[HHB]

Our Maytag Neptune stackable washer fills, then shuts off after a minute or so. When we advance the timer manually, it will drain, and then shut off again. It never agitates or spins. After some research, we removed the machine control board and inspected, but no signs of burned traces. For good measure, we installed a new wax motor even though the old one seemed to actuate OK and the door lock light was on when it seemed like it should be, but it didn't change anything. We ran the motor control board test per the manual by disconnecting the JP4 connector and applying AC to the correct inputs on the board, and the washer spun at 50 RPM as stated, so I assume we can say that the motor control board is fine?

Any other suggestions on what to check from here would be appreciated. The machine fills fine (it's not slow), and all fill temp settings seem to work fine. There are a lot of posts of this nature, but I couldn't find any that matched these specific symptoms. Thanks for any assistance.

[Gene]

Hello,

Sounds like the problem is a bad machine (main) control board which is located in the dryer cabinet. You have nothing to loose if you order it from APP to give it a try because you can return the part if it would not fix the problem. You also may want to check all wires and connections.

- The main control board Part number: 22004325

Here are the breakdown diagrams and Parts for Maytag MLE2000AYW Washer Dryer Combo - AppliancePartsPros.com

Gene.

[HHB]

Thanks for the reply Gene. Are there any known connection points on this machine that cause issues?

Also, would any of the micro or out of balance switches cause this issue? I ask because when I was troubleshooting, it actually run through one full cycle like normal, but it only happened once and I couldn't get it to do it again.

The troubleshooting flow charts were a little difficult to follow given my symptoms. I did consider getting a new machine control board, but wasn't sure if something else could be the culprit before going that route?

[Gene]

Originally Posted by HHB

...Are there any known connection points on this machine that cause issues?...

...I got it to actually run through one cycle once, but couldn't get it to do it again...

I don't know any special besides those which are at the control boards, the timer and the motor.

This points to a loose connection.

Gene.

[HHB]

Thanks Gene. I removed the connectors on the machine control board before taking it out for inspection, and I removed the power connector and the JP4 connectors on the motor control board to do the test, and no luck on reassembly.

So it sounds like one of the switches couldn't cause this issue and I should focus on the connections then? I think I'll start by making sure the motor control board is getting 120 AC after the machine finishes filling, and work backwards from there if that sounds like a good plan?

[Gene]

Yes, it does. Keep us posted please.

Gene.

[HHB]

Thanks Gene. I took a look at the schematic and saw that there are 3 switches in series, the upper and lower tub displacement as well as the inertial unbalance switch. So I disconnected the lower RH connector and used an ohm meter to check the switches. All were closed. So I disconnected the lower LH connector and checked the continuity of the Door Lock Spin Enable switch and it was good when I toggled it manually. Put the connectors back together and the machine ran a complete cycle. Got 2 washes done, and on the third, it stopped again after filling and turned off. So I disconnected the lower RH connector and plugged it in again, and the machine started and finished the cycle. This happened one more time.

I just took that connector apart and squeezed the sockets in hopes of making a tighter connection with the pins in the bottom half, but when I reassembled and ran another wash, same thing happened, filled and turned off.

At that point, when I press the start button, the machine agitates once, then pauses (which I believe it's supposed to), and about a minute later it turns off completely. If I press the start button at this point, it does the same thing, agitates once... then eventually turns off. It almost sounds like for a tiny fraction of a second that it begins the second agitation, then stops. I checked the lower LH connector and 120V is present to the motor control board right up until the machine shuts off, and the 24V DC signal (BU31) is also present until it shuts off, so that's not intermittent from the machine control board.

Any suggestions at this point would be greatly welcomed! Thanks.

[HHB]

Just did some more testing, and I think I'm getting closer to the issue. I checked the resistance of the windings in the motor, all were the same at a little over 7 ohms. So for the heck of it, I re-did the motor control board test with the external power cord, but this time with water in the drum, just to see what would happen. Motor ran at about 50 RPM for about 30 seconds then stopped. So I figured maybe the test wasn't designed to be run with a load, so I drained the water out of the drum and did the same test. Motor started spinning at 50 RPM for about 35 seconds, then stopped. So I ran the test again, this time I put the volt meter across 2 of the windings and got 120 when the motor was running, but went to 0 when the motor stopped.

I should note, when I initially plug in the external power, I hear a "click" from the relay on the motor control board and then the motor starts spinning. Even though the motor stops during the test about 30 seconds later, the relay is still engaged and doesn't click again until I unplug it. When I plug it in again immediately after it shuts off, the relay clicks again and the motor starts turning, but this time the motor only runs for a few seconds then stops, and the voltage on the meter again goes to zero. Can I infer from this that the motor control board might not be supplying constant power, or is the tach circuit somehow involved too when running this test? Is there any way to hook the motor directly to an AC source?

I should also say that it looks like the motor control board and the motor has been replaced once (a while back?) as there are wire nuts on the R, B, and Y wires to the JP4 connector (I checked the continuity of the wire nut connections, and they're fine), and both the motor control board and the motor itself look different from the illustrations in the troubleshooting manual in terms of the separate tach connector (manual has it separate, mine has it integrated). Any way to tell if this may have been replaced under warranty or when?

Sorry this is getting so long, but I'd like to get to the bottom of this and appreciate any help.