The Appliance Guru Blog | ApplianceGuru.com

The Appliance Guru attends the 21st Annual Appliance Service Training Institute (ASTI)

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:49:49 -0400

The Appliance Guru team (Scott and Susan Brown) attended the 21st Annual Appliance Service Training Institute (ASTI) held this year in Orlando, Florida. The ASTI is presented by the United Servicers Association, of which The Appliance Guru is a long-time, active member.

The ASTI is not your ordinary conference! It is an unprecedented opportunity for appliance repair professionals to get together in a casual setting and learn from one another. Interactive sessions delve deep into topics that are on the minds of servicers today, and the Institute's format allows the collective wisdom "in the room" to be distilled into concrete, confidence building, actionable ideas that retailers & servicers take home with them.

Technical trainers from all major appliance manufacturers held in-depth training classes on their latest equipment. The Appliance Guru attended technical training classes on laundry and refrigeration appliances presented by Samsung, Whirlpool, LG, Electrolux, and laundry and dishwasher detergent manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser. You can see the detailed training schedule here.

The Appliance Guru is committed to being the appliance repair professional you call and providing you the very best appliance repair experience. We invest a lot of time into making sure we achieve this goal. If you have a broken appliance that you want fixed right the first time by factory-trained experts, call The Appliance Guru at (603) 526-7129 and schedule your service call today!

Diagnosing and Repairing Refrigerator Ice, Frost, and Condensation Problems

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:03:54 -0500

A common problem with refrigerators is the appearance of various forms of water in places where it shouldn’t be. Examples are: water at the bottom of the freezer and dribbling out the door in a side by side refrigerator; fuzzy frost built up on the back wall inside the freezer compartment; moisture on beer bottles and the side walls inside the refrigerator compartment (also called the Beer Compartment); solid slab of ice on the bottom of the freezer compartment.

In each of these examples, we’re dealing with water that’s out of place. Water in a refrigerated space can take on three forms: ice, frost, and condensation. Which of these forms you see, along with where you see it, are important clues to help you zero in on the needed repair.

Condensation problems will appear as “sweating” on jars and bottles and sometimes even on the sidewall in the refrigerator compartment. Condensation is caused by water vapor condensing into a liquid as it hits the cold surfaces inside the refrigerator. When you see this, it means outside, humid air is getting inside the refrigerated compartments when and where it shouldn’t. So, you’re looking for bad gaskets, doors not closing properly, or doors being left open from carelessness.

Ice refers to liquid water that froze into a solid. This sounds obvious but it’s an important distinction from frost, also known as rime ice, that fuzzy looking stuff that is formed when water vapor condenses directly into a solid. The important point here is that ice and frost are the effects of two completely different underlying causes.

If you see smooth or solid ice in a freezer, then you know you’re really looking for liquid water in places where it shouldn’t be (that ended up freezing): clogged condensate drain in the drip trough below the evaporator coil; ice maker fill tube leaking or out of place; ice maker mold leaking.

If you see frost or rime ice in a freezer, then you know you’re really looking for water vapor that’s getting into the compartment. How does water vapor get into a refrigerator? It comes in with the outside air. In most cases when you see frost in a freezer, you’re looking for an air leak: bad door gaskets or doors not closing all the way. This video shows an extreme example of rime ice all over the contents inside a freezer:

The Art of Troubleshooting

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 07:48:11 -0400

A long, long time ago, people did things like read books instead of surfing the Internet or had thoughtful discussions about complicated topics instead of yelling political slogans and sound bites at each other. Most folks also had at least a conceptual understanding of the process of troubleshooting: the logical, step-by-step progression of tracking down the cause of a problem.

To troubleshoot an appliance, you first need to have a basic understanding of how that appliance is supposed to work both from the operator's standpoint and how the components inside are supposed to work together. In other words, to figure out what's wrong, you first have to know what "right" is. Then begin troubleshooting right at the problem and step through, checking inputs and outputs, whether mechanical or electrical.

For example, an oven electric bake element isn't getting hot and is not visibly damaged. The element needs 240 VAC to get hot, 120 VAC at each of its terminals. The voltage at the terminals is controlled and delivered by different circuits or components inside the oven. Many people would just immediately replace the element, not even considering how the element works or checking to see if it's getting the voltage it needs to operate. Maybe they get lucky and fix the problem, but that's not troubleshooting. That's changing parts like a monkey.

Appliance repair servicers who practice their trade like that are not technicians or Professional Appliantologists; they are called "parts changing monkeys."

Parts changing monkeys can cost you a lot of time, frustration, and money.

What's a parts changing monkey, you ask?

He (or she) is someone who knows how to change out parts on your appliance, but doesn't know how to actually troubleshoot the problem. Based on your problem description, he will change out the most obvious part involved and hope that fixes the problem. That works just often enough to get by in many repair situations, but there are other times it results in a major rip-off of the customer.

Troubleshooting an Ice Maker that Doesn't Make Ice

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 09:42:40 -0400

It was a hot summer day, middle of a freak heat wave, when the panicked call came in. The client was desperate because the ice maker in his refrigerator stopped making ice. The client called in the morning and I was at his house that afternoon. Same day/next day service is SOP with The Appliance Guru!

Watch with shock and awe as The Appliance Guru quickly hones in on the problem and fixes it right then and there before the client's very eyes. This could be you, too!

The Appliance Guru provides prompt, convenient service in the following towns in New Hampshire: New London, Elkins, Wilmot, Springfield, Georges Mills, Sunapee, Mt. Sunapee, Newbury, Sutton, Bradford, Warner, Grantham, and the Eastman Community. Call 526-7129 anytime for service.

Replacing an Electric Oven Bake Element with a Burnt Wire Connection

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:59:42 -0400

Replacing the bake or broil heating element in an electric oven is one of the easiest appliance repairs you'll ever do... IF you unplug or kill power to range first. If you don't kill power before you try to remove the element, you'll turn a simple, plug n' chug job that only requires a screwdriver into job that requires wire repair tools. That's because you're probably going to arc or burn one of the terminals attached to the heating element as shown in this video. Watch with amazed bewilderment as The Appliance Guru expertly replaces the burnt wire terminal and completes the job that the client started but couldn't finish:

Fixing a Frigidaire Front-Load Washer that Won't Spin

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:28:38 -0400

This client contacted me via email at 9pm using the Service Call Request form at my website and I was there the next day to repair the no-spin problem with her washer. In this video, I explain a couple of short cut techniques for diagnosing a bad door latch assembly in this washer. I had a replacement door latch assembly on my service vehicle and got her fixed up in one trip. That's SOP for The Appliance Guru!

Troubleshooting a Whirlpool Refrigerator Motorized Damper Assembly

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:08:01 -0400

The complaint on this refrigerator was that it's freezing food in the Fresh Food compartment (aka., Beer Compartment). On this particular design, the motorized damper has a been a problem point. One common problem is that the vanes get frozen in place by frost and then break when the damper motor tries to move them. That wasn't the case here. This one took sublime troubleshooting skills to identify the source of the freezing problem. It did involve the damper assembly but only as a secondary effect to the primary failure. Watch with wonder as The Appliance Guru uses ancient and mystical appliantological troubleshooting techniques to divine the real problem sequence here.

Fixing a Whirlpool Duet Sport Washer that Won't Drain

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:24:15 -0400

This client called in with a complaint that his Whirlpool Duet Sport washer, WFW9150, was full of water and would not pump out. He was also getting the F9 E1 error code which corresponds to this problem. About 72.4% of problems are caused by something stuck in the pump, jamming the impeller. About 27.3% of these problems are caused a bad pump. The remaining 0.3% of these problems are caused by the pump not getting voltage which could be a bad wire connection or bad controller.

Watch with befuddled amazement as The Appliance Guru expertly disassembles the pump, plucks out a broken piece of hair clip that was jamming the pump and restores this machine to its design function.

Mt. Tecumseh with My Boyz

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:18:26 -0400

All work and no play and make for a dull, burned out Guru! Since it was such a fine Navy day today, I took the day off and went hiking up Mt. Tecumseh with my boyz: my sons, Stephen and Sam, and our German Shepherd hiking partner, Ozzy. Mt. Tecumseh is one of the 48, New Hampshire 4,000 footers that Stephen and Sam are working on completing. Nothing like a serendipitous hike in the mountains to clear the head and recharge the batteries!

Fixing a Maytag Dependable Care Washer that Overfills and Floods

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:02:49 -0400

Yet another case of a washing machine that overfills and floods from the "Stupid Plumber's Trick." Typically, what I see happen is that the water flow will get choked off in the washer and it starts filling slowly, or the cold water stops coming in. For some inexplicable reason, the owner gets their plumber involved. Plumbers are famous for not knowing what they don't know but *think* they know it all.

So the plumber starts poking around and opens the water inlet valve in back of the washer. He sees the protective sediment screens (note the word "protective") clogged up with sediment and says, "Aha! I done found the problem! I'll just remove these stupid screens that keep clogging up and problem solved. Imma frikkin' genius!"

But Stupid Plumber creates a new, bigger problem: now the valve is completely exposed to sediment damage and that the piston inside the valve can-- and often does-- get stuck open so it can no longer shut off the flow of water into the washer. And the washer floods.

Why would anyone call a plumber to fix their appliances?

If you live in the New London, New Hampshire area, and you need a major kitchen or laundry appliance repaired, call The Appliance Guru at 526-7129 for service so good it's beyond exceptional-- it's sublime!

Fixing a Loud Buzzing Noise in a Bosch Dryer

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:36:06 -0400

Finding the source of this noise in this Bosch dryer was tricky. Judging by the sound, the noise had to originate from either the motor or the blower wheel. The problem turned out to be the blower wheel. The noise was only heard in a heated dryer cycle. Apparently the heated air would deform the plastic blower wheel just enough to make it contact the blower housing while rotating.

Fixing a GE/Hotpoint Top-Loading Washer that Floods

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:45:00 -0400

This customer called in with the complaint that his washing machine overfilled and flooded. Watch with your jaw agape in wonder and awe as The Appliance Guru expertly hones in on the problem and reveals exactly what caused the part to fail in the first place.

For fast, expert appliance repair service in the New London, NH, area, call The Appliance Guru at 526-7129.

Locating and Correcting the Source of a Leak in a Whirlpool Direct-Drive Washer

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:36:30 -0400

This customer called in a complaint that his washing machine was leaking and it seemed to be coming from somewhere in the top part of the machine. Watch the lighting speed with which The Appliance Guru hones in on where the leak was really coming from in this Whirlpool Direct-Drive washer.

If you need sublime appliance repair service in New London, New Hampshire, call The Appliance Guru at 526-7129.

Splicing in a new Oven Temperature Sensor

Thu, 31 May 2012 07:56:36 -0400

Behold with amazement the skilled handiwork of The Appliance Guru as he splices in a new oven temperature sensor into this customer's range. It's like poetry in motion!

If you live in the New London, NH, area and you need fast, expert appliance repair service, call The Appliance Guru at 526-7129.

Diagnosing a Couple of Problems with the Door on a Frigidaire Dishwasher

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:05:28 -0400

The door on this dishwasher has a couple things going on with it: it falls down heavily when it's opened and the front panel is separating from the rest of the door. The customer called me in to assess the problems and give an estimate for the repairs so they could decide whether to repair or replace the dishwasher. Watch with shock and awe as The Appliance Guru immediately hones in on the problems with the accuracy and precision that only his calibrated eyeballs can bring to the job!

If you live in the New London, NH, area and you need fast, expert appliance repair service, call The Appliance Guru today at 526-7129.

Fixing a Frigidaire Top-Load Washer that Won't Pump Out

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:38:08 -0400

This customer contacted me at 2AM Saturday morning of Memorial Day Weekend via the Service Call Request form at the homepage of my website and I was there in just a few hours. That's SOP for The Appliance Guru!

The customer was at his condo by the golf course for the weekend and the washer in his Frigidaire stacked laundry unit wouldn't pump out. That can really put a wet towel on a vacation! I disassembled the pump and found a golf tee jamming the impeller. In the video, I described it as "foreign object" because the customer didn't me want to say it was a golf tee in front of his wife and get him trouble. Vacation and marital harmony both saved by The Appliance Guru!

If you live in the New London, NH, area and need fast, expert appliance repair service, call The Appliance Guru at 526-7129.

Maytag Neptune Dryer with a Split Drum

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:32:03 -0400

Customer called with a complaint that her 7-year old Maytag Neptune MDE9700AYW dryer would hum when started then click off. Also said the drum would not turn by hand. What could the problem be? The answer may surprise you!

Epilogue: Turns out this is not covered under warranty. The failure occurred right at the seam where the drum was welded together. Total fee to replace this drum, part and labor, is over $400. I recommended that the customer purchase a new Whirlpool dryer with a lint filter on the top panel and no electronic controls, just knobs and switches, available at Sears for less than $500. She's going to go that route.

If you live in the New London, NH, area and need fast, expert, honest appliance repair service, call The Appliance Guru at 526-7129.

Fixing a Whirlpool VM Washer that gets Stuck in the Cycle

Wed, 23 May 2012 21:58:31 -0400

This is the new Whirlpool top-loading high-efficiency washer, called the Vertical Modular Washer (VMW). The customer called in the complaint that her washer was not progressing in the cycle. Sometimes, the fix is easy... IF you understand how washers work and know what you're looking for. Watch as The Appliance Guru zeros right in on the problem with breathtaking speed.

This customer is on a well (dug well, not a drilled well) and doesn't use any sediment filters in her water supply. The hot water side is never a problem because the hot water tank acts like a settling basin. Can you imagine what the inside of that hot water tank looks like? So the solution is to install a simple sediment filter in the water supply that can be changed as needed and protects the water heater and all wet appliances.

The Appliance Guru offers fast, expert appliance repair service in New London, NH. For fast, expert appliance repair service, call 526-7129.

Troubleshooting an LG French Door Refrigerator with a Warm Freezer

Tue, 22 May 2012 18:48:32 -0400

The model number of this LG refrigerator is LFC25776ST/00. Customer reports that the freezer is warm but the fresh food compartment is still okay. Watch in amazement as The Appliance Guru hunts down the problem as if it were a wild, senseless beast.

If you live in the New London, NH, area and need fast, expert appliance repair service, call The Appliance Guru at 526-7129. Home of the 110% money-back guarantee.

Troubleshooting a Frigidaire Refrigerator Ice Dispenser Crush / Cube Problem

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:50:53 -0400

Join The Appliance Guru on a troubleshooting safari where he hunts down a problem on an ice dispenser on a Frigidaire refrigerator that only dispenses crushed ice even when cubed ice is selected. Is the problem the dispenser control board? Is it the ice augur? Is it the crusher/cuber solenoid? Watch and see!

The Appliance Guru
Fast, Expert Appliance Repair Service in New London, NH
Call 526-7129 for service
www.ApplianceGuru.com