Fixitnow.com Samurai Appliance Repair Man » General Appliance Wisdom

Appliance Repair Haiku: Shiny, Round Morsels of Precious Appliance Wisdom

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:25:50 +0000

Like pearls of great price,
Samurai Repair Man writes
haikus you can use.

Samurai Sinch: Fixitnow.com Appliance Repair Radio, Episode 18

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:09:07 +0000

Used Appliance Parts Exchange in the Appliance Parts Junkyard

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:14:21 +0000

Howard wrote:

Dear Learned and Enlightened ONE,

I am in-process of replacing a 12 yr Maytag Neptune Washing M/C P/N MAH3000AWW due to a bad Main Control board (too $$ to fix even considering purchasing from repairclinic). Is there any value donating the known still functioning parts ie Inlet Valve Ass’y, Motor & Control board? I would ask money to reimburse S&H costs though.
Is there a forum to do so or not worth the effort?

Thank You for your opinion and entertaining dialogues.

Cheers

We have just the place you’re looking for! It’s the Appliance Parts Junkyard at the Samurai Appliance Repair Forums. Just register in the forum (it’s free) and then post your goodies for all the world to see in the Appliance Parts Junkyard. It’s all totally free and it doesn’t cost anything, either. Hey, did I just repeat myself repeat myself?

If you’re looking for NEW appliance parts, come hither.

Fixitnow.com Appliance Repair Radio, Episode 18: We’re Baaack!

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:12:07 +0000

Many of you have emailed the Samurai axing, “Samurai, O Samurai, when will you and Mrs. Samurai make another edition of your award-winning podcast?” You chirped and we listened. After an extended hiatus, we’re baaack!

Some of the topics covered in this issue:

Appliance brands: how to choose ‘em?
New, extended version of the much-loved Home Wiring DVD.
DIY Appliance repair resources at Fixitnow.com.
Appliance Service Training Institute conference coming up next week.

Listen now!

The Golden Buttcrack Award

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:58:15 +0000

The coveted Golden Buttcrack Award was started by disciples of Saint Applianopoulous, the patron saint of appliance techs. The Award’s name was chosen to honor the destinktive warrior’s stance that St. Applianopoulous would strike as he battled insolent appliances:

The Golden Buttcrack Award is conferred upon those Appliantology Masters who have distinguished themselves by giving exceptional appliance repair help to the heaving swarms of grasshoppers chirping for Appliantological wisdom in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forums. Less than 10 Grand Masters of Appliantology have earned this coveted distinktion. The Golden Buttcrack Masters are:

RegUS_Patoff
appl.tech.29501
kdog
NSCU_laundry_tech
Trying to help
Pegi
Denrayr
Willie (aka, Budget Appliance Repair)

You can bask in the glory of the Golden Buttcrack gallery ratcheer.

Samurai Appliance Repair Forum Orphan Prevention Program

Mrs. Samurai — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:51:32 +0000

Greetings,

After joining your forum under the recommendation of a friend, I was shocked to find that you have to ‘pay’ in order to ask simple questions (I.E: Make a new thread) and to simply get answers that are directed at one’s self in order to repair a rowdy appliance.

-Tom

Hello Tom, and all the grasshoppers out there who are “shocked” that we ask for payment to post in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forums. I would like to ’splain why this is so, since most of you are probably unaware of the ins and outs of running a Mama-san and Papa-san business on the web. (And, in case you are wondering, this is our main, full-time business that keeps us and our 3 kiddos supplied with a humble thatched roof over our heads and sushi on the table.)

The main reason we charge to post a question on the forum might surprise you. It’s not because the forum represents the collective wisdom and time of a couple dozen battle-hardened appliance techs, whose previously written pearls are displayed for all to see, free of charge, since payment is only requested if you would like to have your particular problem personally attended to by one or more of these professionals. (Although seeing it written out like that makes me think that this alone would be a darn good reason to charge a measly 5 bucks!) No – the main reason that we charge a small fee is for the orphans. (Think of the children!) The orphans are the dozens of posts we used to get every week, back when posting was free, by heartless scoundrels who would post their questions at the forum, only to abandon them there. In other words, a tech would take the time to engage the grasshopper, give some initial advice, and ask for clarifying questions (most topics require a series of interchanges between grasshopper and tech to come to a glorious and satisfying conclusion). But, the rogue would never return, and the topic would just lay there – abandoned, forlorn, and unfulfilled. Worse yet, we discovered that many of these miscreants had similarly posted these same questions on other forums throughout the web, scattering them without any thought to their care and feeding.

Why was this a big deal? Because it would clutter the forum with unresolved questions, distract the techs from helping people who were engaged and attentive to their topics, and generally dishearten those of us who were working so hard to leave no topic behind. Now, with this small commitment that we ask of people, the forum is rocking with engaging back-and-forth interactions between grasshopper and expert resulting in a treasure-trove of satisfyingly complete repair stories.

The Samurai and I do feel for our grasshoppers who don’t have it easy these days. While $5 isn’t worth a whole lot anymore, it can still mean a lot to those who are suffering from the effects of our bankster-run economy. Last year the Samurai and I heard your chirps of distress and provided a no-cost way to earn posting privileges at the forum: the Appliantologist Merit Exam. We’ll keep looking for other alternatives to charging for forum posting that would still prevent the sad orphan topics that used to be left on our door step.

Thanks for visiting Fixitnow.com!
~ Mrs. Samurai

Smart Grid: Green Dream or Just Another Big Brother Control Grid?

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:14:40 +0000

What is Smart Grid?

Smart Grid is a planned enhancement to the existing power distribution grid that will, in theory, have the capability of meeting growing electricity demand by more efficient distribution without having to build new power plants. One of the ways this lofty goal will be accomplished is by using two-way technology. Where the current power grid is one-way– power flows out from the power plant, through the grid, to the end user with no feedback or communication with the power plant– the Smart Grid will be two-way, meaning it will send back information to the power plant (and government regulators) on how the electricity is being used, in what types of machines, by whom, and for how long. It’s this “two-way” bidness that makes Big Brother smile and should make you cringe.

Who Likes It?

Government
Utilities
Environmental Groups

Government

Government, especially the Ameedican gubmint, has a long history of using technology to spy on its citizens, especially in recent years (e.g., Patriot Act, Project ECHELON, Total Information Awareness initiative, etc.).

Government likes Smart Grid because it gives them what governments always want: control; specifically, more control over the sheeple. Smart Grid gives them this through its two-way technology, which allows them to monitor not only how much electricity you’re using but how you’re using it and for what types of appliances.

For example, they can look at your total power usage and, say, 60% of it is accounted for from Smart Grid-enabled appliances. That leaves 40% of your usage unaccounted for. So, gubmint, which embodies the unfortunate combination of Rambo and the Keystone Cops, automatically assumes you must be doing something illegal, like running an indoor pot garden using high-energy grow lights. Next thing you know, DEA is raiding your house at 2am, shoots your dog and ransacks your home only to find that all you have is a tanning bed.

This power monitoring is effectively a form of surveillance over you for gubmint bureaucrats. You think gubmint will use this information wisely? Well, you must absolutely love the way they handled New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina, the bankster bailouts, the Patriot Act (which was only supposed to be used for terrorists) being used against pot smokers, standing in long lines at airports while waiting to be fondled and groped by TSA thugs, and having 3-D, full-detailed pornographic electronic images taken of your wife and daughter.

When will the sheeple finally wake up and realize this is just another scam, another power-grab by a perverted gang of criminals calling themselves “your government” to exert more control over your life and keep you enslaved like a good little serf? To the criminal cabal in Washington, Smart Grid is yet another way to exert neo-feudalism, keep you on the plantation, invade your privacy and ration your electricity use. Think I’m exaggerating? It’s stated right inside DOE’s happy talk Smart Grid propaganda brochure on pages 17 and 18. You can download the entire puff-piece here.

Utility Companies

If you haven’t figured it out already, we blew right past socialism and have arrived at full-on fascism in Amerika today. A quick refresher for the Illiterati: “Socialism” is where all the losses and the gains are socialized; everyone, including big corporations, are all floundering in the same sewer together. “Fascism,” on the other hand, is where the losses are socialized but the profits or gains are privatized. The most recent and brazen example of this was the banker bailout– they gambled with huge amounts of money and, as long as it worked out in their favor, they kept all the profits; but when they lost big bucks, we the tax-paying suckers, had to bail them out. So, in a fascist system, when the special corporate interests make money, they keep it and the sheeple get nothing; when they “lose” money, the sheeple pay for it and they don’t really lose at all. It’s a game of “heads they win; tails we lose.”

The utility companies claim that Smart Grid will let them have more “granular” control over power production and have more awareness of power failures. Currently, when power goes out in an area, the only way the power company knows about it is when someone phones it in. The two-way nature of Smart Grid enables them to know automatically when part of their grid goes down. But this comes at a huge price for us. And, besides, is it really such a burden to call in a power outage? Our power goes out regularly and we just call in the outage to the power company’s toll-free automated power outage line and they dispatch a crew to fix it. What’s the big deal?

The real reason power companies like Smart Grid is because it will enable them to create artificial scarcity scenarios and thus increase rates. It doesn’t take much grey matter to foresee a situation where the power company is low on power during a peak demand period and they have a choice: supply power to Joe Sixpack at (relatively) low rates or to a commercial or industrial customer who pays sometimes two or three times the residential rate. Hmm, decisions, decisions.

Smart Grid represents yet another merger of government and corporate interests. They’re in bed together and each stands to benefit in specific ways from Smart Grid which boils down to this: more control and surveillance over we the sheeple, higher electricity costs, and less electricity available when we want it, even if we’re willing to pay for it.

Environmental Groups

The “Warmistas” or Green Nazis, the tools of the global elite, are all ga-ga over Smart Grid because they’ve been conned into thinking that it’s good for the earth, man. These are the same gullible, useful idiots of the global elite who’ve bought into the whole man-made global warming scam, which was proven to be a scam (and a conspiracy) when a decade’s worth of emails and falsified data were leaked by investigators on the inside. But, hey, don’t take my word for it– read the Climategate Files for yourself.

Conclusion

Smart Grid is touted as a way to extend the capabilities of an aging and ailing power grid system, to deliver power to meet ever-growing demand without building additional power generating plants. If that right there doesn’t scream “rationing” to you, then you’re either stone deaf or dumb as a rock.

So what’s the answer to meeting increased power demand? Simple: build more frikkin’ power plants! “Oh, no!” come the shrill cries from the green weenies, “that’ll increase pollution and *gasp* global warming!” Stop falling for that bovine excrement. Now that global warming has been proven to be a Big Lie of Hitlerian proportions, we can take that card off the table. As for other types of pollution, such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides which cause smog and acid rain deposition, these are real concerns. But they can effectively be dealt with using modern air pollution control technologies. These are engineering problems, and solutions for them have been around since before I was a graduate student in Environmental Systems Engineering at Clemson University in the mid-1980’s. Engineers solve these kinds of problems every single day.

The biggest impediment to building new power plants is the government red-tape and strangling regulations. No one in their right mind is going to invest capital into building a power plant, whether coal-fired using clean coal technology or nuclear, if they see no possibility of earning a return on that capital. Sorry, folks, that’s the way the real world works, no matter what Karl Marx (or his surrogates in American universities) tells you.

And now, brothers and sisters, let us conclude this screed with a haiku. Fire up a spliff and chant along with me now…

Smart Grid’s a-comin’
DOE says it’s great for
controlling us serfs.

Requiem for GE Appliances: A Haiku of Lamentation

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:40:01 +0000

GE, what happened?
At one time, you were Hot Snot.
Now, just cold boogers.

How to Read Wiring Diagram Symbols, Terminal Codes, and Wiring Diagrams

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:02:09 +0000

Wiring diagrams,
mystical rune-like symbols.
Samurai, hepme!

Samsung Appliances?

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:43:23 +0000

Dennis wrote:

We are looking to buy a Samsung smoothtop range (convection oven) and when we went price shopping, another local retailer told us to NEVER buy a Samsung range as you can’t get parts for them if something happens. We are in Canada. Is this true or was buddy BSing us to try and get a sale in HIS store with the product lines that he carries?

Ahh, Grasshoppah, see this post for an example of the kind of lobotomized engineering that Samsung inflicts upon their refrigerators:

All Samsung Refrigerators have a Lurking Defrost Nightmare Problem: An Uncool Haiku

I have seen similar nightmares with their other appliances.

Some manufacturers compensate for their shortcomings in product design by making their technical information readily available to both servicers and customers. Sadly, Samsung is not one of them. So you get the worst of both worlds. For more info about kitchen and laundry appliance brands, see this post:

What Brand of Kitchen and Laundry Appliances Would the Samurai Buy?

Alas, it appears that the pot-bellied, curly-headed Buddha doth not grin down upon Samsung.

Ohm’s Law Calculator: If You Know Two Variables, Calculate the Other Two With a Click of the Mouse

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:58:07 +0000

Working a circuit;
need to figure volts? Ohms? Amps?
Ohm’s Law plug n’ chug.

Apprenticeships in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forums

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:42:05 +0000

Anyone can surf into the Samurai Appliance Repair Forums, search topics and read all they want absotootly free. You can even register as a Grasshopper for free. But if you want to start a new topic, reply to existing topics, send private messages, and download any of the thousands of illustrative and illuminating attachments, you have to be an Apprentice Appliantologist.

Back in March 2009, I unveiled the new forum Apprenticeships available to seekers of higher appliantological wisdom. Here they be:

After you’ve registered in the forum, you can select your type of apprenticeship on the subscriptions page.

As indicated, the Permanent Apprenticeship is the best value because not only does it never expire (so you never pay again, even if we have to raise the fee) but you get access to the Samurai’s coveted repair manual stash. I’m adding new manuals all the time and the file collection continues to grow. We’re busting at the seams! As you probably guessed, the repair manual stash uses a huge amount of disk space for storage and bandwidth to serve all those files. For now, my costs for this are stable and I don’t anticipate having to raise the fee. Hopefully this won’t change too much when the mis-named Dollar (really just a Federal Reserve Note, read the back of one) finally takes the nose-dive that everyone’s expecting.

I’ve had several people email me complaining that full access to the forum should be free, “… ‘cuz it’s on the innernet, an’ all.” And I thought to myself, I said, “Self, that’s a ding-dang good line, I’m gonna try that one on my web host and file service provider and my other site-related vendors that I use to keep my sites running.” Well, guess what? They all told me to go jump in a frozen New Hampshire lake. And I guess my time running the site (which is considerable) shouldn’t count for anything either.

Nevertheless, since the Samurai is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and of great gootness, I recognize the tough financial times we live in and so created the Appliantologist Merit Exam as a way for folks to earn an apprenticeship without having to pay anything.

Lots of folks have taken the exam. As they say in the Dojo, “Many have tried; many have died.” Nah, it’s not that hard– the exam has a pass rate of about 60% so most folks who take the exam pass it. You have to score over 75% on the exam to pass and you’ll become a Merit Apprentice Appliantologist. If you ace the exam, you’ll join a small, elite group of Buckaroo Banzai Appliantologists– less that 5% of examinees achieve this distinction.

But there are a couple of downsides (aren’t there always?) to going the exam route vs. paying:

The exams are graded by hand, which means you won’t have full access until I grade your exam. Since I’m just one guy (albeit, one very talented and good-looking guy) and I get slammed with lots of exam results every day, it could be a few days to a couple of weeks (sometimes more *gasp*) before I get to your exam. But, maybe the wait is worth five measly beans to you. Your call.
The current Merit Apprentices (but not the Buckaroo Banzais) will all expire when the new exam is released. I originally intended to write a new exam every quarter but, as usual, that was waaay too unrealistic. However, a new exam will be written sooner or later. When that happens, the Merit Apprentices will all revert back to Grasshopper status with its limitations. At that time, you can either take the new exam or purchase an Apprenticeship.

The Appliantologist Merit Exam is meant as an alternate route to Apprenticeship. So if you’re already an Apprentice Appliantologist of one flavor or another, help save what’s left of a senile Samurai’s sanity and don’t take the exam– I barely have enough time to grade all the exams from Grasshoppers as it is. Muy domos, compadre!

Warning: Appliantology Newsletter Has Escaped!

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:57:34 +0000

We are issuing this urgent warning to the general public: the latest issue of our newsletter, Appliantology: The Oracle of Appliance Enlightenment, has somehow escaped the plantation. It was last seen running naked and screaming incoherently across the Web. If you happen to come across it, please DO NOT approach it; keep your distance as it may be armed with lethal ideas which could endanger the health and well-being of the statist control grid. Please contact the Internet Newsletter Authority (INA) immediately.

Domo!

The Concerned Crew at Fixitnow.com Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Safely Subscribe to Appliantology

Looking Inside Your Appliances

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:53:24 +0000

Broken appliance.
What’s inside? Where do I start?
The mouse reveals all!

Locating the Series Number on Maytag Appliances

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:04:57 +0000

Lots of times, when you’re working on Maytag appliances, you need to know the series number to order the correct part. Not to be confoosed with the model number, the series number refers to different production series within the same model. In the world of manufacturing, it’s common to substitute originally-specified components with upgraded or re-designed ones based on failure reports from the field. Since these component changes may affect other components in the machine, which may have been modified, you need a way to keep track of what component goes with which production run. In the Maytag world, this is done via “series numbers.” Series numbers are simply the first two digits of the serial number, located on the model number tag, like ahso:

If you’re having trouble locating the model number tag on your appliance, come feast your bloodshot squinties on these diagrams.

Appliance Fault Codes by Brand and Appliance

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:59:59 +0000

Freaky appliance
flashing mysterious code.
Mystery revealed!

Important Things You Need to Know About Buying Appliance Parts Online!

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:42:01 +0000

Fixitnow.com offers a complete line of appliance parts for all brands and models through our parts partner, RepairClinic. We could have partnered with any number of other appliance parts retailers on the web, but we chose RepairClinic. You won’t find a more complete selection of appliance parts, better customer service, or a more lenient return policy anywhere else. And all at great prices! By clicking through to RepairClinic using the links below or anywhere else at Fixitnow.com or ApplianceGuru.com, a small percentage of your purchase goes to supporting this website without costing you one penny more for the parts you order. So, if you’re going to order appliance parts anyway, how ’bout using the links on this website to ensure that the Samurai will be here the next time you need appliance repair help? Rock on!

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

Admiral	Airtemp	Amana
Aprilaire	Asko	Auto-Flo
Bemis	Bosch	Broan
Caloric	Climatrol	Crosley
Dacor	DCS	Duracraft
Edison	Estate	Fedders
FiveStar	Frigidaire	Garland
GE	Gibson	Goldstar
Hamilton	Hampton Bay	Hardwick
Hitachi	Holmes	Hotpoint
Humid-Aire	Insinkerator	JC Penney
Jenn Air	Kelvinator	Kenmore
Kitchen Aid	Klein	Litton
Lobb	Magic Chef	Marta
Marvel	Maytag	Modern Maid
Montgomery Wards	Norge	Panasonic
Quasar	RCA	Roper
Samsung	Sanyo	Scotsman
Sears	Sharp	Signature
Sinkmaster	Skuttle	Speed Queen
Sub-Zero	Sunray	Tappan
Thermadore	Toshiba	U-Line
Viking	Wards	Waste King
West Bend	Westinghouse	Whirlaway
Whirlpool	White-Westinghouse	Wolf

Visualize Your Appliance Repair Experience

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:49 +0000

Appliance Breakdown Diagrams

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! Just click on the appliance you’re working on and run your mouse over the diagrams. It’ll popup pictures of the various key components inside as well as give you insight into how to disassemble. It’s the miracle of Flash!

If you need more detailed help, start a new topic in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum and we can get you more info.

Dryers

Freezers

Ice Makers

Microwave Ovens

Ovens, Ranges, and Stoves

Refrigerators

Trash Compactors

Washing Machines

Help for Determining the Age of Common Appliance Brands

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:30:18 +0000

First thang you’ll need to do is get the serial number off the model number tag. Armed with this key information, proceed to the appropriate section below:

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)

What Brand of Kitchen and Laundry Appliances Would the Samurai Buy?

Samurai Appliance Repair Man — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:10:37 +0000

John wrote:

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 three brands which make their service information freely available: Whirlpool (which includes Kitchenaid, Roper, and Maytag brands), Frigidaire (which includes Electrolux brands), and Dacor (which includes, well, just Dacor). 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!