Appliance Repair Wisdom for the Ages

Monday, March 28, 2005

Bucky wrote:

How do I change the motor in a Maytag Dryer Model# MDE9306AYA, oh great Samurai? And also, oh great one, which side of the belt goes against the dryer drum, ribbed or flat side? Domo orogato!! You are ichi bon. I love you no shit. Fried or steamed?

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Message sent from IP: 24.33.141.158

First step to replacing the motor is to tear down the dryer. You'll also need to remove the blower wheel. With all the guts torn out of the dryer, you have unencumbered access to the motor. You will replace the old motor with the new motor that you bought here, which helps to support all this free help you get here at the colossus of appliance repair websites.

I also have a handy page of belt configurations for all dryers, including yours. On older Maytag dryers, the flat side of the belt goes against the drum.

Even in the worst of conditions, this repair rates a mere three mugs on the SUD-o-meter. Piece of pie, comrade!

Steamed, please. And shaken, not stirred.

minnownj wrote:

Your website is absolutely fabulous! THANKYOU! I am one of those unlucky idiots who purchased the Maytag Neptune Super Stack model MLE2000AYW. My machine died yesterday and I had the "lonely" Maytag repairman over to take a look. The $%#%^*&^ computer board is fried. The repair quote is $900. Since the machine broke down after the 8/9/2004 deadline on the class action suit, I am at Maytag's mercy to either attempt to repair it or give me a Washing Machine Purchase Certificate. But I don't want to purchase another #%$$# Maytag.

I need a stacking unit due to space constrictions. I'm considering purchasing a Frigidaire Gallery Series GLEH1642DS. But before I do, I wanted your venerable opinion, since it is VERY OBVIOUS that you know what you're doing.

Well, Mr. Samurai, what do you think?

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Message sent from IP: 12.75.214.147

I think $900 for this repair is very rich indeed! Yanno, if only I charged that much for repairs, then I wouldn't be running this silly DIY appliance repair website. Hey...

Anyway, I think you should investigate doing this repair yourself. First, confirm the diagnosis-- the guy could be blowing huge, billowing clouds of thick, greazy smoke up your keester. Then, buy the part ratcheer and you'll save yer bad self a whole buttload of moola. Booyah!

UPDATE:

So, the guy emails me back:

minnownj wrote:

Hey, thanks for the reply. Already tried to buy the motor control board, no one has it, no one will sell it to me.

What do you think about Frigidaire appliances?

Ok, I'll attempt to make it more obvious: CLICK HERE NOW TO BUY THE MACHINE CONTROL BOARD FOR YOUR MAYTAG WASHER.

Any questions?

rgterzian wrote

Have a Whirlpool Duet HT Washer Model GHW9200LW0. Dryer stacked using Whirlpool kit Banging or knocking at low speed spin only, noise stops as spin speed increases. Minimal vibration in all cycles, unit near perfectly level. Performs well- clothes clean, undamaged, relatively dry after spin. Can you help me, wise one?

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Message sent from IP: 68.36.210.89

This was a recent topic of discussion in the Appliantology Group. The problem really boils down to inadequate floor support and harmonic mechanical vibrations set up between the washer during the spin cycle and the floor. Read all about it ratcheer.

Doug wrote:

Please help! On my gas stove, one burner will NOT turn off. When the knob is in the off position, a small blue flame is just barely visible at the burner. It does not go out. Ever. Please enlighten me!

Doug

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Message sent from IP: 64.91.149.236

This is a bad burner valve, slam dunk. To see what and where this bad boy lives, click here and and then select the detailed diagram for either Gas Free Standing or Gas Cooktop-- either will show you the same thing. Once you know where that valve is, you can order it right here using your model number.

I had a call from a customer complaining of black smudges on her clothes, she thinks from her washer. She also reported that her dryer needed service because it made an awful noise.

Now, whenever I get a call about black smudges on clothes, I know it's usually one of two things:

1) A chemical reaction between some detergents and fabric softeners can create black spots on clothes in the washing machine. You can tell if this is the case by seeing if the black spots will come off using soap and water. (Uncommon: if the spots will only come off using petroleum distillates, then this is oil from the washing machine's transmission.)

2) Rubber and/or metal filings from a wallowed out drum roller in the dryer getting on the clothes. In this case, you'll see amorphous smudges instead of well-defined, circular spots.

Turns out that, on this service call, the source of the staining was definitely the dryer. When I started up the dryer, it emitted a loud rumbling. I shut it off immediately and disassembled the dryer. After removing the drum, I saw the source of the black smudges right away. You can see it below (click it for a larger view):

Wallowed-Out Drum Roller on a Whirlpool-Built Dryer

As you can see, the drum roller is nuked. Amazingly, the roller shaft was still serviceable. If you looked at the larger view, you may have noticed all the metal shavings on top of the motor and piled in the back corner. With the drum roller so wallowed out, the rear drum seal was sloppy and would let metal filings into the drum while the dryer was running. These metal filings get on the clothes and leave black smudges. I replaced both drum rollers, the belt, and the idler pulley. Since this was a Whirlpool-built dryer, these parts all come in a convenient rebuild kit.

I teach my kids to prepare for the Hard Day. No one knows exactly what form the Hard Day will take, but it seems certain that we, as a nation, maybe even as a species, will face a difficult period of privation and hardship within the next five years. We call this the Hard Day. Two conditions in particular are coming together to form the perfect Hard Day storm: the seemingly endless plunge of the dollar precipitated by profligate spending of an undisciplined Congress and a White House consumed with sanctimonious megalomania waging an endless war of imperial hubris in the Middle East; and the imminent oil shortage.

James Howard Kunstler wrote an excellent summary of the oil crisis we face. I've included an excerpt below, but you should read the full article.

Now we are faced with the global oil-production peak. The best estimates of when this will actually happen have been somewhere between now and 2010. In 2004, however, after demand from burgeoning China and India shot up, and revelations that Shell Oil wildly misstated its reserves, and Saudi Arabia proved incapable of goosing up its production despite promises to do so, the most knowledgeable experts revised their predictions and now concur that 2005 is apt to be the year of all-time global peak production.

We know that our national leaders are hardly uninformed about this predicament. President George W. Bush has been briefed on the dangers of the oil-peak situation as long ago as before the 2000 election and repeatedly since then. In March, the Department of Energy released a report that officially acknowledges for the first time that peak oil is for real and states plainly that "the world has never faced a problem like this. Without massive mitigation more than a decade before the fact, the problem will be pervasive and will not be temporary."

[Read the full article...]

Saturday, March 26, 2005

As they used to say in Rome, "Et tu Beautay!" The beauty of the scenery so moved me that I pooped stuff I hadn't even eaten yet. Yeah, check it out... the scenery, that is (click the pics for the full-size view):

The Northerly View Along the Franconia Ridge from Mt. Liberty	Mt. Garfield from Mt. Liberty
Looking through the Pemigewassett Wilderness at the Bonds (foreground) and Snow-Capped Mt. Washington	Cannon Mtn. from Mt. Liberty
Looking at Mt. Flume (and some Bubba butt) from Mt. Liberty	An August Group on the Summit of Mt. Liberty

I met a distinguished group of hikers at the summit. One of them was John Lacroix, the dude who made a cool DVD about hiking the 48, 4000-footers in the White Mountains. It has some great photography and information about peak-bagging in the White Mountains. The DVDs cost less than $18 and all the proceeds go to benefit the American Diabetes Association. You should buy a copy-- I did. My little hiker kids and I enjoyed watching it.

I made another 30-second mini-movie of the views from the summit (7 mb, need QuickTime).

Big Brother can't handle it when people are able to connect with each other freely and effectively outside the constraints of Big Media. So they'll fix it the way they do every other threat: make it illegal. That's right, Big Brother in DC has made it illegal for private websites to convey information about political candidates ostensibly to make elections less subject to the influence of Big Bidness and Big Special Interest. Ok, maybe I took the short bus to school, but it seems to me that if millions of little peon websites, such as this one, are not able to express political opinion, doesn't that INCREASE the influence of Big Bidness and Big Special Interest?

If you use email, or keep a Web journal known as a blog, beware. The government will soon be out to get you. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, better known as McCain-Feingold, has never been just about keeping money out of politics. Political speech is its main target. This is clearer than ever, now that the Federal Elections Commission prepares to regulate the Internet. [read more]

Well, well, well...
I got me an old washer
It's makin' me blue
It spits up out the drain pipe
I don't know what to do.

Can someone help me,
with my scummy water blues?
I got water in my basement,
Oh, Samurai, tell me what to do!

I say I got me a washer...

Ok, that's enough of that. A little bit of the Blues goes a long way with me, bruthah.

This problem is common in older houses with jack-leg plumbing jobs; with drain pipes that are too small in diameter; or from drain pipes that have become constricted from years of built-up gookus and scum inside of them. Many times, the problem is exacerbated by using too much detergent in your laundry; recommended reading: Your Detergents Suck.

Someone posted this problem in the repair forum and another user posted the photograph below of his very clever solution:

Vertical Surge Pipe Solution for Washing Machine Drain Pipes that Backup During Pumpout

Read the forum thread where we discussed this problem.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Parents, students and teachers at Berkeley's Thomas Jefferson Elementary School will soon vote on whether to rename their school because the nation's third president was a slave owner. The question of whether to rename the school has been debated for more than two years -- since several teachers, including an African American mother of three former Jefferson students, said Jefferson's moniker offended them and suggested a name change. On Monday, Principal Betty Delaney released a list of potential new names -- one nominated by a student, the rest by adults. Parents, students and teachers must first vote on a new name, then take a second vote on whether to replace Jefferson with the new name. The school board must officially approve any name change. [read more]

I completely agree with this! Thomas Jefferson stood for too many great ideals and is too good a name to be defiled on government schools. Instead, we should re-name all government schools to accurately portray them for what they really are: government indoctrination facilities. Why sugarcoat it with human-sounding names? Schools should have names such as "Government Indoctrination Facility #666." The only distinction among the various GIFs would be their registration number. So at highschool sports events, it would be the 666ers vs. the 1029ers, and so on. Go team!

And the PC Brownshirts go marching on!

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

I've hiked this mountain many times in the past. It's a moderate eight mile (round-trip) hike to the summit which has an old fire watch tower that you can climb for tremendous 360 degree views. In the photo below, we're about halfway up; that's the summit of Smarts Mountain in the background, behind Bubba. If you click the picture for the larger view, you can just barely see the fire tower.

Bubba Strikes a Contemplative Pose Along the Trail to Our Objective, Smarts Mountain (in the background)

This was the first hike of Spring! Gorgeous day, temps in the low 40's, full sunshine, clear blue skies, and visibility at the summit went on forever. The picture below was taken from atop the fire watch tower. I'm looking northeast toward the White Mountains. If you click the picture for the larger view, then you'll see (from left to right) Mt. Moosilauke with a little snow cap on the summit, then next over are Mts. Lafayette and Lincoln, and the white, heaving mound of Mt. Washington is on the right-hand side.

Rare View of the White Mountains from the Smarts Mountain Fire Tower

No matter how many pictures I take, they just fail to capture the expansive grandeur of the mountain vistas. So, I used my digital camera to make a moving panorama of the entire 360 degree view from inside the fire tower on top of Smarts Mountain. You'll need Quicktime to watch it. You can download the free version here (there's a Pro version offered on that page for $30 but you don't need that, just get the free version-- it's just as good for this purpose).

Fixitnow.com Can Help You Take an Abnormal Pleasure in Fixing Your Own Appliances

New, Organic Bagels Sold Under the Brand Name, "Sphinctels"

I can't count the number of times I've heard from clients who've told me about a washing machine flood horror story. In one case, my client had an upstairs laundry and the washing machine overfilled. Naturally, she had left the house and came back home to over $20,000 worth of water damage to her home. Here are three easy steps to keep this from happening to you.

Install Floodstop on Your Washer Water Supply Valves

This system is awesome! Installs in just a few minutes by simply unscrewing your washer fill hoses, installing the solenoid valves, and then plugging in the sensor. It works by sensing water beneath the washer that shouldn't be there from overfilling, burst hoses, whatever, and then it shuts off the water supply. Slick!

Install Steel-Braided Fill Hoses on Your Washer

If you're still using those cheap black rubber hoses (like most folks), you've got a time bomb in your laundry room. Unless you diligently shut off the water to your washer after each and every use, it's just a matter of time before one of those hoses bursts. These steel-braided fill hoses are the cheapest and best flood insurance you can buy!

Place a Leak-Catcher Beneath Your Washer

If you have an upstairs laundry, you can protect that nice floor from being damaged by soapy, scummy washer water with this handy, easy-to-install leak catcher.

Ok, three easy steps to total flood prevention from the most flood-prone appliance in your home: your washing machine. And all this for less than $150. Like I'm tellink you, dahling, it's such a bahgain!

Sunday, March 20, 2005

If you're a regular to this site, you know that one of the features I offered was a Toll-Free Appliance Repair Hotline. I decided to pull the plug on the Hotline. The reason for having it in the first place was to help grasshoppers find the appliance repair help they needed here at Fixitnow.com. Turns out most people weren't interested in finding information so they could help themselves; they wanted live appliance repair help, on the phone, real-time, with the Grand Master of Appliantology. And they wanted all that for free. Amazingly, some people would actually cop a 'tood with me on the phone when I'd refer them to the forum or live help for detailed, personalized instruction in repairing their appliance.

Let's pause for a reality check.

There are more than 1,000 pages of appliance repair help at Fixitnow.com, all free for the reading. But, that's the problem: you gotta read. One thing I learned about my users is that most of them are the Great Unwashed Illiterati, also known as Boobus Americanus; they see the computer monitor as another form of TV and so look for a talking head to tell them what to do and think. (If you're reading this then congratulations! You've evolved beyond Boobus to Surfus Americanus.)

In addition to the vast repository of appliance wisdom contained in the pages of Fixitnow.com, I offer personalized and interactive help for free in the Appliantology Group. Only trouble is that now, in addition to having to read, Boobus must compose a coherent message describing his appliance dilemma. D'OH!

The other reason for dropping the Hotline is that we've completely redesigned the main table on the home page to make it easier for users to find what they need when they first visit the site. This new design should obviate the need for the Hotline. If you have any comments or suggestions on the new main table, let me know by using the comment link at the bottom of this post.

Surprisingly, I just don't make enough money running a free appliance repair website to be able to offer live, real-time consultations at no charge. However, live appliance repair help is available as a subscription service, albeit a for a subscription fee that's so ridiculously low that it might as well be free. But, even with such a modest fee, it keeps the live help work load manageable and provides some compensation for my time.

Ok, I have to get back to my day job: licking urinals at the Texaco. Happy fixing!

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Looks like all the big US appliance manufacturers will be raising their prices for new appliances this year. With the prices for new appliances increasing, appliances will become less disposable and the repair vs. replace decision will be skewed in favor of doing the repair. This bodes well for the appliance repair trade. If people have to pay more for appliances, repair companies will be able to charge more for their services. We're going to have to charge more anyway because of increasing gas prices, so it'll probably end up being a wash at the bottom line. But this also means that more people will be fixing their own appliances so I predict steady growth in traffic, parts sales, and live help subscriptions here at Fixitnow.com.

When consumers buy a refrigerator, dishwasher or washing machine made by Whirlpool this year, they will be paying up to 10 per cent more than last year.

Whirlpool, the biggest US manufacturer of home appliances, decided to raise prices to compensate for sharply higher raw material and transport costs.

"I don't think this industry has ever seen the order of magnitude of cost increases and shortage issues with both materials and transports that we're seeing," Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool's president and chief executive, told analysts recently.

Maytag, another home appliance manufacturer, also increased prices after being hurt by higher steel costs.

Analysts say that attempts by appliance makers to raise prices have failed before because companies would undercut one another, bringing prices back down.

But higher materials costs mean all appliance makers are in the same boat. "We are seeing no sign that any of the suppliers are breaking ranks on pricing," analysts at FTN Midwest Securities say in a research note.

[Read full article...]

Friday, March 18, 2005

Dayyam, I hit this one just right! You just could not ask for better winter hiking conditions. In fact, it was SO nice, that I almost feel like it's cheating to call this a winter hike. But, Spring Solstice isn't 'till the 21st, so technically it's still winter. Although, you'd never know it by conditions: pure blue skies, temps in the upper 20's with a very mild breeze, plenty of snow pack, not rotten yet, still with good bouyancy. It was one of those rare winter days where you could comfortably linger on the summit as long as you wanted. Usually, the summit visits on winter hikes are very brief due to the raging winds and extreme wind chills combined with a rapid loss of body heat as soon as you stop moving. Ahh, but today was soooWEET!

The Welch and Dickey loop is one of those cheater hikes in the White Mountains. That's where you get incredible views for comparatively little effort. "Comparatively" is the key word-- compared to hiking the 4000-footers, this is a cake walk; but it's still a 4½ mile hike in the White Mountains, in the winter, with a full winter pack, so I think a bead or two of sweat did form on my fair brow.

Anyway, the pictures below tell the story. Click 'em for a larger view.

Viewing the Tripyramids from the Shoulder of Mt. Welch	Bubba gets Excited as We Near the Summit
Bubba Takes a Break on the Summit of Mt. Welch	Ooo, Aahh!
Looking Back at Mt. Welch from Mt. Dickey	Viewing Franconia Notch from Mt. Dickey: Cannon Mtn. on the Left, Franconia Ridge on the Right

Thursday, March 17, 2005

If you have a Friggidaire dryer (also sold under the Kenwhore brand) that chews holes in your clothes, you probably need to replace the drum front upper felt glide kit. The picture below shows you what I'm talking about (click the picture for a larger view):

Frigidaire Front Drum Glide, Old and New

To light this candle, start by removing the front panel-- see my enlightening tome on Dryer Disassembly for instructions on this.

Next, use a stiff, sharp-edged putty knife to scrape off the old glide kit. Maybe sand it down a bit just to make a nice surface. Wipe off all the grotus and residue with a clean towel.

The kit comes with high-temp adhesive. Open the tube and slather that stuff on. Now, I'll share an old-timer's trick with you. Squeeze whatever glue you have left into a paper lunchbag then put it up to your nose and mouth and hyperventilate violently for several minutes until your vision starts to tunnel inward. Then hold your breath and wait for the special appliance trick to be revealed.

Ok, after you've awakened from your chemical slumber, slap on the new felt kit. Note the orientation: the overlap of the teflon pads should go toward the door panel. Clamp it for a minutes using the proprietary technique illustrated below:

Installing the New Drum Glide Kit

Note that this is a patented technique so, if you use it to install your glide kit, you must remit your royalty payment to the United Samurai Beer Fund.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Most folks think of appliance repair as just another one of the technical trades, like a plumber or electrician. And, it's true, there are those who practice appliance repair as merely a trade. But did you know that appliance repair is actually an ancient martial art, older than Kung Fu, Karate Do, and Tae Kwon Do all put together? Yes, my leetle Grasshoppers, I shi'ite you not. The ancient martial art of appliance repair is called Fixite Do. According to archeological records, Fixite Do originated in Lower Slabovia sometime during the Fermentecean era, which began right after the Jurassic era. You may be interested to know that Samurai Appliance Repair Man is a fully trained and certifiable master in the ancient appliance repair martial art of Fixite Do. The picture below is a representation of the Samurai applying his art (click the picture for a larger view):

The Samurai Demonstrates Fixite Do

Monday, March 14, 2005

This was my second post-back surgery hike carrying a full winter pack. (The first was last week to Ethan Pond-- it was so cold that I couldn't take any pictures so it wasn't worth posting anything on it. Nice hike, though.) Things are progressing well and, while I still have some healing to do, it hurt less this time than on the Ethan Pond hike. That's encouraging progress! Like the Ethan Pond hike, this hike up Mt. Kearsarge was selected for mellow grades and short distance (about six miles).

One of the most astonishing things I saw on this hike was moose scrape that was more than 12 feet high! (For those of you who don't know what moose scrape it, it's marks left on trees from male moose scraping their antlers during rutting (mating) season.) That is NOT a moose I'd like to cross paths with during rutting season! You can click the picture below for a larger view:

Moose Scrape on Mt. Kearsarge

But it was a gorgeous day for a hike: partly cloudy skies, mild breeze, great visibility, and with temps in the upper 20's it was warm enough to get subtle hints of spring in the air. In the photo below, I was looking out toward Ragged Mountain. If you click the picture for the larger view, you'll see Bubba on the trail. Yeah, he da goodest, bestest Bubba ina whole wide world!

Viewing Ragged Mtn. from Mt. Kearsarge

And in this one, I was looking toward Mt. Cardigan. In the larger view, you can see its snow-capped twin peak in the center of the picture.

Looking Toward Mt. Cardigan from Mt. Kearsarge

Coming next: Ragged Mountain. Stay tuned, you won't wanna miss it!

(Click the pictures for a larger view.)

If yours is the gas version, the gas burner assembly is conveniently accessed from the front of the dryer by simply removing the quarter panel below the door panel. You'll see the assembly on the right hand side, as shown below.

Gas Burner Assembly

All appliances these days have a tech sheet hidden somewhere inside of them. To find the tech sheet on the Duet dryer, you have to remove the top panel and thar she blows, as Samenilla points out below.

Tech Sheet Location

If you need to get deep into the guts of this beast, such as to replace a belt or change the venting from the side to the back, then you'll need to remove the door panel assembly. To do this, you first need to remove the top control panel. You'll undo some screws, as shown below, and then the control panel slides up and out. Be sure to secure this panel because if it slops around, you could damage some delicate ribbon connectors. With the control panel lifted off, you have full access to all the mounting screws for the door panel. The rest is trivial and I won't bore you with it.

Remove Top Panel to Remove Control Panel

Ok, tear 'em up!

For more information about your dryer or to order parts, click here.

If you want national (socialist) healthcare, then you trust the government with your medical care. If you send your kids to government school, then you trust the government to educate your kids. So, for you, letting the government get into your kids' heads with mental health screening is simply the next logical step. Right out of Marx's platform for implementing Communism-- get control of the minds of the youth and you control the future of the nation. And you helped.

Big Brother is on the march. A plan to subject all children to mental health screening is underway, and the pharmaceutical firms are gearing up for bigger sales of psychotropic drugs. Like most liberal, big-spending ideas, this one was slipped into the law under cover of soft semantics. Its genesis was the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFCMH), created by President George W. Bush in 2002. The NFCMH recommends 'routine and comprehensive' testing and mental health screening for every child in America, including preschoolers. Bush has instructed 25 federal agencies to develop a plan to implement the commission's recommendations. [read more]

You can click the pictures below to see a bigger version.

Remove the Door Jamb Screws

Pull Off the Front Panel

Remove Clips to Lift top Panel

The remainder of the disassembly follows the procedure for the regular Maytag dryers.

For more information about your dryer or to order parts, click here.

Friday, March 11, 2005

Life is good. It's late afternoon on a Friday and another snow storm is kicking up outside-- they're promising a foot this time. But I'm propped up in bed with my semper fi canine hiking partner, Bubba, laying next to me. And I have my newest little buddy, a Mac iBook G4, perched on my lap, surfing the web on a new wireless Verizon DSL Internet connection that consistently zips along.

Our old Adelphia cable connection had been steadily taking a dump for six months. I've spent more than 10 hours on the phone, pressing "1" for English and waiting to talk to a cubicle dweller wearing a headset, reading me canned platitudes about how my home network was to blame. On a couple occasions, I broke through to a "Level 2 tech," the guys "in the know," only to schedule a service call with Big Foot the Cable Guy who, while polite and housebroken and all, didn't know beans about how to troubleshoot cable Internet systems so nothing got fixed.

Now, here's a great lesson in free-market economics. Since Adelphia blows herds of warthogs, the conditions were ripe for an upstart broadband competitor to come along and woo us away. But, while they didn't have any competition for broadband providers in my area, Adelphia didn't need to be responsive and could allocate their resources to markets where they competed with other broadband providers.

Enter Verizon Online DSL. Ok, telecom behemoth Verizon isn't exactly an upstart, but they only recently started offering broadband Internet access in our area. I didn't need much wooing; I used my backup connection, Netzero dialup, to get to Verizon's website and sign up for their DSL service. They mailed me the self-install kit which included the DSL modem and, 10 days later, I was surfing smoothly on a solid DSL connection. After surfing on dialup most of the time for the past month, I had forgotten how fast and versatile broadband can be.

And here's the kicker. At $25/month (with a Freedom calling package, which we already have), Verizon DSL is less than half the price of Adelphia cable Internet. In this crazy, upside-down world of compooters, it ain't always true that you get what you pay for. Sometimes, you get more when you pay less.

Anyway, back to my perfect life, here in my cozy bed with my iBook and my Bubba, while a winter storm rages outside. I'm surfing, answering email, chatting on Yahoo Messenger (zenzoidman), answering questions in the repair forum, and streaming some great music from the Hearts of Space website. All this occurring simultaneously on a fast, reliable DSL connection. Yeah!

At one point, my youngest reproductive unit came in to visit me and I tried to explain to him what a miracle this all is. He was unimpressed. Unless you grew up in the days where your college freshman FORTRAN programming class was taught using punch cards, you just can't appreciate how many light years computing has advanced.

Have you ever heard Hearts of Space on public radio? I've been a fan of that show since Stephen Hill started it in the early '80's. Every week, he plays an hour of ambient music (or "space music"). The best way to describe ambient music is that it's quiet music for contemplation, writing, or just laying in bed and taking a trip without leaving the farm, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, you can also listen to Hearts of Space on XM channel 77, Audio Visions, every weeknight from 11pm to midnight (Eastern Time). Trouble is, I also like to listen to Rollye James during that time. My bowels were deeply conflicted... until I found out that you can subscribe to Hearts of Space and listen online to their entire streaming archive of shows whenever you want for $20/month. Well, that was a no-brainer-- problem solved!

Right now, I'm streaming my favorite HOS show through my iBook, Program 332, Deep Forest: A Pygmy/Techno/Rainforest Journey. It's a unique blend of soothing, traditional vocalizations from Pygmy tribes in Africa with modern techno sounds. I know: it sounds really flaky, maybe even fruity, but you gotta hear it to appreciate it. After you listen to an hour of this music, you feel like you just smoked a mondo spliff of B.C. bud even though you've had nothing but coffee.

Mrs. Samurai just told me dinner is ready. Fresh haddock and Greek salad, mmmm. Life is good. Later.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Russell T wrote:

Greetings oh wise and great samurai. Got a question about front-loading washers. I want one, but don't want to deal with all the difficulties they have had. Has Maytag fixed the problems with the Neptune, or have they just washed their hands of the problem? It seems that most of the complaints center around moisture (which leads to the electrical problems and mold). It also seems that if the door is left open, there's no problem. I've always left the lid open on my top-loader to prevent the moldy smell.

At any rate, I'm curious to know if a newly-purchased Neptune has got all the fixes, or if there's a better front-loading option.

Thanks,
Russell

_______________________________
Message sent from IP: 68.55.61.81

You're on the right track thinking about getting a front loader (more properly called a horizontal axis washer). But you're going down the wrong road in looking at the Maytag Neptunes. Yes, they still suck.

You should be thinking about the Whirlpool Duet or the Staber. Both are great machines, but the Staber has several things going for it that edge out the Duet. Read more about the Staber vs. the Whirlpool Duet.

I just love kickin' that old horse, Socialist Insecurity. It's such a perfect example of how far we've fallen from a once-proud nation of independent people who prized self-sufficiency and were skeptical of government into a bleating herd of quivering sheeple, utterly dependent on Big Government to take care of us. Mark Outland, at Sierra Times, explains this well:

Social Security, the largest and most invasive Ponzi scheme the world has ever known, has done more to destroy the American ideals of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility than any other single factor, and the fear and hysteria surrounding the President's suggestion of personal retirement accounts is proof. Somehow, America managed to grow and prosper for 150 years without such massive personal interference. ... During most of this time, the concept that each person was responsible for themselves was a given. Even charity was conditioned upon true need. ... Even when charity was given, the social pressures to quickly move from dependency to self-sufficiency -- and personal responsibility -- were great and ever-present. ... People were expected to do whatever was necessary to provide for themselves, and not expect their fellow citizens to provide for them. [read more]

Blogs have proven to be a serious threat to the Empire's status quo. So much so that the Empire is striking back with yet another naked power grab. The Beltway Bandits want to limit your political speech on the Internet, even on your own website! Read the dispatch below and pass it on to your friends and associates on the Internet.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Please forward to friends who value free speech on the Internet.

Last week, FEC Commissioner Brad Smith fired the shot heard round the Internet. He said political activity on the Internet is likely to be regulated. Smith opposes this notion because he believes it's unconstitutional. He was engaging in whistle-blowing.

His opponents are accusing him of "misleading" or being an "alarmist." But this is not a hoax.

A federal judge has specifically ordered the Federal Election Commission to regulate political activity on the Internet. These new regulations must comply with other regulations on political activity established by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA).

This means YOU could be subject to regulation. You might trigger these regulations by...

* Forwarding a campaign press release using email.
* Printing a campaign press release on your website.
* Posting a campaign ad on your blog.
* Linking to a candidate's website from your home page.

But websites and email lists tied to established corporate media institutions are exempt from these regulations. The New York Times' website is free from regulation, but your website and email communications will not be.

All of this is a consequence of BCRA, a law that protects incumbent office holders from criticism, and privileges the established corporate news media with full speech and press rights that you no longer enjoy.

Please go to www.DownsizeDC.org right now, click on the link under the headline "Save Our Blogs," read a short explanation of how this has all come about, and then use the easy Electronic Lobbyist System to send a message to Congress asking them to repeal BCRA and restore your freedom of the press.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org

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D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of http://www.DownsizeDC.org

Fight the power! Don't let Da Man keep you down! Let's take Ameedica back!

To conveniently email this dispatch, click the cute little envelope below.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Susan Marek wrote:

Welcome to the Mac and firefox --however Mac's Safari is cool too! Firefox is for windows users to try to avoid most viruses/spyware thru internet-- until it gets popular too.

Now for the big question:

I see you feel Staber is best bet going--still after the whirlpool Duvet entry?

Also, do either of these do twin and queen comforters or King Duvet?

_______________________________
Message sent from IP: 24.185.40.124

I think the essential difference between Macs and PCs comes down to this: I use a PC because I have to; I use a Mac because I like to. And I like the Safari browser, too. But I was already using Firefox on my Windows platform and they have a very nice version for the Mac with features not available in Safari (e.g., all the extensions, especially FireFTP, gmail checker, and several others that I rely on heavily).

The Staber washer vs. Whirlpool Duet... hmm, tough call. Both are excellent machines with all the advantages of horizontal axis washers over the old, energy/water hog vertical axis machines.

First, a little terminology. I refer to the Staber as a horizontal axis washer instead of the layman's term front-loader because it's more accurate. All front-loaders are horizontal axis washers but not all horizontal axis washers are front-loaders. For example, both the Staber and the Whirlpool Duet are horizontal axis washers; however, the Staber is loaded from the top, whereas the Whirlpool Duet is loaded from the front. Aside from the Staber, all other top-loaders are vertical axis washers, which are distinguished by an agitator in the center of the tub that beats the hell out of your clothes.

Let's review some other fun facts to know and tell about horizontal axis washers vs. their vertical axis cousins:

Ok, any dufus can see that horizontal axis washers are the only way to go. Recent marketing research has shown that the only people buying vertical axis washers these days live in double-wides, smoke GPC cigarettes, and leave the water running while brushing their tooth. If you fit into that demographic, tell whoever is reading this to you that they can stop now and turn Jerry Springer back on because you're just looking for the cheapest washer you can find.

Let's move on to the specific comparison and contrast between the Staber and the Whirlpool Duet:

• The Staber loads from the top vs. from the front as in the Duet. For people with bad backs (like me) this is a compelling feature.
• Samurai's 11th Law of Appliance Repair states that, "Electronics and wet appliances do not mix." The Staber has NO electronics in the control panel-- all user controls on the Staber are mechanical switches and timers. It does use a single motor controller board which is required to control the forward and reverse tumble directions of the motor. The Duet, on the other hand, uses two, mondo-hairy electronics boards, one of which is just for the control panel. I've already seen problems with the motor controller board, though these were isolated cases and do not appear to be a design or production flaw.
• Samurai's 3rd Law of Appliance Repair states that, "Everything breaks; it's just a matter of frequency, difficulty, and expense." The Staber is designed to be repaired by the end-user-- no servicer required. Since you sought out my website, I assume you have at least some interest in being able to do most repairs yourself. The Staber washer is totally serviced from the front, so you don't have to be a gorilla to pull it out and work on it. You buy replacment parts directly from the factory-- this means they're going to cost less than comparable parts for other brands because you won't be paying a retail markup.
• The Whirlpool Duet is made in Germany. The Staber is made right here in Ameedica.
• The Staber is less expensive than the Duet. The Staber all-white base model, HXW2304, sells for $1,199, freight-paid. The Duets are more in the range of $1,500, plus delivery.

Wanna see it in action? Ok, come check out this video of the Staber in action (138 mb). The Staber standard white model HXW2304 is available for just $1,199. This is a delivered price to a business or residential home within the Continental U.S. (free freight). When you purchase your Staber washer through me, you also get these other goodies:

• A complimentary subscription to Live Help for one year, which gives you unlimited help repairing ALL your major appliances as well as complete access to my Xdrive repair manual stash.
• A complimentary copy of the mind-expanding and illuminating DVD, "The Basics of Household Wiring."

Still have questions? More info at Samurai's Appliance Emporium.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

First, let me be clear: unlike the vogue trend, I do not resent Microsoft simply because they're the two-ton gorilla of the software world and make an obscene amount of money. Hey, this is Ameedica, making moola is the name o' da game and that's a game Homey likes. No, I resent Microslop because they simply suck. Going all the way back to the Days of DOS, they were the king of mediocrity. Every product they have ever came out with spawned a plethora of products created to repair sloppy bugs or implement features that should have been included in the first place. They are the epitome of collectivist thinking: all product development decisions are made by committees of corporate bureaucrats. Collectivist processes, by their very nature, are mediocre and anathema to excellence. That's why big corporations and big governments are inherently incapable of excellence and they can never do anything quite right.

Anyway, I've gotten so fed up with Microslop with all their Windows crap and the cheesy machines made for Windows that I've started the pilgrimage to Macs. My dear Mrs. Samurai bought me an iBook G4 about two months ago, when I had my back surgery. It's a cute little laptop with a 12" screen and is everything that Windows never was: stable, never crashes, works right every time, the only time you ever reboot is for the rare operating system upgrade (mine is OS X and I've had one upgrade back when I first connected to the internet with it). It's unbelievably sooweet! I'm laying in bed right now, propped up with my Mac on my lap, surfing on a wireless Internet connection, reading, writing, posting, chatting on Yahoo IM (zenzoidman) and this little gem is an absolute joy to use.

Another step I've taken to free myself from the Evil Empire is switching over to Firefox to browse the Internet instead of Internet Horror. That's a step everyone can make now and it's FREE! Firefox is much faster than Horror, more secure, has tabbed browsing, and lots of other features that make for a better Internet experience.

Next step is to get a Mac workstation so I'll never again have to defile my eyes and fingers on a Windows machine. Now if I can just move the Appliantology Group out of MSN...

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Appliance Wisdom

Spiffy New Appliance Parts Lookup Tools

Let the Samurai Help you Fix It Yourself!

"Is There a Washer and Dryer Worth Buying?"

Banishing the Beeping Bosh

GE Announces Recall of Built-In Dishwashers

Appliance Repair Revelation, Opening the Maytag Neptune Washer

How to Know that a Range ERC is Bad

Appliance Repair Revelation, Dishwasher Leaves Dishes Dirty

Whirlpool Announces Dishwasher Recall

Mailbag: Kenmore Front-load Washer Stinks

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Government Schools: The Failed Experiment

Come See the Samurai

Iraqi Ecstasy

The End of the World: 2029

Stranger in the Night

Love Hurts

Montana to The Beast: "Up Yours!"

Gonzo Goes Bye-Bye

Dell Hell

Remote Viewing that Thing in the Closet

Dying with Ecstasy

Quote of the day: Social(ist) (in)Security

Social Security Reform: A Free-Market Alternative

Appliantology for January 2005

Finally, an opportunity has come along for me to make some serious cash. Johnson Minsa, a banker in Ghana, contacted me personally (he even knew my name!) to help him get some cash out of the country. I just emailed my bank account information to Mr. Minsa and now I'm just waiting for my money train to come in. Ah, yes, I can see it now: sipping margaritas on a pristine beach in Costa Rica, driving a brand new Chevy pickup truck, lounging at the beach house in Malibu, eating Big Macs in gay Paree... oui, oui! I'm tired of scratching out a living repairing appliances: rolling around on scummy kitchen floors reaching through piles of rat turds to change out a valve on a gas range; fishing out putrid rotten mouse carcasses from dishwasher insulation. No more! As soon as that Big Green hits my account, I'm outta here. Later, suckers!

johnson minsa johnsonminsa@yahoo.com wrote:

Dear,Repair

My name is Mr johnson minsa, an auditor with the Bank of Ghana. Your contact was secured through the internet,i am proposing to you a deal that will no doubt be of great benefit to both of us.

During one of our auditing sessions of banks under our supervision, i came accross this large sum of money(USD17.5million) in a dormant account belonging to a foreigner, who on further enquiries i learnt died in a plane crash in the United States in September 2001. This account has remained inactive since then, as there has not been any claim till date.

With my wealth of experience and contacts in the banking industry, i am capable of transfering this funds by Swift into any account of your choice abroad,and we am willing to share 50 percent of the total sum transfered.

This transaction will go through the legal system, and we will ensure that we meet all banking rules and regulations of Ghana and your country.Please let me know if this offer is acceptable to you,so we can proceed without further delay. Awaiting your reply with great anticipation.

Kind Regards
johnson minsa,