Maytag washer blows fuses after unbalanced load

[Ironhorse]

I have a Maytag model:LAT8226AAE. The other day I had a load become unbalaced during spin and before I could get there, it stopped running. It has done this before and I turned it off and back on and it was o.k. Not this time. Upon further investigation, I found a blown fuse in the control panel. Replaced it. Blew instantly. I looked for direct shorts with a continuity tester. Nothing. I disconnected the motor wires and covered the ends. Still blows fuses. Any suggestions??????????

Thanks,

Dave

UPDATE: I have discovered a green ground wire in the control panel that appears to slide on the edge of some steel somewhere. I'm not sure if this was off before and shorted out or not. If anyone knows where it connects let me know. I would think that it might go to the timer body since it is mounted in plastic.

[Dan O.]

Maytag [washer] model:LAT8226AAE. I found a blown fuse in the control panel. Replaced it. Blew instantly. Any suggestions?

Yes, replace the switch assembly (see the following link) and not just the fuse. When the fuse blows, it usually damages the switch(es) too.

LINK > Switch and Fuse Asm.

I have discovered a green ground wire in the control panel that appears to slide on the edge of some steel somewhere. If anyone knows where it connects let me know.

I'm afraid I don't.

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[Ironhorse]

Thanks Dan. I'll give it a try.

Dave

[Dan O.]

I'll give it a try.

It's a stupid design IMO but they were forced to go to it by safety regulations.

Let us know how you make out.

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[Ironhorse]

Dan,

I used a continuity tester across both switches and they appeared to be o.k. Will they still test o.k. but still be bad?

Dave

[Dan O.]

Once the amount of current that causes the fuse to blow goes through them, they often act flaky. Just testing with the minuscule currents an own meter uses does not always present a true picture of functionality.

But if you don't think they're the problem someone would have to test the rest of the machine to try to find out where the short lies.

Dan O.
www.Appliance411.com
The Appliance Information Site
=D~~~~~~

[Ironhorse]

Thanks. I'll replace them anyway to be sure.

Dave

[Ironhorse]

Fixed!

It seems that the loose ground wire was the problem. The terminal on it was very loose so I crimped it better and connected it to a tab on the control panel faceplate. No mor blown fuses. I figure that it must have fallen off during the unbalanced load and shorted out something. I ran three loads through it last night with no problems.

Dave

[Dan O.]

It seems that the loose ground wire was the problem.

I can't see how having a loose ground wire (or even it totally off) would cause the fuse to blow as the ground should never even be in circuit besides during a short. But glad to hear you seem to have it working again.

Dan O.

[everysandwich]

Where is the tab for that green wire?

Ironhorse, I'm following exactly in your appliance malfunction footsteps here. I've found a a green wire to nowhere, and it has a connector on the end that doesn't seem to match the other tab connectors. It's shaped a little like a tiny meat cleaver. I'm not too experienced in appliance matters so I'm unsure if the control panel faceplate is the same thing as the timer housing. The metal of the timer housing seems to be the right size for the meat cleaver tab of the green wire to nowhere. Glad your machine is up and running again.

[everysandwich]

green wire update

Well, I attached the green wire to the front panel faceplate. Then it stopped again while filling with water. My wife says it stopped as she was lowering the lid. Now the fuse is *not* blown, so maybe that fuse switch is flakey as noted above. We sure blew enough fuses troubleshooting it. I put a new timer in this about six months ago, incidentally. I'm beginning to think it's time to start with a new washer. Didn't maytags used to last longer than ten years?

[HayZee518]

I sometimes work on maytag commercial washers around where I live. this guy that runs the laundromat has 12 maytag machines from circa 1989. occassionally we change belts and I have replaced a drive motor, other than that not much has gone wrong. be careful inside the machines. what may look like a ground wire just because it's green may NOT be a ground but part of the washer's electrical circuit. There's a green wire in my machines that has a hint of a black tracer on it AND it is NOT a ground!

[everysandwich]

Green wire

Thanks, Hayzee. Another reason I think this is a ground wire is because it's connected at a tab with the green wire from the chassis. In other words, a green wire screwed to the chassis goes to a tab on the timer. From that tab sprouts this wire with the meat cleaver end. Only when I attached it to the faceplate did the machine come to life. That's when we thought all was well -- until it simply stopped filling with water. This time though, the fuse did *not* blow, so that's why I think attaching the green wire to the faceplate solved at least one problem. It might be coincidence, but my wife was lowering the lid both times when the water stopped, which makes me suspect some other switch.

[HayZee518]

I've got a blueprint on the maytag-s I work on. On the timer itself is a ring tongue wire terminal with the color green that grounds out the metal frame of the timer to chassis ground. The lid switch of the machine starts and stops the machine whenever the lid is raised. The tub fill switch is a diaphragm switch that connects to the tub with a hose. The tub fill also comes off a cam on the timer. The so called meat cleaver thingie is called a spade terminal.

[everysandwich]

current symptoms

Thanks, captain. I'm getting appliance smarter each time I come here, though admittedly I'm starting at a pretty low level. So yesterday the wife bailed out the water from then the machine stopped filling and would go no further in the cycle. This morning I started it again and kept the lid closed. It filled up again and stopped, again refusing to go through the cycle. Maybe unattached spade connector and the repetitive fuse blows have trashed my timer?