Today during my much needed lunch break while participating in one of our civil duties (jury duty) as citizens of the United States, I brought some goodies over to the house to do some testing. Take a look at the results!

All the bulbs below were procured from Atlanta Light Bulbs. Decent prices, and a CRAZY array of strange bulbs - perfect for the vintage appliance collectors such as ourselves! I'll include the PN's later in the thread so that when archived folks can reference back if needed.

First off - what is wrong with this picture? Perhaps a missing bulb for this very sad push button Maytag? And no - it isn't the starter bought at Ace. ;-) Too bad the standard 18" T12 (or is it a T8?) found in all other lighted panel Maytags does not apply to this washer. Since this was TOL - they wanted the light to fill the WHOLE panel. Well, maybe the pressure switch and timer are in the way for the standard brackets. Where in the heck do you find a F20T12 bulb that is 22" long? Not at your local Menards - that is for sure!

After many failed attempts at trying to find a place locally to get the missing bulb, and asking Greg *twice* to see what number of bulb was in his machine - I finally found a match during a very late night internet search a few months back.

While the hit wasn't a cool white replacement like that the factory provided, it was the only 22" T12 bulb I could find anywhere. So a day light color it was.

Bulb number: F20 T12/DW/22"

It does!

Gives new meaning to the term light lunch

I've been waiting to see this for almost 2 years now. When I found the panel it was missing the bulb. After getting the machine together last January, I've been searching and finally placed the order last month.

Success!

And it wouldn't be complete without the required B/W picture (just a few more weeks Greg.....)

Okay, I think we all have a good idea as to how impossible intermediate base germ bulbs are to find. They haven't been used in a mainstream application for decades now - and pretty much most NOS stock is just about depleted.

Right before placing the order, it hit me to see what selections of germ bulbs Atlanta Light Bulbs had. Sure enough, they had an intermediate base bulb, but the glass shape was very different. I decided to give it a shot anyway.

On the right - you have your standard germicidal bulb (taken from a 1952 Whirlpool). On the left - you have a "MADE IN JAPAN" bulb. Looks totally different - right? I had big doubts about this one (and I didn't know anything was still being made in Japan)...

notice something different about the Whirlpool?

This glow reminds me of something from a horror movie...

Yeah - I know it doesn't look quite right - but I'll take it anyway. Just way too cool. Again, have been waiting about a year to finally see that button lit up.

Bulb number: GTL3

Also picked up the obscure bulb for the 1964 Lady Kenmore dryer (26" T8 vs. the easier to find 24" T8). If you ever have a strange bulb that you are looking for - give these guys a shot.

Now what to do with the 8 bayonet base germicidal bulbs I have - clean some air?

Ben

That is too cool, Ben! I love the daylight bulb in the Maytag - what a glow. Is the new Japanese bulb still a germicidal bulb? It looks brighter...maybe more powerful? Could come in hand in this age of anti-biotic resistant "superbugs" - at least you won't have any in the wash.

Ben that Maytag looks just fantasic, so glad that you finally have a bulb for it. The night picture is breath-taking. Terry

Light lunch --- indeed :D

Greg - here is a link and the specs from the Atlanta page:

3W GERMICIDAL E17 UV LAMP INTERMEDIATE BASE GTL3 GENERIC

It came with a wonderful flyer indicating that materials could be considered hazardous and proper disposal would be needed. Oh yeah, that thing about proper eye protection, gloves and clothing too. It appears to be more of a blue than a blue-green, but I'll take that over darkness. And killing those newer germs is always satisfying.

It does appear to be brighter - but with less wattage? I believe the older bulbs are labeled as 4 watt.

That is good information to have. I looked all over the place about three years ago trying to find a bulb for an old Kenmore------ and I lived in Atlanta at the time!

Good lighting on the Maytag Ben! Looks great!

I used one of the modern UV germ bulbs in this 1961 Whirlpool that I restored in 2003. Gregm now has it in his collection. The colour looks the same to me on all these UV bulbs. Blue colour is more noticed than green, new style or old style bulb. They sure make a nice glow! <: Can you smell the ozone smell? I always can with all my machines that feature the UV bulb.

This 56 Kenmore has the orignal UV bulb. I do not notice any change in the colour of the light between these two machines.

They are both blue, and thats cool cause....
If you ain't blue, then you ain't true! lol! <:

When Ben asked "What's wrong with this picture?", I immediately answered "There's no center dial!"

Atlanta light bulb is right around the corner from my house. It's a great little shop...

I must say the pics of your dryer with the light on in the darken room is a thing of beauty. You might want to enlarge and print and frame it. Would look great hanging on a wall with the collection. If only they would make machines like that again. Thank goodness we were there to witness first hand while growing up these marvelous appliances. Jon

The perfect match (down to the color) for my DE-750 pushbutton dryer......*snif* *snif*

Absolutely gorgeous!! Any possibility of a video?

Hey Ben i have several maytag pushbutton front lite panel machines and i bought replacement lamps at Lowes and home depot they are a common light and are very inexpensive John

Hey John -

Would the push button machines that you have replaced bulbs on be 906 machines? I know the 906 machines use the standard 18" bulb that the 806 and prior lighted panel machines use. I think Maytag got smart on the re-design of the '06 machines and used as many common parts on the 906 as possible - one being the bulb.

The earlier 160/900/902 machines use the funky 22" bulb. I had scoped out the box stores locally to no avail.

Ben

That "Ushio" germicidal lamp looks just like the one in a Philips Sonicare toothbrush UV sterilizer I just bought.

Nice work Ben, always good to know where the latest spares are available, Now have you found ANY bulbs at all to light up my Maytag A206!!!, I just keep waiting for it to burst into life when I turn that dial and its just not happening!!!cheers, Mike