Washer Repair: $170 for the part. At least saved paying a service fee.

Yup, constant party here. Friday night, so took a little time out to fix the washer. It's a Maytag Model MAH5500BWW , a front loading machine that has been great for 10-15 years (we're not sure just when we invested in high quality laundry gear). But early this week it started getting wonky. The signal (the beep of selectable volume and tone that can be set to sound when a load of wash is done) started having a mind of its own. It would randomly sound different tones when we were running the washer, and then started doing it even when the machine was turned off - as long as it was plugged in. It didn't matter if we turned the signal off; it would come back on in mere moments.

These machines are quite modular. The downside of that is that when something like this goes wrong, one must replace a large (spendy) component. The upside is that this means that the repair is quick and easy. SO... I ordered a new Touchpad and Control Panel from RepairClinic.com http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Touchpad-and-Control-Panel/22003238/824620 

Yes, it was US$163 plus shipping, but they sent it right away, it arrived today, and as the pictures show, the repair was, indeed, fast and simple. We've got a load of laundry running now with zero problems :)

Here's the patient before surgery. YES, I disconnected it from power before mucking with it.

Using a little mirror, I was able to locate the 4 small Phillips screws holding the plastic housing to the base, and the 2 smaller hex head screws holding a metal panel to the rear. All 6 had to be removed.

With the screws removed, the Touchpad could be pushed back to free it from the base, and then tilted forward to rest on top of the washer.

After removing 4 more Phillips screws, and unplugging the modular connector ribbon, the Control Board could be separated from the Touchpad / Control Panel. 

Then it was just a matter of attaching the Control Board to the new Panel, reattaching the ribbon cable, fitting the new Panel back onto the base, screwing the metal plate (2 small hex screws) into the rear of the base, and screwing the 4 Phillips screws back into the top of the base. Plugged it in and it's working like a champ again :)