Turquoise Maytag Set / $200 / San Diego

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

Help Support :

I bought them! I just think they were too special to pass up at that price. Especially, with how close they are.

I found out the handle was actually inside and they were able to fix it. That's also not damage to the paint in front. It's just duct tape residue. These seem to have been cared for really well. The seller also found the users manuals, which was a very nice surprise! Like I might have mentioned, they haven't been used in decades.

Thank you thomasortega! I would love to take you up on that. They are being crated now and then should be in my possession relatively soon. It's going to be really tricky to install them. My laundry room is a pain in the @#$ to move appliances in and out of. It's down a big flight of stairs in a rather narrow room. I want to make sure these have a good chance of working before removing my other ones. I'll probably open them up and test them (without water) in my living room to see if it looks promising. At least good enough where I could replace a few easy parts if need be.

I'm certainly open to recommendations on how to approach this. I know I should service them as best as I can before operating them.

mrcoppertone-2019062614494209091_1.png

mrcoppertone-2019062614494209091_2.png

mrcoppertone-2019062614494209091_3.png
 
"I'll probably open them up and test them (without water) in my living room to see if it looks promising."

Do NOT do that....

Rule number 1 with washers that old: Fill it with hot water (use buckets, tap hot, but as hot as possible) and let it sit for at least 1 hour before you think about plugging it. (and the living room isn't the best place to do that)
 
Heed My Warnings Above

Again, I don't mean to come across as a Debbie Downer but I don't recommend using these as daily drivers even with a hardcore meticulous Qsd-Dan style restoration process on both units. I've been in a bunch of these machines and know what to expect from them thanks to that good ol' hard knox learning technique called experience. They will stab you in the back and fail as the worst possible time. I also don't recommend using these machines as your first prelude into Maytags. At minimum, find a post '65 washer to learn and make mistakes on before touching the A700. That washer is a different animal from '66+ and a simple slip up will turn it into a 200# paperweight.

Last year of the 642C dryer is 1961 and first year of the A700 is 1961. The chances of both units being 1961 are strong. Do the math, that's 58 years old.

Here's some points to ponder before plugging in either machine, as well as my crystal ball future predictions from experience:

Washer:

Belts are probably original and toast. The motor carriage is probably gummed up, if not locked up, and motor carriage wheels disintegrated (or soon will be). This area needs to be addressed immediately.

Damper pads are parched and badly need lubrication by now. Spinning out just one single load of laundry without lubricating them first has the strong potential of ripping the pads off of the base and gouging the damper. That style damper was discontinued in 1965 so good luck finding a non damaged damper today. Polylube is NOT used on these older pads, it's Maytag transmission oil. Use 80/90 gear lube if you don't have Maytag transmission oil on hand and expect your laundry room to reek of stinky @ss for at least a month. I replace all of these old style damper pads with the newer style pads (you'll need to trim one of the 3 pads for proper spacing) and polylube even if the old style look perfect. The newer style causes less friction, allowing tighter spring tensions without inducing vibrations.

Lower o-ring in the transmission is probably toast, or soon will be, and will dump most of its oil on the floor and all over the bottom half of the base. Run it under these conditions and it'll lock up the lower half of the transmission. Most of the transmissions I've been in at this age are less than half full of oil. Whatever oil left has nearly turned into grease which will cause sluggish operation. The shaft in the upper housing relies on oil for lubrication during the spin cycle. Lack of oil or thick oil won't flow into the oil gallery of the upper trans housing during the spin cycle, causing the upper shaft to bind and destroy the upper sleeve bearings, then lock up.

Expect every hose and seal to systemically fail due to age (stem and boot seal, tub bearing seal, cover to tub housing band seal, pump seal, water valve, water valve to injector hose, tub to pump hose, drain hose, air dome hose). Find a post 1979 sealed pump and install it. Those older pumps like to leak from the top seal, especially if the screws holding it are rusted (most of them are). Short term leaks here will rust out that corner of the base. Watch out for the bleach injection hoses, they won't leak right away but soon will. The original style bleach containers will crack by just looking at them wrong, if it isn't cracked already. Check all clamps, they rust out and lose tension, then cause leaks. A blown tub to pump hose, drain hose, or air dome hose will immediately turn your laundry room into the Niagara Falls. Been there, done that.

Dryer:

Belts are trash and probably have flat spots from sitting in one spot on the pulleys for decades.

All sleeve bearings (including the ones in the motor) are bone dry. Running the dryer can cause immediate damage to these bearings, ESPECIALLY THE BLOWER WHEEL BEARINGS!

The front seal is probably DOA. They like to fall off into the heating element which can cause a fire.

The capacitors on the electronic control board are probably dried and dead. Strong chance the automatic moisture sensing options will not work and you'll be relying on the timed dry portion of the dial, if the timer itself isn't dead.

Keep in mind this is only a handful of the many problems that can occur. Considered yourself warned.
 
A good alternative is having "some" daily drivers,

Right at this moment, I have "only" 24 washers, 4 gas dryers, 4 electric dryers and 4 spin dryers in y laundry room.

It reached a point is said STOP! and I have 6 washers and 1 dryer listed on Facebook.

The only new machines that I'll accept in my laundry room is a Whirlpool thin twin (or just the portable washer), a Speed Queen pair that I'm in love with and I hope I can sell the other washers and make money to get that pair) and EVENTUALLY a Maytag stacked combo (that one that has the control on the right).

And of course, always open for something really vintage and rare like a GM Frigidaire or an Easy twin Tub (because my husband loves that model) or a slant front Westinghouse or a .... well... I think I need a bigger laundry room.

But anyway, Always have a modern machine because you should NEVER jeopardize a vintage washer's life by washing those "impossible" loads like duvets or heavy loads of jeans. If you kill a modern machine, not a big deal, they are somewhat easily replaceable without hurting your feelings.
 
>> thomasortega wrote
>> A good alternative is having "some" daily drivers,

That's perhaps good general advice, but misses Dan's point.

Dan is saying that anyone with machines of this age would be wise to do a complete teardown/rebuild on them ***BEFORE*** using them, to take care of the common age-related failure points BEFORE they fail and do irreparable damage to the machine (or your home) in the process. Using the machines infrequently does not eliminate this risk or the need for preventative maintenance!

It's very good advice, and comes from experience. Make his post a checklist, and I'm actually surprised how many of them I've hit personally, and with machines a decade or more newer than these here. Some of these issues are faaaaar easier to remedy before they fail, and for such a nice pair of machines like this, it would be well worth your efforts to do so!

>> thomasortega wrote
>> But anyway, Always have a modern machine because you should NEVER jeopardize a vintage
>> washer's life by washing those "impossible" loads like duvets or heavy loads of jeans.

100% disagree with this!
 
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!

mrcoppertone-2019071523454706324_1.jpg
 

Similar threads

waterwitch
Maytag ca702 up for grabs
Replies
0
Views
25
waterwitch
waterwitch
launderess
Maytag Bravos Set
Replies
1
Views
36
appnut
appnut
D
Facebook marketplace find: A Free Maytag A712 + DE412 dryer in Massachusetts
Replies
3
Views
144
phillymatt53
P
kesslertimothy
Maytag Washer in Arkansas
Replies
7
Views
283
maytag85
maytag85
combo52
Last Thursday delivery day was May tag day
Replies
1
Views
147
jmm63
jmm63

Latest posts

Back
Top