New Maytag Neptunes

[launderess]

Questions:

Very nice set, thank you for sharing photos!

We have been looking at the baby brother of the washer (MaySung MAH2400) and found the owner's manual regarding cycles vague at best. Can you shed some light into what exactly each wash cycle does? For instance "Wrinkle Control" differs from "Hand Wash"?

Also it seems these units do not have coin traps/lint traps that can be user checked/cleaned. Noticed this seems to be an ongoing trend with new front loaders, and was wondering your opinion. While in all the years of owning front loaders, have yet to find anything caught in our machine's traps, one does clean out the lint after awhile (never usually much there), but it would be nice to be able to check for a loose coin or some such item left in a pocket without having to arrange a service call.

 

[nmaineman36]

Answers..I hope...

Here is the breakdown on the cycles for the washer. Each one presets the temps and spin speeds..of course you can change each one to tailor the individual cycle as you see fit.
SuperWash 1 hour 40 mins w/prewash, warm/cold water, heavy soil level,MaxExtract Spin. Extra rinse adds 13 mins to each cycle. ex Spin adds 3 mins to each as well.
Normal cycle 54 mins warm/cold max extract,med soil.
Whites cycle 1 hr 5 mins hot/cold ex rinse,maxextract med soil.
Wrinkle Control 45 mins warm/cold, med spin med soil.
Colors 56 mins cold/cold med spin med soil.
Delicates 45 mins warm/cold gentle spin,med soil.
Hand wash 47 mins cold/cold low spin,low soil.
QuickWash 29 mins warm cold med spin,low soil.
Spin Speeds Max Extract = 1100 rpms
Medium = 800 rpms
Gentle = 600 rpms
Low = 400 rpms
Drain only = 0 rpms
Suspension 2 springs 4 struts
Auto Temp Control warm wash = 105 degrees, warm rinse = 80 degrees, cold wash 65 degrees
water temp is maintained by internal heater hot is 155 degrees.
Rinse /spin option is a cold rinse med spin 15 mins
spin only 9 mins med spin.
DRYER
Sensor Regular 46 mins Normal dry Reg Temp
Wrinkle Control Sensor 50 mins less dry med temp
Time dry 40 mins regular temp
Freshen Up 15 mins reg temp
Delicates 35 mins low heat
Air fluff 20 mins
Wrinkle Release 18 mins reg temp
Quick dry 30 mins regular
Temps are Regular Temp = 154 degrees
Medium Temp = 146 degrees
Low Temp = 138 degrees
ExLow Temp = 125 degrees
7.3 cu ft drum 200 cfm airflow air enters drum upper right and is pulled thru drum to bottom of door opening.
Quick fast and effective airflow. Gas burner rated at 22,000 btus. Clean burning no yellowing of fabrics. And yes folks I know some believe that Gas dryers do not yellow fabrics but if you compare a white load dried in an electric dryer to a gas one you can see the difference. This dryer seems to not yellow the clothes like the last one we had.

 

[toggleswitch]

Real Estate Question.

Said: I think that eventually we plan on buying a new house but we are going to wait for the house prices to come down some. The bubble as they say is about to pop here from what I have been reading in the paper.

If you sell high and buy high; or if your sell low and buy low is there a difference?

 

[toggleswitch]

I've got gas.

Is the gas you are using propane or natural gas, BTW?

Black iron pipe (as seen in pics) can be used with either. IIRC copper tubing with flared fittings is almost exclusively used with propane.

 

[rayjay]

Gas Dryers

Mike, I have used both Gas and Electric Dryers over the years and had not found the white clothes to yellow with a Gas Dryer. I did find that the laundromat dryers from the early 60's tended to do that because they were very hot. I dry the whites on med heat anyway

Toggles. Any comments on this?
Thanks

 

[rayjay]

Maytag Set

Mike, BTW, the set is beautiful. Does it add enough water or is it stingy? Is rinsing adequate? I have one of the original Neptune dryers, and it does work quite well. I have an LG front loader, and like it also. Howver, uses very little water, but i must say it does rinse well. Does the washer go into a lot of balancing before spinning?

THanks, ray

 

[nmaineman36]

performance

Well after using these for a week now I will have to say that I do love them. Rinsing is very thorough since the long spins between each rinse. Not juts long spins but fast spins...I would have to say in the ballpark of 800 rpms. By the time the 2nd rinse hits there isnt any suds left that i can see. The water level is adequate I think and since the drum tilts to the back the water pools there. There isnt any splashing of water like the Frigidaire but that doesnt keep it from washing or rinsing well.

One irritating thing I did find this past weekend was when I washed 10 pairs of jeans in it at one time. I figured that since I had a drum that large why not use the capacity. Well I found out that the washer wouldnt spin that size load and it stayed at the 8 min mark for over 25 mins trying to get the load to distribute right. I finally had to stop the washer and take out 5 pairs or jeans and then it would spin the load. The unbalance sensor is too sensitive I think but in some ways a good thing since I dont want the washer to walk.
Another thing that I did notice is that the top part of the machine will vibrate when the spin cycle revs up to 1100 rpms...then it will stop vibrating as it hits that speed.
Most loads the washer will go from drain right into spin with very little in the way of a distribution spin. If the load doesnt feel right to the washer it will slow the spin down and then stop and try again. Plus it will cycle the pump off and on.

The dryer has what is called adaptive drying. It will figure out how long it will take for the load to dry on the Sensor cycles and when it gets to the 15 min mark it will add time or subtract it if the load is dry it will go right into cooldown. if you run the dryer with nothing in it ..it will shut down after 2 mins.
Both machine are very quiet.

 

[toggleswitch]

I washed 10 pairs of jeans in it at one time
..it stayed at the 8 min mark for over 25 mins trying to get the load to distribute right

Jeans would assumably be of the same size, shape and weight. Strange that the machine would not balance and spin.

IMHO after 5 minutes the machine should progress to the next phase even without spinning. Or beter yet, spin REAL slow and the load will become easier to balance as it is wrung out.

 

[rayjay]

On a very bad unbalanced load, on my LG, it would progress. I noticed this once or twice on a finished load in that the load was very wet. I took re-ditributed the load and then did a Rinse and Spin.

 

[sudsmaster]

Said:

"Said: The dryer is gas and it doesn't leave the whites yellow like the other dryer we had..
I GOT MY HEAD CHEWED OFF (In another thread) THAT THIS CANT HAPPEN WITH GAS. OMG! "

What I believe I said is that it shouldn't happen with a properly functioning gas dryer.

I could certainly see it happening with a malfunctioning gas dryer (badly adjusted burner, or clogged exhaust vent).

So please put your head back on. I don't need it, I have my own ;-)

 

[bendix5]

Dan (Bendix5) here who also bought the Maytag Neptune washer the same time you did. It seems now that I have used it for a month or so it needs leveled again on the floor. I also have the vibration at the top of the machine when in the spin cycle like you do. I am going to look inside this weekend and see if maybe there is another shipping bolt or styrofoam that should be taken out. I could not find any info on the Maytag site. Just the 4 shipping bolts in the instructions. Seems like there should be something else besides that. If not I am going to place a service call because I don't think that is right that the machine vibrates so much at the top and seems stable on the floor. My sons HE3T in an upstairs laundry room doens't hardly vibrate at all in the spin cycles. They do large loads having 2 kids. Anyway. I thought you might have some input now that you have had your machine for a few weeks. Outside of that we love the machine and it cleanes well, cycle times are acceptable.
Thanks
Dan
(Bendix5)

 

[nmaineman36]

leveling

Dan if you look at the install instructions for the washer it will tell you that it has to be releveled after the first 12 to 15 washes. I did notice there are no locking nuts on the legs or maybe I dont see them. But anyways there are no more in the washer to take out as far as shipping bolts and such.

My feeling for this washer is that it is a good machine so far. I have read on epinions that this machine does have a few problems that come up and I am praying that it doesnt happen. Because if they do it will go right back and we will get our money back.
One very annoying thing is the fact that when it comes to getting the washer to spin it seems like the sensor wants a perfectly balanced load in the drum. Sometimes this can take a good half hour or so before it will spin...and thats not just in the final spin but in all spins of the cycle. It can be very maddening especially when I go by what the time says on the washer for time left. I cant tell you how many times I head down to the basement only to find the beast still at the 30 min mark trying to spin a load that my Frigidaire front loader would have no problem spinning out.
The other thing that is pissing me off is the dispensers. the detergent compartment is next door to all things the fabric softener compartment. If I use powder and thats most of the time the compartment will send detergent into the fabric softener area...ruining the softener. So now what I do is I load the detergent into the area and push it down the chute to make sure it doesnt overflow. Then after it flushes the area clean then I will add the softener to its compartment. The other thing is that if you open the drawer it doesnt shut off the washer like in the Frigidaire...it keeps running the water. Water will come out of the area and down the sides.

 

[bendix5]

Hi Mike
I haven'thad the spin problems you have been having. It is a interesting process of spinning, draining spinning again etc until it goes into the high speed spin. That process seems to be all in the 8 minute spin cycle at the end. There are lock nuts on my machine. They are pretty thin and were locked into place when we set up the machine. I had the powder detergent problem once with it going over into the fab softner but I had the blue lever in the detergent side in the down postition for liquids. Pop that up and powders run under it. I will re level the machine this weekend and let you know how it goes. It isn't a bad thing but the vibration can be annoying to those of us who had very stable machines in the past. Keep in touch
Dano

 

[kacyc1]

Parents have the new Neptunes

Hey, just to give my 2 cents, my parents bought the new Neptune set (8700) for Christmas and it was my job to install them. I actually purchased them as well at Lowes (the only distributor here that actually had them in stock) and was considering the Bosch Nexxt and GEs. I wasn't that impressed with the GEs as the quality wasn't as good as Bosch or Maytag. I chose the Neptunes as the pedestals were a lot higher and my mother has a hard time bending over. After installing both the washer and the dryer I was having the same sort of troubles with the vibration. The floor in the laundry room is tile so I had to keep adjusting the leveling legs on the washer to come to some sort of "level." However, the end result was that the washer is not level at all, yet the vibration has stopped. FWIW, with the pedestals these machines are HUGE! So far they are amazing though.. Wish I could trade in my Bosch WFK2401 for them. Anyone else have the pedestals?

 

[jmirawm]

Hi Mike !

I was wondering how you and the new neptunes are getting along.

 

[nmaineman36]

hey there

So far I have been pleased with the washer and dryer . It has been taking some time to get used to the quirks the washer has and working my way around them.
I did wash a couple of pillows in the washer and they came out beautifully...much like new and these pillows had not seen a washer in 5 years..so you can imagine what they looked like. As far as other loads go everything comes out very clean. I have been using Persil Megapearls and I am amazed at what that detergent does on my Whites cycle since the water heater in the washer brings the water temp up to 150 degrees.
i did notice that with some loads the washer doesnt go to the max spin of 1100 rpms...it seems to sense how much drum movement there is and finds the best spin speed to suit that load. It can be anywhere between 600 rpms and 950...guesstimating this of course...but I can tell when it does ramp up to 1100...the clothes come out drier.
The dryer is awesome and very fast. It is very quiet and performance wise is one of the very best dryers I have used. If my Frigidaire/Kenmore dryer had a larger drum ...I think that dryer would compare to the Maytag in performance. I am curious to see how Consumer Reports rates them and that they are smart enough to know that there are different designs for the Maytag neptunes...sometimes they lump it all together.
And so far I have not had the yellowing effect that I got with the other Maytag dryer on the clothes...it seems to burn very clean since that was a major concern that I had since its gas.
So I would have to say so far so good unless the washer dies on me then I may feel differently.

 

[bobbyderegis]

Hello nmaineman!
Was the appliance store in Lynn Roger's Maytag? If is is, I am glad to see that he is still in business. He is the nicest person, almost as nice as the real Mr. Rogers! I bought my A612 from him ages ago. He is extremely knowledgeable and kind.
Bobby in Boston

 

[nmaineman36]

washer and dryer

you are correct Bobby..thats where we bought the washer and dryer on Highland Ave in Lynn...just a couple of blocks where we are.
Mike