Saving money on home repairs - Maytag Maxima dryer

Saving money on home repairs is a great way to be frugal. Who doesn’t want to save money? I like money.

You have to know your limitations, but it’s at least worth investigating the issue to see if it’s something you feel comfortable with.

Like back in 2020 I posted a video on how to replace a microswitch on your microwave. Not everyone is comfortable dealing with electric. It can be deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing and fail to take the proper precautions, but high voltage is something in my skill set.

Our most recent appliance failure happened last weekend. Our oldest son was doing the laundry, one of his chores, and he came upstairs to tell us the dryer door wouldn’t close.

We went downstairs to check it out and found that the pincher clip that grabs the door strike was completely gone. He was so close. He only had 2 loads left to dry. To get us through the weekend, I had to use a ratchet strap to keep the door closed while a load was drying.

It seemed like a simple repair, but to be on the safe side, Christy asked me to call an appliance repair company to get on the schedule and we could cancel if I was able to find the part.

I called the company we used about 14 years ago when our washer stopped washing, and he told me I’d have to call back on Monday the 27th because they weren’t accepting any appointments until after Christmas.

Luckily, I didn’t need to call them back. I went on Maytag’s replacement parts site and found what I needed. At first all I could find is the door catch for $41.47. A lot cheaper than having a repair company come out, but it seemed crazy to buy a hunk of metal when all I needed was the clip in it.

After some more digging, I was able to find the clip that I needed for $18.26. All in all with shipping it was $26.21, but I’m sure it would have been $100 or more just for the repair company to walk in the door.

Luckily, the part was in stock and we received it in 2 days with ground shipping. Crisis averted.

I was going to buy 2 so that we had a spare if it should ever happen again, but I know if I did, something on our dryer would fail that wouldn’t be worth fixing and then I’d be stuck with a clip I could never use.

Full disclosure: The screws have star heads, so you’ll need a driver that has those. I happen to have two Dottie 15 in 1 TamperProof screwdrivers for personal and work, so I had what I needed.

They are definitely worth picking one up. Even if you don’t run into many tamper proof screws, just having the hex head makes putting furniture together a lot easier than using the standard Allen wrenches that come with the furniture hardware.

So, if you happen to have a Maytag Maxima Steam that has a broken door clip, fear not. It’s only a matter of removing 3 star head screws.

If you see that the clip has met it’s demise…