Washer Woes

I got home Sunday night, but it wasn't until yesterday I decided to start a load of laundry. I got home from work and discovered the load completed, but was still soaked and the tub was filled with water. I tried running just a spin cycle, no luck, tried a full cycle, still no luck. Since this is a front loading Maytag Neptune, I held the door open and pushed the pin in that told the washer the door was closed and watched during the spin cycle. The washer would agitate a little bit, but there was no spinning, and the water did not drain.

After that I decided to do some Internet research on the problem, and discovered this is a common problem with these washers. Apparently the wax motor on the door eventually fails, which causes a resistor and a triac (triode for alternating current) to fail on the motherboard. There was even a class action lawsuit against Maytag for this, the end result being anyone who participated got something like $28. Most posts I read said they were being quoted anywhere from $500 to $900 to have this fixed. I was all set to buy a new washer and dryer (we have a stacked attached unit, so no way to get out of buying a new dryer) based on this information.

Then I found a site that will sell you the parts you need to fix this yourself. Rather than replace the whole motherboard, they sell you the resistor and triac and the wax motor and you have to replace the components yourself. So I figured, for around $40, I could at least give this a shot before going out an spending close to $1,000 for a new set. So I'm waiting patiently for the kit, and going without doing laundry for now.

That aside, I've also had a couple interesting problems with the new minivan. None of which really have anything to do with the minivan itself, but rather with the after market alarm system that was installed by the previous owner. Who ever owned the car before us, at some point had installed a Chapman alarm. I've had a few cases where it seemed the car alarm has gone off, but without good reason. Last night the alarm went off when the car was parked in the driveway. I couldn't figure out if someone actually tried to break in, or if it was just another incident where the alarm is acting up. But since it's happened twice before (sort of), I'm inclined to think it's the alarm system acting up. I'm wondering now if there's a way to have the system removed without too much cost.