Yeah, I've seen these online just recently, they look really cool!!

I'm curious to know how the internal water heater works as well, especially in the sanitary cycle. Do you have to use oxi in the sanitary cycle?

Here's a link to the same washer on the Home Depot website. This one has a picture of it.

Since my grandmother likes her 6600 model so much I've decided that when I finish school and buy a condo, this washer is mine! Thanks for posting this, Mara. :o)

Here is a link that might be useful: Matag Bravos MVWB800VQ

I went to Sears on Friday to purchase a Maytag 6700 and the salesman told me that the Maytag 6700 had been discontinued. He showed me the Sears product list that the sales people use and it did in fact indicate the Maytag 6700 was discontinued. The sheet indicated that the MVW800VQ was the replacement. I ended up purchasing the Kenmore Elite Oasis HT which is identical to the new Maytag in features with timed oxy and bleach dispensers, and internal water heater.

That's odd, cavediver - Home Depot (where I bought mine) is still selling the Maytag Bravos 6700. Here's a link.

Wonder if the Sears guy just wanted to sell the Sears brand? I have no idea.

Here is a link that might be useful: Maytag Bravos 6700 washer

I do hope your washer gives you great service, lives a long and fruitful life. :-)

My Maytag Bravos 6700 washer does have the automatic bleach dispenser, as well as detergent and fabric softener dispensers. Since I like to use Sears Oxi Clean HE detergent, it's already there. But I know, from reading posts here at this forum, that a lot of people want the internal water heater. Thus far, I haven't needed it.

I know Home Depot is still selling them, because I stopped there first to have a look at the 6700, but Sears was having a great sale this past weekend so I went there after visiting Home Depot. Sears is still selling the 6700's until they run out of the stock they have on hand.

How much good can a water heater do on a top-load washer anyway, given that these are running on a wimpy 120V/15A electrical supply? That relegates the heater to about 1000w, which takes a long time to heat even the small amount of water in a FL washer (where water heating is more common). I would think it would take hours to heat a tub full of water in a TL to any significant degree.

It would be a different matter if these ran on 240V/30A power like most dryers - that would allow for a 6000w heating element. Even the few FL washers sold in the U.S. that run on 240v/15A can have 2500w heaters that don't take forever to heat the water.

A low-wattage heater in a 120V TL seems almost pointless.

The Bravos is an HE toploader. The tub does not fill completely. It uses about the same amount of water per fill as a frontloader. A household 110/120v circuit can safely carry 1,500 to 1,800 watts (electric space heaters are typically 1,500 watts). The motors in these machines are very low-wattage so the majority of the current-draw is available for the heating element.

I see, although I should point out that the motor and other parts draw some power from that 1,500 to 1,800w max, and most of the heater-equipped FLs i've seen thus have only a 1,000w heater. (The small Danby washer that Home Depot sold awhile back had a 1300w heater, the most powerful i'm aware of in a 120v washer)

The weird thing is that the National Electric Code requires a dedicated *20* amp circuit for 120v washing machines at least for new or renovated construction, which would allow for up to 2400w and still plug into most existing 120v circuits in laundry areas (if they have the requisite 12-gauge wiring and 20A outlet (with one of the slots shaped like a sideways "T"). A 120V/20A washer could thus have a heater in the 1600-1900w range, which approaches the power of the 2500w heaters found in 240v/15A washers.

I'm not familiar with the Bravos washing mechanism (i assume it's more or less the same as other Whirlpool-made HE TLers) but have seen one of the high-end GE HE top-loaders in action (the ones actually made by LG that often have a window in the lid). These have a rotating disk at the bottom - i think it's called an infuser - that spins back and forth, but does not have the more common agitator post. Although considered HE (high efficiency, for those not up on appliance jargon), at least some of the cycle choice result in the tub being filled to the top with water. I don't know if the Bravos works the same way.

I've used almost every cycle on my Bravos 6700 washer - the only one I haven't used yet is the Handwash cycle. I'll be using it in wintertime for sweaters.

So far, none of the cycles result in the tub being filled to the top with water. The 'Bulky' cycle for comforters, pillows, etc, uses the most water, but it just barely covers them. The other cycles use MUCH less water than my former conventional TL.

appliance researcher, I have no idea if you would have to use oxi in the sanitary cycle, or not - I doubt it. I think the sanitary cycle uses very hot water.

Thanks for the pic. :-)

mara 2008,

When I choose the "bulky" cycle on my Oasis the tub fills quite full. The comforters, blankets or pillows are thoroughly soaked. Maybe your machine is more water efficient than mine is.
I use this cycle if I have large loads of jeans or towels and it works great. (very lightly soiled items)

Bookert,
when you choose the bulky cycle, it does fill up more than regular load. i believe that is to allow the bulkier items to move more freely and prevent tangling. But the washer fills up based on the amt of items placed in there. This also occurs on the sheets cycles which i use for sheets and towels.

I bought mine about 3 weeks ago. the price was 999$, but i got on sale plus a coupon for 800$. i was at the Home Depot the other day and walked by the appliance section and the Bravos were on clearance for 799$! so i guess they are trying to move them with the newer model coming out.

I haven't used the Bulky cycle for towels or jeans. I use the jeans/color clothes cycle for jeans and cotton t-shirts - the manual advises washing them together to avoid tangling, and that does work well. I use the normal or Superwash cycle for towels, depending on how dirty they are. If I need to bleach white towels/washcloths, I use the Whites cycle. I wash sheets on the Sheets cycle.

When I washed pillows using the Bulky cycle, the entire wash basket didn't fill up because it didn't need to; the water did cover the pillows. When I wash comforters, afghans, and blankets, the entire wash basket does fill up with water IF they fill it up. A king-size comforter definitely does that.

Any word on how many/what cycles the heater works on and what temperatures it gets?

According to the owners manual I got from the Home Depot website, you can select the heater as an option in every cycle but soak, clean washer, rinse and spin and drain and spin, which makes sense. This option is called "Clean Boost with Heater".

However, the manual does state that it "maintains" the wash temp. selected and does not seem to indicate that it will raise the water temp. So I wonder what that means for the sanitary cycle. I would think the water temp. would have to be raised to 140- 150 degrees or higher in order to be a "sanitary" cycle. The manual also stresses that you use some sort of oxygen-based stain fighter or color-safe bleach while using the sanitary cycle, why I am not sure. The manual also says nothing regarding the temperature of the water the heater heats it to.

Also, the heater is 1200 watts, not a typical 1000 watt, so it is a bit stronger but that may not be strong enough to make a significant difference. It does not say this in the manual but I know I saw this somewhere else online just not sure where. When I find it I can post it if you like.

Here is a link to the manual and pages 11-18 is all they have to say about how the washer operates. Not a very detailed manual at all, but hope this info helps anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: Maytag Bravos MVWB800VQ owners manual

Apparently the internal heater is not standard in the new washer but has an additional cost. I believe it is $100. After your research, and i realize there isn't much out there, is the internal water heater "worth" the additional price?

The new dryer has the steam as an option as well for $100 extra. It was standard in last years model.

I think it depends on the model. The model I referred to does have the internal water heater, and I believe it does cost $100 more. Some people would be glad to pay that to get it; others would want the other model.

We just bought the newest Bravos model 800 series washer and dryer and it does have the heater. I have run 3 loads so far - a queen comforter ran on bulky and it filled the top a little more than half way. Then I did a heavy king quilt and it was about the same. I am waiting to do my King bedspread tomorrow - it will fill the machine I am sure. Then I did a load of towels used on my dogs after their bath and one that we keep on the porch to wipe their feet. I must say the cycles are LONG - DH and I stood there the entire time watching it fill, wash, rinse, and spin. For as little movement as it seemed to have - the dirtest towel came out clean. I was really surprised by the spray rinse cycle. I would think it would need to fill the tub up as least as much as when it washed to get the soap out. I am not sure I am convinced they were really rinsed completely.

But now to the dryer, which has me really perplexed. It took more time than programed for to get the comforter and quilt dry when using the Bulky cycle. I had to put each on for an additional 10 minutes on the Timed cycle to finish drying them. I did stop the machine a couple time to shift around the comforter to get the damp areas exposed and the same for the quilt. (These were not dried together but seperatley.)

Then I put the load of towels in and they were not dry after 44 minutes on the normal cycle. Took an additional 15 minutes to get them dry and these are old towels not thick and lush like my bath towels are. There were about 6 towels in there.

Plus I found lots of loose dog hair in the dryer that I never found in my old Kenmore. The vent was full as it always was in my Kenmore but either the hair did not come out in the wash as it usually would with my old machine or it wasn't filtered out in the vent. I don't like having to check for it each time I wash the dogs stuff. I plan on doing the dogs comforter ( yes they have one!) tomorrow. I know it will be full of hair.

Any suggestions on the cycle to use to get towels done the fastest and what about the long drying times? Does it take longer to do your laundry than before? I would expect so with the washer but hoping the drying time would be less with the spinning efficency of the washer.

In case anyone is interested - Home Depot here is having 10% off appliances the day after Christmas. That is on top of sale price now. hhgregg matched HDs price yesterday for us and delivered today. They also upgraded us from a 700 series washer to a 800 series for the same price as the 700 at HD.

The washer cycles will be longer than your old machine. That's part-and-parcel of using less water to get the job done, it takes more time and exposure to what water is there. This is still more efficient with planet resources than using bunches of water and less time. The washer's motor is quite efficient in power usage.

On drying, dryers nowadays tend to be oriented a bit toward underdrying on the "normal" settings. You may need to bump the dryness setting up a notch (or two) on some loads. Experience will be your guide on that. Running towels, jeans, and other such heavy-fabric loads at the highest available spin speed will shorten drying time. The Bulky cycle probably has a slower spin. You can run comforters, bedspreads and such on a Spin Only at higher speed for a few mins for more extraction.

mboston, my Bravos washer is the 6700 model and the dryer is the 6400 (I didn't think I'd need steam, and I haven't) - not quite as current as yours. I bought them in May.

I wash comforters (and, yes, our retriever has her own comforter) about once a week. I've learned to spin them on the highest speed. When I dry them, I set them to be 'more' dry. By doing this, they are completely dry when the dryer chimes, and they are typically done in about 50 minutes. (Our comforters are King and Queen size; the dog's is Twin size, so hers takes less time.)

Our retriever has a gorgeous winter coat - long, silky fur - and I see more of it this time of year than I did during the hotter weather when her coat was not nearly as thick. I actually prefer to get it out of the washer/dryer, as I don't want it going down the plumbing.

When I wash towels, I also set the spin speed on the highest level. When I dry them, I use the Heavy Duty cycle, set the dryer for HI heat and 'more' dry. I wash huge loads of towels which completely fill the washer, and they are usually dry in about 55 minutes.

The wash cycles are longer than our former conventional washers, but that doesn't bother me, as this washer uses far less water than those did. I typically load the washer just before bedtime and transfer the laundry to the dryer the next morning, so the length of the wash cycle is not an issue when I do that. Even when I wash at other times, that hasn't been a problem for me. I realize I'm washing 2x to 3x the laundry I washed in my old conventional washer which was the largest on the market when I bought it, so when I double or triple the wash time of my old washer, that brings this into perspective for me.

I do know that when I first got my Bravos, there was a 'learning curve' because HE washers are so different from conventional washers, and the Bravos is completely different from any washer I've had before.

To me, it's all been very worth it. I wouldn't go back to conventional washers unless I absolutely had to. I also love, love, love my Bravos dryer. It dries 3x the amount of laundry I used to do in the same or less time than my old dryers did.

Mara,
You probably have the same ones as my son, at least the washer. He does have steam capability on his dryer and loves it.

I did my king size bedspread today and the thermal blanket. Each in a seperate load and all went well. I am anxious to use it on just regular loads to see how much water I am saving as most of the time my loads are not full.

My vent in inside the dryer instead of on the top as my son's is. I am not sure I will like it as you have to be careful to not let the lint fall back into the dryer. I didn't have a problem with the dog hair from the dog's comforter as I had with the towels.

Like you said it will take some time to get used to it all. But overall so far so good.

Thanks for responding.

I just bought one of these Matag washing machines at Lowe's although it hasn't been delivered yet. The heating element came with the washing machine and wasn't an option. Since I live in Florida and my water gets plenty hot, I have no need for the heating element, but I like the big tub (4.7 cu. ft. capacity) for washing area rugs and queen sized comforters. I don't have enough room for a front loader, so this was the next best thing.

Snowielady,
When yours is first delivered/installed, please make sure the installer goes through EACH cycle to see if it fills correctly. I bought one in Dec. and used most of the cycles except WHITES cause I was waiting to have more than just a weeks worth of white t-shirts and underwear for my DH. When I used it, I found out that I got an "LF" code - which means long fill. I have posted on another posting about my attempts to get this fixed so you can read it if You want. But long story short, I am still waiting to get the new Control Board after having to wait to get a new Water Valve that didn't fix the problem. In both cases the parts were backordered and at this point I have NO IDEA how long it will be. The only cycle that now works is the SHEETS cycle and it fails sometimes. If I had had all the cycles checked, we would have known and they would be obligated to take it back. Once you go through what the manual tells you to do and you request a repair service call - the seller DOESN'T take back the machine and you have to deal with Maytag/Whirlpool. So my advice is - check all cycles to make sure that they fill and that when you have your first problem, if it is soon after you get the machine - take it back to Lowes and do not request a repair.

I bought mine for the same reason as you. Love the big tub for comforters but be aware - the wash cycles are longer than the old machines.

If you put mboston in the search box, you will put all the posts I have responded to and you can go through and finds the ones about Bravos. I am keeping track of all my phone calls, dates, and contact people. If you have any problems, please let me know. Since this is a new model - has different parts than the previous Bravos - there may be some kinks they have to work out. The fact that the parts I needed are backordered concerns me. I wonder if they are backordered cause of the numbers that have had problems. Of if I were paying for the part - would it be available without delay? BTW, I live in Florida too.