Author Archives: Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Appliance Tip of the Day: Indoor Air Pollution Control

Leave a reply
appliance tip of the day archive

The best product for home or office indoor air pollution control is this  Air Purifier. We use one at our house and it does a great job eliminating odors and airborne allergens such as pollen and cat dander (both big problems this time of year).

The filterless purifier is the only one with an exclusive patent-pending combination of two technologies: Phyotohydroionization and Electron Generation, which work together to quietly and safely clean up to 3,000 square feet of air.

This air purifier reduces all three major forms of indoor air pollution:

  • Particulates: 95% of larger particulates (like pollen) were reduced twice as fast as normal; very small particulates (like those found in cigarette smoke) were reduced one-and-a-half times faster
  • Microbes: Mold and yeast counts were reduced by an average of 94% over a six-day period and bacteria counts were reduced by an average of 95%
  • Odors & Gases: Butyl acetate, a solvent used in paints, lacquer, plastics, and adhesives was reduced by 31%; Methyl methacrylate, a chemical found in plastics and countertops, was reduced by 44%; d-Limonene, a common cleaning chemical, was reduced by 84%

Learn more about this air purifier and order yours here.


grasshoppers breathing easy with the master

Mailbag: Water Flows into the Washer and then Right Out the Drain Hose

Leave a reply

Tara wrote:

Got a newer GE washer from a friend…will pull water to fill tub, but tub won’t hold. Goes right into pump and out the other hose. Pump will kick on if set on rinse cycle, but obviously there is no need to pump water out, because it is on a continuous flow into the tub, thru the pump, and out of the drainage hose. Should the pump be controlling the tub filling, or is it something else?

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

Message sent from IP: 67.25.184.53

This is the infamous water siphoning problem resulting from your drain hose not being raised high enough. Observe:

drain hose height criteria for washing machines

Now go and do likewise.

Mailbag: Whirlpool Dryer Noise

Leave a reply

Richard wrote:

I have a Whirlpool Gas Dryer #LGR4634E00 that is only 2 years old. The stupid thing is making a grinding noise that sounds as if it is coming from the bottom/back of the drum . I removed the back and top and couldn’t see anything. With the dryer running I can pull the drum toward the door and the noise stops. Could this be the rollers? I have tried to find a drawing of this model to what type of rollers or bearing it has but to no avail. I need this fixed so my wife can get back to work!! Cna you give me some advice, I heard you were pretty good at this stuff!!!!!!

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

Message sent from IP: 152.163.252.225

First problem is that you wrote down the model number wrong. Read The Ten Commandments for Reading Appliance Model Numbers. I believe you mistook a ‘Q’ or a ‘0’ when you wrote down your model number–the correct number for your dryer is LGR4634EQ0. With a good model number, you can easily find a parts breakdown diagram for your dryer.

Based on your problem description, the problem could be the drum rollers, a worn plastic bearing ring at the front of the dryer drum, or something caught in the blower chute
. You’ll need to remove the drum to check all these things out. A genuine Whirlpool dryer repair manual is definitely worth a few shekels and will pay for itself over and over again.

Awwite, go whup-up on that bad boy.

Appliance Tip of the Day: The Ten Commandments for Reading Appliance Model Numbers

Leave a reply

appliance tip of the day archive
I can’t tell you how many times grasshoppers ask me for help repairing their appliance and they either give me a bad model number or none at all. Without a valid model number, I can’t look up diagrams or find out anything about your appliance. If you can’t provide a good model number, don’t waste your time or mine typing out a question to email me or to post in the repair forum. So, here are the Ten Commandments for Reading Appliance Model Numbers:

  1. Thou shalt read the model number directly off the manufacturer’s tag affixed to the appliance.

  2. Thou shalt use these diagrams to help you locate the manufacturer’s tag if you are having trouble.

  3. Thou shalt not offer up the excuse that the manufacturer’s tag could not be located on the appliance; yea verily, this is bullsheist that doth stinketh in my nostrils.

  4. Thou shalt read the model number under the illumination of a flashlight.

  5. Thou shalt not offer up the model number unless it was read under the illumination of a flashlight.

  6. Thou shalt double and triple check the accuracy of the model number before offering it up.

  7. Thou shalt not offer up a model number until its accuracy has been double and triple checked.

  8. Thou shalt not offer up any model number found on any printed manuals associated with the appliance.

  9. Thou shalt not omit the three digit number to the left of the decimal point in the model number for a Kenmore appliance.

  10. Thou shalt offer up thy fermented praises to the United Samurai Beer Fund.


grasshoppers offering their verified and accurate model numbers to the master

Appliance Tip of the Day: Adapting to Adaptive Defrost

Leave a reply

appliance tip of the day archive
Ahh, the good ol’ days when refrigerator defrost cycles were controlled by simple mechanical defrost timers. Yeah, used to be a man could go out on a refrigerator service call and make an easy $150 replacing a silly little $25 timer. The old mechanical timers would simply click the fridge into defrost mode every six or eight hours and fire up the evaporator defrost heaters for 21 minutes or so whether it needed it or not. But life never stays simple, does it? Alas, those days are rapidly disappearing.

Instead, the manufacturers have starting using the fancy-schmancy electronic timer boards so they could add an "adaptive defrost" feature. Supposedly, adaptive defrost makes the fridge more energy efficient by making the defrost cycle contingent on the number of door openings and other factors. I think it’s just an excuse to sell more expensive electronic parts that don’t really perform as advertised. It’s probably driven by some gubmint bureaucratic program–you know, the same geniuses who gave us the load of crap about how we can’t use R-12 anymore because it hurts the ozone layer.

Well, no use whining about it ’cause adaptive defrost is the wave of the future, for better or worse. And if you have a newer, high-end fridge, chances are that it has adaptive defrost. And one day, at the worst possible time, it will break.

The adaptive defrost board on Maytag fridges looks like this. To put this board into defrost, short "L1" and "Test" with a small screwdriver and wait three seconds. You should hear a clicking noise from the relay and the fridge will shut off and go through a defrost cycle.

The adaptive defrost on Amana fridges is a little different. A test procedure for this board is shown here. To initiate the defrost cycle, press refrigerator light switch five times in six seconds. If you press it five more times within six seconds, this will cancel defrost and take the fridge straight into run mode. The operation is similar on both the bottom mount and side-by-side fridges. After the defrost terminator/thermostat opens, there will be a six minute delay before the compressor and condenser fan motor start running again, and a 10 minutes delay before the evaporator fan motor starts running. This is important to know because you can really start chasing your tail when things don’t start running when you think they should.

Whirlpool also has some adaptive defrost boards out there. I don’t need to post the diagnostic info on them here because it’s all in the mini-manual that comes with your fridge, usually folded up into a little itty-bitty square and tucked into a slot on the backside of the condenser grill, in front of the fridge.

Ok, so let’s say you’ve determined that your adaptive defrost board is fried. Well, you’ll need to replace that bad boy. Come git you one:




Maytag Adaptive Defrost Control Board
Maytag Adaptive Defrost Control Board		 Amana Adaptive Control Board for Side-by-Side Models
Amana Adaptive Control Board for Side-by-Side Models
Amana Adaptive Control Board for Bottom Freezer Models
Amana Adaptive Control Board for Bottom Freezer Models		 Whirlpool Defrost Control Board
Whirlpool Defrost Control Board
Whirlpool Defrost Timer Control Board
Whirlpool Defrost Timer Control Board		 Whirlpool Defrost Control
Whirlpool Defrost Control


grasshoppers adapting to the master's awesome wisdom

Special Offer from the 21st Century Zenzoid Man

Leave a reply

Small book of prayers with icons.While supplies last, the 21st Century Zenzoid Man is giving away this Small Book of Prayers with Icons free!

This book is a product of Tregubov Studios, makers of fine iconographic products: greeting cards, festal cards, prayer books, embroidery instructions, and free email cards. Here’s their description of it:

This is a very useful, small book, in which Word and Image together bring us into the presence of God. Anybody with a busy lifestyle can keep this book in his/her pocket.

There is a full color icon reproduction on every other page of the book (Yes, it means 12 of them.) And there is a selection of the most essential prayers, including the prayers to the saints and guardian angels, for peace, for friends and families, and for the sick.

The composition on the cover of the book symbolizes the Tree of Life, the fruit of which is the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Taste this book and see!

And I can tell ya’, this makes one helluva addition to any toolbox! To get your free copy of this book, simply a mail self-addressed, large-size envelope with $0.60 postage affixed to:

The 21st Century Zenzoid Man
P.O. Box 809
New London, NH 03257

Appliance Tip of the Day: Loud or Weird Noises in Your Fridge

Leave a reply

appliance tip of the day archiveThis topic comes up a lot in the forum in various ways, some of them pretty bizarre. In my tireless efforts to help my precious grasshoppers achieve ultimate appliance satori, I’ve put together this handy list of common sources of fridge noises.


  1. Some of the newer-design compressors produce a higher pitched sound which can be mistaken as being louder.
  2. The evaporator fan (the one in the freezer) makes noise while it does it’s job of pushing cold air around the freezer and fresh food compartments. That’s just what happens when you move air around rapidly in a confined space. On some models, this fan can sound louder than on others.
  3. If your fridge is on a floor that’s not level or is weak and buckling, this can cause distortions in the cabinet and make buzzing or rattling sounds, especially around the compressor and condensate drip pan.
  4. Occasionally, you may hear a sizzling sound from the freezer. This is just part of the defrost process where ice accumulated on the evaporator is melting and dripping on the defrost heaters below. Defrosting: it’s a good thing.
  5. When the fridge goes through its defrost cycle and then cools back down to operating temperature, they’s a whole lotta expandin’ and contractin’ goin’ on in there. This can cause all those mass-produced metal and plastic parts that’re smooshed together to move a little bit and you’ll hear popping and crackling. Don’t sweat the load, everything’s fine.
  6. Sometimes, you’ll hear a bubbling or gurgling sound, like boiling water, inside the fridge. Relax, it’s just the refrigerant doing it’s job. The refrigerant boils at a much lower temperature than water. So when it boils and goes from a liquid to a vapor, it’s sucking up heat from inside your fridge. So, this all boils down to this: boiling refrigerant = cold fridge.
  7. If you hear a dripping sound from underneath the fridge, it’s just condensate water dripping into the drain pan like it’s supposed to. By the way, if you have a problem with your fridge leaking water on the inside and you pull the condensate drip pan from underneath and it’s bone-dry, that’s a sure sign that the condensate drain port inside the fridge is plugged with ice or gookus.
  8. Mechanical defrost timers can make noticeable clicking noises when they switch into and out of defrost mode.
  9. Icemakers make some of their own noises. The water valve buzzes when it opens to let water into the icemaker mold. You may hear a trickling sound as water flows into the icemaker. And then there’s the periodic and welcome rattling sound as the icemaker dumps ice into the tray.

grasshoppers basking in the light and wisdom of the master

Appliance Tip of the Day: Preventing Washer Floods

Leave a reply

this is you, grasshopperYou put a load of dirty clothes in your washer, start it up and walk away to watch Jerry Springer just like you have a thousand times before. Only this time, something goes wrong…very wrong!

After the booing and cheering on the Jerry Springer show stops, you hear an unfamiliar sound of running water coming from the laundry cubby just down the hall in your trailer. You set the bag of Doritos aside, grab your can of Old Milwaukee and grunt your way out of your Lazy Boy as you exhale the last drag of your Marlboro and shuffle down the hall to investigate. You don’t get 10 steps before your pink bunny slippers are sloshing through a huge pool of water. Now the bile starts burning the back of your throat and you feel your sphincter dilate as you prepare to do battle with the single greatest horror of your lifetime: a washer flood out.

FloodstopYes, it finally happened: your washer dutifully filled with water and then…it just kept right on filling, and filling, and filling… Turns out that the water level control switch in your washer decided to take a permanent vacation and so never told your washer to stop filling with water. Hi. Welcome to my world. Oh! But if only you’d listened to that nice appliance repair guy not long ago who told you that you really, really needed to have a Floodcontrol on your washer and that it was cheap insurance against a devastating washer overfill. But that money was earmarked for that Dish TV you’ve been lusting after for so long and, besides, you’re not sure you trust people who can throw around fancy words like "devastating." Damn straight! Well, Bubba, now you’ve got one helluva mess to clean up in your trailer, ain’t ya? Hey, newsflash: do yourself a favor and come git you some o’ dis.

Universal Stainless Steel Water Fill HoseAnd while you’re at it, go ahead and upgrade those cheesy 12-year old rubber fill hoses on your washer to the steel braided hoses. What, you’re gonna wait for those to burst and find water spraying out from behind your washer like a firehose on that ’71 Cutlass you got parked out front? Haven’t we learned our lesson by now? How long? How long? I say, how long must this bullshit go on? How ’bout when we do a job, we go ahead and do it right? Ok then, come git you some steel braided hoses, too.


grasshoppers watching jerry springer with the master while they do a load of wash confident that their trailer won't get flooded out on them because they just installed a floodcontrol.

Lesson in Liberty: What is the Matrix?

Leave a reply

Don't Tread on MeGreetings, fellow Coppertops. The Matrix is Caesar! (Not that I’m obsessed about it or anything…ok, maybe a little.)

The plot was far more “Brave New World” than it was Christian. The Matrix itself was a representation of government creating a tightly controlled world for its citizens, most of whom had no idea they were slaves. That the Matrix was mechanical was a parallel to the cold, impersonal bureaucracy of gubmint. The agents were amusing parodies of faceless bureaucrats, officiously lording their power over us–I immediately thought of IRS Special Collections agents. To complete the analogy, the movie even depicted the parasitic nature of government, literally sucking the life out of people, while giving them a sense of security and comfort to keep them docile and enslaved.

The world of the Matrix was not simply an illusion. It was very much reality to the citizens–if you died in the Matrix, you died for real. It was real, but not a full Reality; it was just a very narrow segment of frequencies on the infinite spectrum of created Reality.

Some citizens had the nagging desire to know the true nature of the Matrix–a metaphor for yearning for Liberty (some would say a yearning for Truth–both quests lead to the same place). They still had the power to make choices, even the choice to leave the Matrix. The red pill that Neo took was, after all, just a mental construct within the Matrix but represented his declaration that he is a free man.

And then there’s the question of what freedom Neo and the others actually gained. The freedom depicted in the movie was grimy, looked like a jail, and had boring food. The movie presents a Hobson’s choice: be a comfortable slave for Big Bro or be “free” sucking gruel in a tin prison and smelling really bad. Is this the Liberty that Christ offers us? I gotta say, if I didn’t know better and was given the false choice as presented in the movie, I’d keep my job as an Energizer bunny for Big Brother.

Neo could be considered messianic only in the Jewish understanding: God’s chosen mighty warrior coming to free His people by waging war against Caesar using the power of his own strength and intellect. Of course, as Christians, we recognize this as an image of antichrist. Compare this with the real Christ: after He made it clear that He would not lead an army against Caesar, the Jews quickly went from shouting “Hosanna!” to “Crucify Him!” The antichrist messiah leads his people to a phony liberty which turns out to be just another prison. The real Messiah leads His people to true Liberty, revealing the full spectrum of the Reality continuum (mental, physical, and spiritual). Neo is an antichrist.

Live Free or Die!

Mailbag: Reparar la Electrodomesticos Americanos

Leave a reply
Jorge wrote:

Hola a todos los colegas del mundo

Soy un tecnico radicado en Buenos Aires ARGENTINA y me dedico a reparar toda la linea blanca de electrodomesticos americanos (USA)

La pregunta puntual a los miembros de la lista es la siguiente

Alguien sabe de una pagina tan buena como esta pero en CASTELLANO?

Un saludo a todos desde Bs As y gracias por su tiempo

Jorge Schmidt

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

Message sent from IP: 200.45.168.231

Thank you, Jorge, for your thought-provoking email. I offer the following comments in the hopes you might find them helpful.

If one examines postconstructive desituationism, one is faced with a choice: either accept the textual paradigm of discourse or conclude that government is capable of truth, but only if nihilism is invalid; otherwise, art is impossible. Thus, Debord’s model of cultural capitalism holds that culture serves to reinforce outmoded, sexist perceptions of art. The subject is interpolated into a predeconstructive theory that includes narrativity as a paradox.

It could be said that the premise of the deconstructivist paradigm of reality holds that government is a legal fiction, but only if language is interchangeable with sexuality; otherwise, we can assume that art is capable of social comment. The subject is interpolated into a predeconstructive theory that includes language as a totality.

So, in summary, the answer to your question is ’27’ but only on Thursdays.

By the way, I don’t speak or read Spanish, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Mailbag: Recharging an RV (propane-powered) Refrigerator

Leave a reply
Robin Briggs  wrote:

Could tell me where you find the ammonia mixture to recharge a RV gas refridgerator. We are repairing the coolant unit.

I Thank You very much for your help

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

Message sent from IP: 152.163.252.131

Both the volume and strength of the ammonia mixture in propane-powered refrigerator cooling units are custom made according to formulas from the manufacturer. The concentration of ammonia and the volume of the entire amount of mixture are designed to give optimal performance from that cooling unit.

The mixture is "cooked" by letting pure anhydrous ammonia bubble through a column of aqueous-ammonia and chromate (a rust inhibitor–makes the misture look bright yellow) until the desired concentration of ammonia is reached. This ammonia concentration is measured in units called baumé (it’s a French unit of measure for specific gravity) using a hydrometer that floats in the column of liquid. As more ammonia is bubbled through, the density of the mixture decreases and this density change is measured by the hydrometer. When the correct baumé is reached, the mixture is now a refrigerant and is ready to inject into the cooling unit.

After injecting the refrigerant into the cooling unit, the head space is charged with pure hydrogen gas. The required hydrogen pressure varies, but it’s usually in the range of 250 to 300 psi.

Of course, none of this should be undertaken until the original leak has been located and welded shut. More information on repairing your cooling unit here.

Have fun!

Mailbag: Gas Oven Won’t Fire Up (Redux)

Leave a reply 
--- Larry Cagiwa  wrote:
> 
> I just read "gas oven that's not firing up".  Does
> this troubleshooting apply to an oven that ignites
> (can hear the click,click,click) but doesn't fire
> (no flame from the burner). We've had multiple
> technitions replace parts with the same result.  The
> trouble shooting guide refers to "polarity".  I
> plugged in a tester and the correct lights light up
> (meaning the wiring is fine).  I'm not sure if it
> checks polarity.  Any help would be appreciated.
> Thanks, 
> Larry Cagiwa
> 
> _______________________________
> The above message was sent when you were offline,
> via your LivePerson site.
>  
> Message sent from IP: 169.135.18.106

The article you’re referring to explains how to troubleshoot gas ovens that use what’s called "hot surface ignition." But this is a very good question because it’s a point of confusion for lots of folks. So much so, that I decided it needed its very own Appliance Tip of the Day to ‘splain it to folks. Check it out.

Appliance Tip of the Day: Gas Oven Ignition Systems

Leave a reply

appliance tip of the day archive

Oh boy, it’s frozen pizza night…except the oven won’t fire up. If your gas oven isn’t firing up, the first step in fixing it is figuring out what type of ignition system you have. This Appliance Tip of the Day will ‘splain all that to ya.


The two types of ignition systems used in gas ranges today are:

  1. hot surface ignition and
  2. pilot flame ignition.

Click the links for pictures of each type. The ignition used on your range will be one of these two types. What’s the difference? Hang with me a moment and I’ll ‘splain it to you.

Hot Surface Ignition

Hot surface ignition systems use what’s called an ignitor. Common flat ignitors look like this. The heart of an ignitor is the carborundum material at the end. That’s the gray part, usually in a protective cage, attached to the ceramic base. The carborundum is a very fragile material that gets very hot and glows bright orange when you run a electrical current through it. The carborundum can also be round but most are flat.

The ignitor is wired in series with a special part of the gas valve called the bi-metal. As the ignitor heats up, it’s resistance drops allowing more current to flow through it and on to the bi-metal in the gas valve. As current flows through the bi-metal, it heats up, too, and it’s designed to bend. When the bi-metal bends, it opens the port allowing gas to flow through. This gas flows to the oven burner tube and out some special holes drilled in tube right next to the ignitor. Since the ignitor is really hot, the gas bursts into flames, igniting all the gas in the burner and you happily go about your bidness of baking a frozen pizza.

As these ignitors are used, they develop little itty bitty cracks in ’em that increase the resistance of the carborundum. Eventually, the carborundum won’t pass enough current to open the bi-metal in the gas valve so no gas ever squirts out. So, the only way to really know whether the ignitor is bad or not is to measure the current flow through the ignitor when you turn the oven on. Lots of gory details about that on this page.

Pilot Flame Ignition

The other type of ignition system used is the pilot ignition. Within the the world of pilot ignition ovens, two types of pilot flame systems are used:

  1. the pilot flame is either always on (called a “standing pilot”) or
  2. a spark lights up the pilot flame when you turn on the oven (called a “spark-assisted pilot”).

If your oven is a pilot ignition system, how do you tell which type it is? Good question, grasshopper, now you’re thinking! First, look at the pilot assembly in your oven. They come in various shapes, some common ones are shown here. If you see a pilot flame with the oven turned off, then you know you have a standing pilot system. If the pilot flame only comes on when you turn on the oven, then you know you have a spark-assisted pilot ignition system.

In both types of pilot systems, the purpose of the pilot flame is the same: to heat the sensing bulb, which is attached to the gas valve, and to ignite the gas in the burner tube. The sensing bulb lives in the pilot flame. The flame needs to heat the bulb up enough to tell it to open the gas valve. Several things can go wrong here that keep this from happening:

  1. The pilot flame may not be hot enough, usually because the flame is yellow instead of pure blue or is too small. The cause for this is usually a dirty pilot assembly. The pilot assembly would either need to be cleaned or replaced.
  2. The sensing bulb may not be positioned properly in the flame. You can’t heat the bulb properly if it’s not in the pilot flame! The sensing bulb needs to live in the upper third of a pure blue pilot flame–that’s the hottest part of the flame.
  3. The sensing bulb itself may be burned out. It happens. It’s a integral part of the gas valve so, no, you can’t just change the sensing bulb separate from the gas valve. Life’s never that easy, is it? How do you tell the sensing bulb is bad? Well, figger it out by process of elimination: if the pilot flame is good and doing what it’s supposed to do, then the sensing bulb is bad.

“Hey, what do you mean, ‘if the pilot flame is doing what it’s supposed to?’ I thought the pilot flame was just supposed to be a purdy blue flame.” Well, that is an important part of what it’s supposed to do, but that’s not quite all of it. The pilot flame moves around and does different things according to what’s going on with the oven. With the oven off or with the thermostat temperature satisfied, the flame just stands there looking purdy (in a standing pilot system).

But when you turn on the oven or the thermostat calls for heat, the pilot flame gets bigger and jumps down so it can heat up the thermocouple bulb. This extra gas to increase the pilot flame size comes from the thermostat. This is important to know because it leads to a couple of fine diagnostic points:

  • If the pilot flame jumps upwards or just gets bigger, but doesn’t shoot down, then you need to replace the pilot assembly.
  • If the pilot flame size does not increase or jump down when turning on the oven thermostat, then the problem is the thermostat not sending enough gas to the pilot assembly. It’s also possible that the pilot gas supply tube has a hole in it somewhere.

One final point on the spark-assisted pilot ignition systems. The spark comes from the spark module–the same module that sends spark to your surface burners to light them up. If you’re not getting a spark when you turn the oven on, then there are several possibilities:

  • There could be a problem with the switch in the thermostat. You can confirm this by doing a simple continuity test of the thermostat contacts. If you don’t read zero ohms when you turn the switch on, replace the thermostat.
  • The spark module could be bad. You’ll need to measure the voltage at the oven terminals of the spark module when you turn on the oven. If you get 120v but no spark, it’s probably a bad spark module. Replace it.
  • Could be a bad spark wire or broken electrode. Feast your Vulcan squinties on that stuff. Maybe get real fancy and use your ohm meter to measure continuity from the spark module end of the wire to the electrode tip. Use your imagination. Go crazy…sort of.

If you’re still confoosed and need more help, post your question in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum. And, Hoss, be sure to include your model number.

Awwite, go bake you some pizza!


grasshoppers sitting with the master visualizing the different types of gas oven ignition systems

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