My Monkey story involves a new Maytag dishwasher I purchased two years ago. The keyboard failed within the first month, and the second one failed 10 months later, while it was still under warranty.
When the second one failed, I took it out to examine it, and the problem was obvious. The keyboard is made from a flex circuit board and a plastic housing. The flex part has a tail, which ends in a connector that connects to the CPU board. The connector is made by etching the last eighth of an inch of one side of the flex tape so bare copper is exposed. This connection is only inches from where the hot, 100 percent humidity drying vent air passes through the door, with only a foam rubber gasket to contain it.
The bare copper corrodes and loses enough conductivity that the keys can no longer be sensed. I was able to get the second one to work for a while by repositioning it in the CPU board connector and getting a new mating surface. I can’t imagine that it would cost more than a fraction of a penny to plate something on to the copper to give it some corrosion resistance.
When the second one failed, I attempted to get Maytag to warrant the keyboard for as long as I owned the dishwasher, but it would only extend the warranty for one extra year. That year is now up, and the third keyboard is still working. I don’t expect it to continue that way for much longer.
The servicemen who have worked on my dishwasher have told me that they are all alike. None of them work for very long.
On a slightly different subject, the phosphate-free detergents that are available today don’t actually clean very well, either. I may go back to washing dishes by hand.
This entry was submitted by Ron Rowlands and edited by Rob Spiegel.
Tell us your experiences with Monkey-designed products. Send to Rob Spiegel for Made by Monkeys.
20 years ago we bought a Mytag dishwasher ( back when Maytag actually had engineers). We loved it and considered taking it with us 10 years later when we sold our house. Instead we regrettably bought a new Maytag dishwasher ( this appears to be when they fired the engineers and did outsourcing I suspect).
Anyway it had something go wrong at least once a year. To top things off, Maytag did not have help web pages with technical manuals, so I had to go to 3rd party appliance parts sellers to troubleshoot the dishwasher.
I believe Maytag is a brand name now - nothing more. I suspect the owners of Maytag now would be comfortable selling oven mitts or salsa instead of dishwashers.
Investigate comapnies to see if they manufacture and design in house or are a brand name with a product acquistion and distribution network behind them with no design engineers in house.
Our Bosch dishwasher is great! So quiet that you don't know that its running. My only mistake was buying it from Sears and paying for their "professional installation."
Beware, the installation is subcontracted to bands of idiots, who bent the bottom of the frame carrying it into the house. The bent frame prevented fully opening the door, a fact that I discovered after the fled out home.
Sears replaced the damaged machine, I had the Sears employees leave the new machine in the center of the kitchen, and I installed the replacement. But Sears had no recorse, thank the lord for American Express.
It was interesting to see the Sears employees handling the original dishwasher with the bent frame, it was thrown into the back of the box truck and on it's way to the Sears scratch & dent center. It sustaned more damage being thrown into the truck than the damage that prompted me to reject the machine.
Why not go back to washing your dishes by hand? I'm continually astonished by people who don't seem to know that it's even possible to do that. And doubly astonished by families with children older than six that don't let THEM do the dishes as a way to teach responsibility, teamwork and a host of other virtues.
Some of my family's best conversations took place around the sink (once we finished argueing about who was going to wash and who dry).
Are you certain the flex circuit was copper? Was the problem a short or an open? It seems you imply an open.
The end you were looking at may be plated with something that looks like copper and the circuit may be silver.
Many flex or membrane control boards are made by the additive process of screen printing by silver OR copper polymer thick film as the primary conductive element. Copper flex boards are typically made by a subtractive process – more expensive - and usually reserved for circuits that need the current carrying or low resistance. Controls traces don’t really need to be super low resistance so I’m surprised. Why would they pay the extra for a flex circuit if the issue was cost?
Anyway …
Ion migration is the most common way these boards fail and they usually fail as a short before they open.
This will happen even when water is room temperature.
Many computer keyboards are made this way that’s why coffee spilled is so damaging.
The water provides a medium for ions to line up and form traces that create shorts especially with DC signal traces in control circuits.
I had the same membrane switch problem on a new Samsung Dryer. It never ran and took more than 2 weeks to get the part in and have it fixed. I think poor quality is universal. I think bean counters don't care about quality. The original problem with the dishwasher could be solved with a liberal coat of silicon dielectric grease after the connector is seated. It's available at auto supply stores.
Where did the product life cycle and stress testing go? Do engineering groups still do this with new products? That has been part of the design and verification process in my company for decades. Many of the flaws mentioned here would have easily been discovered and could have been resolved.
Ever since copper wiring products became pricey during the Viet Nam conflict, and aluminum wire became the substitute, there has been a product distributed by IDEAL Industries, called NOALOX. It is a corrosion inhibitor grease to be used when connecting aluminum cable to terminals, regardless of wire gauge. It is available in many places .... electrical supply outlets, LOWES, HOME DEPOT, etc. from small tubes to large containers.
IF the terminations of the flex circuit are solderable, maybe a low-wattage iron and small small diameter flux (rosin) core (electronic grade) solder would eliminate the oxidation problem. However, one MUST be very careful, and it would be imperative to immediately wipe off any excess solder buildup on the individual points. This would be a solution ONLY for those adept w/ soldering techniques.
The keyboard issue shows how corporate america does not care about quality. I had the same problem. Solution, the traces 'grow' whiskers between the conductors. Under a microscope just cut the whiskers with and exacto, place some nail polish on it and it works like a charm.
It is a manufacturing defect but whirlpool will not admit it.
I bought a new whirlpool dryer, it took the service man 7 tries to fix it. 2 blower wheels, 2 motors later it finnaly worked.
The whirlpool washing machine broke 3 days after it was delivered! Oil ran out of the gear box all over the floor, I bought the 3 year service plan in month 11. The service man came back 2 times a year to fix something on it. Now there is no low agitation. time to buy a korean made washer.
If you don't order a pile of spare keypads while you can, you'll be stuck like me with an otherwise perfectly good appliace but no keypad avaiable for it. In my case, a GE Microwave oven that's headed for the landfill. I really did try to buy American. Next time, that's not going to be at the top of my list - I just want quality.
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