Went to the appliance section at the big Sears in Springfield and saw something I haven't seen in years

I was there to pick up a thermal fuse for a dryer job, and I noticed they still have one of those old, full-size Maytag Neptune front loaders on the floor as a display. The sales guy said it's been there since 2004, just for show, and it still powers on. Got me thinking about how many of those I've pulled the pump and motor on over the years. Anyone else still running into these in the wild, or are they mostly gone now?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_bell20d ago

Actually, those old Neptune front loaders used a belt drive system, not a direct drive motor. The motor was separate and connected to the drum with a belt, which is why the pump and motor assemblies were such common repairs. That belt setup is a big part of what made them so noisy compared to newer machines.

elliot_barnes20d ago

That belt drive system sounds like a real weak spot. How many miles of laundry do you think one of those belts could handle before snapping?

oscar74320d ago

Yeah, those old Neptunes were built like tanks, but man, that direct drive motor was a real piece of work. I read a forum post a while back where a guy said his was still chugging along, but he’s had to replace the suspension rods twice. It’s wild that display model still turns on after twenty years just sitting there, probably dry-rotted to heck. They just don’t make them with that kind of heavy plastic anymore, everything’s so thin now. Seeing one in the wild is like spotting a dinosaur, a loud, rumbling dinosaur that probably needs a new pump.