Maytag Neptune washer 5500 motor contol board blown...

[dean]

?pic=4zw34m8 The motor control board is fried on this washer. We had our house 3 years and it was here already. Love the machine apart from this.

Fuse is blown (not visible to camera) and the black component (not a chip but looks like one) is blown in the middle.

Any recomendations? This place has a new boards AND motor for $210:

This place seems to be the same thing:

Any other options? I know there was a class action suit against maytag for this issue, but I really can't bring myself to read all the crud, I just want it fixed so the wife doesn't have to hand-wash too much!

Thanks!

Dean.

Ps have used RepairClinic before and they were great.

[dean]

I guess one question is why both kits replace both the control board AND the motor - there is nothing wrong with the motor, it looks and sounds brand new.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Newer kit may have improvement done to it. Or look at it this way; when board went it caused a partial damage to the motor. If you install new board with this motor either motor or board will go again. I saw this sort of chain of event happening in many different cases.

[Art]

WHen my parent's control board went under service agreement, they also replaced the lock motor. I've read that if the lock motor fails then the control board is blown so look into replacing that too unless it has been recently replaced.

Consumer Reports would suggest it is time to replace the machine. You can probably buy the equivalent machine for less than $700 at Lowes or Home Depot or Sears. I saw it a month ago at my local Home Depot for $550.

[dean]

I don't understand - I've just seen that washer for $1075.

Its not the same problem as the wax motor issue, which has to be replaced if the upper control board fails. This is the main drum motor. What you are talking about is described here:

I think mine has a solenoid, not a wax motor.

[Art]

Did you read the page carefully? It says if the wax motor fails, it blows the control board, exactly what I said. I believe all have wax motors. Wax motors are very common and reliable but the original one was affected by moisture and bleach fumes. If yours is original in an early model you should probably replace it. On-line the machine is about $700. Likely to be cheaper at your local Home Depot or Lowes. The $1000 one is a different model or you looked at a rip off page or your's is a late model. Do you have a see thru door or metal door? The troublesome model had an all metal door.

[dean]

It blows the touch-pad control board, not the motor control board, unless I read it wrong. Mine is the 5500, not sure how old it is but it has red LED lights and touch-pad keys, and an all-metal door like you say, so maybe it is a jinxed model. I will spend the $200 this time, but I'll keep this in mind for future donations to Maytag.

Thanks for the help,

Dean

[Art]

Mine was much earlier than yours. It had push buttons. No LED's. It was from around 1997. It is still running by the way. It got the free mildew upgrade around 2002 where they change the outer tub, seal and control panel. At that time we bought a service agreement. The control panel went out several years later and was fixed under the agreement. They also changed the lock motor then.