I've gone insane....Neptune Stack coming 7/7...

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

moparwash

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2007
Messages
1,838
Location
Pittsburgh,PA
The FriGeMore (starring as a Kenmore) stack has bit the dust...well the dryer bearing is screeching and it's 10 years old so I found a working Neptune stack at too good of a price to pass up...as with all Neptunes Ill check the wax motor and change it to the newer black tipped one...any other things to check before I lose my mind...as If I haven't already by just deciding to get this contraption?
 
Pierre,

Please don't post to a thread unless you have something relevant to add to it.

The OP is asking about what he needs to do to a replacement Neptune he's purchasing. He is NOT asking about buying a new machine. He's already purchased a machine or he will be purchasing another Neptune soon. Changing the topic abruptly from the OP's original subject is thread jacking.

As well, can you please stop posting the same picture over and over? Until you have actually used or owned that set, you have no right to even think about suggesting it.

How many times would you like to be reminded in public? This is the second time I've asked you politely.
 
and now back to the show!

Had them delivered today...buy the same guy that has the Easy Spindrier...Cleaned the outside up and am now running Tide washing machine cleaner..then take the front off to see if it has the black-tipped wax motor..

moparwash++7-7-2013-11-36-22.jpg
 
Forgive me for being a noob here, but was this line similar to the ones that experienced all those mold and biofilm problems?

Those Controls look Awesome :)
 
These were known as Super Stacks and were the same as the side by side variety. Very nice machines but yes they COULD share some of the issues that their unstacked siblings suffered. Give me the Model and Serial and I can tell you what issues you may need to keep an eye on...

I'm looking for one of these in electric dryer flavor to add to my stable. I really like them and do not see too many having major issues...

RCD
 
MT Stack Neptunes

These are pretty decent machines overall, but their are many potential problem areas almost all involving the washer. As Andy suggested if we know the serial # we may be able to predict some items that may need attention. I have lots of extra parts for these machines [ including control panels, although it would be easy to touch up the scratches on yours ] as we scrap a few every month.

 

When using the washer [ since there is no detergent dispenser in the stack models ] poor the liquid detergent directly on top of the clothing or if using power fold it up inside something, otherwise if pored directly in the tub it will just settle into the sump and you will have the same mediocre cleaning that plagued the first Neptune MAH3000s where even with the DD the detergent just washed into the sump where most of it stayed.

 

Andy if you can arrange shipping I can get one for $20, and all the MT fans out there will be glad to know that I have saved a gas one of these for installation in the museum.
 
Took a look and it does have the black tip wax motor, and it is pushing the plunger to lock the door and trip the two other microswitches..I have a new motor on order and microswitches..just to be sure

[this post was last edited: 7/8/2013-12:56]
 
 
The old-style wax motor shorts-out or otherwise goes bad, blows a triac or resistor or some such component on the cycle controller board.  There's an online source to get an updated wax motor and replacement components for the board which is then a soldering job.  I did that on a friend's MAH4000.  A circuit trace on the board was damaged but I worked around it.  I tried a workaround of tying a couple wires for a secondary microswitch together so that the board effectively "thought" the door was always locked ... but that won't work because that microswitch sensing the door unlocked is what stops the fluff routine at end of the cycle, otherwise it keeps fluffing until manually shut off.

The original MAH3000 also had wax motors on the dispenser module for bleach & softener.  MAH4000 eliminated the dispenser wax motors but still had the bad one on the door lock.
 
A fair amount of the stacks I encounter do already have the upgraded wax motor from the factory. Go figure. Your spin issue could be one of a few things depending on what it's doing.

A) it drains and tumbles but will not spin. Instead, it just tumbles back and forth until the spin cycle times out. This usually indicates an issue with the spin enable switch not being read by the control board. It thinks the door is unlocked and will not ramp up. It could be either the dreaded blown wax motor and board not locking the door and hitting the spin enable switch (indicated by the door lock light never coming on) or the door is locking but tumbling to and fro when it should be spinning which would indicate a possible bad spin enable switch. The weird thing is that the switch will usually read good with a meter but will still not let the board sense a door closed condition. It's that sensitive.

B) it starts to ramp up on speed, maybe even reaching a slight fast speed then immediately stopping and going into a unbalance condition. This is where it thinks its unbalanced due to a opening of the unbalance circuit, slows down, tumbles back and forth a couple three times then attempts a ramp up in spin speed. This is normal EXCEPT when it does this constantly, over and over and never reaches high speed. If it does this every once in a blue moon, then it may just be a load that it just doesn't like. Something like a single pillow, for example. It just can't balance that and gives up. It tumbles back and forth, draining what it can, then shuts down at the cycle's end.

Now if it does it consistently with every load, then you most likely have an issue with the unbalance circuit. There are three switches that tell the computer if the load is unbalanced. The very first ones had a little switch mounted on the back left strut and a tub impact switch on the right hand of the tub and a inertial switch right above that. Later models had the strut switch removed and replaced with a switch mounted at the bottom of the counter weight at the bottom of the tub and the inertial switch was moved to the top of the tub. The last generation had the inertial switch completely removed as it was a weak link in the circuit and caused a few false trips. For those who don't know, the impact switches opened the circuit if the tub was unbalanced enough to make contact with the cabinet side or bottom and the inertial opened if the tub shook enough but didn't impact with the cabinet. Actually a decent system that wasn't at touchy as the ones now that just sense by motor torque.

Anyway, one of the switches could be bad or, even simpler still, a wire may be broken at one of the switches from the wires vibrating as they could have been better secured.

Sorry for the long winded explanation. I try to explain something and get lost in the fun...

RCD
 
It's answer A...It goes back and forth... I have a new spin enable switch on order and wax motor and will make sure the tip of the motor moves far enough to trip that switch..would jumping the spin enable switch for now be a good idea?
 
Back
Top