We have whole house protectors installed at our electrical panels. Back in the early 90's we got our first computer. It was was damaged, I believe, to the fluctuating power into the home. I had the electrician out and he put a meter on our system and said, "every things fine". I don't think he knew about circuit boards and computers. I don't think it was fine. That computer had a very short life span. But it probably didn't help that I took the vacuum to the inside of the box to clean it out. Anyway, we then got surge protectors for the electronics and never another issue. And I stopped vacuuming out the computers.

The repair man should have recommended a surge protector.

Too many comments are based only in wild speculation. First, if a surge is incoming to those white appliances, then electronics are damaged. Surges do not do what so many only assume. A surge incoming to that washer is outgoing to earth - destructively.

Second, electricians have little electrical knowledge. Electricians are taught how to wire for human safety. Code says nothing about protecting appliances; is about protecting humans.

Third, if a protector is too close to appliances and too far from earth ground, then it can even compromise what is better protection already inside the appliance. Did that adjacent protector do protection? It does not claim to. How often do potentially destructive surges exist? Maybe once every seven years. Move on to anomalies that may actually exist.

Four, described are symptoms explained, for example, by noise. Noise incoming on a safety ground is not and cannot be filtered or blocked. Critical is a safety ground wire that meets other wires (grounds and neutral) in a main breaker box. Depending on how electrics are designed and connected to the appliance chassis, then noise can actually trip a latch that powers an appliance on or off.

See same in a computer. Better informed assemblers only connect that motherboard (digital) ground to a chassis ground at one point. Otherwise noise can cause that computer to power cycle or to crash the OS. What is the path of that noise current?

Well, this is little understood by electricians, computer assemblers, or other technicians. An example of how a design weakness, manufacturing mistake, or a technician's installation can compromise reliable operation.

In one of my designs, a large plastic switch was mounted on a control panel. Suddenly systems were crashing for no good reason. Finally they called me. I discovered epoxy paint, that was only suppose to be on the outside, was also inside. So that switch body no longer connected electrically to it chassis. Therefore a trivial static electric charge from a hand touching that plastic switch was spiking and crashing the computer. Computer started doing strange things.

Why would paint create unstable electronic operation? Those basic electronic concepts are completely unknown to many techs, electricians, and computer assemblers. So the many will then blame what advertising, hearsay, and speculation have told them to blame - surges.

A surge occurs maybe once every seven years. Once basic facts are learned, then analysis can continue on to things that actually explain the fault.

Ignore the many who only blame what hearsay and advertising have told them to blame. Unfortunately, too many techs really do not know how electricity works. So many blame surges or ghosts.

You are asking for an answer maybe three or four steps later. Solutions have many steps. The guy who just started changing things or replacing parts has no idea what is defective or why the problem exists.

Defined was how to get an answer and the many bogus answers that exist because basic electrical knowledge has been replaced by fables (ie that magic protector).

One step at a time. Apparently one with sufficient and basic electrical grasp is not available. So one shotguns. Replaces good parts on wild speculation until something works. Why are both Electrolux's power cycling as if haunted? Where is the problem (and its reason) first defined? Note that both share what is probably a same fault. If that problem is not first defined, then why are they replacing any parts?

Demonstrated was how so many 'rumored to be' and assumed unrelated faults actually explain one defect. Does a tech know why a switch body must connect directly to its chassis? If not, then his electrical knowledge is probably insufficient. At no time did I even suggest that is your fault. Demonstrated by many examples are techs who cannot fix strange problems - due to no or insufficient electrical knowledge.

BTW all symptoms that you problem go a long way to helping that tech identify the defect. Any other appliance on the other side of the house also acting strange? Any strange problems in neighbor's houses? Do incandescent bulbs change intensity at any time? What you think is irrelevant is often the most critical fact.

First indication of a problem - he did not first define a defect before replacing anything. Second indication. He replaced good parts only on wild speculation. You should not have to pay for any of that.

Move on to what is obvious. The fault causes both items to fail (ie power cycle or just power on?). One factor common to both would be a defective safety ground. (What you should know as a homeowner is that a safety ground that connects to the breaker box is completely different from another ground incoming to the house - even if both are interconnected.) Is that ground properly routed and connected? One example of what a good tech does long before replacing any part. Did he confirm a good ground both by inspection and by numbers from a meter? Another example of how a defect is identified (a second step) long before any part is replaced (ie a fourth step).

@g thom, related to my post, where I talked about surge protector on my computer. The thing I didn't mention was that the surge protectors for my computers all had battery backups with the protectors. The kind that plug into the walls and then you plug all the computer components into the battery backup.

Tell me what you think of my theory of why my computer failed and the successors survived. I made my own assumptions about all of this :) Here goes:

1st, that electricity coming into my home from the rural electric company was unsteady, but the degree to unsteadiness did not matter to light bulbs, and other appliances.

2nd, that the unsteady stream of power was so slight that the electrician couldn't pick it up using his meter, but that the delicate computer circuitry was impacted.

3rd, that the battery backup part of my surge protector helped provide a steadier current into the computer.

Tell me I'm full of it, LOL, I can take it.

First, unlearn fables that promote myths. Electronics are not delicate. 120 volt electronics even before PC existed met standards that require 600 volt transients without damage. Today's electronics are even more robust.

Let's put numbers to it. A datasheet for the semiconductor interface chip is: http://datasheets.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX1487E-MAX491E.pdf 

How many volts will it withstand without damage? 15,000. Where is a 'delicate' number?

Second, appliances fail for various reasons. A most common is manufacturing defects. We all learned this from a world wide and famous counterfeit electrolyte problem. Capacitors would fail many years later - due to that manufacturing defect. Then many went looking for myths (ie surges) to explain those failures.

How many of your failures were due to manufacturing defects?

Third, voltage variations are hard on motorized appliances - not on electronics. In fact, we sometimes design electronics with parts that intentionally create a low voltage on power up - to increase life expectancy.

Ideal voltage for electronics is any voltage demonstrated by incandescent bulbs - from 50% intensity to double intensity. How often does your electricity vary that much? That is what a power supply does. It converts massive AC voltage variations into DC voltages that do not change by even 0.2 volts.

Four, where is this unsteady power? If light bulbs do not vary intensity, then power is perfect - ideal - best - and not harmful. Worse, "unsteady" is a subjective term. It does not define an anomaly and does not have a number. So it is a term that promotes fables, scams, and junk science reasoning.

Anomalies include harmonics, sags, bad power factor, RFI, frequency variations, brownout, floating neutral, spikes, intermittent current interruptions, EMC/EMI, noise, open ground, high voltage, and phase variations. Which one is 'unsteady' power?

Fifth, best evidence is the dead body. What part inside that computer failed. Without that knowledge, then nobody can say why that computer failed. Only better techs can say what part failed. Techs who fix things by shotgunning often do not even know how electricity works. Would not know what those many anomalies are. Would use wild speculation to blame some fiction such as 'unsteady' power.

Six, a battery backup is not a surge protector. But it is to so many who are easily manipulated by advertising, hearsay, wild speculation, and subjective reasoning (no numbers). You have a UPS. That provides temporary and 'dirty' power so that unsaved data can be saved. It does not and does not claim to protect saved data or hardware.

More numbers. An output from my 120 volt sine wave UPS: 200 volt square waves with a spike up to 270 volts. Why is power that dirty? Because all electronics are so robust as to safely consume power even dirtier. And yes, it is a sine wave output. We all learned this in high school math. Square waves and spikes are nothing more than a sum of pure sine waves. So they did not lie. They simply made a subjective claim - no numbers. So that naive consumers 'wish' it does something special.

If power is unsteady, then incandescent bulbs are changing intensity. If hardware is failing, then a manufacturing defect best explains it. Since we don't have numbers or a list of each failed internal part.

'Dirtiest' power often comes from a UPS. It claims to provide temporary and 'dirty' power. Provide specification numbers that claim to protect hardware. Otherwise that fable only comes from color glossy sales brochures. Legal is to lie using subjective claims. Only place they will not lie is in numeric specifications. And so it is said, "Show me the numbers."

BTW I meant to discuss this. No protector does protection. A 'whole house' protector is only as effetive as its earth ground. (Plug-in protectors have no earth ground.) If you suffered surge damage, then your earth ground may be defective. Only you are responsible for providing and maintaining it.

A ground that meets code may go from a breaker box, up over the foundation, and down to earth ground electrodes. Perfectly good for code (that defines human protection). And defective (for appliance protection). That ground wire has excessive impedance if too long (ie more than 10 feet). Sharp bends over the foundation increase impedance. It is not separated from other non-grounding wires. If you had damage, then an investigation starts with what does protection. That is not a 'whole house' protector. That is what connects that protector low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to single point earth ground. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.

After a visual inspection, did an electrician properly earth a 'whole house' protector?

Op here. We have a new issue, now the dryer. Which previously "came alive" at the same time as the washer. Just lights on the control panel before.

Tonight we're doing laundry. Both washer and dryer running. Dryer stops and beeps. Start/ pause button blinking. I get up and look at it. Hit the button and it starts again. What the heck? I did not hit pause. Why did it stop?

So obviously, both machines are acting up. It can't be both machines are bad. Especially since we already had the main control board in the washer replaced, under warranty.

DH, who is an engineer and once did electrical work, checked the main box and said everything looks fine. I did share with him previous comments/ suggestions. We haven't added a whole house surge protector. Yet.

Christina strikes again.

'Whole house' protector obviously would do nothing for sudden power cycling. If another had damage and had a 'whole house' protector, then it probably is earthed as electricians would call sufficient (to protect humans) and completely defective to protect appliances. But that is a topic different from the OP's problem. 'Whole house' protector to avert one anomaly has nothing in common with the OP's anomaly.

Point was that something external has created this defect. Same problem appears on any or all circuits. For example, a safety ground, improperly wired, can cause washer and dryer anomalies. Since the defect is external, then an informed and equipped engineer can see it long before fixing anything. That anomaly would be coming from some human mistake external to both washer and dryer.

Listed were many (and only some) anomalies. Not all would be relevant. Relevant anomalies (listed or not listed) would explain that behavior.

Again, a 'whole house' protector is for something completely different - that creates hardware damage. That does not exist here. Another had a 'whole house' protector and still suffered damage. That is directly traceable to how that protector was installed and earthed. Unrelated to the OP's problem which is somehow related to what exists in household wiring.

Inspection did not see a problem. That defect exists and is not yet identified. Inspection is not just visual. Inspection also means numbers from measurement equipment.

We had the exact same problem with a Frigidaire Affinity 7000 series made by Electrolux ! The panel would key up and she was ready to go. A surge protector cured her of her wayward ways ; )

We are also on a rural electric grid and it was quite unstable for the first 15 years we lived here. Burned out 9 microwaves in those 15 years,lost the central ac and the electronic ignition on the stove would start clicking. Burned out reams of light bulbs, both incandescent and cfl.Other people lost heat pumps and a variety of other pricey things.

I do have to say it did not seem to hurt the Affinity. I did on occasion need to restart a load .Never had to replace any electronics in it.

My Frigidaire used to come on randomly. It's made by Electrolux. I made a habit of unplugging it for a few weeks and it stopped beeping at me in the middle of the night. It's been a few years since it's acted up

Unstable grid electricity is obvious. Incandescent bulbs dim and brighten significantly. That is potentially harmful to motorized appliances. And perfectly stable power for electronics.

Bulbs changing intensity indicate a defect that, in rare cases, may be reporting a serious human safety threat.

Light bulbs can double intensity. Incandescent bulb life expectancy decreases to less than 50%. Even voltage variations that large are perfectly good (not harmful) to properly designed electronics.

Meanwhile a surge protector would completely ignore all such voltage variations. Surge protectors do nothing - remains inert - until 120 volts rises well above 330 volts - its let-through voltage. How often does your AC voltage rise about 330 volts?

g thom is on level 11 man. Like the Dr. Bronner of the electrical age. Tell it man.

G Thom, I'm the op. Just want to clarify that DH did used a voltage meter to check both circuts feeding these machines and they were fine - both 240. I assume that would be the case unless he tested during a spike.

He should made at least three measurements on each receptacle. Only a conclusion was provided. Assistance means only facts are provided. That means every measurement is listed. No numbers means facts are only subjective; making informed assistance is impossible.

Even the receptacle (NEMA 10 or NEMA 14?) is not defined.

Very late to the discussion, but this appears to be an issue with Electrolux produced washer and dryers. We have the same issues as the OP. The washing machine will be running and the display panel will go crazy starting and stopping the machine. It will happen with the dryer, and we have witnessed it when both are running. The dryer stopping in the middle of a cycle is something we expect with every load. Last evening we returned home and the washing machine was lit up. We never had these issues with the previous Bosch set.

I have the same exact issue with my Electrolux dryer as well. We replaced the motherboard but the problem still exist.