Like to shop locally?  Hey, you can’t get anymore local than right here on your compooter screen!     

And does your "local" parts house give you a 30-day no-hassle return policy?  Even on electronic control boards that you already installed?  No?  So… why do you buy there?

I‘ve got some convenient parts search tools right on this page, too. You can either use the yellow parts search box at the top of the page or browse by brand below:

Browse by Brand

Grok on these mind-expanding, interactive breakdown diagrams of various appliances so you can see how they’re put together. An indispensible troubleshooting and repair aid!

Air Conditioning

Dehumidifiers

Dishwashers

Disposals

Dryers

• Gas Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter on Top
• Gas Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter in Door
• Gas Maytag Style
• Gas GE Style
• Electric Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter on Top
• Electric Whirlpool Style, Lint Filter in Door
• Electric Maytag Style
• Electric GE Style

Freezers

• Chest Freezer
• Upright Freezer

Ice Makers

• In Freezer
• Free Standing

Microwave Ovens

• Counter Top
• Built In

Ovens, Ranges, and Stoves

• Gas Free Standing
• Electric Free Standing
• Gas Cook Top
• Electric Cook Top
• Gas Walloven
• Electric Walloven

Refrigerators

• Side by Side
• Freezer on Top
• Freezer on Bottom
• Freezer on Bottom

Trash Compactors

Washing Machines

• Top Load Maytag Style
• Top Load Whirlpool Style
• Top Load GE Style
• Front Load Maytag Style
• Front Load Frigidaire / GE / Kenmore Style

For Whirlpool, Kitchenaid, Roper, Estate, Maytag, and Magic Chef appliances, use the Appliance Age Finder to find out how old it is.

For GE appliances, use the table below:

(click for larger image)

For Frigidaire appliances, use this table:

(click for larger image)

I need to buy all new kitchen and laundry appliances. Which brand would you stick with (Samsung, LG, Whirlpool, Maytag). I am looking for a frenchdoor and all appliances should match…Stainless too.

Thanks,

John

Let us open our Appliantology hymnals to the Second Law of the Prophecy wherein it is written, “All appliances break.” With this wisdom firmly implanted in that muck betwixt our ears, we begin to see your question from a new perspective.

Like so many propagandized Ameedicans victimized by the slick marketing campaigns assaulting us in the corporate media organs, we see that you have placed aesthetics ahead of practical considerations, such as repairability. In other words, you have placed more importance on form over function, exactly as you have been programmed to do as a good little consumer.

But fear not, my mushy-headed grasshopper, for the Samurai is here to break the spell that the marketing wizards have placed you under. Lo, with his mighty katana, he shall cut asunder the chains of your programming and free you from the trap of mindless consumerism! Let us begin by re-phrasing your question in the way the Samurai would ax it, “Knowing that all modern appliance brands and models are mediocre at best and that all fall short of the glory of the Samurai, which piece of junk am I going to have the easiest time fixing?”

Ahh, Grasshoppah, now you’re beginning to pierce the veil and to do what we professional appliantologists call, “critical thinking.” Using this new, enlightened paradigm, which emphasizes function over form and recognizes the Second Law of the Prophecy, the question further reduces to, “Which appliance manufacturers make their service manuals and technical bulletins freely and readily available to professional appliantologists as well as Joe Do-it-yourselfer?” Eggzellent question, my querying grasshoppah, domo fer axin’!

Currently, there are only two brands which make their service information freely available: Whirlpool (which includes Kitchenaid, Roper, and Maytag brands) and Frigidaire (which includes Electrolux brands). Emphasis on the word, “currently” because Whirlpool is considering restricting access to their technical information to professional appliantologists only– you can thank the over-abundance of lawyers and the bidness-killing tort system in Ameedica for that.

At the other end of the information spectrum are companies that are very restrictive with their technical service information and, for that reason, I would never even consider buying their stuff. The worst offenders in the infowar are Viking and GE. In the case of Viking, they’re not only tight-fisted with their service manuals, but their ranges are the shoddiest on the market. And you get to pay a premium price tag just to have the “Viking” badge in your kitchen. Viking is the poster boy of what I mean by placing form over function.

Awwite, armed with this sacred wisdom and enlightened perspective, gird up thy loins and go git ‘em!

Just as the Cash for Clunkers program was a bailout for the auto industry, the Cash for Appliances program is a bailout for appliance manufacturers. Domestic appliance manufacturers, like Whirlpool (Benton Harbor, MI) and Frigidaire (Martinez, GA), have gotten slammed during this engineered economic collapse of Ameedica.

But there’s a slight difference.

Unlike the Detroit auto makers, Whirlpool and Frigidaire actually make decent stuff. Both companies have an enlightened policy of making technical information on their products readily and freely available to professional appliance servicers.

I especially like Whirlpool appliances because, with a few exceptions, their products are decent quality and servicer-friendly. In the past, Frigidaire had a horrible reputation for being nightmares to work on; but they’ve made big improvements in this regard.

Happy shopping!

Anyway, “electro-mechanical” just means that they have both electrical and mechanical components, any of which can fail and require troubleshooting and repair. So, on any given service call, there’s at least a 50% chance that you’ll need to troubleshoot an electrical circuit to figger out why that washer ain’t washin’, that dryer ain’t dryin’, that dishwasher ain’t dishin’…. well, you get the idear.

To troubleshoot electrical circuits, we use either a wiring diagram or schematic (or both) that come with the appliance. These diagrams are usually included with the tech sheet that’s carefully and cleverly hidden inside the appliance, safely out of sight of owners who usually just end up losing it if they happen to stumble on it. If you’re working on an electrical problem and you don’t have the wiring or schematic diagram, it’s like trying to drive around an unfamiliar city without a map. Gotta have it!

And really, that’s all a schematic or wiring diagram is: a road map for electrons. If you can learn how to use a street map, you can learn how to use a wiring diagram. Just like in a street map, you have to know what the symbols mean in order to understand what the map is telling you. Same deal with a wiring diagram or schematic.

To help you get started learning how to read circuit diagrams, here’s a handy legend of common symbols used on electrical diagrams. It’s not comprehensive– there’s a bunch of stuff that’s not there– but this’ll get you started. Click it for the larger version.

This drywall was made with coal ash and other waste products as filler. After a while, the dry wall started emitting poisonous, sulfur-smelling gases causing respiratory infections, nose bleeds, and other serious health problems, driving many people from their homes. More discussion and links to news articles here.

Lo! The battle doth beckon!

It’s kinda like porno. Not that I’d know anything about that. Por-who?

I have to cut that cap off so I can make the connection with the hand shut off valve using the pipe glue. Uhhh… forgot whether or not I shut off the water before I cut that cap off. Well, I reckon we’ll find out.

Hi. Welcome to my world.

Holy guacamole, Batman, it works! Connection made and water pressure turned back on. No torch, just this glue holding the water valve to the copper pipe. Sheer and uttah, uttah madness!

An art shot. Go "ooh! ahh!" or something.

You’ll probably need to take apart and tape all the connections right under the sink. If’n you need to, you’ll know as soon as you restore water pressure.

Dayyam! I should be a water valve photographer…. or something!

The bathroom sink installation: plumbing. Fini.

The scope of the Supah Samurai Search (SSS) includes the thousands of appliance repair articles I’ve written here at this site plus the hundreds of thousands of pages of specific, topical appliance repair discussions at the world-famous Samurai School of Appliantology. If you think you have what it takes to handle this quantum flow of information, then click the hyperportal image below to engage the Supah Samurai Search…

And if, in the future, you’d like your very own personal copy of Appliantology sent to your email in a discreet brown wrapper so the appliance nephilim don’t git it first, kommen zie hither, bitte.

Anyway, this forum is all about tool talk for tool heads and cool tools for fixit fools. Found a cool tool you want to share? Or made a tool for a specific repair? Well, come tell us about it. Also, specialty tools for appliance repair and tool recommendations from Master Appliantologists. Come rumble in The Tool Box.

Twitter posts are called “tweets.” (I know, it took me a while to get used to the metrosexual lingo of the web, too. It’s a brave new world!) You can keep up with my tweets as I post ‘em by following my Twitter page. And it’s free.

Precaución: ¡Está Caliente!

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Special Offer: For a limited time only[1], I’ve waived the entrance fee to become a fan of our Facebook page– an $800 value! But you can become a fan today absolutely FREE! Folks, that is not a typo– I’m giving away the store. I’m nuts, I tell ya’, I’m freakin’ outta control. Sometimes, when I’m really feeling crazy, I’ll drive without buckling my seatbelt. No chit, Mon! I’m a mad man, I tell ya, a mad man!

Become a fan today and get a special blessing from the Samurai. All your other friends are doing it. And best of all, it’s FREE!

[1] Offer expires April 6, 2042. Time flies when you’re having fun with the Samurai so hurry and join today!

And if, in the future, you’d like your very own personal copy of Appliantology sent to your email in a discreet brown wrapper, kommen zie hither, bitte.