Does anyone know what the cycle sequence and timing was like? Dan mentioned that these have a 45 second advance timer. Did these washers drain and spin after pre-wash or the soak period? Did they advance automatically into soak from prewash or from soak to the normal cycle? How long was the soak period?

I really like the concept of having a prewash and presoak before the main wash, it basically allows you pre-treat stains and hard soils automatically. 

One of my favorite soak cycles is the Maytag A407, 21 minutes of soaking with 6 minutes of agitation dispersed through out.      

Thanks, not half bad.

I like that you can soak and go directly into the main wash without draining and spinning the water out. Personally I would like to see a pre soak cycle such as fill, wash 4 minutes, soak 8 minutes, wash 2 minutes, soak 8 minutes, wash 2 minutes, soak 8 minutes, main wash. That way you don't loose your detergents and soak additives. Extra rinse as needed to handle all the detergent and soil.

I remember Whirlpool would do a half tub drain instead of a full drain between pre-wash and wash.  

I remember Whirlpool would do a half tub drain instead of a full drain between pre-wash and wash.

I wish this forum could give out awards like reddit could in its free speech days. Reply #22 is worth one.

I've always been fascinated by all the offerings and variants Whirlpool had. IIRC, that Kenmore you pictured has the 16 min mark built into the wash which I prefer actually. Some versions of the Kenmores had an options knob which let the timer advance from soak into pre-wash and into wash if the user desired. 

I do agree with you though. As beautiful as that Kitchen-Aid is, that is just to many cycles and increments rolled into one drum. Hence why I like the Maytag A407 and the washer pictured in this thread so much. An ideal timer for me is a relatively fast one that either continuously advances 360* in 65 minutes or with 48 incremental advancements. Roughly 30 minutes allocated to soak and 30 minutes to the main wash/rinse sequence. The rest like temps, speeds, Permanent Press, ect via separate knobs. Cleaner looking and less that can go wrong.  

This is how I envision my perfect version of the Kenmore 90. Don't kink shame now ;) 

Single cycle timer with no extra frills, pre-soak, prewash and main wash. Everything else is determined by the knobs. 

As I said, don't kink shame ;)

People can have their own preference.

The spin speed is directly controlled by the timer in the permanent press cycle. Contact two upper (3S) sends power to the speed selector switch in the normal cycle, however during the permanent press cool down, post wash permanent press spin and post rinse permanent press spin lower contact (32) sends power directly to the motor's high speed winding.

The times are very short, two and three minutes respectively. My guess is that Maytag didn't/couldn't add extra increments to the timer to account for the lowered speed, and technically they would need to add an over-ride contact anyway to prevent a user from inadvertently washing their wrinkle frees on a long high speed spin, so why not settle on what technically works? 

Maytag washers were so gentle in general that IMO a 2 speed motor was just over-kill. Only thing I would have done differently was add a 20 minute+ wash like GE did to account for heavy soils. 

Yet confidently make statements like this "but it was stupid when"

Adding increments to timers requires significant re-engineering of every aspect of the timer. Each new degree requires adding either shorter "dummy" advancements to preserve more complex ones or shortening all the increments in general which greatly increases the probability of miscoordination, not catching, ect while effecting high current break and making. Stall out, contact burn ups, motor burn outs, ect all drastically increase in probably of occurring the further you go from a simple 7.5 degree 48 increment timer. Think of Speed Queens AWN542 as one example.

Less is more.

Maytag agitators and wash action was not the roughest, far from it. They made the best delicate fabric and casuals washer ever conceived. Key was in not overloading. The 1 speed motor concept worked very well, as did the shortened PP spin cycle. 

Stop ripping on these beautiful, beautiful washers that gave the best fabric care in the world decade after decade. Sorry that you can't come to terms with Whirlpool losing in those categories.

Sean, weren't Maytags of the 70s and 80s the gentlest washers ever made?

I think the issues people had is overloading. Maytags if loaded forcibly enough would bog down the motor or stall out completely. Some would call this a design flaw, I call this aggressive mis-use.  

My honest opinion is that if Maytag included a longer wash time customer satisfaction would have increased.

In fact I'd go on a limb and say a gentler, yet longer wash time is better in a top load washer. It lets detergent dissolve, it lets enzymes work and it loosens heavy soil. I have for a while now envisioned heavy/normal/delicate being built into the dial with washes and soaks.

Of course. But I will admit that I think what pushed people away from Maytag was not having enough wash time on the dial. GE included up to 20 minutes of wash time which definitely helps with heavier soils. I think 14 or 16 minutes of agitation for normal might have worked better in a Maytag, 24 for heavy soils.

This how I imagine a potential modern 2025 iteration of the Maytag helical dependable care washer with straight vane agitator with no explicit permanent press cycle on the dial. The washer would use a series of soaks and longer total agitation time which would aid in cleaning, compensating for the gentle wash action with normal and heavy soiled garments while boosting stain removal. This washer would be great for families, particularly with all the staining that occurs in sports, playing, cooking, eating, ect.    

Normal wash time is 44 minutes, but still more tolerable than many newer washers. Essentially a washer with a built in auto soak cycle for normal and heavy duty fabrics, an inspiration of the Maytag A407. A Permanent Press Cool Down is built into all cycles.

66 minute continuous advance timer, 360 degrees per full timer revolution, Singer Timer Design Iteration; Cycle sequence as follows:

1 minute lead in buffer

1 minute fill - this is also technically a buffer interval to positively engage the associated wash fill contacts. 

6 minute fill -Start point of Heavy Duty Cycle-

Agitate 8 minutes

Fill and soak 2 minutes

Fill and soak 6 minutes -Start point of Normal Cycle-

Agitate 8 minutes

Fill and soak 2 minutes

Fill and soak 6 minutes -Start of Delicate Cycle-

Agitate 8 minutes

Pause 1 minute

Spin 2 minutes

Spin Spray Cold Only 1 minute --Permanent Press Cool Down-- Occurs in  all cycles and settings  

Spin 2 minutes

Spin Spray selected rinse temp 1 minute

Spin 2 minutes

Spin Spray selected rinse temp 1 minute

Spin 5 minutes

1 minute lead out buffer

2 minutes OFF timer