Author Archives: Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Dacor ERD36 Range Troubleshooting, Disassembly, and Other Repair Goodies

Got you one of them fancy Dacor ERD ranges with an F1 error code? Or maybe some other type of problem? Well, urine luck, budrow, ‘cuz Dacor is one of the enlightened manufacturers who makes all their service information freely available to everyone on the Web! And, special bonus, Dacor products are made ratcheer in Ameedica. Lots of repair goodies for the Dacor ERD36 range are linked in the Scribd doc below:

Yessir, the Samurai likes Dacor. Yeah, Dacor products are high-end and sell for big bucks. But we professional appliantologists like appliances we can fix. And you can’t fix broken appliances if the manufacturer restricts access to their service information to either the big service companies, like Sears and A&E (owned by Sears), or to independent servicers who’ve signed a sucker’s contract with the manufacturer saying that they’ll do their warranty work for slave’s wages; GE and Viking are the worst offenders in this regard. So, if you’re wantin’ high-dollah, high-end appliances for your kitchen, Dacor is the brand to go with.

 

To learn more about your range/stove/oven, or to order parts, click here.

How to Test the Evaporator Fan Motor in a GE Profile Refrigerator

Le Procédure:

  1. Unplug the refrigumerator. This resets the main control board.
  2. Warm up the freezer thermistor to 70°F– an infrared temperature gun makes for an easy, quick, and accurate way to tell when the desired temperature is reached.
  3. Set the temperature controls to das middle settings.
  4. Plug the refrigumerator back in.
  5. Use your meter to check for 13 VDC from the red to the white wire and between 8 to 13 VDC from the white to the yellow wire at the evaporator fan motor connector.
  6. If you don’t have the correct voltage at either location, then the muthaboard is fried– was probably taken out by the evaporator fan motor getting moisture in it. If all you do at this point is replace the muthaboard, chances are excellent that you’ll be replacing it again real soon because that flakey evaporator fan motor will fry the new one, too. Moral of Story: don’t get cute and think you’re gonna save a buck two-eighty by changing only the muthaboard. Replace both the evaporator fan motor and the muthaboard at the same time. I know it sucks but don’t bitch at me– you’re the one who bought a GE, go whine to them!
  7. OTOH, if the voltages at both locations are good, then you can probably get by with changing just the evaporator fan motor.

 

evaporator fan motor used in GE refrigerators

 

motherboard used in GE refrigerators.

 

To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.

Maytag-JennAir Side by Side Refrigerator with a Block of Ice in the Bottom of the Freezer Compartment

… and may have water pooled at the bottom and running out the front, too.

This is a classic case of a plugged condensate drain hole in the freezer. “Condensate” is the fancy word that we professional appliantologists call the water that gets melted off the evaporator during the defrost cycle. “Evaporator” is another fancy word we use and refers to the coils in the freezer that get cold and do all the hard work of keeping your beer cold. In these (and most) household refrigerators, you have just one evaporator and it lives in the freezer. So all your cold air is made in the freezer compartment and a portion of it is blown into the beer compartment by the evaporator fan.

Now, that evaporator coil is supposed to run at about -15°F. Well, it don’t take a brain surgeon, like yours so very freaking truly, to figger out that that dang coil gets frosted up more often than the Samurai drinks beer. And if we don’t get rid of that frost, you’ll end up with warm beer. Spew!

If everything’s working right and your refrigerator is doing the defrost cycle like it should, then you’re gonna git lotsa melted condensate that needs to go somewhere or it’ll make a frozen mess inside your freezer. Hence the raison d’etre for this post.

Well, them clever engineers done figgered out a way to deal with this so that you normally never see it. It’s called the condensate drain. Periodically, this drain gets plugged up by what we professionals call “gookus,” which is a fancy word that refers to anything that’s not supposed to be there. This gookus can slow down the flow enough so that the condensate water freezes at the drain opening. Then the trouble begins.

But, never fear for the Samurai is here! As complicated as all this sounds, it’s really an easy fix. First, you remove… oh, nevermind, let the picture tell the story:

 

Maytag Side by Side Refrigerator Freezer Compartment Breakdown
(click for larger image)

 

And these accompanying condensate drain clearing tips from Sublime Master That Guy:

Remove part 20, the rear wall of the freezer compartment. I use a shop vac, a towel, and hot water. Use the towel as a damn, pour the hot water on the drain hole at the bottom of part 14. Vacuum up water. Repeat until the drain tube is free or all the ice is gone. Then use the vac. to clean out the tube. Flush with hot water. be very carefull if you use a wire. You might poke a hole in the drain tube. I usually use a small diameter plastic tube and run it through the drain.

 

To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.

High Altitude Icemaker Service Call on Franconia Ridge

Oh, the places the Samurai doth go to service broken appliances. This place had 50 mph gusts and -15°F temps. Can you believe this was a broken icemaker call? And there was no way to get my service van up there– believe me, I tried! No, I had to trudge four miles up the mountain on the Old Bridal Path through snow and clouds carrying all my tools on my back. Never did find the house, either. I think they gave me a bum address. Here’s a video of me looking for it.

Oy, I’m gettin’ too old for this bidness.

(Video shot on Thursday, January 21, 2010)

Trail Break

All this appliance repair talk is eating my brain! I’ve uploaded some pics from a few of my winter hikes this season. Best viewed in fullscreen mode. Turn your speakers up and click the thumbnail images below to watch the slideshows. Enjoy!

Mt. Cardigan

Slideshow for Mt. Cardigan hike.

 

Mt. Moosilauke

Slideshow for hike up Mt. Moosilauke.

 

Southern Saints Romp (Mt. Antipas and Webster Cliff)

Slideshow for the hike in the Southern Saints.

 

Mts. North and South Kinsman

Slideshow for hike up North and South Kinsman.

 

Mt. Sunapee

Slideshow for Mt. Sunapee hike.

 

Whirlpool Duet Washer Leaks from the Front Panel

 

Torn Bellows Seal in a Whirlpool Duet Washer

 

Duet washer leaks,
dribbling water from the front.
Thy bellows hath blown.
the bamboo knows all, grasshoppah

 

Front bellow seal, Whirlpool Duet Washer-- click it to git it, Hoss!

 

Repair manual for the Whirlpool Duet washer, also sold as the Kenmore brand.Wisdom! Whirlpool Duet Washer Repair Manual. Has complete, illustrated instructions for how to replace the bellows, troubleshooting and diagnostics, complete teardown info and much, much, more!


To learn more about your washing machine, or to order parts, click here.

GE Profile PSS25 Refrigerator Freezing Everything in the Fresh Food Compartment Regardless of Temperature Setting; and the Water Dispenser Quit Working, too!

 

GE Profile fridge:
freezes beers; dispenser quit.
Frikkin’ flapper froze!
the bamboo knows all, grasshoppah

 

Refrigerator air inlet cover/damper kit with fan motor for a GE Profile refrigerator. Damper and fan assembly has been updated to prevent freezing in the refrigerator.  Click it to Git it, Hoss!

 

GE Profile PSS25 Fridge Breakdown Diagram with Damper Assembly Circled, click for larger view.

 

For Your Further Illumination: GE Arctica Refrigerator: Broken Air Damper and Everything’s Freezing in the Beer Compartment!

To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.