Opinions on the early Maytag Neptunes

[laundromat]

I hated these machines from the fist day they arrived at our store.I was lied to and told how Maytag had these in trial homes fifteen years before they were put on the market. Seeing the similarities in their nightmare combos from 1960 made me avoid selling them. About 85% of the sets I sold were either returned or constantly in for repair.I sold 200 stacked sets that were installed on the Disney ship, Magic. I had clearly explained to its captain that they should neither be installed on its lower deck nor be vented out up through the smoke stacks. He did it anyway and the ship had a severe fire a few years later ruining all the machines. The cause was lint build up from venting through the stacks.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

I had a matched MAH4000 set for a very long time with little issues until I had a chance to jump at a MAH7500 washer. I had been wanting 7500s for a long time and had been stockpiling a 'wish stash' of parts in anticipation. Did a complete ground up rework. New bearings, boot, changed the motor and control to the new style and new struts. I also changed cabinets with a donor 4000 with a shot tub since the 7500 had a whollop in it from when the owner backed his car into it. I changed out the problematic Dayco belt with the new Hutchinson sourced belt. I love it.

 

My old 4000 washer went to a friend who is still using it with no issues. I still say that a fair amount of the issues with Neptune can be attributed to owners who can not/will not use the thing right. Wrong soap, no bleach, cold water ONLY, not wiping out the boot when done for a while, etc... Sure, there were design issues to be fixed such as the wax motor, but still the owners had a fair share...

 

Here's mine. I still have the 4000 dryer while I wait to jump on a 7500 electric dryer. As soon as one shows up, I'll overhaul it as well and switch the windowed door over.

 

RCD

 

[k1rod]

Hey Andrew, I'm kind of surprised. I assumed (you know what that gets you) that by the time the 7500's came out that Maytag was installing the new 3 phase motors as OEM. BTW Martin, your collection of 5500's is awesome!

 

[redcarpetdrew]

No, the early 7500's had the older motor then switched later.

RCD

 

[autowasherfreak]

I wish the Neptunes had see through doors, LOL.

 

[arbilab]

...See through doors.....

If they had, I would have bought one. Then I would have had to stay home from work a dozen times to let the repairman in.

I can't name another FL with no window. Even some DRYERS now have windows. What was Maytag thinking? "We can sell junk for $999 on the basis of our name alone, without bothering to test it"? Sure looks that way.

 

[mysteryclock]

Ah, the Neptune. "The machine that killed Maytag.", as I would like to title my book about it (if I ever write one.)

We were so excited to leave our GE Profile TL W/D when we moved in 2001 and bought a brand new Neptune set for the new house (the teeny pushbutton version.) We loved the concept of a FL washer way back then, liked that it still fit in a TL-designed laundry room, admired the retro-future styling and logo, and believed that since it was a Maytag, what could possibly go wrong?? It was a great cleaning washer and sort of exciting to use, being new to FLs. But then...

First came the mold...lots of it. I'd chalk the first replacement boot up to user error, but the second and third were just bad design until they finally got to the one with the drain in it and it stopped turning black. Then came the wax motor failures, at least two. Then a control board or two (lost track.) Then the bearings started to sound more like a 707 @ takeoff. Finally in year 4, now past warranty and the very week we started potty training our oldest son (use your imagination there...) the washer completely failed AND the dryer died, within hours of each other. Seriously...what can go wrong with an electric dryer to make it completely die?!?

At that point I'd absolutely had it and vowed - as I suspect others may have too - to never own anything with Maytag on it ever again. That set was hauled away and a new Bosch Nexxt set installed, which we are still using to this day.

Adding to my irritation and anti-brand vow was the fact that Maytag never informed me of the lawsuit and subsequent settlement, in spite of having had a valid warranty registration and numerous contacts with them. I found out about it a few months after the closure.

I agree with the assessment above that the design of the washer, from a conceptual point of view, was interesting and innovative. But the implementation details showed a lack of real-world component testing and resulted in a problematic end product. By the time they fixed these individual problem spots, the damage to the brand was done and perhaps irreparable. It was during this time that they were acquired by Whirlpool, right?

If only they'd done more testing and sorted it out before a broader launch, it could have changed the landscape for W/Ds in America and FL acceptance sooner....alas.