11 replies to this topic

[npotebnya]

My fiance and I have a Maytag Neptune front loading washer 3000AWW that is giving us some problems.  When we first purchased them used the water pump went out shortly after and some how after replacing the water pump we had to replace the motor and control board (Updated Setup).  It has worked great for two years since then, until the other day.  I was doing laundry and had a larger than average load.  The next morning I came out and the door was open (Sometimes does that if the load is to large). I thought nothing of it and pulled some the load out and started it again.  This is when things all went wrong.  The ON light comes on and the door locks but after a few minutes (sometimes) but usually a minute it shuts off the door lock light will stay on (the on light shuts off).  I was turning the timing and holding the on button on trying to get a response.  Then I decided to pull some stuff apart and found that the control board had fried traces to the P7 connector.  I looked at a schematic and checked found the traces ran to the hot water valve and cold water valve and timer.  So, I am not sure if I did that damage turning the timing while pressing the button or not.  But, non the less I have replaced the circuit board and am back to square one.  The washer turns and usually shuts off before the door gets a chance to lock but if you hit the power button again then it runs and does lock the door.  The other thing I notice is the motor rotates but I have not been able to get it to spin no matter what setting. But, did the diag test on the motor and it rotates at 50 rpms continuously.  I have ohm out the water control valves they were all in spec, the tub switches (all work), I have the updated wax motor (black) and have verified that it works as well as the two other door switches.  I have noticed most of the time the washer shuts off before it ever gets a chance to engage the wax motor.  I can get it to run for a few minutes if I move it through different settings and the door locks but it seems like just before it's about to go into a spin it shuts off.  I have been reading that sometimes the motor can loose phases (Usually they are noisy, mine is not) that can cause something like that. But, I have the updated motor and don't know how to check the phases on it as all of the directions have found are for the original motors.  Any ideas are very much appreciated.  We have laundry backing up for a few weeks now and would go buy a new washer if I thought there was anything better out there.  

Thank you,
Nate

[Tronicsmasta]

sometimes i will get your symptoms if one of the off balance switches is stuck. usually its the bottom one. now it may not seem stuck back it actually stuck open until you actuate it a few times. check with an ohm meter on the 2 blue wires. you can get to them with the top up or if you can from behind. there is usually a quick disconnect right above the water valve. they should be 2 fat blue wires. disconnect and ohm to see if you have 0 ohms. if you have infinite, check your switches.

check your old board. id like to see the burned traces and resistors if possible. i have a chart that will determine why it failed based on resistor numbers. try to find the resistors on the board that burned up and right next to it on the board like R10

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

You may have a problem in the door latch assembly. There's a video I want you to watch because it illustrated some of the things I want you to check out in the door latch assembly. Here's the video==>

My comments:

Notice the metal clips that he references and points to early on in the video. Sometimes this clip gets compressed and doesn't keep the wax motor pushed as far forward as it needs to be in order to actuate the two micro switches that you see over on the right-hand side. When that wax motor plunger extends it actuates both of those micro switches. Both of those switches have to be actuated in order for the washer to go into spin. You could even just watch the wax motor in action. Open the control panel so you can watch it work and put though washer into spin. Though plunger on the wax motor will slowly extend and if you watch closely you should see it actuate the little black button on each of those micro switches.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Nate, why did you have two identical topics for the same problem? I've merged them. Please keep all future questions and comments related to this issue within this topic. Domo.

[npotebnya]

Sorry I didn't mean to post twice. It was lagging out the first time I posted so it must have posted twice when I refreshed. I actually did ohm out all the switches individually and then I found that connector up top that runs to the control board and verified that the switches broke the circuit and otherwise it was intact. I will try to take some pictures in the morning but the odd part was it didn't really burn up any resistors or anything it just burned the traces. I tried repairing it first by soldering wires from point a to point b eliminating the traces but the other board did the same thing as this one. Thinking it could very easily just be the board I replaced it with one that is supposedly good (6 Months Old)and came out of a working machine that lost the drum bearings. As far as the metal clip that holds the wax motor is concerned I did notice that the micro switch was not being fully compressed yesterday so I made a little space and verified it worked with no change. Also, it usually shuts down before the wax motor gets activated. Then if I push the start button again it will activate the door lock / wax motor after 30 seconds to a min. I have every cover off and have been running it and watching everything to verify they are working after verifying first with a volt meter. Thanks for the input it's greatly appreciated. Any other ideas?

Thanks,
Nate

[Trying to help]

If you have burned the horizontal traces along the bottom of the board you either had a spill on the back (Obvious, look for the water marks on the metal back guard), something in your water valve circuit has shorted (Ohm the Coils AND the thermistor, either will fry those traces) or you just have a bad board (Happens).  Inspect the harness on the right hand side where it goes down through the lid to the cabinet, that is a known pinch point.  

[Tronicsmasta]

[user=4044]Trying to help[/user] wrote:

If you have burned the horizontal traces along the bottom of the board you either had a spill on the back (Obvious, look for the water marks on the metal back guard), something in your water valve circuit has shorted (Ohm the Coils AND the thermistor, either will fry those traces) or you just have a bad board (Happens).  Inspect the harness on the right hand side where it goes down through the lid to the cabinet, that is a known pinch point.  

if you can trace those traces back to a resistor i can compare it to my chart and give you some ideas. but "Trying to help" is right on...

[npotebnya]

Sorry for not posting back on this sooner.  Our laundry was stacking up pretty bad so I purchased what was suppose to be a good used washer off craigslist for $25.  It was a Kenmore 80 series.  I figured I would use it until the Neptune was fixed but I get it home and find the drive coupler broken, replace that and find that it jumps like 5 fts around in spin and got that narrowed down (Hopefully) to some agitator pads.  Anyway, I am back on the Neptune at the moment. I have gone through and ohmed out all the water valves, switches, etc and second time just to make sure I didn't miss something.  No luck yet.  But, did take some pictures of the old control board and the damage to the P7 connectors traces (Excuse my quick repair). 




    The 3 traces that burned go to wires 7, 9, 15 Hot Water Valve, Cold Water Valve, Timer.  As I said I don't know that I may have caused this as at one point I held down the start button and rotated the timer trying to get the washer to work (Doesn't sound like as much of a good idea now as it did then).  But, ohm out the valves I I want to say they were 1020-1030 or so according to my fluke meter.  I looked carefully at the wiring and connector for signs of damaged but don't see anything.  I am a bit lost, I am about to pack the thing up and take it in but I hate being beaten by it.  I can usually fix most things and it kills me not to be able to figure this out.  Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nate

[certified tech group 51]

Check your pressure switch................ cannot find the page with the test :(.................

[npotebnya]

So, I ordered a brand new pressure switch. I installed it today feeling pretty confident this must be it ran for about maybe 3-5 minutes and shut off same as usual. I am starting to feel a bit beaten on this thing. I am guessing it's shutting off because it's not getting a signal from something but what that is I do not know at this point. The timer seems to progress, the door lock switches click, the door lock locks (But again it shuts off before getting a chance to engage those things, if I start it back up within a few minutes the door locks but it doesn't go into a spin it just rotates back and forth. I did the motor test and it rotated at 50 rpms indefinitely. The water switches ohm out the same across all of them. The balance switches are working and if I click one and check at the master two pin connector it brakes the contact. Just can't figure it out I am almost wondering if the control board I got is bad, but it is doubtful since the person I got it from seemed pretty stand up and said his machine worked great just the drum bearings went out. It has no signs of damage or anything. Any ideas?? I am at the point where I am going to have to bite the big one and take it in. Seems cheaper than me throwing expensive parts at it until it is fixed. But, as I am a European Automotive Technician by trade it drives me crazy to not be able to fix it myself.

Thanks again,
Nate

[certified tech group 51]

Do you have a service manual ?? what was the model number that the replacement board come from??  From a normal cycle ,,,close door,  push start button, the machine fills to the correct volume ( ?? )  then what happens, with out turning the timer............. ( fills and only tumbles  for apx. five minutes )........????

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

If you had bought the pressure switch from our parts partner, RepairClinc (part link==> http://www.repaircli...mber=MAH3000AWW ) you coulda returned it for a full refund even after it was installed.

Now how much $$ did you save by not buying from our parts partner? :beating:

Service manuals and lots more goodies for Apprentices==> http://apprentice.applianceguru.com