My First Neptune Adventure-- The Smelly Washer

[fordtech]

Great points Jetcone! If you think of that other cleaner LMK please.

LOL Malcolm, you know we Americans couldnt take 2 hour wash times!

Matt, you've got that right! No mold or detergent buildup is great after 5+ years in that machine!

 

[suburbanmd]

Scale buildup

How about periodic descaling, by running the longest, hottest cycle empty, with some citric acid?

 

[fordtech]

That could be worth a try suburbanmd!

 

[combo52]

CLEANING WASHERS

Great photo essays again Fordtech I really enjoy your enthusiasm and thoroughness. I don't think there should ever be a reason for periodic washer cleaning if the machine is being used properly. A machine that can't keep it self clean IS NOT producing CLEAN CLOTHES I have never had any build up issues in any of the TL or FL washers that I have used for years and I don't have a water softener or live in a soft water area. There many rules to good laundry practices many of which have been discussed here. But in general use at least 100 degree water in the tub all the time { this means in a FL washer using the hot setting all the time ] for washing. Cold water is better for rinsing it helps keep bacteria and mold growth down. Too much detergent will never cause any type of build up in a washing machine, its too little that is the problem. Most of the problems we see are with Amway, Shaklee, Sears and the budget brands from the stores.

 

[suburbanmd]

City water hardness in Beltsville

combo52, if your water comes from WSSC's Patuxent plant, it's soft. From the Potomac plant, a little bit hard. If it comes from a well, that's a different story.

Loading…

www04.wsscwater.com

 

[combo52]

WATER HARDNESS IN BELTSVILLE

I am closer to the Patuxent plant but they tell us that we get a mixture of water from both plants, but is is softer than the folks who live on the expensive side of town.

 

[fordtech]

It is difficult to determine which way to go. Some people believe you cant have too much detergent while others say too much will cause buildup. Some say hard water is the problem others say no way. I guess the only way to know is trial and error. Ive used Persil at 50 bucks a box blended with STPP at 25 bucks a box, Tide HE, Sears Plus HE, and others. When my machine was all slimey we were using Tide HE liquid and often Downy liquid with it in cold water. Since moving away from cold only washes and to powder we now only have this hard deposit. It would be nice to solve this with reasonable certainty and effort.

Im just glad I have the ability to strip the machine down, but I wasnt having any problems with it as it was, just looked inside to see if maintenance was needed. It only requires a couple hours tear down and reassembly. I work on cars for a living and even a 50,000 dollar Lincoln needs regular maintenance.

I am glad I dont have a spouse who wails at every niggle and demands a new machine every 2 years like some of those folks on the Garden Web...... no washer dryer bankrupcy here! LOL. She has been very patient and content with her Neptunes.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Fordtech

I am just wondering, have you ever used any of the washer cleaner products like Tide Washer Cleaner, or Affresh?

I was just wondering if they would take off these deposits, or would something stronger like CLR or Lime Away work?

 

[suburbanmd]

Descaler

I bought a box of expensive Miele washing machine descaler, which turned out to be pure citric acid. You can get citric acid a lot cheaper, like through Amazon. From what I've read, citric acid is one of the mildest and safest acids to use for descaling. You don't want to use a strong product that could damage seals. Even vinegar is supposed to be questionable for this purpose. What is Maytag's official advice?

Now, since I've been using STPP regularly along with the Sears powdered detergent, there's been no white buildup on the drum and I haven't had to descale.

 

[fordtech]

Iheartmaytag, I havent used anything to cleanse this machine at all since I havent experienced the odors at all after radically altering the way we were doing the laundry.

I had never seen scale buildup issues talked abvout before and when I saw that on the Commercail Neptune thread I had to dig in and take a look and sure enough there it was.

I think my best shot right now is to go back to STPP and try the citric acid cleaning once in awhile since you have seen a major improvement doing that suburbanmd or something akin. Im already using the Sears powder.

I have some CLR here but like you though it says you can clean front loaders with it, I am concerned about seal damage.

 

[3beltwesty]

BATHTUB CLEANER IS 6 PERCENT CITRIC ACID

Here is a before and and after shot of about 10 minutes of work with bathtub cleaner.

The cylinder/tubs round sides have some scum that came off with the 6 percent bathtub spray, elbow grease and some paper towels.

This is after 4 years of usage on a now 34 year old washer that has some rust. I did this last night. The tub cleaner was about 4.5 dollars and I used about 1/4 of it.

This is a potato pulley type westinghouse from 1976 model LT570, not the point of the thread, just an example of citric acid experiment. This tub is steel and porcelain coated. Years ago some folks washed with lemon juice to clean out an old machine, One looked at the stuff coming out of the discharge hose to see the crud. This might be bad for an aluminum slider modern FL washer.

One can see some lint crud that stuck to the back that is about 4 inches below the bearing/seal. The scumline crud acts like glue and traps lint in that horizontal line. The back round of the tub was painted with epoxy paint 4 years ago, ie mostly held up except for the bearing center area.

The trapped lint gets caught between the tub and basket and can scrape the paint off.

Notice how the back lower part is mostly clean; the stuff that splashes up has the rusty scum that wiped right off like a dirty car window.

I did not paint the diameter part that tub 4 years ago, that is white "bathtub ring" type scum. It says on the bottle to not use on washers, but being a rebel it looks like it works well.

 

[fordtech]

Excellent results 3beltwesty, and I am amazed that paint held up that long. With an all steel outer tub like that I think it would be a great candidate for stripping down and having it powder coated. I bet that would last a long time.

was the crust on the side hard as concrete? This stuff on the stainless tub on mine is rock hard, rough and very thin. I guess it could also be stripped with 3M roloc grinding disks which are like a tough green pad on a wheel you put on a die grinder.

 

[3beltwesty]

re cleaning with citric acid.

Fordtech;

The stuff on the side was just like "bathtub ring" deposits, it came off with just paper towels wetted with the bathtub cleaner and hand rubbing.

I just sprayed it on and let it slide down; then placed paper towels in the sump area and used these to scrub with. The citric acid cuts into the deposits. These deposits on mine get cut by the Comet bathtub cleaner, you can see a trail of stuff streaming down the walls when I first sprayed it.

The old back area was sanded down in the trouble areas to remove the rust, then Rust Bullet used to cover these areas, I used three coats. Then there are about 3 coats of epoxy paint.

The powder coating idea is interesting; I guess one would need an oven large enough to hold the tub.

 

[combo52]

MINERAL DEPOSITS IN WASHERS

Fordtech and 3beltwesty you both need to use more detergent or install a water softener. Any washer that is developing a build up of any kind is not giving you the cleanest, whitest and softest clothing. Periodically using cleaners or using hot water are not the best way to do laundry or take care of your machine. Why not do it correctly all the time? Doing it this way is like not changing your engines oil for 30,000 miles at a time and trying to clean up the damage later. The main seals and water pump and your expensive clothing are all being damaged by poor laundry practices. I am not trying to be hard on anyone but both of you are very smart mechanical type people and thier is a fairly simple solution to mineral buildup, you will never need to take apart one of your machines again to clean it.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Just curious here John, For a Maytag Neptune, how much liquid or powdered soap should one use per load?

 

[fordtech]

I just use the scoop that comes with the detergent and follow the instructions on the box. Usually it calls for one scoop for normal to one and a half for heavy soil. I use the longest cycle and the stain cycle for my uniforms hot wash cold rinse and extra rinses.

When I used Persil it was 2.5 tablespoons Persil blended with 1.5 tablespoons STPP to equal one 4 tablespoon scoop.

 

[fordtech]

3beltwesty, the powdercoating is usually done commercially. Most larger cities has a powdercoating facility. I belong to a Lawn-Boy mower restoration group and they often powdercoat the mower decks and it turns out like glass and very durable.

 

[3beltwesty]

I was thinking probably of my friends who have powercoating settups for smaller parts, they have an old kitchen type oven in their garages. Thus the limit is the dinky oven,

 

[combo52]

POWER COATING OUTER TUBS

It would be interesting to see how well this would hold up on restoration projects, I may have to give this a try. I have access to a place that can even coat and bake whole car frames. The only case of a manufacturer using powder-coating on washer parts that were regularly subjected to water were the Magic Chef { Norge ] washer baskets and they didn't hold up as well as the porcelain baskets did. But I still think it might be a good idea for restoring old machines that might not get real heavy service. Over the years I have had good luck with two part marine epoxy paint for outer tubs etc. When I have had occasion to dismantle some of these machines years later the epoxy paint had usually held up very well.

 

[3beltwesty]

surface prep is more important than the paint.

Here is a steel tub front that came out after 4 years of regular usage. 4 years ago this area had some rust, it was all sanded off and degreased with extreme care, then 3 coats of Rust Bullet used, plus three coats of a high end epoxy for commercial tanks used. The paint did not fail at all, maybe in just one place.

The sandwich is almost as thick as a credit card.

In one spot it somehow failed, maybe due to a coin, surface prep error, bad luck, who knows.

Once opened the waters pressure due to the drum caused it to open up more, ie peeling due to cyclic fatigue. About 3 months ago I could hear something of a high pitched nature when one tuned the drum in one direction, but not another. This piece or another had bent out and was touching the drum.

Thus it looks like that the water was helping debond the rust bullet slightly with each usage once a breach occured. The dangerous thing is that water gets trapped behind a debonding event and can cause corrosion to quicken even more. About a couple of square inches were not bonded anymore; the rest is like it is welded on. This is with a surface prep I though was like for space flight, thus there is probably a reason paint is used in washers.

IN the LG thread of Supremewhirpol's, he is using coal tar epoxy. This is often used with steel boat hulls and is maybe a good choice too. Epoxy paint has so *give* too it, and coal tar adds even more give.

I have a brand new tub front that I found recently , thus this front will not be used again.

That brown stuff is some sticky goo that comes off with 409 cleaner. The spinning drum is right next to this breach, a fraction of an inch away. There was a penny down in the sump area, maybe this caused the breach.