2004 Neptune Washer Issues

[rp2813]

I don't know if they're related, but my stacking Neptune washer still has a recent problem occurring sometimes, and a new one occurring seemingly all the time.

First, the previously reported issue of the washer stopping and eventually shutting off when going into the first rinse. John L. had suggested the cause was insufficient water pressure, and I made sure not to run the A712 at the same time. That seemed to help, but now the same thing is happening even when no water is being used anywhere else in the house. I'm going to have to check the inlet screens now. It seems to happen on full, heavy loads, but tonight I washed a couple of beach towels and a few smaller hand towels and everything shut down at the usual point in the cycle. Also, when I push the button to restart the machine from where it stopped, the timer makes a humming sound that goes away once it advances.

Second, fabric softener isn't always being flushed out of the reservoir, and yet at times after a wash load (without FS) has been completed, the FS reservoir is full of clear water. I don't know what to make of this.

Even if I find clogged screens, I don't think that's going to resolve the FS problem.

I welcome any diagnostic advice and hope this could be something like a solenoid as opposed to a control board problem.

 

[combo52]

Hi Ralph, definitely check the inlet screens, clean them gently without removing them, when they get removed, they often get bent a little bit and then they won’t seal properly and allow particles to get past them when you reinstall them.

But much more likely you have a bad inlet valve, I haven’t seen a clogged in that screen in a washer dishwasher in 20 years.

It’s funny I was thinking of you the other week we have a customer that built a really nice custom home in 2004 they put a Maytag Neptune in like this and the bearings have gone bad in the washer and we couldn’t find a machine that would fit in the spot except for the Speed Queen and I couldn’t get it quickly enough so I ended up exchanging the whole lower washer half of the Neptune and I got it working There aren’t many of these left in our region. A lot were sold. I still see them showing up on the recycle pile fairly often so I guess there’s still some out there working.

This customer was trying to sell this house for around 2 million but not getting any takers because of the mess that you know who is creating in this city so he took it off the market and decided to rent the house until the midterms. Hopefully things will start to turn around then, let’s hope

John L

 

[rp2813]

Thanks John. My neighborhood was planned out in 1915, and all of the water supply lines were finally replaced about a year ago. Water is fairly hard here -- mostly ground water -- and galvanized piping is common on the property owners' side of the meter. My house got copper installed, I suspect maybe 30 or so years ago, but the water company sent all of us notices about the work in the streets likely causing some granular material to impact aerators, etc. The only place I've noticed a flow problem is in the basement laundry area on both washers and the laundry sink faucet. The hot side flow is way worse than the cold. This has me baffled, as the sink faucet hooks up directly to the copper piping and no screens are involved that I'm aware of.

I'll check the screens on inlets valves and hoses on both machines, but am thinking that ultimately a plumber may be required. All of the laundry-related piping in the basement was added when we moved in, as the service area on the main floor became smaller when a master bathroom was added some time in the past, and there wasn't enough room for a standard size laundry pair off the kitchen anymore (the Neptune stack protruded into a doorway).

Any thoughts on the fabric softener situation? I almost never use it, but my friend who has been staying with me is in love with the stuff. I make sure to remove and clean the dispenser components when I see that softener has been used, but now that the softener isn't being dispensed I don't know what to make of it.

Thanks again for sharing your wealth of knowledge. I'd be willing to pay to have this machine fixed if possible, as it's no nonsense, always goes right into spin, and has simple controls.

 

[DADoES]

Softener flushes by water flow into the dispenser. The feed path to the dispenser could be clogged or impaired flow via the inlet valve or supply pressure.

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Glen, but the odd thing is that at times when softener isn't used, after a load of wash is finished the FS reservoir is full to the top with clear water. Until recently, the FS reservoir was always empty when the end of cycle signal sounded -- as it should be, no? There seems to be no rhyme or reason to this flush/no-flush behavior or why the reservoir doesn't drain.

 

[DADoES]

Typical dispensing method is the cup overflows via the incoming water to flush out the softener. The remaining water should siphon out when the incoming flow stops. The siphon tube may be clogged. Is the cup removable for cleaning? My AquaSmarts occasionally fail to siphon-empty the softener and/or bleach cups, seems to be caused by an air bubble at the siphon tube.

 

[phillymatt53]

As to fabric softeners, I use Downy, and they've made it so thick and gooey that it's hard to pour and dissolve .
It's left sticky residue in my Maytag's softener cup on the agitator.
and if not cleaned, it build up and solidifies and has to be scrubbed out.
I keep a toothbrush handy to loosen it and flush it out.
So now, I dilute the softener and stir it with some hot or warm water before adding it to the cup.
It still needs cleaning though.
The hoses can get clogged up in rp2813's machine.

 

[rp2813]

I've taken the dispenser completely apart for cleaning whenever FS residue has been present. I know FS residue can accumulate elsewhere in the washer so when I do use softener, I always dilute it and give it a stir in the dispenser cup. I use hot washes often enough to inhibit residue accumulating around the spider, I hope.

Unlike Maytag's simple top loader dispenser design which uses centrifugal force, the Neptune routes part of the final rinse fill water into the dispenser cup, which overflows and forces the mixture up and into an integrated tube inside the cup and then presumably down another hidden tube and into the drum.

My machine seems at times not to be doing either of these things. As stated further up, softener either never gets flushed up and into the overflow tube, or at times when softener isn't used, water does get routed to the dispenser as per normal, but the reservoir remains full of clear water after the load of wash is finished. So two things seem to be happening. Fill water doesn't always get routed into the reservoir, or if it does, the reservoir sometimes remains full, as if there's a clog somewhere past the reservoir's overflow route.

Could this be a timer issue? Maybe it's time to see if there's an old YouTube video that addresses this schizoid behavior that doesn't make any sense.