The washer in my Maytag stackable stopped working the other day, as if power to the washer had been cut. (Dryer still worked fine.) Despite being a clueless noob, I was able to diagnose and repair the problem myself using only the information I read on this forum.
Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a service call, I spent only $7 on fuses and a check switch. I'm so happy with the result that I thought I'd record it so that others who have this problem can benefit from my experience and so I can properly thank experts such as
magician59,
sidfink43, and
Gene who post such helpful answers to this forum.
My first insight came from
this post, in which Gene
suggests that the lid switch assembly might be faulty. Later in the thread, user mrjohno
chimes in with this incredibly useful advice: check the fuse hidden at the front of the machine. He even posted a picture to help me locate the fuse.
I had no idea the fuse was even there. Sure enough, my fuse had blown. Feeling cocky, I went out and bought some replacement fuses. I threw in a replacement and fired up the washer... but the new fuse blew instantly. I was crushed. That's when my wife started to shop for a new washer.
Never one to give up so easily, I found
this post with an
excellent suggestion by magician59 for detecting short circuits in the washer. In
another post, sidfink43
suggests again that the lid switch assembly is the culprit.
I took apart my lid switch assembly and stared at it. Everything seemed fine. After thinking about it for a long time, I noticed that the knob of my check switch wasn't sticking out. I didn't know it was called a "check switch" until I found a
picture of the part. (Part #17 on
this diagram.) Indeed, my check switch was broken.
Sears is currently back-ordered for this part for another three weeks. They wanted $29 plus $10 shipping plus sales tax. (Things like this are always more expensive here in Canada.) That seemed excessive to me.
Someone else suggests that this part is standard and should be available everywhere for dirt cheap. I visited the
nearby appliance repair shop and the helpful fellows there confirmed my suspicions about the check switch. (They were amazed that I'd deduced all this myself. I didn't tell them I learned it all from this forum. ;) ) They sold me a knock-off check switch for $4. I replaced the check switch in my machine (and the blown fuse), crossed my fingers, and let 'er rip. It works like a dream.
Thank you to all the users and experts who post to this forum. You saved me hundreds of dollars and lots of stress.
