The Maytag Man came by again

Yup, amde right here in New Zealand along with the washers, driers. ovens are made in the South Island plant. A lot of their production is also made in Australia, since that is one of the biggest markets. F&P is a smart company. Their fridges (IMO) are "ok" - have one and have trouble with our butter conditioner. the way it is made (in the door) relies on 2 contacts when the door is closed, and sometimes it doesn't work - leaves more free area in the fridge, but almost to smart. It is a recognised problem, and not major, but silly. The washers (and Dishdrawer dishwasher) are damn good, and clever pieces of kit. No belts or gearbox - direct drive computer controlled motor. I have the Smartdrive repair manual if you ever need it. Geoff New Zealand

Ahem, actually a New Zealand company (which also manufactures in Australia). Head office, R&D and the other half of the manufacturing is in NZ. Also do a lot in healthcare, medical equipement and disability scooters. Kiwis get touchy about Aussies taking credit for our good stuff. On the other hand, if you are in trouble, say you are an aussie, and everyoen believes you :-) Geoff (NZ)

I think at the time of the failure I got a quote for around $300. As others have posted, it's fixable for a couple of dollars if a) you can figure out the burned resistor value and b) you don't mind mucking with 115 vac without a schematic in a home appliance the kids and wife use.

I did fix mine, but I would not call the complete repair trivial by any means. I shot an entire day locating a wax motor (most of the Maytag service people wanted to sell an entire lock assembly for $60+ instead of just the failed wax motor for $11) tracing out the circuit, looking up substitute parts, and running around town buying them.

If it seemed like a trivial repair because the information was available on the web, it's because I was the first to post it.

Imagine a cylinder closed on one end, half full of wax and the rest of the volume taken up by a moveable piston. Heat the cylinder with an electric heating element and the wax expands, driving the piston further out of the cylinder.

That piston extending is what locks the door during a spin cycle.

On Fri, 28 May 2004 05:56:52 GMT, "william_b_noble" stated wide-eyed, with arms akimbo:

Perhaps not to a techie, but to Mrs. Neptune Owner, it would be a real nightmare, especially after having paid over a GRAND for the bloody thing.

- Yea, though I walk through the valley of Minwax, I shall stain no Cherry.

That's the point. And as I said in an earlier post, it took me a whole Saturday to reduce the problem down to a resistor and triac, after which I posted the solution to an appliance forum, which is why it is now not a serious problem to some of us.

1/4 or 1/8 watt, I just used one from my junk box 3.9K(orange, white, red). there are several identical Triac circuits, all have the same drive resistor.

NONSENSE - Maytag offered to send a repairman to replace the computer, the door liner, the seal, and everything, FOR FREE. I chose to do it myself because it's easier for me (I don't have to wait around) - I don't see how you could ask for more - there were some flaws in the first design, they were repaired, and the repair kit including installation was offered FREE to the buyers of the early version. What more would you want Maytag to do?

The washer is well designed, and so far, quite reliable, once the upgrade was installed.

by the way, if you need a computer board for the Neptune, I have my old one, repaired and working (I fixed it while waiting for the kit, and used it) - make me a fair offer and it's yours

I would want Maytag to do what they offered to you. Fix it for free. Like I said, I was quoted $300 for a new control board. I was also quoted $60 for a new door lock when it was repairable with just a $11 wax motor. I was not given the option to have it replaced free. I was not informed of the mold kit until I started digging around on the internet. I installed the mold kit myself because I could not wait around for the repairman.

The issue here is buying the most expensive consumer washing machine available, based on the Maytag name reputation, and finding that it had 2 correctable design defects, one of which Maytag was unwilling to correct at their expense.

You are free to believe anything you like about your washer. I am too. I was disappointed with both the reliability and the support and a quick google search will show that I'm not the only one.

Calling my post nonesense was uncalled for.

what I meant to call nonsense was the "ms maytag owner" part - your disappointment is real enough, I wasn't happy at the time either. And, I went out on the great wide internet, found the appliance repair discussion list for neptunes, read up on wax motor problems etc. you are right that I shouldn't have had to do that, nor should you, but the company did the right thing in the end. That's far more than you get from many companies. And, the wax motor was available from a nearby maytag place for about the price you paid - it might have been $12, I don't remember - So, no, I don't feel cheated or abused. And yes, I still have a maytag dryer and washer from the early 60s sitting here that works perfectly, should I ever need to switch back.

Sounds like a rube goldburg design. Why not use a solenoid?

snip----------

Looks like you and I are talking about two different boards. It's the F&P that reputably goes for $75, not the Maytag. If it's true (I've never made an inquiry, no deed to) it has to be the bargain of the year. Maybe the best feature is the lack of a wax motor, but then maybe there is one and it works properly. The F&P equipment has, so far, functioned flawlessly. It truly is fine gear.

Harold

What makes you think the engineering wasn't outsourced to the lowest bidder?

Texas Parts Guy

Gee, that was my very first thought when I figured out what a wax motor was.

Nonetheless, solenoids have their drawbacks as well. They need lots of power for lots of force, and they generate a huge back emf pulse when they are turned off. The wax motor can exert a large force but the power needed to do it is integrated over a long time so there's no big surge.

It seems that wax motors are used a lot in space craft for opening doors and moving levers. They work well in vacuum and their power requirements are well suited to the job.

Chuckle! Probably was! Why not? Isn't that the American way?

Harold

Okay, I understand the operation, and the application, but I don't necessarily agree that this would be the best engineered solution. I have a tendancy to agree about using a solenoid. To simply throw a lock pin to keep a door from opening could use a very

*small* solenoid with a small pin, and I would imagine the "drawbacks" of using a solenoid would disappear. I don't know how quick acting the wax motor is, but the solenoid would be almost instant. A small solenoid probably would do the job, at a lot cheaper price, to keep the price of the entire unit lower. It sounds like the circuit in your car to make the dome light slowly dim until it's out - totally unnecessary as a regular ol' switch for off & on would do the same job at a lot less money, but then you wouldn't be paying $40K for your car. What ever happened to the "simple" rule. Are these young kid engineers designing this junk so use to playing video games that they just have to throw in all this extra stuff because they have nothing else to do? Ken.

On 28 May 2004 05:36:07 -0500, geoff merryweather vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!: remove ns from my header address to reply via email

F&P are crap. Especially as they sell themselves as quality.

My fridge door is supported by a 1/4" * 3/4" rod in plastic. It has collapsed. The door does not seal any more.

By comparison a Westinghouse fridge has a large steel webbing system to support the door hinges.

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Sometimes in a workplace you find snot on the wall of the toilet cubicles. You feel "What sort of twisted child would do this?"....the internet seems full of them. It's very sad

On 28 May 2004 05:36:07 -0500, geoff merryweather vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!: remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Oh yeah. We have a F&P washer as well. After 4 years of very light use, the "control board" collapsed. $300 AUD to replace. It was a toss-up, and I only repaired beacuse the service guy said that most stuff these days are crap cpmpared to 10 years ago. F&P were "average" according to him.

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Sometimes in a workplace you find snot on the wall of the toilet cubicles. You feel "What sort of twisted child would do this?"....the internet seems full of them. It's very sad