for the delicate items loads I already have warm or lukewarm water only with the hot tap open.

I always rinse in cold, so my heater has time enough to recover. Again, that's MY scenario, with several washers.... In your scenario, with only two washers, you'll have nothing to worry about and you will probably never run out of hot water, unless your heater is really small and takes forever to recover and you'll never have draining issues even if both washers drain exactly at the same time.

Draining is super easy as you have only two washers... squeezing a little bit (just a little because you don't want to strangle the drain hoses) you can usually fit two hoses in one stand pipe.

As you have only two washers (and I hope the stacked washer is not a super modern model that has the stupid ATC) two simple manifolds will do the trick.

One thing all washing machine collectors quickly learn: We ALWAYS manage to find room for one more washer.
 
I wasn't kidding when I said they were going in the living room!

I still have quite a few hoops to jump... On top of these needing to be fully serviced, I have to find another set to use as a daily driver, install a new outlet for the dryer, and remove my "old" Samsung washer and dryer. I came across a great almond colored Maytag set that looked to be from the 90s. It got snatched up right before I made up my mind. It was quite a bummer.

I have to say, these machines as cosmetically in pretty fantastic shape. Only thing missing are the hinge pins for the washer door. I also have to move the dryer vent from the side to the back. They both look almost new inside and the dryer door gasket is in really good shape. However, I am sure there will be some surprises to come!

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