Maytag clothes dryer tune up

[gmerkt]

Everything mechanical needs looking after. We have a pair of laundry machines that we bought in 1987 when we moved into this house. We moved from an area with natural gas service; at the time we bought this place, there was no gas service. So I left my old laundry machines behind. We were already spending a lot of money to move, so I didn't buy fancy replacements. But I did buy basic Maytag machines. The kind that used to be made in Newton, Iowa. The basic machines were nothing fancy, just electro-mechanical controls, no gee-whiz features.

The Maytags have been very good to us. I may have had to replace the belts on the washing machine, but I don't remember. The dryer I've been into about three times. It's needed a drum roller replaced once, and I've replaced the belt a couple of times. Lately, one of the rollers started making an intermittent screeching sound so I knew "it was time" again. I started pricing parts online, and you can spend a lot of money with "traditional" appliance parts firms. Or you can find relative bargains by buying the packaged kit that contains everything needed to tune up the drum. Both rollers, two roller spindles, idler pulley, belt, and the little "glides" that act as a kind of bearing on the forward edge of the drum. So I bought one of these kits for $35 with free shipping.

I pulled the front off the machine before the parts arrived and got started. It was in major need of cleaning. I vacuumed out the interior, the motor housing, and all of the ducting. I've been a little concerned that the vent ducting was getting fluffy inside; no need of having a house fire due to a dirty duct. But that may not be quite as likely with an electric unit. I'm not sure, but certainly the air will flow better with clean ducting. Plus, I found two dimes and a penny in there.

It's all back together now and running quietly. The bushings in the drum rollers are made of some kind of iron/bronze alloy that is self lubricating. Just the same, I put a tiny drop of graphite lock lube on each spindle to let them seat a bit. But not enough to attract dust.

One of my two daughters is married to a knucklehead. He works in apartment building maintenance. In fact, he supervises a crew. They have gone through I don't know how many laundry machines in their 21 year marriage. In recent years, when their existing unit craps out, he brings home something from work that is left over. He tells me they have a little shop where they work on apartment unit appliances (they have hundreds of units). Sometimes, what he brings home is an apartment sized unit. Like the ones that come in pairs and stack one on the other. They needed a replacement washing machine at home, so he brought home a Bosch apartment sized one. Half of a set. He put a 110v cord on it and couldn't get it to work. So he kicked it outside and got something else. I was over there last year working on a project and looked at the Bosch. It looked like a pretty nice little machine, so I asked if I could have it and was told yes. I got it home, first thing I did was look at the manufacturer's label. It said 220v, no wonder my son-in-law couldn't get it to work on 110v. Definite supervisory material. Anyway, I cleaned up the Bosch and sold it for $75 on CL.

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[Hotdog 7]

It's quite funny to read this post. I am in the process of moving to a new home on the opposite side of the state, and part of that includes buying a new washer and dryer set. I've been looking heavily at Maytag because Speed Queen is out of my price range. Unfortunately, it seems modern Maytag is nowhere near as good as it once was (it was actually bought by Whirlpool in 2006). However, if you buy Maytag's commercial line - it's closer to pre-Whirlpool in terms of quality and simplicity.

 

[Mikej]

Wifey and I have been together 37 years. We've had two W & D sets in that time. The first I believe was a few years before we bought our home in 2001. A set of Sears W&D that my parents gave us. With many years already on them, Dad was one of the original do-it-yourselfer's so they had mileage on them. At some point, 10 years maybe, don't recall why, but we got a new set. So the ones we have now, NOT Maytag style with a belt, are probably close to 15 YO. I've done the repairs Mr. @gmerkt has done on the dryer. And the washer had a coupling between motor and transmission break, that I replaced a block that fingers on the motor side mate into.

This last winter, it got down to 13 degrees on my temp gauge. Winds had to be gusting to 40mph. So bad it took the weighted plywood and heavy tarps of my firewood pile on the East side of the house. Which hasn't happened since we bought the place in 2001. I'd setup a couple of incandescent utility lights in the garage by the semi exposed water pipes to the washer, like I usually do, to help assure the feed lines/pipes don't freeze.
Wifey had to work that morning, so was up at 4:15. She came into the bedroom and woke me up with "There's something wrong with the washer and it won't stop running!" I jumped up and ran to the garage door, opened it and heard water running. I go down the four concrete stairs and see water flowing from the washer through the garage and under the garage door to the driveway. I lift the washer lid and water is to the top and overflowing. (I'm wearing just my under ware, nothing else, BTW) I'm standing on the cold cold concrete, in cold water.
It turned out that the blue plastic mixing valve froze and cracked. Spewing water from under the washer case, which filled the tub to overflowing. We were pretty lucky that our 2-car garage floor is slightly downhill to the door. And the majority of the water stayed in the center of the garage. We don't keep cars in our garage so there was all manor of things that didn't get messed up from the water.

Only repairs needed to fix the washer were a new mixing valve=$10.00. And the safety switch that stops the washer when the lid is opened had mal-functioned, which required connecting the two wires that went to the switch. I'm pretty lucky here in NE cully, we have a used appliance store/repair shop within a couple hundred yard of our home! The guy that runs the shop told me that they can't keep these old style washers/dryer on the floor! I'll never have on of new one if I can help it!

 

[jbett98]

Speed Queen is the best. A friend of mine was given a brand new coin op set from his dad when he got married 35 years ago.
His dad owned rental properties and I suspect the wedding gift was a tax write off for his dad.
The two machines are still running great and they have used the same handful of quarters that are used to turn the machines on.

 

[gmerkt]

it seems modern Maytag is nowhere near as good as it once was (it was actually bought by Whirlpool in 2006).

This. Consumer grade is no longer special. Which is an incentive to keep the older units going to the extent possible.

 

[gmerkt]

Speed Queen

Off topic to my own thread. Will I get in trouble?

Anyway, Speed Queen. That reminded me, when I was a kid, my mom had one of those sit-down ironing machines with the big drum press roller on it. It was a Speed Queen. Back in time before Wash and Wear fabrics came along, and when lots of men needed pressed shirts to go to work.

Think about it, the trade name Speed Queen might be considered a misogynistic slur, implying that household appliances should be reserved for women's use.

 

[CLT65]

Timely topic. My wife just told me today that we need a new dryer. Apparently it's been randomly turning itself off for a while now. I haven't tore into it yet, but it sounds like just a sensor or switch to me.

I don't know why she would think we need a new one. For one thing, this is what I do - troubleshooting and repair of machines and equipment far larger and more complex than a mere dryer. And secondly, this is only the second dryer we've owned in the last 22 years.

The first set was a used, mismatched set I bought used from a coworker. They still worked when we replaced them a couple years ago, but I found a much nicer used set at an estate sale for less than a hundred bucks.

I'm really cheap when it comes to appliances. The only thing I've ever bought new was a water heater. Estate sales are the best for stuff like this. Just a couple weeks ago I bought a bed for my daughter for $25 (guest room bed, mattress looks new), a very nice large microwave (only a couple years old, looks unused, with the manual and warranty card inside) for $20, and an equally good condition small window air conditioner for $25. Coincidentally these are all things that we needed; I've just been putting off spending the money.

Now I just need to find a dishwasher. Ours still works, but I've fixed it multiple times and it's really just about worn out.

 

[jbett98]

I had a set of coin op Speed Queen laundry machines in the laundry room of the apartment building I managed, and they made a lot of money with no down time.

 

[jbett98]

As a side hustle, I haul scrap metal when the prices are worth enough to warrant the fuel costs in picking it up around my area.
A large part of any load consists of washers & dryers, and I've found that usually only one of the set is actually broken and the person getting rid of them is buying a new set because they want them to match in appearances.
A lot of times it's a simple fix, especially with the older ones that are made to last, unlike the junk they're selling now.
A common simple repair needed is the four agitator dogs located in the top of the washers agitator tower, the water hose inlet screens are clogged or the dryer is just clogged with lint.
I always hear the owners state that the w/d they're throwing away, were the best they've ever owned.
I fix them if I can, and donate them to young couples who can't afford to buy new at the big box stores.

 

[Mikej]

Off topic to my own thread. Will I get in trouble?

Anyway, Speed Queen. That reminded me, when I was a kid, my mom had one of those sit-down ironing machines with the big drum press roller on it. It was a Speed Queen. Back in time before Wash and Wear fabrics came along, and when lots of men needed pressed shirts to go to work.

Think about it, the trade name Speed Queen might be considered a misogynistic slur, implying that household appliances should be reserved for women's use.

"Ironrite"


A good friend's mom had one of those. We still see them from time to time in various shops and estate sales. Looked like there was a heck of a learning curve to 'em. And they must have been kind of spendy. My folks wouldn't but something like that in those days.