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Thread Number: 94853
/ Tag: Vintage Dryers
Really old gas dryers -- where were the pilot lights? |
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Post# 1194772 , Reply# 1 12/5/2023 at 13:27 by Frigidaireguy  (Wiston-Salem, NC) |
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PILOT LIGHTS ON MAYTAG (HOH) DRYER AND ALSO ON G E DRYERS THERE WAS AN ACCESS PANEL ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT FRONT OF THE DRYER THAT GAVE YOU ACCESS TO THE PILOT LIGHT. BOB | ||
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Post# 1194773 , Reply# 2 12/5/2023 at 13:32 by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD) |
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Some used a spark igniter or glow coil. | ||
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Post# 1194791 , Reply# 3 12/5/2023 at 18:51 by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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 IIRC, on old Norge-sourced dryers, the access panel was at the right rear corner of the cabinet top. Standing pilots disappeared from Norges sometime in the '60s, but Maytag was still using them well into the '70s. They may have been the last manufacturer to go with a pilotless type of ignition source.
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Post# 1194795 , Reply# 4 12/5/2023 at 19:31 by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Old gas dryers with pilot lights
A lot of the earliest gas dryers had electric ignition, but some also had a pilot light the location varied
from being up under the top to being down in the front, but they were accessible for the user to relight them, many early users of gas dryers were thrifty enough to turn off the pilots and relight them on laundry day. Maytag was the last manufacturer to discontinue, constant burning pilot lights. California sort of forced them to do that as they were banned about the same time Maytag got rid of the small halo of heat dryers. Most other US gas dryer manufacturers had models with and without electric ignition depending on the market, they were sold in price level, etc., some manufacturers, such as Norge and whirlpool built models with pilot lights that gas companies liked to sell because they knew once they got the gas dryer into the home, even if the homeowner did not use the dryer, they knew it would burn a certain amount of gas every month and every year Just because it was sitting there with the pilot burning. John | ||
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Post# 1194797 , Reply# 5 12/5/2023 at 19:55 by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine) |
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Those constant burning pilots | ||
| Post# 1194805 , Reply# 6 12/5/2023 at 23:49 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
My 1973 Maytag DG407 has a standing pilot. Usually keep it off but since family was visiting in November along with it cooling down outside, kept it lit for the past couple of weeks.
Here’s the process of lighting the pilot on a Maytag HOH gas dryer, believe the process is similar on the earlier Maytag HOH gas dryers from the late 50’s up until 1965. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Maytag85's LINK | ||
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Post# 1194824 , Reply# 7 12/6/2023 at 09:13 by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA) |
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Post# 1194836 , Reply# 8 12/6/2023 at 10:35 by rinso (Meridian Idaho) |
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My first laundry duo was a 1969 Maytag 806 washer and matching gas dryer. The pilot access door also exposed the main burner. I often wondered about roasting weaners on it while the dryer was running. | ||
| Post# 1194839 , Reply# 9 12/6/2023 at 10:49 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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Reply #8 | ||
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Post# 1194865 , Reply# 10 12/6/2023 at 16:39 by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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| Post# 1194926 , Reply# 11 12/7/2023 at 17:30 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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I believe Whirlpool had a few gas dryers up until the 60’s and early 70’s with standing pilot ignition but out of all the vintage machines I’ve seen over the years, all were electronic ignition by the looks of it. Not sure how many, if any of those older Whirlpool dryers are out there with standing pilot ignition. My guess is they bit the dust long ago since John mentioned in a thread I made over 4 years ago on my Maytag A606 thread that the few he had seen turned into major rust buckets.
Some of the early Whirlpool dryers had an electrically lit pilot that would come on with the switch up at the front, and you’d turn it off when the machine wasn’t in use. Waterwitch has a 1952/1953 Whirlpool dryer with that sort of setup on it. | ||
| Post# 1195061 , Reply# 12 12/9/2023 at 16:41 by Blackstone (Springfield, Massachusetts) | ||
Blackstone Dryers--early 1970s
Blackstone Dryers in the early 1970s had pilot lights, which were accessible through a small opening in the front panel. Easy enough to reach in to light the pilot. The problem was holding in the red button for a minute. The button was located on the front of the gas burner; very close to the inside of the front panel. Your thumb could survive only for a short period while pressing that button.
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