That doesn't make any sense. With that mentality, if it sensed the clothes for 5 hours but the cycle eventually finishes then it's OK.

I don't think so. Sensing should only go on for a few minutes at most.

It should be look at.

Tell MAytage to send you a different repair man, while it is doing its long "sensing" in the middle of the cycle, is the counter still counting down or does it freeze and expend the total wash time?

When it does the sensing the counter just freezes - it doesn't continue to count down!

Perhaps the machine is heating the water?

Or maybe it is trying to determine the level of dirt in the water?

Or perhaps it is a new suds kill profile that just slow revolves the drum rather than additional rinsing?

In any case, the factory trained technician should know.

Malcolm

mrb627 You were dead on! Thanks so much - I tried doing a cold/cold wash and the time was dead on. The machine was for sure heating the water.
Thanks

OK I just found this thread searching because of the same issue I am seeing with my new whirlpool duet steam washer....so why is it taking 30-40 min to heat the water??? That doesn't seem right to me......mine is doing the exact same thing and it's driving me crazy.

I just read about this. I think there are a few things that go into the computation, but here's an estimate I read on the web. I've copied an excerpt and posted where I found it below.

The 1,000 watt heater in my Neptune manages to lift the temp about 1F/min. That would mean taking water from 100F to 130F would take 30 minutes - and that is the length of cycle that most Americans are used to experiencing for the entire washload from start to finish. A 220 connection would cut that heating time in half, to 15 minutes, and that probably would be something people could live with.

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?10159

Can I ask what setting you are using when the machine is taking this long to heat water (sanitary, hot?).

for me, i was just using a warm/warm bulky items cycle, and the lengthy 'sensing' was after the wash and before the rinse. It went on a similar length to the op, about 30 or so minutes. it was a twin sized quilt. that was the only item in the tub. the first time i ran it through when the cycle said 'done' the quilt was still sopping wet. Then i ran it through a rinse/spin cycle and it did the same sensing thing for about 30 min and it did finally spin out. then I saw that I had probably used too much detergent and there was still suds, so I ran it hrough a quick wash cycle with no detergent, and again it sensed 30 min and did not spin out. finally i ran it through another bulky items cycle with no detergent and again it spent a long time sensing in between the wash and rinse steps and it finally spun out.
i was using warm water for each of these cycles.

i had a front loader and was used to using less detergent, but i wasn't measuring, so now I am back to measuring and using only 1Tb of detergent and that seems to be enough.

I may have figured out what caused the excessive sensing on my whirlpool duet (95hex).... they came out to rebalance the washer today and all the loads I ran seemed right on target with the washer estimate and only one load spent significant (20-25) minutes sensing in between the wash and rinse. That load was a king size quilt. Seems like large/heavy single item loads are the common factor for me. Possibly a balance issue?

I am not convinced it has anything to do with the temperature because I ran 2 sanitary temperature loads today and neither of those spent any excess time sensing, only the bulky quilt, washed at the warm temperature

backstory is i was concerned because the machine itself was wobbling at low tumbling speeds (does fine at high spin speeds) so I had Lowe's come out and do a rebalance today...ultimately they couldn't get it to stop wobbling but they did say the initial installation balance was way off. They said they now got it as good as they could and they suspect that the current wobble is either from being on a pedestal or individual unit variation. They left it up to me as to whether I want to ask for a new machine. i decided i will try it out for a while and then decide.

can anyone tell me if such wobble is normal? i am talking about the whole washer unit not just the drum. thanks for any input!

@illinigirl, machines will wobble more when installed on a pedestal. Also, depends what type of floor they are sitting on.

I was thinking earlier that your sensing issue might be the machine trying to get a balanced load. It keeps trying to balance the load to spin at full speed. Eventually it gives up and you end up with very wet things. Some machines are worse than others for unbalanced loads.

puppymamma & illinigirl, the "sensing" between the wash and rinse portions of the cycle means that the machine is trying to spin and is unable to balance the load or the load is too heavy. The machine repeatedly tries to spin and pump out water but the time stops since it is not able to perform the next step of the cycle. If that happens, see if you can pause it and rearrange the item in the tub to distribute the weight more evenly. If you just have one heavy item, you may need to add a couple of other smaller items to allow it to balance (maybe try adding a couple of towels with you twin size comforter).

The time for the heater to heat up the water is built into the cycle time (i.e. in my machine the Sanitary cycle is about 1 hour 50 minutes. The wash portion when the water is heated up is about 1 hour and the rinses are 50 minutes).

Izeve
Thanks for your comment I thinkj you are dead on. I have actually started going a bit less on the clothes that I out in and I am using the small load function with positive results. Much better cycle time. It's frustrating still but a bit better. Now that I've had some time with it I really don't think it has anything to do with heating the water.

I am curious - if you pause the Maytag Maxima or the new Whirlpool Duet washer mid-cycle - like during a rinse - will the door unlock?

joe in philly, not sure about the Maytag or Whirlpool but you can pause my LG FL any time during the cycle and the door will unlock unless the water inside is too hot to be safe (I think it is above 110F, based on my observation).

I have an older Whirlpool made Kenmore, and it will unlock unless the water it too high (like during a soak), or if the water is too hot (above 120F). I was wondering if the new design still allows the door to be open during the cycle. My mom's whirlpool, the WFW9250WW washer, will not unlock unless you pause it unless the "Add a Garment" light is on. Not very user friendly.