I have a Maytag stacked washer dryer combo which has developed a fault
in one of the two items in the subject. Press any part of the Touchpad
(say a dryer control) and the washer turns on and goes into soak mode
followed by a complete cycle. Once it starts nothing except pulling
the plug will stop it. None of the Touchpad "buttons" work including
"Stop" although the lights correctly display what's happening. It
doesn't seem to matter what you press initially; the "Soak" cycle
always starts up although I must admit that I've only been through
three cycles (at about 45 min each).

Removal of the trim, TouchPad, and Circuit Board was simple enough and
visual examination doesn't show anything obviously wrong (no burn
marks or loose wiring) but beyond that I'm stumped. The repair guru at
repairclinic.com says that it sounds like the Circuit Board and states
that the only way to tell for sure is with an ohm meter and the
circuit diagram found within the machine. There is no circuit diagram
in the machine, or at least I can't find it. Yes, I know the sort of
thing--usually in a plastic envelope taped to the back of the machine.
Now I admit that I haven't disassembled the washer so it could be
inside but it's a bear to move and I'm not sure just what I'd be able
to test even if I found it. When my modem wouldn't dial the ISP I
didn't bring out the ohm meter basically because it would have been
pointless; I just replaced the friggin' thing and the problem went
away.

Here the issue is complicated by the Touchpad and the extortionate
expense of the things. The Touchpad is $98 and the Circuit Board,
$262. Ouch! There is a repair manual, $24, but I'm not sure that this
would even have the wiring diagram.

So what to do. Buy the repair manual, wait a week, and hope that it
has some practical information? Or, buy the cheaper part, the Touchpad
and try to return it if it doesn't solve the problem (repair clinic
claim no hassle returns but it still costs shipping), or buy the two
and return the one that doesn't seem to be necessary (of course in my
worst nightmare both could be necessary), or go with the repair guru's
suggestion and replace the Circuit Board and then only if that doesn't
solve the problem buy the Touchpad?

Any suggestions?

--
Patrick Riley