DeCoding Primus Washer & Dryer Serial Numbers

(Photos of me in a German laundromat featuring Primus equipment summer 2024)
 

Primus is a leading brand of washers and dryers in Europe that previously made machines for Maytag before being aquired by Alliance Laundry Systems. Machines that were made during the "Maytag period" my have a date code system used by Maytag branded machines at the time. So if you have a Primus and want to know how old it is here is at least a starting point.
The information I listed below is from an AI compiled article on the web.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

To determine the manufacturing date of a Primus washer, you need to locate the serial number on the appliance's rating plate. The last two characters of the serial number indicate the year and month of manufacture, using specific letter codes provided by Alliance Laundry Systems, the parent company of Primus. 

Locating the Serial Number

The rating plate is typically a sticker or metal plate found in one of the following locations: 

• Inside the door frame
• On the back of the machine
• On the side of the machine, near the bottom

Decoding the Serial Number

Once you find the serial number, identify the last two characters (e.g., DK in the example 520I000001DK). The first of these two characters represents the year, and the second character represents the month. 

Year Codes (Example: for years 2009-2020) 

• P: 2009
• R: 2010
• T: 2011
• V: 2012
• X: 2013
• B: 2014
• D: 2015
• F: 2016
• H: 2017
• K: 2018
• M: 2019
• Q: 2020

Month Codes 

• A: January
• B: February
• C: March
• D: April
• E: May
• F: June
• G: July
• H: August
• I: September
• J: October
• K: November
• L: December 

For example, a serial number ending in DK was manufactured in May 2015. 

For the most accurate and current codes, especially for years beyond those listed, consult the official documentation provided by Alliance Laundry Systems. 

Fixing Quarters Reading as Dollars Older Speed Queen Washers

If you have ever had a customer put a quarter into your washer or dryer and it comes up as $1, there is a setting wrong in the control board programming. On an older Speed Queen here is how you fix that problem. Click the link to go to my video: 

Fixing Quarters Reading as Dollars

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Maytag MYRs Moving On

 The big announcement at the Clean Show 2025 from Maytag is that they are moving on from their MYR series of washers as of September 2025 and their new washers will be made by a different company (more on that later) much the same way the MXR and MFR lines were made by Primus.
Maytag designed and built the MYR line in the US roughly starting in 2015-2016.
So why are they moving on?
The machine was visually great looking.
The display was bright and easy to read from far away.
No one makes a better looking door than Maytag in terms of making a door LOOK big even if it isn't.
Easy to fix.
In MY OPINION, it can be summed up in one word: Reliability
There were three main problems in my experience working with these machines in both my own store, customers stores, and the corporate stores I managed.

The first was the ACU control board.
This board was often the cause of critical faults that shut down the machine. There was no way to clear the list of errors from the board and reset it so you didn't have  a record of what error occurred when. That made it hard to diagnose problems. Often times errors with the door lock assembly results from this board and not from the door lock itself.

The door lock was the second main area of reliability issues.
Part of the errors was the aforementioned ACU board.
The second was that it was unlike any other lock on the market. It asked the user to lightly close the door until the user heard a single click. The washer then pulled the door closed and locked it upon start up. The ACU board often failed and that caused the door not to lock.
Users often didn't understand to gently close the door or didn't hear the "click" and still insisted on slamming doors which broke the lock.
The door seals also had problems applying pressure on the door forcing it outward as if something was trying to push the door open from the inside. This caused a critical error as well.
 
The original coin drops were also unreliable. Easy to jam with coins and often times the components broke rendering no way to start the machine with coins.

The MYR line had great potential in my opinion. Too bad that Maytag couldn't iron out all the bugs in the mechanics and software because they had a potential great story about being made in the USA.
Having said this I am excited at this point to see the new machines when they are delivered in January 2026. I'll show some pictures of what they shared with us at Clean Show 2025 in another article.

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

MYR65s next to MFR30s

MYR65

MYR30s

Postscript:

Maytag announced that they will still be supplying parts and will continue to have a team working to try and iron out the problems with the MYR even when selling the new line.

They are also ending production of some of their dryers.
The machines they said are ending production are:

Washers include:

MYR 20, 25, 30, 40, 55, 65 (PD, PR, PN)

MYS 20, 30, 40, 55 (PD, PR, PN)

Dryers Include:

MDG35PDBW S or W

MDG52PDBW S or W
MDG78PDBW S or W
MLG35PDBW S or W
MLG52PDBW S or W

MDG35PNCWW
MDG52PNBWW
MDG78PNCWW

Set Price Maytag MAT24 & MAT23 Type Washers

 

If you don't know how to set the prices on Maytag topload washers, the MAT23 & MAT24 versions and similar, here is how you set them in this 79 second video!

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Degrees vs Words Touch Screen Temperature Scale

 

Most people won't notice this, but for consistency as an owner you should look at what your touch screen washer is telling you and is it potentially going to cause confusion for a customer or lead to questions for you like "how hot is your water?" Watch this quick video to see what I'm "on about..."

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Install PayRange on Speed Queen MDC Washer Boards

This is a quick video on installing the PayRange BK Pulse on the two different Speed Queen MDC Washer Boards. There are several different versions of this board. This video isn't going to hit all of them but should give you an idea of how to deal with the board that might be in your particular machine.

Ev

A Heck of A Nice Guy

Presso Demonstration Clean Show 2025

What is Presso?
Take a look at this six minute video starring Presso's John Lombardi.
He did the demonstration at the WASH open house in May 2025 and their machine is quite impressive.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

August 2025 Newsletter

 

Everet's August 2025 Laundry Newsletter It's Clean Show time 2025! If you are going to be at Clean Show 2025 keep an eye out for me and I will for you!

Tidbits From the WASHtub Call, send an email, or respond through this newsletter if there are any issues I can help with!   Below are articles from my laundry blog:   If you have never been to Clean Show here are some tips: clean-show-tips-for-first-timers A two minute video of various 2-3 second video clips of Clean Show Atlanta 2022 clean+show snippets   Laundromat owners get inspected for their license by their local communities. What do they look for? laundromat-health-inspection-list   If you have Alliance dryers here is how you change the price and top off minutes. This works for basically all of the Alliance brand dryers (Huebsch, Speed Queen, Primus, Ipso, etc.) with the same look and feel program-price-and-top-off-minutes

PayRange Install Huebsch Galaxy 500 Washer

 

If you are looking to install PayRange on an older Huebsch (or Speed Queen) hard mount washer, below is a video that might help you get started as there are a number of control board versions to look at and the PayRange instructions can't always cover all the versions you will find.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Turn Off Water Saver Maytag Topload Washers

 

Everyone wants to save water...except people who wash their clothes in a top load washer!
Remember people are used to being able to open the lid on a top load washer.
People also like to see their clothes being washed so they open the lid.
If they don't see a lot of water they are conditioned to think by the older style washers that used tons of water that their clothes are not being cleaned. A lot of manufacturers, and we laundry owners, want to save money so new washers come with a water saver feature turned on. If you want to turn it off to get a regular fill of water to stop customer complaints of "no water in the machine," here is how you do it for Maytag. I earlier did a version for Huebsch and Speed Queen and that video is below the Maytag version.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

MAYTAG

Huebsch/Speed Queen