Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Blog

Samurai's Ichiban Law of Appliance Repair: Never replace a part unless you have proof that the part is bad.

This distinguishes the Samurai School of Appliantology from the Monkey Boy School of Appliance Repair. When I replace an appliance part, it's because I have proven that the part is bad. This proof could be something subtle, like an electrical measurement, or something simple, like laying eyeballs on a burned wire connection. It could be direct, meaning the part is getting proper input but not giving proper output. Or it could be indirect, meaning that all other parts involved in the problem check out good so it's the bad part by process of elimination. This latter technique is more prevalent in the newer appliances with electronic boards where the manufacturer either doesn't give enough information about the board's inputs and outputs or the information/schematics it does supply are wrong.

Samurai's 2nd Law of Appliance Repair: All machines break.

I don't care how much you paid, who made it, or what the salesperson told you, appliances are just another type of machine. And all machines, like everything else in the physical world (including our bodies) tend inexorably toward entropy, i.e., they wear out and breakdown. The corollary to the 2nd Law is to buy appliances that are easy to repair because, at some point during its useful life, you will be repairing it. Speaking of useful life, how long should appliances last?

Samurai's 3rd Law of Appliance Repair: Measure twice, order once.

Ok, you've diligently observed Samurai's Ichiban Law of Appliance Repair and have proven that a part is bad based on some type of objective observation. If this observation involved making an electrical measurement, such as voltage, current, or resistance, then make that measurement TWICE just to be doubly-woubly sure that you didn't make a mistake. Common mistakes in making electrical measurements include not making good contact with your probe and not removing at least one wire from the component before making a continuity or resistance measurement.

Samurai's 4th Law of Appliance Repair: Beliefs are for religion, not appliance repair.

In appliance repair, we use test instruments to quantify the problem and draw definitive conclusions about cause and effect. Hope, beliefs, and wishful thinking don't get stuff fixed, unless it's by pure, blind luck.

Samurai's 5th Law of Appliance Repair: Electronics and wet appliances do not mix.

Manufacturers love using fancy electronical boards for things that used to be done by simple, reliable mechanical switches. I see these boards fail frequently and at far greater expense than the good ol' mechanical switches. But the failure rate of these cheesy, over-priced electronical boards in the wet appliances (washer, dishwasher, ice and water dispensers on refrigerators) is excessively high. If you have a choice when buying new appliances, opt for the models with few or no electronic boards.

Samurai's 6th Law of Appliance Repair: Begin troubleshooting right at the problem.

Where else you gonna start? No water coming in your dishwasher? Start at the water inlet valve. Gas oven won't bake? Start at the ignitor. Go right to the main thing that ain't doing its thang.

Samurai's 7th Law of Appliance Repair: All leaks are visual.

Let's say your washer is leaking. You see the water seeping from under the washer cabinet. So you go online to the Samurai School of Appliantology and say, "my washer is leaking, what should I do?" And we'll tell you to remove the front panel and get some eyeballs on where exactly the leak is coming from. Same deal with your dishwasher-- remove the kickplate and peer underneath with a flashlight while it's running to spot the source of the leak. Get the picture?

Samurai's 8th Law of Appliance Repair: Fix the obvious problems first.

If you have an appliance that you think may have several things wrong with it, you have to break down the problem into smaller component problems and then fix each one. Usually, when you fix the obvious problem first, you find that it was the only problem all along. Other times, you cannot even diagnose the other problems until you've fixed the obvious one(s).

Samurai's 9th Law of Appliance Repair: Nothing kills bio-gookus like chlorine.

Just remember this next time you're dealing with a restricted condensate drain in your refrigerator. Bio-gookus loves to grow in dark, moist environments like condensate drain tubes and they'll restrict the flow the same way plaque does in arteries.

Samurai's 10th Law of Appliance Repair: Never move an appliance to make a repair unless you absolutely have to.

This is one I learned the hard way. You never know what you're gonna run into (that you didn't need to) when you move an appliance. And, worse yet, you may end up creating a new repair that you hadn't planned on. The classic example is pulling a dryer out just a few inches only to find that it had some impossible dryer vent connection that requires a contortionist/gymnast to re-attach. Oy!

Samurai's 11th Law of Appliance Repair: Raw power is dirty power.

All electricity is not created equal. Power quality varies widely from place to place. Depending on where you live, power at the wall outlets in your house could have all kinds of garbage on it. Stuff like voltage surges, sags, swells, and spikes can kill electrical and electronics equipment. In this modern era of using electronic control boards in appliances for the jobs that simple, reliable mechanical switches used to do, all your appliances should be protected by simple surge protectors at the least. Just like you wouldn't (or shouldn't) plug your computer directly into the wall outlet without using some type of surge protection, neither should you expose your appliances to naked, raw power.

Samurai's 12th Law of Appliance Repair: Neutral is not ground; ground is not neutral.

Under normal circumstances, neutral and ground should have the same, or close to the same, electrical potential. But, electrically, neutral and ground are not the same thing and serve entirely different purposes. Back in the old days, they were often used interchangeably, as with the old three-wire dryer and range cords. But, after lots of people got themselves fried or burned their houses down due to a ground fault, "They" decided it would be a good idea to respect the distinction between ground and neutral. Hence the new four-wire dryer and range connections.

Samurai's Golden Rule of Appliance Repair: Never trust customer diagnostics.

I'm too embarrassed to admit how many times I've been burned by violating the Golden Rule. You'll get some customers that are so eloquent and seem so erudite and technically proficient that you'll be tempted to accept their diagnosis over the phone (at their insistence-- to save money, of course). So when you bop on over with the special-ordered part that doesn't fix the problem, you're now in a quandary: how do you charge for this wasted repair effort and the cost of returning a special-ordered part...if you can even return it?  Unless you bought the control board here, electronic boards cannot be returned once they're installed.  The hard lesson is to always do your own diagnosis, no matter how much the customer insists otherwise.

Got the snow tires off the Guru Mobile today and it made The Oz Man reminisce about winter..

1. Use Only HE (High Efficiency) Detergent

And no, using a smaller quantity of conventional detergent is not the same as using HE detergent, as explained below. HE detergents are not simply a concentrated formulation of the regular stuff. Since front loaders and HE top loaders use much less water than conventional top loaders (about 12 gallons per wash load vs. about 56 gallons in a conventional top-loader), HE washers require a detergent with a whole different chemistry. You can read more about it in my magnum opus, High Efficiency Detergents, Front-Loading Washers, and the Great Unwashed.

If HE detergent is not used in these modern, low water-use washers, residue will accumulate in the outer drum and emit a foul odor. Or, as Martha, the sister of Lazarus observed, "Lord, by this time he stinketh."

"What's the best HE detergent to use," you ax? I gotta recommend Woolite Complete from the Reckitt-Benkiser folks who put on the awesome detergent training seminar for professional appliantologists at the Appliance Service Training Institute every year.




2. Run the "Tub Clean" Cycle Once a Month

Using either non-HE detergent or too much HE detergent will cause the build up of a residue called scrud (a mixture of scum and other crud). Once the Funk From Within (FFW) has taken hold inside the washer drum or tub, neither bleach nor vinegar will eliminate the odor. De-stinkification at this point involves scrud removal. You'll need to run a product called Affresh through it on the "Tub Clean" cycle. This cycle, combined with Affresh, is specially designed to remove scrud build-up.



If the washer doesn't have a "Tub Clean" cycle, then just run a hot water wash at maximum water level.

When running a Tub Clean cycle with Affresh, do not add any clothes or detergent. Just hot water and Affresh.

3. Reduce Detergent Use for Soft Water or Water Softener

Soft water will cause over-sudsing even when using HE detergent. To prevent scrud buildup, the amount of detergent used in each wash needs to be reduced to prevent forming suds during the wash cycle. If the water is very soft, as with some city waters where they soften it, the detergent usage will need to be reduced even below the recommended amount.

"But I like to see lots of suds in my washer because then I know my clothes are getting clean!"

You have to start with the understanding that the tumble action of high-efficiency washers (i.e., front loaders) produce more suds than the agitator action in top loaders. Now most of people think, “Oooo, sudsy, that’s good!” No, not good. Suds do nothing to clean your clothes and are actually an undesirable by-product of the detergent’s chemical interaction with the water.

Is it possible to know for sure what kind of water hardness you're dealing with? Ya sure, ya betcha! Just use this Maytag water hardness testing kit. You can read more about water hardness, what that means, and how it affects detergents.



General detergent guidelines for any front load or agitator-less top load washer with tub sizes 3.0 cu ft and larger is as follows (adjust as needed to eliminate undesirable sudsing):

HE: (2) Tablespoons Per Wash Load

HE 2X: (1) Tablespoon

HE 3X: (1) Teaspoon

4. Ensure Drain Hose is Installed Properly

If the drain hose is not installed properly, the unit will not drain properly. Additionally, if the washer drain hose is crammed so far down the drain pipe that it's submerged in the standing water in the pipe, it will do two things: 1) bring odors back up into the drum and 2) cause siphoning which, in turn, causes improper filling and other weird symptoms.



Never extend the drain hose more than 4 inches beyond the end of the elbow, and drain hoses should never be inserted more than 6 inches into drain.

5. Dry Door Gasket when Laundry is Finished for the Day

The door gasket on a front load washer should be wiped dry when the washer is finished working for the day. Water left in the bottom arc of the gasket is normal, since there is no suction pump attached to the gasket. However, if not dried out, stagnate water could begin to stinketh.

6. Periodically Inspect the Door Gasket and Clean Off Mildew as Needed

Periodically, check the door gasket on a front load washer for mildew buildup. If you're a bleach fan, mix 3/4 cup bleach with a gallon of hot water. Use the bleach mixture and a cloth to wipe out the gasket. (Do not use bleach alone. Undiluted bleach will damage the gasket.) Or, we've found that Simple Green works pretty good, too, and it's a little less fuss to use.

If the mildew cannot be removed, the gasket will have to be replaced. You can buy the replacement door gasket for any brand and model of front loader right here with a one year return policy. Most door gaskets you'll find here have a how-to replacement video that shows you exactly how to replace it.

7. Keep Washer Door Open or Lid Raised when Machine is Not in Use

After a cycle, small amounts of water are left in the machine. When finished with the unit for the day, dry the gasket (on a front loader) and leave the door open for a couple hours to allow the moisture to evaporate and dry out. On top loaders, just leave the lid raised.

8. Clean Detergent Dispenser Regularly

Once a week, remove the dispenser drawer and clean out the gookus in the sink with hot water and scrub brush.

9. Clean the Drain Pump Filter Regularly

Most front load washers have some type of "coin catcher" or screen for catching "gookus" -- that's a technical term we professional appliantologists use to refer to anything that ain't supposed to be there. This drain pump filter should be cleaned about once a month to prevent odors.  

Remove the pump filter or coin catcher and scrub it under hot water to get all the nooks and crannies.



Accumulations of gookus on the drain filter like you see above prevents proper drainage and makes a great habitat for little stink-maker bacteria to grow, thrive, and stinketh.

Brother Strath talks us through these tulips using the Whirlpool Duet washer model WFW9400SU01 as an example:  

here's the short version:

- Remove everything from the tub front and back.  (Shocks, hoses, pressure hose, bottom hose, ground wires, drive belt, motor, pulley - but leave the bellow still attached, just disconnect it from the washer front.)
- Pull the weights off front and back to make it lighter.  (Tub's are about 53 lbs with all weights removed.)
- Lift the tub out the back (you might disconnect the top brace that holds the valves and lift it up to make it easier.)
- With a Sharpie, mark where the clips are on both halves.
- Remove all the clips and separate out.
- If you are doing this because of a bad bearing, you have to replace the rear tub as well.  
- Don't forget to gob up the new bearing with the supplied grease ... and don't forget the new gasket that goes between the tubs
- Put the halves back together - you may have to pinch them together with Channel Locs to get the first couple of clips back in place
- Reassemble
- Double check that all hoses have been connected before testing.

Beer time.

Parts:

Inner Basket

Rear Drum with Bearing


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

Source: model # wfw9400su01

yes it is the transformer

the noise is a loose winding and will never stop the microwave from working or make it unsafe in any way

if you replace the transformer the noise will go away

Replacement transformer for your GE microwave oven.


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


Source: GE MICROWAVE