Thread Number: 90005  /  Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Single-speed Center-dial Maytags: "AUTOMATIC" filler or cycle buttons?
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Post# 1145958   4/7/2022 at 10:23 (721 days old) by WoodJack99 (Massachusetts/Virginia, USA)        

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So, it seems many people didn't particularly care for the "AUTOMATIC" blank button on the lower-end, single-speed late 60s/70s/early 1980 center-dial 'Tags, where the speed buttons would be on a 2-speed model. Like the A10X and A308 have the blank, where as the A40X has the cycle buttons there instead of on the dial. What do you prefer?






Post# 1145960 , Reply# 1   4/7/2022 at 11:00 (721 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

When Automatic replaces the two speed buttons, you have a single speed washer, not the safest for delicates because it gave alternating periods of normal agitation and just sitting there doing nothing. If this is what you have and you need to wash something delicate, use the full water level to keep delicate loads as far above the thrashing vanes as possible because while not the most effective agitation compared to other washers it was far from the most gentle. There was a time when my mother was using a walker when she would take a few steps then pause. I called it Fabric Matic walking.

Post# 1145963 , Reply# 2   4/7/2022 at 11:22 (721 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806)        

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I prefer 2 speed machines. Sometimes I’ll wash a small lightly soiled load on gentle to save wear and tear on clothes and the machine along with not kicking too many suds up when washing a small load. Gentle speed also gives you the option to do a true permanent press cycle instead of a regular speed permanent press cycle which is redundant.

Post# 1145969 , Reply# 3   4/7/2022 at 13:25 (720 days old) by robbinsandmyers (Conn)        

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When I first got my 1974 A407 I thought it was 2 speed with the regular, gentile, permanent press buttons. I always use regular setting but I think if I press gentile while its washing it just stops.

Post# 1145973 , Reply# 4   4/7/2022 at 13:37 (720 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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A407 is a programmable FabricMatic model, 1-speed.  The Delicate button changes the active timer circuitry so there are periods of agitation and pause/soaking to get a less-aggressive action.  I believe the user instructions advise to wash smaller loads always use a full fill for delicates so the clothes float loosely and ride the water currents instead of being beaten by the fins.  Other FabricMatic models may have a separate timer cycle for Delicate.


Post# 1145985 , Reply# 5   4/7/2022 at 14:43 (720 days old) by peteski50 (New York)        
Maytag!

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The later center dials like the 308 have the separate delicate cycle - I always thought that was easier than pushing a button. After the 610 model they stopped making the push button fabric-matic. I liked it on the dial anyway but perfered the 2 speed models. This fabric=matic was maytags way to get more people to purchase their product. I knew a few people that had the 510 & 511 series. My Mom had the TOL 810 (real nice machine). I knew a few people also that had the 710 model that was probably the only 3 speed combination model produced.


Post# 1146026 , Reply# 6   4/7/2022 at 19:34 (720 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Two speed motors were not that much more expensive than single speed motors, but these models were indicative of what a sh***y company Maytag was. Everyone had a BOL single speed model or two to offer for a little over $130.00 for veterinary hospitals or the Catholic Hospital nursery ads in 50s and 60s magazines or for Sears to offer for sale to get people into their stores, but for Maytag to try to sell these machines as a superior brand while they lacked features more readily available in other brands was a dirty trick. All you need to do to make these into two speed washers is a two speed motor and a toggle switch mounted where it's convenient like we did with my little baby Highlander from 1961.

Post# 1146030 , Reply# 7   4/7/2022 at 21:15 (720 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806)        

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Maytag definitely was a crappy company when they brought out their Neptune machines and cheapened their appliances up significantly which was the beginning of the end of them as well. Maytag didn’t only destroy themselves, but they took the Hoover company down with them since they ran Hoover down into the ground as well and ended up getting sold off to TTI in 2007 since Whirlpool wanted nothing to do with Hoover or the floor care business.

Post# 1146032 , Reply# 8   4/7/2022 at 22:25 (720 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Whirlpool made and sold vacuum cleaners before you were born, both cannister machines with innovations under the Sears label and central vacuum systems. There was even one central system that was a plumbed-in wet/dry system that flushed itself after use.

Maytag's piss-poor production practices started with its first automatics which hid their poor performance from former Maytag wringer washer owners under a troublesome safety lid.


Post# 1146039 , Reply# 9   4/8/2022 at 06:28 (720 days old) by Smartdrive1100 (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)        

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If Maytag was bad, so was whirlpool!

If any company is bad it would be whirlpool, they never really got anything right imo, hung suspension on the Belt drives and a plastic outer tub on the DD!


Don’t get me wrong, I like whirlpool.


Post# 1146042 , Reply# 10   4/8/2022 at 09:26 (720 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806)        

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I am beyond surprised they don’t hide the wash action on today’s HE machines with piss poor wash action (not to mention terrible reliability), they simply move filth to other clothes, completely unhygienic.

Post# 1146061 , Reply# 11   4/8/2022 at 14:46 (719 days old) by thatwasherguy (Kentucky)        
Unpopular opinion, but...

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I liked the fake button that said automatic. I think it’s because our old A-108 had one, and that was the machine that started it all for me. When I was a kid, I used to try to push that button, and got nowhere.
Thatwasherguy.


Post# 1146087 , Reply# 12   4/8/2022 at 21:24 (719 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

RE: reply #8: It is true that WP did not change much of their washers' basic design for decades, but they circulated a load far better than did the Maytags did and in wider tubs that promoted better turn over. The WP washers had separate delicate cycles and recirculating lint filters that worked at all water levels. The suspension on the BD machines did not transmit vibrations to the floor as badly as some top loaders and the Kenmores had an OOB switch that shut down the machine like the Maytag did in serious cases. The plastic outer tub eliminated rusting which was a problem in many brands. I guess one either likes a brand or does not. I really did not care for WP-made machines until the Design 2000 machines came out, but I have both brands in my line up now.

Post# 1146437 , Reply# 13   4/13/2022 at 08:33 (715 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)        
Neptune

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When Maytag brought out the first Neptune series, they had made some design mistakes, but that doesn't equal cheaply made. I have used one myself and was quite impressed with the built quality. A lot of them are still in use (some members here still own some), after that many years is quite an achievement.

Post# 1146439 , Reply# 14   4/13/2022 at 09:47 (715 days old) by kenwashesmonday (Carlstadt, NJ)        

There's a awful lot of Maytag bashing and Whirlpool glorifying going on here. One must keep in mind that Sears made Whirlpool the monster that is is, and Maytag made it on it's own.

After using my Maytag A606 for almost 20 years, I don't understand all this talk about poor turnover. Every brand had to have models at different prices. Not everyone needs a 2-speed machine, and it's not the manufacturer's fault if someone buys the wrong model for their needs.

As with many companies, Maytag had a change in leadership in later years and got in trouble, much like GE did a bit earlier. The Neptune could have been very good for Maytag, but Maytag sort of pulled a General Motors move and rushed to market a product that was not ready for prime time.


Post# 1146451 , Reply# 15   4/13/2022 at 13:16 (714 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Maytag rode their wringer washer reputation to market their automatics. The fins on the Gyrator were too high for the automatics' narrow tub. Instead of encouraging roll over by pulling fabrics down, they kicked fabrics up and dragged them back and forth, eventually, in some cases, rubbing the white porcelain off the tubs in deluxe washers right in the area opposite the high fins. Wash action improved greatly with the down swept flexible fins on the redesigned agitator, but the tub was still narrow by modern standards.

Maytag suffered from hide-bound management that refused to update their machines even less than Whirlpool. After they came out with a dishwasher and there were no more Maytag family members to run the troubled corporation, they got new management that decided they must have a full line of appliances so they bought the outdated range and refrigeration lines from Hardwick and Admiral that were not up to Maytag's reputation for quality. It was almost impossible to get the doors on the side-by-sides to line up in the closed position and the area behind the oven door around the oven cavity opening was painted enamel, not porcelain or stainless steel. Instead of spending the money to make a quality true large capacity washer, they bought Norge's production line and offered washers that drilled holes in floors. The most fatal flaw Maytag made was not supporting machines when customers had trouble with them and especially after customers paid a lot for the Neptunes, by not extending warranty support for the expensive electronic boards that I think were damaged by a flaw in the wax motor that locked the door. Poorly designed suspension of the Neptune's tub caused it to fishtail with poorly balanced loads and have trouble coming up to full spin speed. It you looked at it with the back removed, the rear of the tub wiggled like a happy puppy's back end.


Post# 1146517 , Reply# 16   4/13/2022 at 23:22 (714 days old) by toploadloyalist (San Luis Obispo, CA)        

When it comes to permanent press, I prefer to use high-speed agitation and low-speed spin. Thus, I prefer models with that option available.

Post# 1146524 , Reply# 17   4/14/2022 at 01:29 (714 days old) by Adam-aussie-vac (Canberra ACT)        
Tomturbomatic

Wait there was a Maytag automatic that had the wringer washer agitator?? I’d love to see a photo of it, I know that the Westinghouse ringer washer is here use the same agitator

Post# 1146541 , Reply# 18   4/14/2022 at 08:52 (714 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Adam, while the area around the agitator splines underneath was different, the part that you saw in the tub was the same with the big high fins on the Gyrator. While the barrel was wider to accommodate the float in the early automatics, when Maytag produced the A4MP with timed fill, they used the narrow barrel Gyrator in that automatic and the Highlander models without the Lint Filter agitator used the agitator that looked, from the top, like the wringer washer Gyrator. My little baby Highlander with time fill had the agitator that looked like the narrow post Gyrator from the wringer washer.

Post# 1146638 , Reply# 19   4/15/2022 at 19:34 (712 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)        

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The red one is from an early automatic.

  Photos...       <              >      Photo 1 of 3         View Full Size
Post# 1146670 , Reply# 20   4/16/2022 at 06:34 (712 days old) by neptune1 (Northern Virginia)        
MAYTAG NEPTUNE

I purchased the 2nd model Maytag Neptunes on May 1999. They are still daily service today (04-16-2022). In all those years, the washer had only one repair (circuit board replaced due to wax motor failure). The dryer had the rollers replaced. Both machines are performing flawlessly.


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