Author Archives: Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Magic Serial Number Decoder for GE Appliances

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If you are one of the millions of victims who own GE appliances, then at some point you may need to know when they were manufactured. Fun fact to know and tell: the year of manufacture is not the same as the model year of the model number. GE does it this way to help confuse and befuddle you when you’re trying to find information about your appliance… such as how old it is.

Fret not, my leetle grasshopper; as always, the Samurai is here to illumine your steps and make straight your path.

Magic GE Serial Number Decoder - click for larger viewThe serial number consists of two letters followed by six digits. The two prefix letters indicate the month and year the appliance was manufactured. Look up the two-letter serial number prefix in the magic serial number decoder, shown here– click it so you can actually read it, Homer.

Notice that the code sequence repeats every 12 years as an occult message to the Illuminati, Skull and Bones, and other secret societies about the emergence of the Anti-Christ. Either that or they just ran out of code combinations. But the occult message scenario is much more interesting.

Maytag Neptune Washer Tripping GFI Circuit Breaker

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Affected Models: MAH2400AW*, MAH2440AW* and MAH2440BG*

So, your nearly-new Maytag Neptune washer is tripping the GFI outlet for no apparent reason. If you’re sure the GFI outlet itself isn’t at fault, then the problem may be moisture running down the wire harness and into the motor harness connector. This can cause corrosion of the terminals, premature motor failure and, by the way, trip the GFI.

Maytag Neptune Motor Wiring Harness - click for larger viewIf the wire harness and terminals in the motor connector are still in good shape, Maytag recommends wrapping the wire harness with special foam tape to keep water out of the harness. The better fix is to replace the entire wire harness because it includes a drip loop for additional protection.

Do I really need to say, “Click the thumbnail for a larger view?”

Whirlpool Duet Front Loading Washer Walks or Vibrates During Use

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Affected Models: GHW9150P_0, GHW9160P_0, GHW9300P_0, GHW9400P_0, GHW9460P_0 with serials numbers CSR2600001 through CST0600001

Here’s a punch list for tracking down this emerging problem with this otherwise decent washer.

NOTE: If the washer is installed on a pedestal, begin at Step 1. If the washer is not installed on a pedestal, start at Step 3. For more detailed information, start a new topic in the repair forum.

Whirlpool Duet Washer Footing1. Make sure that each of the washer footings has a foot pad– see photo. I know, this seems like such a no-brainer that it’s hardly worth listing. But after running this site for 10 years, I’ve learned not to over-estimate my grasshoppers.

2. Make sure the four screws attaching the washer and pedestal together are tight.

3. Check the levelness of the washer. Now, level means more than just bubble level, although that’s part of it. It also means to ensure that each footing is bearing about 25% of the machine’s weight. How to do this? Keep reading…

4. Verify that all four feet are in firm contact with the floor. To do this, push and pull on the opposite corners (left rear/right front, right rear/left front) of the washer. If there is any movement front to back, you will need to adjust the feet. Adjust the appropriate front leveling foot to eliminate the movement. If the right front corner is moving, adjust the right front foot. If the left front corner is moving, adjust the left front foot. Is easy, da?

5. Ensure that the leveling feet locknuts are tight against the bottom of the washer or pedestal cabinet, not the footpad. See the photo.

6. Tighten the leveling foot locknuts, if necessary.

7. Run a test load consisting of 11-12 medium-size towels in the Rinse/Spin cycle and determine if the washer is a vibrating or walking. If the washer is not walking, proceed to Step 11.

8. If the washer is walking, clean the floor and leveling footpads thoroughly and be sure they are dry.

9. Repeat step 7 to confirm improvement.

10. If the washer does not walk, but there is vibration that is still unacceptable, skip to Step 12.

11. If there is only vibration, is it an acceptable amount of vibration felt in either the home or washer? This is obviously a subjective call; you can get as anal as you want here. Just remember that when you have something big like a washer drum spinning at 1,000 rpm, you’re gonna have some vibration, Hoss. As Scotty told Capt. Kirk, “I canno’ change the laws of physics, Captain!”

12. If you’re still not satisfied, replace the suspension dampers and tub springs with this kit. It comes with an instruction sheet.

Broken Information Appliance

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Just want to access the forum … link keeps trying to open Netscape, I use IE, so can’t seem to get kernected … Jeff

_______________________________
The above message was sent when you were offline, via your Timpani site.

Message sent from IP: 68.43.28.244

Ahh, Grasshoppah, the problem you describe pertains to the default browser settings in your PC. Neither the repair forum nor the activation link sent by the forum have any effect whatsoever on how your browser handles links.

I have written the following haiku, in traditional 5-7-5 meter, just for you in this, your hour of appliance peril; let it lead you to the enlightenment you seek. To use the haiku effectively, read it aloud, slowly, under soft lighting while burning incense. Continue doing this until Satori hits you like a bolt of lightening in the night and deep inner wisdom is revealed.

Windoze won’t behave,
links are screwy, all mixed up.
One word: Macintosh.

After experiencing the profound enlightenment embodied in the haiku, come post your appliance problem in the repair forum. Or, if you wish to experience other haikus about appliance repair, come and enter the dragon.

Dryer Venting Diseases: Venterialsclorosis

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If the inside of your dryer vent looks like this…

Venterialsclorosis

… then you have what we professional appliantologists call Venterialsclorosis. This disease is caused by lint accumulating on the inside walls of the dryer vent. As it progresses, it reduces the effective area of the dryer vent resulting in longer drying times. The end result is that the inside of your dryer will look like this…

Amana Dryer Guts, Before Cleaning

That nice mat of dryer lint is very efficient at wicking the oil out of the motor bearings, resulting in premature motor failure. It’s also an excellent fire starter.

Yeah, I hate it when I wake up and find myself burnt to a vaguely human-shaped lump of black, flakey charcoal. Very difficult to quaff a mug of my flavorite fermented beverage in that condition.

So, to avoid all that unpleasantness, I periodically disassemble my dryer and vacuum it out thoroughly, especially around the drum rollers, motor, and heating element/burner. Then I’ll disassemble my dryer vent and use my supah-bad LintEater Rotary Dryer Vent Cleaning Kit to clean it out.

Contrary to the urban myths, Venterialsclorosis is an effect of poor dryer venting, not a primary cause. This means that the dryer vent was poorly designed and/or installed and was a cruddy venting system when it was brand new. As you used the dryer, the restricted air flow through the vent, coupled with possible condensation problems inside the vent, caused the lint in the dryer exhaust to settle out of the exhaust stream and begin accumulating inside the vent.

BTW, if your dryer vent is made out of spiral wound foil or, worse yet, white vinyl, then you’re really achin’ fer a bakin’, Budrow. These are very inefficient materials that create backpressure in the vent and long drying times which means wasted energy and money. And, in the case of the white vinyl, the vent itself poses a fire hazard. Oh, I know, you’re thinking, “Heck, Bubba and them all vent their dryers using this cheap garbage so that must be the way to go. Why’s this Samurai guy tellin’ me it ain’t?” I explain why ratcheer.

Appliantology Newsletter, Winter 2006

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At long last, the wait is over: the Winter 2006 issue of our newsletter, Appliantology, has hit the streets, face-first and screaming! You can download the newsletter from the following link:

http://fixitnow.com/documents/appliantology-winter-2006.pdf

In this issue:

  • The Samurai visits RepairClinic… and likes what he sees!
  • Changes in the repair forum to serve you mo’ bettah.
  • Talk to the Samurai in Live Chat… and he may even talk back.
  • A Samurai Select™ appliance repair tip.

Hurry and download it now before it gets all used up!

If you’d like to subscribe to Appliantology so you can feast your bloodshot squinties upon it the moment it hits the Web, come hither. And you can read past issues at this link.

It’s Cold Outside and the Furnace in My House Just Died!

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ShiverWinter is no time for your furnace to shi’ite the bed. If your furnace (or other heating appliance) is down and you need to save money on the repair, we can help you fix it in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum.

For example, in this topic, Master Appliantologists guide an apprentice through the troubleshooting and repair of his Amana furnace using diagrams, explanations, and finally, a link to the part he needed to get it fixed. Note: in order to view the attachments in the forum, you’ll need to become an Apprentice Appliantologist— learn how.

GE Profile Oven with an Intermittent F7 Error Code

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I am on my knees bowing to you you honerable great samurai master!!

I have a GE Profile oven that has been giving me an intermittant F7 error code for years. The repair man said it was the computer board. I figured it was bullsh*t to spend big bucks on a computer board for a piece of sh*t oven that started having symptoms shortly after the warranty expired. I recently googled the problem and eventually came across your site. I followed your worldly advice exactly and fully repaired the oven for a total cost of 97 cents!!!! The cost of a small tube of electrical connection cleaner. I could have easily replaced the board, LED display, or even bought a whole new double convection oven.

YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much. I am telling all of my friends about you!

Cheers,

Allen

Gilroy, CA

_______________________________
The above message was sent when you were offline, via your Timpani site.

Message sent from IP: 66.82.9.80

This is what it’s all about: you have a broken oven, you search the Internet, find the answer ratcheer and, budda-bing, budda-boom, problem solved!

In your particular case, I had a page already written on the GE oven F7 problem. In other cases, I may not have anything already written up; however, I can personally guide you through the troubleshooting and repair in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum. In the repair forum, my brethren in The Craft and I have helped thousands of people fix their own appliances.

Congratulations on your successful repair, my worthy apprentice. To commemorate your repair victory, I present you with the Fixitnow.com Apprentice of the Minute trophy…

Apprentice of the Minute

New Roper Gas Dryer with a Mystery Hole in the Front Panel

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MESSAGE SENT THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE

Name: Patty

IP Address: 24.118.140.136

I just had a Roper gas dryer delivered. There is a hole in the front panel below the door that wasn’t on the electric dryer at the store. The delivery guys didn’t know what it was for, nor did the salesman at Menards. Do you know what it is for? It is 3/4 of an inch with a round top and a straight bottom located in the lower left corner of the front panel of the dryer. Thanks for any help you can give me!

That hole in the front panel is what we professional appliantologists call the Gas Burner Peep Hole. It’s a nifty little troubleshooting aid for gas dryer burners.

Using that peep hole, I can look in while the burner is trying to fire and see whether or not the ignitor is glowing. If it is, but still no flame, then I know I’m getting voltage clear up to the burner. So that means that the cycling thermostat, timer, thermal fuse, and high limit thermostat are all good in the dryer and that the problem is either 1) the gas is turned off, 2) the valve coils are bad, or 3) the radiant sensor is bad.

On the other hand, if I do not see the ignitor glow, then either the burner assembly is not getting voltage or the ignitor itself is bad. Further troubleshooting required.

By the way, the burner peep hole should have had a decorative plastic cap. It probably got sheared off while transporting the dryer. You can buy a replacement cap here.

If you’re still confoosed, need more help figuring out what’s wrong with your dryer, or to order parts for your dryer, come hither. Or you can get interactive help from professional Master Appliantologists in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum.

Mailbag: Using a Digital Multimeter in Appliance Repair

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i would like to understand the process of useing a digital multimeter to figure out why my kenmore gas dryer will not operate.

i just bought it (used) brought it home , hooked it up and ran it for a few minutes (empty) now …….nothing, i don’t understand how to use this tool properly to make a diagnosis. will you PLEASE give me some of your profound input

_______________________________
The above message was sent when you were offline, via your Timpani site.

Message sent from IP: 68.6.171.207

Ahh, Grasshoppah, the Samurai anticipated your questions ages ago when he wrote his timeless parable, Making Basic Electrical Measurements. It has since become a classic in the sacred scriptures of Appliantology. Be there now.

Your loins now girded with this arcane wisdom, come use this parchment from the sacred scrolls to test the components in your dryer burner and cast out the demons. Procure your replacement parts here.

Can I hear an, “Om shanti?”

Tales from the Buttcrack, Episode No. 1,897: Defective Customers

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And now, for your reading pleasure, another inspirational episode of Tales from the Buttcrack, with your host, Samurai Appliance Repair Man.

Today’s episode is brought to us by “Trying to Help,” one of the Sublime Masters of Appliantology in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum. “Trying to Help” is a technical manager with the service division of a large, national appliance manufacturer. He describes a recent service call that one of his service techs went on. Let’s listen…

Sent a tech out yesterday on a 8 year old Jenn-Air DD slide in. Call marked COD and tech confirms charges at the door. Complaint is no display, tech has the clock with him and provides the quote prior to installing it. Customer is happy that we have the part and agrees to the charges.

Also wants the DD fan looked at because it has never worked. Tech tries it and sure enough it does not come on. Pulls the front panel off and presto! No DD fan has ever been installed! No vent hole cut either! Tech explains this to consumer and advises if they know the local people they bought it from possibly they could supply the motor.

Tech tries to collect for payment for clock repair and now consumer (husband) tells tech, oh, we have a 10 year warranty parts and labor. Tech shows consumer in use and care that the major controls are covered for 5 years parts only and reminds them that they agreed to the charges not more then 10 minutes ago. Consumer becomes irate and still refuses to pay.

Tech calls me from home with consumer yelling and I advised tech inform consumer that we will remove part and be on our way if that is what they want, this is agreed to and tech removes the part and gets out of Dodge (Augusta actually).

About 30 minutes goes by and I am asked to call the consumer regarding a complaint on the tech. They do not know I was the one he called earlier when I call. They then accuse the tech of stealing the DD fan assembly and the venting!!! Claiming it worked fine before he got there and now the clock has no display as well.

I advised them that the call out there was for clock has no display and that the tech had told me from there kitchen that the units DD system has never worked because there was no motor and no venting was ever even run. I was informed at this point that they will not call us anymore because we were not giving them the quality of service they desired!!

I’m sorry, you jipped us out of our diagnostic charge, wasted an hour of our time and had my tech install a part you had no intention of paying for in the first place. Oh yea, then accusing him of theft!! All for the low onetime reasonable price of … NOTHING! Where else can you get that service these days! Oh yea, had to listen to the mandatory we will tell all our other freeloading friends to not call you again nonsense.

USDA Grade-A Cheesedorks.

Join us again next week for another inspiring episode of Tales from the Buttcrack.

Whirlpool-Kenmore Direct-Drive Washer with a Lazy Spin

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If you have a Whirlpool or Kenmore direct-drive washer with a weak or lazy spin which gets worse with a heavier load, it may have a bad clutch or transmission. How’s a grasshopper to know which it is? Fret thou not, my leetle seeker of arcane appliance wisdom, for this topic in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum offers some excellent diagnostic advice from seasoned Master Appliantologists and will gently guide you to appliance enlightenment.

Travails and Ultimate Triumph in a Maytag Refrigerator Repair

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A big fat domo to Faz, an Apprentice Appliantologist in the world-famous, award-winning Samurai Appliance Repair Forum, for posting his refrigerator repair saga in the Kitchen Forum. It was such a compelling and well-written epic that I had to re-post it here:

Thank You for running this great website!

I am an electrical engineer and do all my own maintenance on my cars and motorcycles, but never did any work on appliances before.

Our 4 year old Maytag MSD2756GD side by side refrigerator was starting to act up, not cooling down enough for a few weeks, until I noticed the frost in the back side of the freezer section, after I came across the ice cream that was changed to milk shake in the freezer!

After a few google searches, I came across this site and pretty well realized that the ADC circuit should be the problem. But with a new baby that just arrived 5 weeks ago, and having visitors and such, I couldn’t get the time to go look at the problem myself. I turned off and defrosted the fridge that Sunday afternoon for a few hours, plugged it back in and it started working better, not great though.

On Monday I looked in the local craigslist and found a posting from a so called technician with years of experience and warranty on all work done, etc. . Called him and had him go check the refrigerator while I was at work. He went suggested the air ducts/blades in the back were dirty and needed cleaning. I thought he was talking about the air circulation vents inside the refrigerator. I was happy and asked the wife to pay him the $50 he asked for. Later I found out that he did not check any circuits or anything else (unlike what he told me, that he checked). Later, the temperature didn’t go as low as I wanted it, and stayed in the high 40s in the fridge side. I couldn’t get the guy to call me back again, left a few messages and nothing. The fridge was working constantly without ever shutting off, so after reading more info on this site, I realized the defrost system is not kicking in as it should. I decided I knew enough about it to not spend any more money on the labor … and take a “if you want it done right, do it yourself (while informed)” kind of approach.

I bought a second fridge for the garage during the week (always wanted to have an extra one) and this past saturday transferred all of the food from the faulty fridge (which had warmed up quite a bit by then) to this newer one. I left the faulty fridge to defrost overnight, and Sunday morning went to work on it: checked the continuity and resistance on the thermostat and they were all good (later found a wiring diagram hidden by the ADC board, which said the thermostat had to have 240k ohm resistance for continuity check. I reopened that side and confirmed this.) I then proceeded to remove the ADC board and called around, and found a local appliance parts store that had many in stock for $57. Picked it up an hour later, and the lady at the counter told me that they sell ‘a lot’ of those!

Replaced the board with the new one, cleaned the fridge, and everything is working like a clock now. The refrigerator shuts down and starts up on its own, and temp is in the low 37 or so while setting is in the middle of the range.

I must say, compared to working on my motorcycles and cars (valve adjustments, engine work, etc.), this repair was on the easy and fun side of things for me.

I just had to do a contribution to this site that offered me the info I needed to get the job done myself. Thanks for running a great site. You will see me back here for other appliance related stuff.