Neptune Washer Tub Light Question

[rp2813]

The tub light has been burnt out on my MLG2000AWW washer since moving into my current home over two years ago.  I didn't even realize it had a tub light until recently, and today, since the dryer's light burnt out not too long ago, I bought replacement C7 clear bulbs for both.

 

After installing the replacement bulb in the washer, I waited for it to go out on its own with the door left open.  I gave it at least five minutes and it stayed lit.  Both my Duet and Affinity tub lamps went out after a couple of minutes.  Now I'm thinking there's no point to having a tub light in the washer if it's going to be on for days at a time because I always leave the door ajar.  Or is there a timer component that's not working?   It sure would explain why so many Neptunes had mildew issues if the door had to be tightly closed in order to shut the light off.

 

IMO neither light does much, so if I have to remove the bulb from the washer I'm OK with it.  Mildew prevention is a much higher priority.  There is no mention of the washer's tub light in the owner's manual other than instructions on how to replace it.   I would think if the light is supposed to shut off after the door has been open for a designated interval, it would say so somewhere. 

 

Could lack of a timed lighting cycle have been an oversight on Maytag's part? 

 

 

 

[revvinkevin]

Hi Ralph, I hope you’re well through all this craziness!

From what I’ve seen with the Neptunes that I have/had, there is no timer for the tub light, it will just stay on as long as the doors open. I agree this was an oversight on Maytag‘s part. The light on the washer does light up the tub nicely, which I happen to like, but I agree, I would much rather be able to leave the door open without worry of the light staying on forever.

Kevin

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Kevin.  All's well here, but yeah, I'll be removing the bulb from the washer.  Shame on Maytag for not promoting proper mildew avoidance measures.  No wonder they received so many complaints.

 

[yogitunes]

mold/mildew issues didn't become a major problem until way after the introduction of the Neptune....something I still have not come across, so I dont know where that thought came from....

in any case....all the more reason to unplug the unit when not in use.....otherwise your next thread will soon be, an electrical spike just burnt out my boards...

also, it would be easy enough to add a switch to turn the light off...

 

[revvinkevin]

Martin makes a very good point (Hi Martin *waves*) as he would know, being he has so many Neptunes.

I’m not in the service industry like John L, but I don’t ever remember hearing about many Neptunes with mold / mildew issues. Who knows if anyone can really say for sure what a contributing factors are for them not having this issue (that we know of). Higher wash temps? Powdered detergent vs liquid? The tub boot made of different materials that actually resist mold or mildew?

Due to mold / mildew issues in newer front load washers, we have been conditioned to leave the door open to prevent such problems.

 

[swestoyz]

I used an LED equivalent from one of the big box stores in the MAH7500, with an increased "wattage" output. I leave the door open often for days on end. The bulb still works well over a year after swapping it out and doesn't put out near the amount of heat the original 4-7w incandescent did.

I'm also experimenting with an LED bulb in the Neptune dryer, also with a higher "wattage" output. The difference is like night and day (no pun intended) in the drum, and the cycling heat still hasn't bothered the bulb one bit.

To Ralph's original question - IMO, yes Maytag should have put the tub light for the washer on a timer. Do I believe this is one of the main reasons why there was mold issues? Yes and no. Yes, from a user behavior perspective and wanting to ensure the light was off. Also, the early models (MAH3000 through I think series 10?) suffered from a lack of good venting. Even on the improved vented models I've seen mold issues on many on their way to the scrap yard. Rarely is the boot pristine on these. A lack of regular hot washes with a good detergent and heavy dosing on softener can be deadly to a Neptune.

Ben[this post was last edited: 12/17/2020-09:08]

 

[rp2813]

Mold and Mildew

I made my statement above because I have read here in the past that Maytag received an avalanche of complaints about black mildew stains on boots not long after the Neptune series was launched.  The boot on my Neptune has stains from the previous owner that have proven impossible to remove.  I'm pretty sure she never left the door ajar because this stacked pair was located near a doorway and protruded enough to cause tight passage on the way to the basement, so a partially open door would have made that traffic flow problem even worse.  This is why I had a pump and a laundry sink installed in the basement and moved the set down there.

 

I did see LED versions of the C7 bulbs but when I checked the stats against the C7, the LED produced 30 lumens compared to 43 for the C7.  Additionally, the LED offered two types of lighting, either soft white or daylight.  I wasn't sure which would be better, and since it seemed the C7 would be brighter -- which is counter to everything I've experienced with LED -- I opted for incandescent. 

 

The problem with the LED version I saw was that they're not 7-watt bulbs.  They're like 0.6 watts, so unless there's something about the characteristics of LED light, they'd not be as bright as a standard C7.   I'd consider LED and letting the door remain open if they provided enough light to make a difference.  There's a large overhead florescent fixture by the washer, so really the bulb isn't crucial.  I just thought it would be a nice touch to have a a courtesy light for the tub just like cars had (have?) them at the bottom of the doors.

 

[thomasortega]

I put LED bulbs in my Speed Queen Ultra Mate.

The difference was simply shocking. Now it looks like i have xenon headlights on high beam every time I open the dryer or the washer.

I havent thought about that yet but that definitely made my day. ASAP I'm going to replace my bulbs by LED (white)

 

[ozzie908]

LED bulbs are amazing

I have put them in my fridge as it has 4x bulbs in it which when you open the door to find anything or put things in the heat from the bulbs would make sure the thermostat kicked in and turned the fans etc on. Since replacing them with LED ones the fridge is much colder without the need to switch on when the door was opened so now I just need to replace the ones in the freezer but that has 2 in it so doesn't affect it as much.
The difference in the brightness is just amazing.

Austin

 

[yogitunes]

factory bulbs for the Neptunes were originally 10 watt bulbs....at a cost of 10.00 each to replace...I dont think so...

I have found C7 @ 15 watts.....4 for 2.00....thats more like it.....

but I will be on the lookout for those LED's.....brighter light and lower energy use, I'm game...

I know a lot of people use candle lights in their windows year round....most are 7 watts, and sometimes you can find 4 watt bulbs.....but what you dont think of is one may be of little cost to operate......but multiply that by 20 windows, and in the lowest case, thats like keeping an 80 watt bulb on all the time....

 

[rp2813]

So is it OK to go with higher wattage bulbs?  At this point, I'm only thinking about the dryer, but wasn't sure if anything over 10w was safe.  And yes, there's no such thing as a 10w C7 size bulb from what I've seen out there, so 7w was the best I could do.  I've seen some 15w incandescents but they're a little larger and I don't think they'd fit.

 

I didn't see anything definitive in recent replies about whether a 0.6w LED would provide more actual light (not lumens, since the packaging info indicates they're lower for the LED) than a 7w incandescent C7.  There's no point in trying an LED bulb if it won't be any brighter than a standard issue C7, except for the fact that I could leave the washer door open and not care if an LED bulb remained lit.  Since the type of light produced is very different from an LED compared to a C7, I don't know if a lumens rating even applies. 

 

 

[combo52]

Front Load Washers, Tub Lights and Mold

Hi Ralph, you differently gave me my morning laugh of the day when you said that you put in the Asher bulb and then waited 5 minutes for it to go out.

 

Neptunes were not exactly cutting edge in their engineering , in fact they were about the least sophisticated machine introduced in decades and were already 10 years behind the industry standards of efficient design. I remember when My older Brother Jerry [ a quality control engineer ] looked over the gas stack Neptune I got him and he commented how old fashioned the electrical design was and the large amount of wiring the machine had.

 

`Maytags not having a way to turn off the light with the door open was Mts single biggest mistake in designing the Neptune FL Washer.

 

[ Westinghouse even in 1959 when they added a tub light to their TOL FL Washers had a switch so you could leave the door open without the light being on, and they continued having a switch through 1994 ]

 

Maytag started having mold problems almost immediately after the introduction of the Neptunes with class-action lawsuits following fast.

 

Martin is correct however, you can close the door on about any FL washer and it will not ever have a mold problem if you are USING the machine properly. 

 

Washing Machines Do Not and Will Not mold if they are not coated with Bio-Film [ scum and dirt ] from washing in cold water, too LITTLE detergent, Crappy detergent and lack of LCB and or too much fabric softener.

 

John L.

 

[DADoES]

 
John, there are hundreds if not thousands of users (and some service techs on other discussion boards I've seen) that insist and believe that detergent causes mold.  A few of them I've notice advise that 1 teaspoon dosage of liquid is correct for a full load.

 

[combo52]

Detergent Causes Mold In Washers ????

Hi Glenn, I guess this is why detergents so often mold in the box and have sell-by dates on them and you have to throw them out so often, LOL

 

This is basically the problem of poor training in the appliances repair business and the lack of any scientific common sense in the world today.

 

John L.

 

 

 

[rp2813]

John, yes, I think the former occupants here were cold water washers.  Just recently I read a post by someone here stating that blue stains on a dryer drum from jeans indicate cold water washing, and the Neptune's dryer drum is blue all around the perimeter of the front opening.

 

Also, the five minute wait wasn't intentional.  The phone rang so I was on a call and went back to check the machine to find the bulb still lit.

 

I like a lot of what makes the Neptune old fashioned though, as you well know -- I prefer knobs and dials over touchpads and readouts, and am pleased to own a FL machine with those low-tech controls.  I can forgive Maytag's failure to include a timer for the tub light.  That's not nearly as annoying to me as having to type in my request every time I run a load of wash.

 

[keith]

Lumens Question

Lumens measurement came about specifically because of the different "wattage" consumed by the different forms of light for the same "brightness". I.E Incandescent, Fluorescent, LED. Because LED's don't burn off the majority of energy consumed as heat, like incandescent bulbs do, their Lumen output for any given wattage (which is just a measure of energy consumed by the device) is much higher than both Incandescent or Fluorescent. So Lumens is what the industry is shifting to as a standardized way of rating the light output from a device, in an apples-to-apples way. The more efficient the light source the more light output for any given wattage input.

800 Lumens is roughly equivalent light output to the following:
60 Watt non Halogen Incandescent (Most energy turned into heat and not used to provide light)
15 Watt Fluorescent (Much more efficient but ballast and phosphor still wastes some energy)
8 Watt LED (About the most efficient use of power we have right now for lighting)

Sorry if that's overkill, I like to ramble....

 

[keith]

So after all that I realized I didn't exactly answer your question. Lower Lumens, Lower light output. Grab the LED c7 (if they make one) that will match (or beat) the lumens of the incandescent, no matter what the 'wattage' it will use will be much lower than the incandescent and the wiring in the machine wont be affected.

 

[yogitunes]

people will blame elsewhere than their own selves.....for anything going wrong with a machine....

currently since Covid, a lot of people are blaming their dryers for shrinking their clothes......

actually their blaming the wrong appliance, as its clearly the Refrigerator making them bigger!!!...

yeah yeah, like the fridge is force feeding them.....

the fridge would be a good place for a Full Length Mirror mounted on the front...a Fun House mirror that would make you look tall and thin is not an option...

 

[rp2813]

Thanks for the tutorial Keith, but I'm still not sure about the lumens information on the incandescent C7 packaging vs. the LED C7 type. 

 

I'm fully aware that LED bulbs will produce more light -- or lumens -- with less wattage, but I thought lumens were lumens regardless of the type of bulb producing them.  That's why I purchased incandescent.  The lumens figures were higher for the 7w incandescent than they were for their 0.6w LED equivalent.

 

If I'm missing something here, by all means please explain further.