Y’all gather ’round the campfire and ol’ Samurai and Mrs. Samurai will tell you some genuine, real-life appliance war stories. These are tales from the dark side, stories about encounters with real defective customers: cheesedorks, leeches, and pigs at the trough. Go grab a brewski and come on in!
Listen to this episode | Podcast homepage | Podcast RSS feed
Looking for a new washing machine? Consider the Staber washer. Read some detailed commentary from a happy Staber owner after using it for a year.
If your dishwasher is leaving film and gookus deposits on your dishes after running through the cycle, the problem is most likely one of three things: 1) insufficient water fill in the basin, 2) poor draining between cycles, or 3) your water is too hard.
Come, browse through all my pearls of dishwasher wisdom.
Just got back from two intensive days of technical training with Miele, a German appliance manufacturer. This was by far the most intensive field-factory training I’ve attended. The first day was dishwashers, washers, and dryers. The second day was ovens, steam ovens, convection/microwave ovens, and coffee brewer systems. The instructor, LeRoy O’Brien, even had us do pop quizzes each day and you had to make at least 70% or you flunked training!
All Miele appliances are designed and built in Germany. As you’d expect, they are very expensive but also very well designed and precision built. Most Miele products start at $2,000. Europeans have a whole different attitude about appliances– they expect their appliances to last forever and many people keep the same appliances their whole lives. In fact, when designing appliances, Miele engineers specify that components must have a 40 year life.
Compare and contrast that with the throw-away culture here in Ameedica. Just yesterday, someone called me and wanted me to come out on a 12-year old Frigidaire top loading washer that was leaking. I declined to schedule the call because, as I explained to the lady, it was a throw-away washer that she paid about $300 for and is simply not worth repairing. So, she happily went shopping for another $300 throw-away washer that will soon end up in a landfill.
For Americans, it’s all about cheap, cheap, cheap. When shopping for appliances, most people just look at price and features and never even consider longevity. And when their Sears special breaks down after just three years, they whine and moan that it costs $300 to fix a $500 piece of junk appliance, as if the price of buying a new appliance has anything to do with the costs of running a service call on it. If I go out on a $2,000 Miele washer or a $400 GE washer, my fixed and variable costs for running that call are exactly the same, regardless of the appliance. But many people have this goofy notion that if the appliance costs less, then the service call should cost less. No wonder appliance repair is a dying trade here in Ameedica.
This is why, in my service business, I’m increasingly scheduling service calls only on high-end appliances. I advise people who call with low-end appliances to come to Fixitnow.com and learn how to fix it themselves because it is simply not cost-effective, for them or me, to run a service call on low-end junk. I believe that appliance service companies who have built their business around fixing bottom-feeder models will soon go bankrupt unless they recognize these market dynamics and adapt to them.
Intermittent problems are the hardest kind to troubleshoot. It takes a true technician, not a parts-changing monkey, to figure it out. Now you, too, can learn how to troubleshoot an intermittent no-cool problem in an Amana refrigerator from genuine über-techs. Lucky you!
If you’ve recently learned that your Sub-Zero refrigerator is leaking freon, then you need to study this topic in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum very carefully to avoid being taken for a ride; pay particular attention to the pearls of wisdom dispensed by AccApp, a Sublime Master of Appliantology.
Lots of hacks and charlatans out there, pretending to be professional appliance servicers, who don’t know what they’re doing or who outright lie about what’s wrong and what repair is needed. To learn how NOT to get hosed by rip-off artists, listen to this episode of our podcast on Appliance Service Calls and how not to screwed therein.
MESSAGE SENT THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE
name = Catherine
country = USA
comments = I LOVE YOUR SITE, MAN!!!!! Just called you (I live in Sunapee) about my microwave and dryer – and now feel ready to get out the tool box!I’m going to give lots and lots of people the heads up on fixitnow.com!!!
Konichiwa!
Mucho domos for your email, Cate! I love getting emails like yours. 8) Two of our podcast episodes will help you kick some major appliance boo-tay. First, listen to this one on how to use Fixitnow.com.
And if you need more interactive help, this podcast explains how to use the repair forum.
Write back with your victorious repair stories!
Here’s a common way that this fault will appear:
I can wash a load of clothes and it gets down to the last few minutes (ranging from 11 to 3 minutes) and it goes to the F02 error or SUD. I can let the washer sit for a few hours and then run it on the rinse/spin or drain/spin cylce and it will finish.
First thing to do here is take out the filter and clean out the grunge and gookus. If you find lots of stuff in there like pencils, nails, coins, etc., then it’s possible that these things have damaged the pump impeller. You can tell this visually by peering intently into the suction port of the pump with a flashlight. If any of the impeller vanes are broken off or if the impeller is jammed, then you need a new pump. Come git you one.
To learn more about your washing machine, or to order parts, click here.
So, the motor in your washer runs and you’ve laid eyeballs on the belt to confirm that it’s not broken, but still no spin. Trying to Help, a Sublime Master of Appliantology in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum, explains how to tell whether the problem is the transmission (that’s bad), the thrust bearing and pulley assembly (that’s not as bad), or something else:
Pop the top of the unit up like you were going to take the front panel off and start the machine in the spin cycle. With the unit running, and sounding like it is spinning, reach in and see if you can turn the inner tub easily by hand, almost like a roulette wheel. If you can turn it freely by hand, then your brake has released. This would mean your belt, brake, motor pivot and trust bearing kit are all fine and your transmission is slap tore up (defective). IF you can not turn the tub freely at this point, then your brake is still holding. At that point, make sure your motor is pivoting back and forth freely and inspect your thrust bearing and pulley assembly as the Samurai suggested, and check for items stuck between the tubs such as a sock or wash cloth.
Read this two-page info sheet on Dryer Safety. Prepared by the Orange County (California) Fire Authority.
For more information on constructing safe dryer vents, read The Ultimate Dryer Venting Guide.
Most of the motors in the high-efficiency (HE) washers, such as front loaders, use what’s called brushes to conduct current from the rotor to the stator. You’ll find these kind of motors in common-brand washers made by Frigidaire and Whirlpool (also sold under the Kenwhore label), as well as the over-priced, under-performing, so-called higher-end brands.
A common failure of the these motors is that the brush breaks, cracks or simply wears away. Many of the manufacturers will not sell the brush alone– they want you to buy a whole new motor. But if you can prove that the only thing wrong with the motor is the brushes, then you can save yourself a whole butt-load of cash if you replace only the brushes and not the whole freakin’ motor. Sound too esoteric for an appliance repair virgin to take on? Nay, nay, my feckless grasshopper; grok upon these wise words from Keinokuorma, a Master Appliantologists at the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum who hails from Finland:
Tips on substituting motor brushes, if you just can’t find the original brushes with reasonable price, and especially if warranty is out. After all, a motor brush is just a motor brush: A piece of anthracite or similar conductive material, that carries the current to the commutator lamels.
Whether the original brushes are flattish or square-looking at the end, measure both thickness and width, and you can probably get brushes that match those measures. Also, measure the brush chute and the load spring entirely compressed if you can. Do the math – the brush must fit inside the chute with the spring inserted a bit loosely.
One thing – check the new brush head that is to come into contact with the commutator. It may be flat or concave-curved to contour the commutator. If it is entirely flat, you can install it, but the motor will not give optimum output until the curve has formed. If it is curved, I recommend rounding out the edges a bit with a file. If you use a brush that is curved for a smaller radius of commutator, and you don’t round out the edges, there may be trouble lurking around when starting the motor.
Also, the chute probably has a pinch that grabs the copper twine going into the brush. From the old brush, measure the distance of the warp in the twine to the brush, make a mark at that distance to the twine on the new brush, and lock the mark inside the pinch. This will keep the brush from wearing completely out and the spring hitting the commutator. I’ve seen that happen on motors without such pinches, and usually that means there are a couple commutator lamels stuck into the spring and torn off.
If you can’t get an exactly matching brush, you can think about replacing with brushes that fit the brush chutes width-wise (following the rotation) as closely as possible. Of course, loose is better than tight. And, if you really can’t get matching black carbon brushes, try and find a fitting replacement from car alternator brushes. They are usually of a harder material, and way shorter, but I have successfully used them on old appliances when original spare parts haven’t been available. While they are shorter, you may want to leave a little more twine between the pinch and brush.
If you’re trying to figure out how to replace the ADC board in your Maytag or Jenn-Air refrigerator, then you’re working on fixing a defrosting problem and the evaporator coil in the freezer looked something like what’s shown here (click for larger view).
So, you’ve done your due diligence and checked the continuity of the defrost heater and defrost thermostat. Now you’re ready to change the ADC board. What’s that? You don’t know how to check the defrost heater and thermostat? No worries, mate, this Instant Guide® on making simple electrical measurements and this picture will get you going on that.
Ok, moving on, you’re ready to replace the ADC board. Here’s the play-by-play:
☞ First, buy the new ADC board here.
☞ After the board arrives and you’re ready to begin work, unplug the refrigerator before you even think about opening to the door to start.
☞ The ADC board, item 13 in this picture, lives behind some flimsy plastic, at the ceiling of the beer compartment. Getting the big plastic tray out may take some fiddlin’ and twiddlin’. It’s supposed to come out by inserting your fingers in the grooves in back, gently pulling down and out (towards you) at the same time. In reality, it can be a frustrating tug fest. Keep dinkin’ with it, it’ll come out.
The rest is plug and chug. If you need more help, come see us in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum.
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Check out this photo set illustrating the procedure, courtesy of Jedi Appliance Guy. There’s a cool repair trick in that set, too. Can you find it?
If you’re seeing the back wall inside your freezer coated with fuzzy ice, then your refrigerator has a defrosting problem. Welcome to my world. First order of bidness here, Hoss, is to jump J9 to J11 on that muthahboard to see if the defrost heater will glow orange. If it does, then you know the defrost heater and defrost thermostat are working. In this case, you’ll need to replace BOTH the muthahboard and the evaporator fan motor kit.
I know, right about now you’re scratching the back of your eyeball through your right nostril and axin’ yourself, “Now why would a penny-pinching broke dick, like m’damnself, go and buy an evaporator fan motor to fix a defrost problem? I’ll bet that Samurai Cyclops, or whatever the hell his name is, is just trying to get me to buy more parts!”
Oh, you’re a clever one! Y’see, Slick, they’s a thermistor that’s wired into the evaporator fan motor and it connects back to the muthahboard. What happens is that water gets inside that thermistor and shorts it out, taking the muthahboard with it. The evaporator fan motor itself can do the same thing. So, the upshot is that if you don’t change the fan motor and thermistor kit at the same time you change the muthahboard, you stand an excellent chance of burning out a brand new, expensive muthahboard.
Save yourself some serious coinage and replace BOTH the muthahboard and the evaporator fan motor kit w/thermistor.
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
MESSAGE SENT THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE
name = tiny grasshopper
country = USA
comments = i just pulled some serious grasshopper samurai moves on my dishwasher.and the sweet sound of spraying water is my reward.
thank you. great site!
Congratulations, grasshopper, you have earned a green belt in Fixite Do. 
Other grasshoppers reading this post may wish to browse all my dishwasher pearls of wisdom for that rare and exquisite morsel of appliance minutia.