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Thread Number: 18401
Maytag A906 - Pushbuttons only!? |
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| Post# 298805 , Reply# 2 8/23/2008 at 19:45 (5,723 days old) by qsd-dan (West) | ||
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Post# 298952 , Reply# 4 8/24/2008 at 14:44 (5,722 days old) by gansky1  (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Post# 298956 , Reply# 5 8/24/2008 at 15:01 (5,722 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Here is a shot of the inside of a 906. It looks intimidating but makes sense if you study it for a while. The timer is on the right end of the machine with a shaft connecting it to a gearbox and a small motor on the left. When you select a cycle button, the motor turns the timer shaft to the selected cycle, the advance-motor turns off and a switch allows the power to the timer and begins the cycle. The water level control is on the left side - black circular with red dot on top. There are two levels selected depending on the cycle chosen and controlled by a solenoid. Later versions of the 906 used a completely different system - a more compact timer with two motors, one for advancing and one for running and two air-switches for the water levels. The inside of the panel on these later models looks empty compared with these. Most the parts of the 160, 900, 902 and earlier 906 machines were interchangeable. My 160 has a timer from a 906 - same part numbers but 10 years apart. The small motor and gearbox used to advance the timer is a Robertshaw unit that looks, sounds and moves at a speed strikingly similar to a rotisserie motor from some electric ranges ;-) 
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| Post# 298964 , Reply# 6 8/24/2008 at 16:14 (5,722 days old) by vivalalavatrice () | ||
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WONDERFULL!!!! Thank you so much!!! Just what I was looking for... GREAT!! Diomede | ||
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Post# 298985 , Reply# 7 8/24/2008 at 18:47 (5,722 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Post# 298987 , Reply# 8 8/24/2008 at 18:54 (5,722 days old) by fnelson487 (Palm Springs, CA) |
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Here is a picture of my 906 | ||
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Post# 298988 , Reply# 9 8/24/2008 at 18:55 (5,722 days old) by fnelson487 (Palm Springs, CA) |
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Here They Are | ||
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Post# 298990 , Reply# 10 8/24/2008 at 18:56 (5,722 days old) by fnelson487 (Palm Springs, CA) |
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BTW Greg | ||
| Post# 299054 , Reply# 11 8/25/2008 at 00:15 (5,722 days old) by irishwashguy (Salem,Oregon.............A Capital City) | ||
Greg, I sent you an e-mail a while back about this very thin | ||
| Post# 299057 , Reply# 12 8/25/2008 at 01:04 (5,722 days old) by charbee () | ||
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Be still, oh mah heart... Many thanks for the photos, guys. Absolutely beautiful machines, y'all! | ||
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Post# 299096 , Reply# 13 8/25/2008 at 09:59 (5,722 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.) |
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You start the washer and the dryer by pushing the button for | ||
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Post# 299097 , Reply# 14 8/25/2008 at 10:05 (5,722 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.) |
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Oh and I forgot
If you wanted to do a load in less than full water you selected the partial whites or partial colored cycle buttons....If I am not mistaken every other cycle(bright colors, wash & wear, delicates, and wool) used a full tub of water.... The partial whites and the partial color buttons gave you the same cycles as the full whites and full color cycle buttons did...they just gave you half a tub of water to do it in. Is this correct????? PAT
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| Post# 703158 , Reply# 15 9/13/2013 at 18:10 (3,876 days old) by maytaga806 (Howell, Michigan) | ||
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| Post# 703159 , Reply# 16 9/13/2013 at 18:31 (3,876 days old) by redcarpetdrew (Fairfield, CA) | ||
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| Post# 703163 , Reply# 17 9/13/2013 at 18:51 (3,876 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E) | ||
Water Level:
This was part of what the A906 represented - pre-programmed everything. When you press a cycle button, you get what Maytag wanted you to have; you can't alter anything. As Appliguy mentioned, some of the cycles are marked "Partial," for those times you have less than a full load. However, "Partial" was still pre-programmed for water level; you couldn't select anything but what those cycles were set up to give you.
In the Maytag brochure introducing the "New Generation" machines, the A906 is touted thusly: "Ten Programmed Cycles Provide Best Washing Procedure Automatically with the Push of a Single Button." The machine just below it, the A806, was the same machine with different controls; it was described as "A Washer for the Woman Who Wants to Set Her Own Washing Procedures." On the A806, everything was variable; you could set water level, wash temp, rinse temp, cycle, length of cycle, agitation speed, soak, and pre-wash. I have an A806, and it's wonderful. But I would not turn down an A906, trust me - I dream of owning one someday. If you want some beautiful eye candy, the 1966 Maytag "New Generation" brochure is available through Automatic Ephemera; just go to www.automatice.org... and search on "Maytag." The download is very reasonably priced. It shows the full Maytag automatic washer and dryer line, including exhaustive information and photos for the A906 and the matching DE906 dryer, in glorious Technicolor. | ||
| Post# 703167 , Reply# 18 9/13/2013 at 19:17 (3,876 days old) by maytaga806 (Howell, Michigan) | ||
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| Post# 703168 , Reply# 19 9/13/2013 at 19:19 (3,876 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E) | ||
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The A906 Cycles Were:
- Delicate (Warm wash, cold rinse)
- Wool (Cold wash, cold rinse) - Wash 'n Wear; changed to Perm Press on later machines (Warm wash, cool-down rinse) - Full White Load (Hot wash, warm rinse) - Partial White Load (Hot wash, warm rinse) - Full Colored Load (Warm wash, cold rinse) - Partial Colored Load (Warm wash, cold rinse) - Bright Colors (Cold wash, cold rinse) - Rinse (Cold) - Spin Dri (Just what it says) Preset fills were 40 gallons on full-load cycles, 29-1/2 gallons on partial-load cycles, 19 gallons on the Rinse cycle. | ||
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Post# 703189 , Reply# 20 9/13/2013 at 22:07 (3,876 days old) by DaveAmKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Post# 703198 , Reply# 21 9/13/2013 at 23:36 (3,876 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN) |
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 2 things:
1. During the "gray button" era, the machines were the model 160 (1959-1961), A900 (1961-1964) & A902 (1964-1966). The A906 was introduced in January of 1966 and discontinued in 1972.
2. There was never a level switch on the back of the panel for a full or partial load. That was always determined by the button pushed. From 1959 until the revised timer this was controlled by a solenoid that changed the position of the diaphram on the pressure switch, after the revised timer was introduced, there were 2 pre-set switches and the timer would select which one to use.
I have EVERY service manual every published on these machines and I have never seen mentioned anywhere that the water level could be anything other than FULL or PARTIAL based on the cycle selected.
There was a cancel button on the back up until the revised Kingston timer was introduced in the late 1960s and the early model 160S machines did have a 3 position dial on the top to determine suds save and suds return. | ||
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Post# 703234 , Reply# 22 9/14/2013 at 09:01 (3,876 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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There was never a level switch on back for full or partial l
Oh, OK...
It was actually a hard-cover book & I believe there was also one for Maytag dryers, too... That library (in Hamtramck, MI, actually) had a lot of hardcover "Chilton-style" books on various makes of washers & dryers (a Westinghouse dryer one sticks out in my memory too... And I'm sure a slant-front Westinghouse washer and dryer book was also kept handy!)... Frequented the area to visit a record store there, which moved just as frequently, too... -- Dave | ||
| Post# 703242 , Reply# 23 9/14/2013 at 10:17 (3,876 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E) | ||
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One Thing to Remember:
As wonderful as 906s were and are, the first-series A806 is exactly the same machine from the console down - and much more plentiful.
I would venture to say this is because prospective purchasers looking at the brochure or machines on the sales floor could easily see that the 906 was automatic as all Hell, but what it was not was versatile. This was in stark contrast to the Lady Kenmores of that era, with their three speeds, their double row of pushbuttons for cycles and a timer dial that allowed you to play and play and play with cycle modifications. So, if you had any desire whatever to be in charge of what happened to your clothes, and you wanted a Maytag, the A806 was the natural choice. I personally consider both the A906 and the A806 top-of-the-line machines. One was a TOL pre-programmed machine, the other a TOL user-variable machine. P.S.: The survival rate for A806s seems to be much higher than for the Lady K competition; less mechanical complexity appears to have paid off for the Maytag machines. | ||
| Post# 703250 , Reply# 24 9/14/2013 at 11:57 (3,876 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E) | ||
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A906 vs. Lady Kenmore:
There was one other factor that drove Lady Kenmores to much higher sales than Maytag ever achieved with the A906 or even the A806 - price.
List price on the A906 was around $429.95, or just over three grand in today's puny currency. The A806 was about $409.95 list, making it over $2800 at present-day pricing (since Maytags were sold by independent dealers who set their own prices, exact figures are hard to come by; these prices are from penciled notations in Maytag brochures I've seen). The 1966 Lady K was list-priced at $239.95, or about $1675 in today's money. That is a huge difference. As we know, the higher purchase price of a Maytag often paid off in greater durability, but the average consumer has no idea what's under the hood of anything they buy. Styling and features are the drivers for most people, and those were qualities the Lady K possessed in abundance. | ||
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