Fixed Maytag Neptune washer

Wish my Whirlpool fridge could be that simple. Compressor slams/shutters/chatters at shutoff; noise level is progressive, but has been doing this for over a year, so dunno how much life it actually has left in it. Tech says new comp costs almost as much as a new, similar box, which it looks like I'll be shopping for next. :(

You could look in the usamfg.net catalog I posted for someone else earlier, last I checked they had a bunch of unused surplus fridge compressors in the $25-$75 range, so long as you find one that's very close to the same BTU rating and the correct refrigerant (should be R-134a) then you can make it work. If you feel like doing it yourself you could even use one of the $5 rotaries to suck a vacuum and then make an adapter to charge it with R134 sold for automotive A/C systems. You have to be careful messing with that stuff but I've enjoyed playing with it so far. You're not supposed to vent the R134 to the atmosphere but it's perfectly legal to blow dust out of your computer with one of those little cans of it so I wouldn't worry too much about a small amount of it, it's a non-ozone depleting HFC.

Heve you checked the compressor mounts? A loose mounting bolt, cracked rubber mount, or out-of-place copper tube touching the side could cause a similar symptom.

You got lucky. When mine went, all the smoke escaped from several of the transistors and IC's.

Another common problem with the Neptune washers is with the silly front door lock & interlock switch mechanism and/or control board that drives the lock. I've had to replace the switch mechanism twice and the control board once. When the control board doesn't think that the door is shut and locked, the wash cycle completes without spinning the clothes to remove most of the water and the wife gets upset.

When

cycle

Yeah I realize I'm lucky, but I bet the solder joints are the root of the problem. Still you could replace all six mosfets, all three driver IC's, and the power resistors for ~$25, lot better than $350 for replacing the whole board.

I've heard of the door lock problem too, apparently the triac shorts and burns out the wax motor in the door lock, at some point I should upgrade to a heavier triac. These washers definitly have some design flaws and if I were buying new I'd get a different brand but in my case the price was right.

way to go! Nice job

I suppose, but then it would have taken a week to get the parts instead of having the machine running in an afternoon. If memory serves, my replacement driver board cost less than $200 at the appliance parts house and came with a longer motor cable. Plus, the wife really wanted the machine fixed ASAP.

In one case the wax motor just quit working. In the other, the triac shorted, burned a resistor and cooked the wax motor.

Finally got around to pulling the back off this thing. As expected, the lines are all torched in. I'm afraid I'll hafta pass on trying to sweat in a new compressor with these lines (plus manifold gauge ports). I've done some car a/c work back in the R-12 days, but the automotive systems were at least designed to be serviced.

This fridge is an 8-yr old top freezer model. I'll likely replace it with a slightly larger side-by-side w/dispenser. Unfortunately, it seems Whirlpool now owns numerous brand names and keeps buying up more, so my choices are very limited if I don't want another Whirlpool [design].

Thanks for the good parts ref, though.

Finally got a chance to open it up. The mounts are nice and secure; rubber is good. The lines aren't touching the sides. Prob is definitely inside the hermetically-sealed compressor. With the fridge unplugged, I sharply stabbed at the compressor with my thumb several times and this caused the sound. I also felt the compressor guts hitting against the compressor housing. 8-/