The Maytag Man came by again

Just be glad you didn't buy an early Neptune washer.

Maytag washing machines used to have a very good reputation. Many years ago Vance Packard in his book 'The Wastemakers' mentioned them as an example of a consumer item that was designed to last.

Leon

My 20 year old MT washer was the easiest thing to work on. 2 belts and everything a separate component. Had a pressed steel pulley go bad so just stuck a cast one on. 10 minute repair. The water pump was just as accessible. The tranny was leaking fluid as evident by the streak on the wall, but was still running fine when we donated it. Not sure if they're still using that 'newer' simplified transmission that only used 2 gears. Saw it on a demo machine and since the gears were that nyloplastic I wondered how long they'd last.

Joel. phx

||Motor bearing (or bushing?) got noisy about 4 months ago and was replaced ||under warranty. It's doing it again and another new motor (made in China) ||is on the way. This dishwasher is only 10 months old, not only do I expect ||better utility from the thing, I'm pissed because I just sprung for the 3 ||year extended warranty ($140) and I never buy extended warranties. The ||repair guy said he wouldn't know what to buy nowadays as it's all crap. || Brian, in Cedar || ||

There's a good thread on this just today on dfw.forsale. I found the below item interesting:

We had to replace our washer and I was so furious after having both a Kenmore and Whirlpool top loader because of transmission problems, oil leaking, the same part breaking every few months, etc. So, I went on the hunt for something better. I had heard many good things about front loaders, but the good European ones can be small (water conservation is big in Europe) and they can also be quite expensive. I looked at the American front loaders such as Whirlpool and Maytag, but as one other posting noted, there has been some problems - front door gasket leaks, mold in the gaskets, failing electronics, etc.

So, I then called around to all the "mom and pop" appliance stores and asked them what they would buy today if they needed to replace their own washing machine. We discussed front and top loaders. And after many discussions with different places, quite a few recommended "Fisher&Paykel".

If you're like me, you are now probably saying "Huh??" But check them out. Fisher&Paykel is an Australian company. I had never heard of them, but they are gaining a good reputation here in the states. They are also very big on water conservation, and what they have done is taken the best ideas of the front loaders and incorpated it into a top loader. These machines are amazing. They are direct drive meaning there are no belts, transmission, etc., which also means less moving parts and less things to break. And because it's a top loader, it has a huge capacity. We wash our King size comforter in ours.

Instead of filling the tub full of water, it automatically weighs the clothes and decides how much water to "cycle" through the clothes. It does agitate the clothes but with less water. It insteads also "pumps" the soap and water through the clothes at the beginning of the wash allowing the soap enzymes to do their thing. When it's done with all the washing, it does like a front loader and spins the water out at 1000rpm+ speeds. Therefore, your clothes are extremely drier than a conventional top loader.

So, you end up using less water, less soap, and less drying time in your dryer. They have a great reputation and are reliable. And they are not outrageously expensive. We bought ours in Allen at Rodenbaugh's a few years ago. They are family owned - friendly, honest people. I want to say it was in the $500-$600 price range. Texas Parts Guy

The "newer, simplified" transmission is a 3-phase motor and a vfd in the Neptunes.

Folks are gonna say what they say, but I have had nothing but good luck with Kitchen Aid I know they are built or in bed with some other major manufacturer now and not part of HObart so I am told, but my first dishwasher A Kitchen Aid Superba or Imperial, don;t quite remember the model right now, lasted over 30 years and never had to spend a penny on it. We have since bought another Kitchen Aid about 5 years ago and it too is quiet and trouble free and the same goes for th KA washer and dryer....... Visit my website:

expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Fisher Paykel? Nothing I have found comes close to it, we have both washer and dryer and they are awesome!!!

Roger in Abilene

Oh, ok. The think I saw had a cam that caused the tub to reverse every 180 rotation. When the motor spun backwards, the gear locked somehow to spin the tub. Though I admit I've never seen one of the old trannies pulled apart, I did like the mechanical simplification.

Joel. phx

||Fisher Paykel? Nothing I have found comes close to it, we have both washer ||and dryer and they are awesome!!! || ||Roger in Abilene

Yeah, but do they make refrigerators?? Texas Parts Guy

This is the prime reason I left the home appliance repair business 7 years ago after 17 years in the business. Much of the consumer white goods built today is made with a very short life time built into it. I now work with commerical laundry equipment in the hotel and health care trade.

The last dishwasher I purchased was 1 year ago. Next to the bottom of the line in price. $190.00, I installed it in about an hour. (Lots of practice!) No real difference between the $200.00 model and those up to $500.00 other than cycles, most folks use one cycle. Turn it on and let her rip! The only reason I didn't buy the bottom line model was that I wanted at least two spray arms in the unit.

If I get 3-5 years out of it, I'll be a happy camper.

Rusty Bates

I have an older Neptune. What is the problem with them? Mine has been repaired once. Is there an ongoing problem.

Barry

snip------

You forgot to mention the best selling feature of all. I was told that if the washer quits, you can replace the board for something like $75, with no service call.

We've owned the washer and dryer set for over three years now and all they've done is work. Susan thinks they're the best thing she's ever used. I was hell bent on buying her the Maytag Neptune equipment, but she was sold on Fisher & Paykel, plus she got a $100 refund with the set, a special promotional deal at that time. We not only got better equipment, we also saved something like $500. We both recommend them over anything on the market, and by a long shot.

Harold

Doesn't that frost your butt? We used to lead the world in quality, now the world is beating us to death. What's happened to us here in the States? No pride? Too greedy? Sigh.

Harold

Shorted wax motor blew out $300 control board, had to install "mold kit" to prevent moldy smell.

The wax motor which blows out the control board was made in Italy. Of course that doesn't let the American engineers off the hook for specifying it or designing the control board to withstand the fault.

Hard to argue with that! I guess that's just one more reason the F&P equipment looks so desirable. You may have read what I said about that above, that a new board for the washer is only about $75.

Harold

the shorting wax motor is a well known problem, I called maytag and then send me the mold kit, a new computer with a different program that changes the wash cycles slightly, and a new wax motor, all no charge. And the "blown" $300 circiut board is trivial to repair, you need to replace a 5 cent resistor and a 15 cent triac. I don't see this as a serious problem.

My wax motor blew the resister also what watt or size resister does it take. I can't read the colors because it is blown. Thanks in advance TIM