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I say Kenmore vs Maytag, Kenmore Wins!

I guess my favorite dryer would be my 72 Kenmore with the automatic Fabric Master with wrinkle guard feature. The dryer is electric and it drys a load of clothing quickly, no more than 45 minutes tops. And with the wrinkle guard feature, that buzzes every 5 minutes for the next 2.5 hours after it has finished drying is great for perma press clothing. I am amazed that it still works, but it does. I have to say in comparision to my 1980 electronic control electric Maytag, the Kenmore gets the job done alot quicker, the Maytag always seem to run for at least a hour before ringing the bell signaling it is going to stop, and no interior light either which the Kenmore has. So Kenmore wins for me!
 
I'll have to choose my F&P DEGX1. It dries very fast (of course, the 1000 RPM F&P spin may have something to do with that!). Drying performance is consistent and seems accurate with the electronic sensor, and it generally handles small loads well. I love the 24-hour wrinkle guard, and the auto-scraping lint filter that dumps into the large collection bucket is quite convenient. Nicely-large capacity, stainless steel drum, reverse tumble, touch controls with multi-colored indicators, and the unique operational sounds -- for what more could one ask?
 
Re: Kitchen Aid Dryer with a Window:

Does anyone have a Pix of the Kitchen Aid Dryer with a Window? I've never heard of them having Windows. I know that Whirlpool had them quite some time ago, before the new Models, but I don't remember Kitchen Aid or Kenmore even having Windows.

Peace and Happy Drying in our Favorite Dryers, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...
 
Hmmm, well have never had experience with American dryers, but for European dryers it definitely has to be Miele... My aunt's T640 dryer dries a load of towels in 20 minutes flat! Versus 30-40 mins on my vented Bosch, and 45 mins on my AEG dryer.

Of course, if you count the laundromat dryers, you definitely can't beat the huge 30 and 50lb Speed Queens and ADC dryers :-)

Jon

7-14-2005-17-31-22--lavamat_jon.jpg
 
Love the 29" Kenmore dryer with electronic dry and Wrinkle Guard I (continueous tumble for 30 min). Bulletproof design and fast drying to boot. Does seem to do best with big loads. Also love the huge opening and side swing door.

To Toggleswitch: Kenmore W/P dryers stall the timer motor when moisture hits the sensor bars. As the load dries, the timer is "on" more frequently and thus winds down and shifts to low heat for the last few minutes b4 cooldown.

Horseshoe shaped air flow from left side of drum to right side causes the clothing to hit the airstream twice during a counterclockwise tumble. Thus slightly faster drying that keeps the clothing spread out and not rolled up in a corner.
 
<blockquote>[color=0000ff]agiflow said: ...but the F&P cabinets of both machines seem to be VERY FLIMSY ,even in comparison to Frigidaire TL machines that we all love to hate.[/color]</blockquote>
I can't disagree with that! But they're apparently strong enough to handle a 1000 RPM spin. :-)
 
Sacto-Steve, there are a couple of pix from the convention in greg's garage that have snippits of his KA pair with the dryer with the window. I remember seeing KA dryers in the mid -90s with the little window.

And coldspot, you were lucky to get a electronic dryer with side-swing door. How old is it? What's the cu. ft. of the drum? I'd love to see some pix. Don't think it's sold anymore.
 
Doug, the old Maytag Electronic sensors worked a bit differently than sensors do now. The sensors then were embedded in the fins. You could see them as they looked like small copper ribs. They were all electrically tied together to a common point, and then to a brush and commutator ring to the electronics. I think this is approximately how it worked: The tumbling wet clothes completed a circuit that kept a capacitor discharged. The capcitor was tied to a plate on some sort of specialzed tube. As the clothes got dryer and dryer, the charge on the capacitor got higher and higher until it would cause a flashover in the tube, which then triggered the cool down to off sequence. This is why, for years, Maytag electronic control dryers had very tiny drums, and no "more dry/less dry" setting. As I remember, it was very accurate for an electronic control, though the dryer was slow and dried at a low temperature. The drum was supported on a central bearing and frame and not to the cabinet. It had no rollers, and the lint screen was at the back of the drum. Mine had the drum light behind the lint screen. I think most were the same. The dryer was so quiet it was almost eerie.
 
Lavamat_jon,

We've a Miele vented dryer and, compared to anything I've used, including in the US it's a fantastic machine.

Easy to use, drys quickly (entirely sensor-dry no timers), beeps to tell you it's done. Doesn't seem to overheat the clothes like some dryers do, so you can even dry relatively delicate items without worrying.

Stainless steel drum which seems to produce no static at all. The clothes just come out soft, fluffy and perfectly dryed.

I've used several US dryers and generally found that they were too hot and ended up damaging delicate fabrics. Same with many cheaper euro dryers too.

The US dryers capacity's quite nice though. Although, to be fair the Miele standard size model holds quite a bit.

I CANNOT STAND washer-dryers though. They're just too small do dry anything in and clothes never seem to come out right. They always smell of "washing machine" if you know what I mean?
 
My grandmothers both had early Maytag Halo-of-Heat dryers (DG701 and DE500). They WERE eerily quiet. Those dryers were SO overbuilt. The sad thing was, IMHO, the later 06-series dryers were not big enough to properly hold a max size load from the 06-series deep tub washers.

As far as modern dryers go, I have a Maytag "stream-of-heat", the top part of my SE1000 stack. It does a fine job of drying on its default dryness level. It's a bit on the wee side, but the service manual says the drum volume is the same as the HoH dryers, so its a fine match for the standard tub washer.

I've really admired the WP/KM dryers I've had for their massive capacity and speedy drying, but as others have said, they don't do well on small loads. Perhaps Maytag was on to something back when they put the sensors on the drum baffles. I've also never cared for top-mount lint filters. They just guarantee a nice lint-dust coating on the top of the dryer, washer, and anything else nearby. I also don't care for filters that don't come out of the machine (or don't easily come out).

As a child, we had a 1973 Speed Queen dryer that seemed to have the ideal lint filter. It was a large round screen (18"?) that slid out of a holder in the door--no stooping, and you could carry it to a trashcan and clean it there. Come to think of it, that really was an ideal dryer--stainless steel drum and and the gas valve was under a lid in the top of the machine--very easy to relight the pilot. I remember it was quite a chore to relight the pilot on the HoH gas dryers, since the pilot light itself was far to the left of the access panel. I remember dad fashioned a "roach clip" type thing to hold the match (that's all it was used for...). In retrospect, maybe if we had made sure the flapper on our exhaust hood was operating correctly, the pilot light would have stayed lit. Ah well.

T.
 
Maytag dryer

Rinso, Thanks for the input, and it is interesting on how Maytag set up there electronic sensor control and how it functions. But I would have thought that Maytag would have improved on this design when they redesigned their dryers and dropped the Halo of Heat design. The Maytag(DE608)I have was redesigned from the Halo of Heat dryers and was marketed as Maytag's "Big Load" dryer with the heat flowing from the back of the drum to the front and exhausting out just to the left of the drum opening. The electronic sensor is located below the door opening and looks very similar to the whirlpool design in the way is senses moisture in the clothing. Also, the model I have does offer a choice of low heat, reg heat, normal dry or for that extra heavy load Extra dry. But no interior light which would of been nice, but as we all know Maytag only offered that on their top of the line model. Don't get me wrong I like the dryer, and and its matching mate washer and I am glad to have gotten them since they are last of the center dial machines. But in my opinion I think the dryer is slow in responding to the load being dry and as a result I think it overdrys things. So to overcome that shortcoming, I just set a timer in the kitchen that goes off in 30 minutes to remind me to check the load.
 
Yes, when Maytag re-desgned their dryers with larger drums and an up front lint screen, they implemented models with an electronic sensor which functioned similar to other dryers. They also offered a "time and temperature" auto dry in their lower priced units for a few years. The halo of heat design was noted for being very gentle, but I suspect it was more because the dryers had no temperature selection options and didn't really get all that hot. The tiny drums were way behind the competition's offerings and I was glad to see them go, although the dryers were very well designed, constructed, and reliable.
 
I remember that cheery little chime on the perma-press cycle. A real bell and not an irritating electronic whistle or buzzer...Although coupled with the lighted panel, the whole thing at times remembed me of a pin ball machine.
 
The Vented Frigidaires if the 70's!

Loved the vented Frigidaire dryers of the 70's. Big lint screen on the door, and electronic sensor in the center rear of the drum so that clothes continually came in contact with it. Also had a lever that could be turned to stop the drum from tumbling so that the rack could be installed for drying ball caps, (no not that kind!) sneakers, and sweaters. Had a wonderful interior light and a sprinkler feature so that clothes that needed it, were ready to iron! Second choice would be the 1-18 dryer. You could fit large comforters etc in that machine and everything came out consistantly dry. Mark
 
My vote-Kitchenaid

I have to agree with Greg-The older Kitchenaids with the window on the door really rock. They are that rock solid Whirlpool design that oh-so-easy to repair and maintain. I love the hamper style door(though I realize not everyone does) and KA's have a porcelain top. I too, am not so crazy about the top mounted lint filter, as it leaves lint all over the top of the machine. On my particular tropical island, one is usually faced with wiping all the gecko poop off the dryer anyway, so whats a little lint?

I do like the pretty chime on the Maytag over those annoying buzzers that can scare the bejesus out of you.
 

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