POD 11/30/12 MAYTAG HOH DRYER


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Thread Number: 43743
POD 11/30/12 MAYTAG HOH DRYER

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Post# 642782 11/30/2012 at 05:55 (4,162 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I remember this clear demonstration cabinet. It was in the left front window of our Economy Auto Store with a red neon tube glowing in a circle at the front. It had clothes in it. The most dramatic sighting of this was one Saturday night in the winter. All of the stores had closed and it was dark at about 6 PM. We were in the car waiting for mom in the Krogers. The entire Economy Auto store was dark except for this dryer running with one overhead spotlight on it. The feature about the filtered incoming air was in a sales book I browsed in a hardware store or some other place where appliances were not at the forefront of the male sales staff's interest. They had a table with all of the brands of dryers and where the air intake was located. If it was at or near the floor, they made a big deal about how dirty air was being sucked in and blown through the clean clothes in the dryer. I am sure that most housewives loved hearing about the dust and dirt in their homes. The Maytag's air intake was higher on the back of the cabinet and, as was mentioned under the features, was pulled through the cabinet before passing over the heating element to air cool the cabinet somewhat. The sad thing was that Maytag continued to use up the old wide cabinets for a dryer that would fit into a narrower cabinet. Maytag's older style dryer with the HUGE perforated drum was check rated by Consumer Reports, but the HOH never was. I don't know what they dried in 26 minutes, but it must have been something like a set of twin sheets because even with stuff spun in a 67 Frigidaire Imperial with Rapidry 1000, it took a long time to dry a load with that lower wattage heating element.

Post# 642964 , Reply# 1 11/30/2012 at 17:16 (4,161 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA)
Checkrate/Likes *HOH - 26 minutes* So, I have never had any long term exposure to a HOH dryer. Is there any truth to the 26 minute drying time? Malcolm

Post# 642971 , Reply# 2 11/30/2012 at 17:56 (4,161 days old) by qsd-dan (West)
Checkrate/Likes Depends on the load. Maybe if it was an underloaded load from a short tub. I do have a 7'X 8' fleece blanket that's dry in 8-10 minutes in an HOH. Takes my '81 Kenmore a little more than 20 minutes. I'd say the average full load (mixture of shirts/pants/socks) from a '66-'06 tall tub 2 belt Maytag washer takes about 40 minutes to dry in an electric HOH.

Post# 642986 , Reply# 3 11/30/2012 at 19:04 (4,161 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 And electric HOHs are faster than the gas version.

Post# 643111 , Reply# 4 12/1/2012 at 08:31 (4,161 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Drying Speed On HOH Dryers* Were never very fast and it was probably the only gas dryer where the drying speed was even a little slower in the gas versions. On the electric models they only had a 4800 watt heating element which is 800 watts less than a WP or KM electric dryer, so right out of the starting gate they were going to lose. This coupled with a blower that didn't always run at full speed and too small a lint screen that would get restricted during the first load and a very sensitive hi limit thermostat [ necessary because of the heaters close proximity to a load of eventually dry clothing ] they could never turnout really large loads fast. HOH were never a great design and MT realized [ without being forced to change by the Department Of Energy or any other government entity ] that it was not a great design and changed voluntarily, they did the same thing with the ill designed reverse rack dishwashers that most customers hated.

Post# 643189 , Reply# 5 12/1/2012 at 13:41 (4,161 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)
Checkrate/Likes 3 I would agree that the HOH dryer was not a great dryer in terms of general performance. One of my daily drivers is a 1967 DG806. A large load of heavy cottons from my A806 generally takes an hour to dry in the gas HOH. My other two dryers are a 2002 gas WP and a 1994 electric Maytag DC. The same load as above takes 40 min in the gas WP and about 45 minutes in the electric DC. I had an electric HOH hooked up for a short time would agree that the gas version is a slightly poorer performer than the electric version. The electric could do the same load in 55 minutes! The one thing that the HOH does do nicely is bulky things like comforters and pillows. A comforter will dry completely without turning in a HOH dryer while it will need to be turned every 15-20 minutes in the WP if you expect to get it dry. On the other hand, the HOH is a piss-poor performer with modern wrinkle-resistant cotton dress shirts. The WP with its HUGE drum and the fact that it's upper RH corner exhaust seems to pull lighter weight items like dress shirts all the way to the top of the drum and then drop them in front of the heat stream wins hands down for these!!! Incidentally, I don't remember anyone asking for a review of the design or performance of the Maytag RR dishwasher in this thread.

Post# 643232 , Reply# 6 12/1/2012 at 16:50 (4,160 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 When I worked in the housewares dept, a lady came in one day with a nylon bath rug. It was a beautiful deep blue. As she laid it out on the counter, I could see a circular pattern of squares sort of crushed into the pile. I looked at it and up at her and told her that she had a Maytag dryer. She was sort of surprised and said yes she did. I explained that she had put the rug in the dryer by itself and it got stuck with the pile side to the lint filter. The heat baked the grid pattern into the pile. Since the customer was always right at Rich's, I gave her a new rug with instructions on drying it with other items. I got the rug for a dollar, washed it in warm water and dried it in my Philco Duomatic and the pile looked like new for about a decade.

Post# 643233 , Reply# 7 12/1/2012 at 16:58 (4,160 days old) by rinso (Meridian Idaho)
Checkrate/Likes I have owned two HOH dryers back in the 60's; one was electric, the other was gas. The gas machine was indeed slower than the already slow electric model. The machines were designed for quietness, gentleness, and reliability. However, their performance was mediocre at best. What in the world were Maytag engineers thinking when they made a dryer with such a tiny drum in the days that wrinkle-resistant fabrics were just getting their start? My matching 806 washer had twice the capacity that the dryer did. Also, the dryer just didn't get hot enough at the beginning of a load of wet clothes to give them a good start. The dryer took forever on a load of cottons. I will have to say that the electronic moisture controls in both HOH dryers were far more accurate than my current Electrolux IQ dryer.

Post# 643256 , Reply# 8 12/1/2012 at 18:59 (4,160 days old) by Volvoguy87 (Cincinnati, OH)
Checkrate/Likes 3 *HoH* I'm using electronic control Maytag HoH dryers right now and I must politely disagree. I find that the electric versions (I have no experience with gas versions) are quite good. The electronic moisture sensor system is the best I've ever used, by far. I find that a load from the A806 dries in 40-45 minutes, a bit longer for jeans or towels. I think the Whirlpool 29" dryer is a generally superior design, but the Maytag HoH is a solid performer in my book. Dave

Post# 643264 , Reply# 9 12/1/2012 at 19:45 (4,160 days old) by qsd-dan (West)
Checkrate/Likes Wrinkling issues in the HOH's stem from a short cool down period with the original 120F cool down thermostat. A trick I found to eliminate all wrinkling issues was installing an adjustable cool down thermostat. I use a Gemline and set it all the way down to 90F. This gives a 10 minute cool down during the winter months before shutting off. During the summer, I just glance at my watch when I hear the bell chime and remove the clothes 10 minutes later. The dryer will only continue to run in "air fluff" mode for a while until shutting off if one forgets.

Post# 643266 , Reply# 10 12/1/2012 at 19:50 (4,160 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 The HOH electronic dryness control is quite good, but no one was saying it is not. I put the adjustable cool down thermostat in my 806 in 1981 and it definitely is an improvement.

Post# 643296 , Reply# 11 12/1/2012 at 22:21 (4,160 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Dan, I would agree with you that SOME wrinkling issues in HOH stem from a short cool-down period. I did an experiment in this regard a while back. For a while I put a toggle switch on the back of the control panel that by-passed the cool-down stat completely and set up an infinite "press-care" situation. I didn't find that my wrinkle resistant dress-shirts to be appreciably less wrinkled. For those, at least, the WP does the best job. (The Maytag SOH is, incidentally, in the middle on this issue.} I just don't think that the drum is big enough and that the clothes circulation pattern varies enough in the HOH to really work the wrinkles to tumble out of TODAY'S wrinkle resistant cotton fabrics. I will say, though, if you jam a HOH full of towels or jeans that it will eventually get them all dry. I'm not sure that a drum of that size with a different airflow pattern could do that! Mark.

Post# 643313 , Reply# 12 12/2/2012 at 00:12 (4,160 days old) by qsd-dan (West)
Checkrate/Likes Weird. With a 10 minute cool down, I can't tell a difference at all in wrinkling whether I use HOH, SOH, or WP/KM style dryers I do have a temper valve and hot/warm items are spray and deep rinsed at 120F. Cold items around 83-85F. I wonder if the higher temps make a difference?

Post# 643319 , Reply# 13 12/2/2012 at 00:44 (4,160 days old) by Bob331 ()
Checkrate/Likes My 641c electric does a great job of drying. A load of cotton will dry in about 40 minutes. The only problem I have is that there is no cool down period. Even with the wash and wear setting I get no chime. The dryer just shuts off hot. Must be a timer issue.

Post# 643367 , Reply# 14 12/2/2012 at 08:04 (4,160 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )
Checkrate/Likes 2 Funny I should find this thread after my experience Friday. This last Friday I decided to change out my summer mattress pad for my electric one now that "winter" has come to WI. Well, I washed & rinsed the summer pad in my J2L so that I could run it through the wringer because there's always an air pocket where water gets trapped. I then spun it in my A806s to remove more water, and then into the DE606 it went. Now mind you, this pad is quite thick & bulky, but in about 35 minutes it was for the most part dry with only one small corner just barely moist. I was most impressed. Hats off to Newton, IA. This post was last edited 12/02/2012 at 10:43

Post# 643451 , Reply# 15 12/2/2012 at 14:13 (4,160 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA)
Checkrate/Likes *Interesting Topic - ( Tumble Pattern )* I recall that the 'standard capacity' Whirlpool dryer had a drum with two bumps and a single paddle. Wondering how the tumble pattern might have been effected by this design as opposed to the three paddle design of the bigger drum. Anyone have any opinions on the matter? Malcolm

Post# 643474 , Reply# 16 12/2/2012 at 14:54 (4,159 days old) by cadman (Cedar Falls, IA)
Checkrate/Likes 3 I'm with Dave on this one- Our primary dryer arrangement is a pair of HOH's...if I'm running multiple washers simultaneously I'll fire both up. Maybe not the biggest drums around, but they're so quiet and well built. I average about 45 min per load. -Cory

Post# 643506 , Reply# 17 12/2/2012 at 16:11 (4,159 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 The single paddle was called the Variator Baffle. The only trouble I ever had with any WP design dryer with a solid bulkhead was the tendency of the powerful exhaust suction causing sheets to roll up. If the filter has a good amount of lint to cut down the suction, the sheets don't roll. I have two dryers with windows, one round window and one rectangular so I have been able to observe the action. The only cure was the WP dryer with the variable tumble speed. It set to high, the sheets are held more closely to the drum & don't have the chance to roll.

Post# 643624 , Reply# 18 12/2/2012 at 23:37 (4,159 days old) by rinso (Meridian Idaho)
Checkrate/Likes My HOH dryers were the quietest and most accurate with moisture sensing of any I've owned. The drum and pulley assemblies rest on a frame that is anchored to the bottom plate. On start up, one never heard the thump, thump, thump of machines which wind the drive belt around the drum directly.

Post# 643652 , Reply# 19 12/3/2012 at 03:49 (4,159 days old) by MikeKLondon (London)
Checkrate/Likes *HOH ?* Hi Sorry but what is HOH??

Post# 643655 , Reply# 20 12/3/2012 at 06:03 (4,159 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *HOH=* Halo of Heat, Maytag's description of a dryer design introduced about 1957 where the electric heating element was positioned in front of the drum in a circle. Air was drawn over the heating element, thru the drum and then exhausted from the center of the rear of the drum. With the heating element in front and the blower mounted at the center rear of the drum, it made for a shallow drum, much smaller than their previous check rated dryer. In the original Highlanders, the drum was not porcelain, but zinc-coated steel. An aunt of mine had to have her 1957 dryer drum "recoated" in the 70s but with what, where or how, I do not know. Maytag kept this ancient engineering with all of the heavy steel construction way past other dryers in their refusal to update a design as if their machines were memorials to someone. Rinso, if your dryers had sat for any length of time and the belts had developed flat spots, you would have heard thumping when it was in operation. My 1967 GE does not thump and it has the belt around the porcelain drum.

Post# 643666 , Reply# 21 12/3/2012 at 08:05 (4,159 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Noise And HOH Dryers* HOH dryers could be very quite dryers but with Maytag's spotty quality control the last several years of production of the HOH dryer did not guarantee you a quite smooth running dryer. I started working for MT in 1973 , we were selling and servicing MT appliances and quite a few MT HOH dryers had fairly severe noise problems from the get go. We often had to replace poorly balanced motors and blowers and tighten and add washers to rear panel screws to reduce annoying vibrations. And everyone I am not just picking on Maytag products, I would not have any Whirlpool built dryer as a daily driver that was built before 1966, these earlier WP built dryers were not only inefficient, had small capacity's and often had noise problems. I try to share my experiences sharing from selling and repairing appliances for over 40 years for our companies over 50,000 customers so that everyone that is interested in these cool older appliances can get realistic reviews about how these appliances worked, how reliable they were and what it took to fix and rebuild them.

Post# 643671 , Reply# 22 12/3/2012 at 08:24 (4,159 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E)
Checkrate/Likes *Mike:* The HOH is also sometimes referred to affectionately as the "Halo from Hell" due to the difficulty of servicing its heating element. It's not as bad as all that, I understand, but it's not a breeze like later Maytag heating elements were, either.

Post# 643697 , Reply# 23 12/3/2012 at 10:35 (4,159 days old) by MikeKLondon (London)
Checkrate/Likes *Thanks* Many Thanks for the info. I never understand why so many people say that there dryers seem to take so long to dye a load mine dries a full load in around 40 minutes MAX on low temp and 10 of that is cool -downI would have thought that give the size of most dryers in the US that would dry a lot quicker

Post# 643706 , Reply# 24 12/3/2012 at 11:34 (4,159 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)
Checkrate/Likes 1 From the archives/Combo52 shows the rear workings of the HOH dryer components.

Post# 643707 , Reply# 25 12/3/2012 at 11:35 (4,159 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)
Checkrate/Likes 1 From the archives/Combo52 bench test a HOH heating element. A simple and elegant design.

Post# 643711 , Reply# 26 12/3/2012 at 11:41 (4,159 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)
Checkrate/Likes 1958 Print ad demonstrating the advantages of the Maytag Halo of Heat drying system. "Safe as Sunshine!"

Post# 643713 , Reply# 27 12/3/2012 at 11:46 (4,159 days old) by tecnopolis (Ocala/Dunnellon, Florida 34481)
Checkrate/Likes "No Hot Spots!"

Post# 643714 , Reply# 28 12/3/2012 at 11:46 (4,159 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 What Halo of Heat dryer are you using that provides a 10 minute cooldown? I have never seen a HOH with the timer dial so marked and on the electronic control dryers the cooldown was thermostatic. Even the Perma Press cycle on my mom's SOH only had a 7 minute cooldown.

Post# 643720 , Reply# 29 12/3/2012 at 12:17 (4,159 days old) by akronman (Akron/Cleveland Ohio)
Checkrate/Likes *adjustable thermo* 2 folks up above both mention a 90 degree thermostat instead of 120 for the final cooldown. Any PN# I can search for that? It sounds like a pefect aftermarket change for my DE608. Thanks Mark

Post# 643780 , Reply# 30 12/3/2012 at 18:06 (4,158 days old) by whirlaway (Hampton Virginia)
Checkrate/Likes *Kenmore Seems Ok!* I use a 1955 Kenmore dryer with the matching washer as my everyday machines,it dries in about 35 min on med heat,its called a high speed dryer on the front top.It also has a basket type of lint filter you remove from the top rear,it sure catches alot of lint.I clean it after every load.No problems with it,buts it not as quiet as the 57 Kenmore I have without a lint filter,it also has a lighted drum and an ultraviolet bulb in it,the clothes smell so good and I dont and never have used fabric softeners or dryer sheets in either one.But it does have the same pulley set-up as the Maytag in the previous threads. Thanks!

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