Roni Finkelstein wrote:

Your Precious Words: I own a Maytag Neptune clothes washer but have lost the manual. What does the “colors” button do as opposed to the “whites” button?

Normally, you could just download a new manual from the Maytag website. But the clever webmeisters at Maytag, ever thinking of you, the consumer, have added something special. Note with awe their slick Adobe flash presentation. If you move your mouse over the block that says, “Manuals and Literature,” the words move up and more words appear saying, “Download PDF owner manuals & product brochures.” Now click your mouse and… nothing happens! It’s brilliant! I need to do stuff like that here at my site: slick-looking but non-functional visuals. Awwwesome!

Don’t do it. It’s unnecessary, it’s not required by the National Electrical Code (NEC), and will likely cause nuisance trips (killing the circuit when there’s nothing wrong), especially on older appliances. The NEC does not require GFCI on permanent appliances such as disposals, dishwashers, refrigerators, washers, dryers, etc., as long as they are not installed outdoors and a few other conditions[1]. Replacing the GFCI with a standard outlet, will solve the problem of nuisance tripping, but what if it does have a ground fault?

A properly grounded 3 prong outlet provides protection for both people and the appliance if a short circuit develops between a live wire and the cabinet. If you want more details, here are some good links for further reading:

A short explanation of how GFCIs work

A more detailed explanation and the causes for nuisance tripping

[1] The National Electric Code [NEC] 2008 (as of January 1, 2008) states that all garage and outlets in unfinished basements must be GFCI protected. That includes appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and sump pumps. Previous codes allowed single receptacles to be used for these appliances, thus avoiding the need for GFCI’s.

Most appliances today use electronic circuit boards. For example, many appliances use an “electronic control system” consisting of a dime-store calculator LCD display, a plastic touch pad, and a cheesy circuit board, all made in a Chinese sweat shop. Although these boards are manufactured for pennies, replacement circuit boards sell for big bucks, sometimes hundreds of dollars, and are the single most profitable replacement part that any appliance manufacturer sells.

Electronic circuit boards in wet appliances violate the 5th Law of the Prophecy: Electronics and wet appliances do not mix. Nevertheless, it’s hard to find a washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerator, or dryer today that doesn’t use circuit boards for the user interface. And they’re here to stay so like it or not, we better get used to ’em. Hence the raison d’être for this article.

Here are some all-too-common examples of how you’ll use your new-found circuit board skills in appliance repair:

• Repairing the control board in a Bosch dishwasher.
• Modifying a washing machine control board so that the obnoxious end-of-cycle signal won’t sound.
• Repairing a flakey circuit board on a Maytag refrigerator water dispenser so the lights don’t flash continuously.
• Repairing the machine control board in a Maytag Neptune washing machine.
• Bonus: since all cars made today use electronic circuit boards, you may one day call upon these very same skills to fix your car!

If you’re going to attempt to repair a circuit board, you need to first understand that, in the course of trying to repair the board, you may accidentally inflict collateral damage to the board. The risk of collateral damage is inversely proportional to your soldering skill and how carefully you handle the board. In other words, as your skills in handling and soldering circuit boards increase, the risk of accidentally damaging the board decreases. YOU, and you alone, are responsible for whatever happens, good or bad, to the circuit board while it’s in your hot little hands. If you’re not prepared to take the blame– as well as the accolades– for whatever happens with the broken circuit board you’re thinking about fixing, then don’t even start! I recommend that you practice– a lot!– on an old circuit board before going live on the real thing.

You need to practice two basic techniques: soldering and desoldering. I’m not going to get into the nuances of making a good solder joint– there are lots of references for this all over the Internet, like this one. So rather than bore you with long, tedious descriptions of how to solder and desolder, what you really need are pictures demonstrating the techniques. And, hey, looky-here at what I just happened to have…

• Photo gallery of basic soldering techniques.
• Photo gallery of basic desoldering techniques.

And, for your convenience, here’s a shopping list of the basic tools you’ll need:

• Soldering Station for Hobbyist and DIYer
• Rosin-core Solder
• Desoldering Pump
• Desoldering Braid

Handling Electronic Circuit Boards

Many electronic boards are static sensitive. This means that the static electricity naturally present on your body can fry the delicate little IC chips on the circuit board. Always wear an antistatic wrist strap and ground yourself before working with electronic control boards. Always handle boards by the edge and don’t touch discrete components on the board.

Awwite, Tron, go dab some molten lead on a circuit board.

As many of you already know, the Samurai practices a unique style of appliance repair called Fixite Do (pronounced “fixi-tay doh”), shown here (click the picture for the larger view).

My aggressive appliance repair techniques attracted the attention of none other than the Goddfaddah himself! He recently approached the Samurai and “asked” him to train his nephew, Rocko, in the ancient art of Fixite Do. The Godfaddah wants to start a legitimate appliance repair business to be a front company for a money laundering operation and he wanted his boy trained personally by the Samurai. Let’s just say he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

It took a lot of time and work, but I think I finally managed to make a decent appliance tech out of my underworld apprentice. Don’t be fooled by his slovenly appearance and doltish accent– Rocko will make a fine appliance tech… well, he’ll at least be very good at getting paid. The video below was recorded by a hidden camera during Rocko’s first solo service call. Notice how he wields his wooden katana with Samurai precision as he troubleshoots the problem:

Re-modeled the house and you’d like to spruce up the looks of your otherwise fully-functional appliances so they match the new decor? One way of doing this is to re-paint the appliances. Yeah, it’s tedious, detailed, unforgiving work but, for some, it’s a treasured tradition in the appliance repair martial arts. Here, now, are some rare pearls of wisdom from a Zen Master of the ancient and mystical art of appliance painting, Sublime Master appl.tech.29501:

I paint alot of appliances, your not gonna get a very good finish with a roll on. You need to start out wet sanding with 220 wet/dry, then wash it down and dry it completely with something that is lint free. once all the water is visually dry, let it sit there for about an hour (there’s still moisture that you can’t see that the air will evaporate). Tape off any trim work and go to town.

enamel / epoxy works best and get the cans that have the “fan spray nozzel”

optimal temp. for painting is 65-70 degrees, if painting outside, dont paint in the wind.

hold can about 8-10″ away and travel about 2″ per second overlapping the previous run about an inch.

wait about 10 min. per coat and do at least 3 coats.

take your time and dont get frustrated, there is an art to it and you are likely to mess up.

if you do mess up (run the paint, put you hand in it, etc.) you gotta let it dry completely and resand that area again (if you want it to look good.)

Hope this helps

This is the latest edition (2007) of this very useful primer on appliance repair, Troubleshooting and Repairing Major Appliances. I own a copy of the first edition, which came out in 1995 and it occupies prime real estate on my bookshelf among my more valuable appliance repair references. This latest edition has added coverage of gas appliances and offers a complete guide to the latest tools, techniques, and parts for troubleshooting and repairing any appliance; 10 entirely new chapters and new illustrations throughout!

Packed with over 200 illustrations, the book includes step-by-step procedures for testing and replacing parts; instructions for reading wiring diagrams; charts with troubleshooting solutions; advice on using tools and test meters; safety techniques and more.

If you have any aspirations of fixing your own or someone else’s appliances, you need this book. Buy it today— I did. 8)

In his continuing efforts to enhance your repair experience, the Samurai has spent hundreds of hours scouring through Amazon.com’s vast selection of tools to find the best tools for appliance repair. I call them Cool Tools for Fixit Fools and they’re all just aching to be fondled in your sweaty, hairy palms. Come git you some!