Greetings! With this being Thanksgiving, this problem has been exacerbated so
before I write the company I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Five or so years ago I bought a new electric range of middle-of-the-line
quality and with as few fancy features as possible (I want it to heat food, not
pilot a spaceship ;-). Prior to that time, in my entire life, the only time a
stove ever broke was the thermostat going bad in the oven of a VERY old stove.
Stoves in my mind don't break so I figured I'd have my new one for a very long
time. (I dislike posting brand names on The Eternal UseNet, so lets just say
the repair guys of this brand supposedly play a lot of solitaire...)

....However, I find myself disrupting their card game. I have had to have
"switches" (?) behind the burner knob controls replaced twice (one under
warranty, once out of warranty to the tune of $170). What happens is a nasty
sparking sound comes from behind the knob while the burner is on and sounds
like something has shorted out or is getting ready to. Makes one afraid of fire
so you stop using that burner. It's happened with two different burners and now
the second one is going again in the same way. Looking at another $170 and no
good explanation why this is happening repeatedly, it seems to me my best bet
is to express my displeasure with the unit to the manufacturer and replace the
entire stove with a completely different brand.

The reason I'm posting is I'd like to make sure I'm not missing something here
before I register a complaint with the company. Is this normal on today's
stoves? Why would a stove do this? Did they just get a batch of defective
switches and now those are swirling around the industry? Is this something like
my earlier post on faucet seat washers -- you just can't get good parts
anymore?

Thanks for any insights you might have....

DT

DTDerekson wrote

Five or so years ago I bought a new [Maytag] electric
range of middle-of-the-line quality. ...

I have had to have "switches" behind the burner knob
controls replaced twice What happens is a nasty
sparking sound comes from behind the knob while
the burner is on and sounds like something has
shorted out ...

It's happened with two different burners

Both switches for both burners or just one switch for one burner then
one switch for a different burner??

and now the second one is going again in the same way. ...

Is this normal on today's stoves?

It happens.

Why would a stove do this?

The switches are now made in Mexico? (which they likely are BTW)

Did they just get a batch of defective switches
and now those are swirling around the industry?

It's possible the actual switch manufacturer (which is *not* Maytag)
is or have had problems with the longivity of their products at one
time or another. Moisture could also effect switch longevity if any
happended to get in there (like from cleaning, etc.). There is not
usually anything in the range which could cause such failures.

you just can't get good parts anymore?

That's a big part of it, consumers looking for cheaper and cheaper
products to purchase and/or manufacturers looking for cheaper and
cheaper sources for components.

Looking at another $170

You could replace it yourself as a common replacement switch (like
linked below) is less than $50. I don't know if the one shown below is
compatible with your range without knowing the exact model number off
it.

http://www.appliance411.com/data.php?rc=2614

it seems to me my best bet is to express my displeasure
with the unit to the manufacturer and replace the entire
stove with a completely different brand.

If you think you'll get better components on it, you are probably
mistaken. There are likely 2-3 stove surface burner switch
manufacturers in the whole world (4 including the maker of the
switches for glass top stove elements) and all the appliance
manufacture's use the same ones (with slight specification changes
like shaft length, ,ounting, etc.).

Depending on the type of switch used in your model, it *may* be able
to be replaced with a slightly different design switch possibly from
one of the other switch manufacturers but there's no guarantee it'll
absolutely last any longer.

At the very least you should probably be grateful that its electronic
control didn't fail which would probably cost $170+ just for the
part!!

JMO

Dan O.
-
Appliance411.com
http://ng.Appliance411.com/?ref411=Maytag+range

=Ð~~~~~~

DTDerekson wrote

Five or so years ago I bought a new [Maytag] electric
range of middle-of-the-line quality. ...

I have had to have "switches" behind the burner knob
controls replaced twice What happens is a nasty
sparking sound comes from behind the knob while
the burner is on and sounds like something has
shorted out ...

It's happened with two different burners

Both switches for both burners or just one switch for one burner then
one switch for a different burner??

and now the second one is going again in the same way. ...

Is this normal on today's stoves?

It happens.

Why would a stove do this?

The switches are now made in Mexico? (which they likely are BTW)

Did they just get a batch of defective switches
and now those are swirling around the industry?

It's possible the actual switch manufacturer (which is *not* Maytag)
is or have had problems with the longivity of their products at one
time or another. Moisture could also effect switch longevity if any
happended to get in there (like from cleaning, etc.). There is not
usually anything in the range which could cause such failures.

you just can't get good parts anymore?

That's a big part of it, consumers looking for cheaper and cheaper
products to purchase and/or manufacturers looking for cheaper and
cheaper sources for components.

Looking at another $170

You could replace it yourself as a common replacement switch (like
linked below) is less than $50. I don't know if the one shown below is
compatible with your range without knowing the exact model number off
it.

http://www.appliance411.com/data.php?rc=2614

it seems to me my best bet is to express my displeasure
with the unit to the manufacturer and replace the entire
stove with a completely different brand.

If you think you'll get better components on it, you are probably
mistaken. There are likely 2-3 stove surface burner switch
manufacturers in the whole world (4 including the maker of the
switches for glass top stove elements) and all the appliance
manufacture's use the same ones (with slight specification changes
like shaft length, ,ounting, etc.).

Depending on the type of switch used in your model, it *may* be able
to be replaced with a slightly different design switch possibly from
one of the other switch manufacturers but there's no guarantee it'll
absolutely last any longer.

At the very least you should probably be grateful that its electronic
control didn't fail which would probably cost $170+ just for the
part!!

JMO

Dan O.
-
Appliance411.com
http://ng.Appliance411.com/?ref411=Maytag+range

=Ð~~~~~~