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Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Blog

A blog by Samurai Appliance Repair Man in General

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About this blog

Pearls of appliance repair wisdom from the Appliantology Forums

Entries in this blog

Is the Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp Fundamentals Course Right for You?

Since opening the Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp Fundamentals of Appliance Repair course up for general enrollment, I've gotten emails from techs with experience ranging from rookies (less than two years in the trade) to seasoned techs with over five years in the trade all trying to assess one thing: whether or not the Fundamentals course is right for them given their knowledge and experience. Obviously, I can't speak to your knowledge or experience because it's not something that I have any f

Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp Orientation

We launched the beta-testing phase of Part 1 of the Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp last week and our beta students are busily working their way through the course. We plan to have Part 1 ready and open for general enrollment by June 15th. The Orientation presentation gives you some idea of what to expect:

Christ is Risen!

"Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs, bestowing life." -- Sung repeatedly at Orthodox Paschal Matins "Christ is Risen!" "Indeed He is Risen!" -- Traditional Orthodox Paschal greeting and response "Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness." -- From the sermon of St John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins "May of the joy of the Resurrection be with all!" -- From a Samurai Paschal sermon

Tech Tips: Voltage, Voltage Drop, and Loads

Understanding the distinction between voltage and voltage drop as well as understanding what a load is in an electric circuit are essential troubleshooting concepts for the professional appliantologist to grasp. In my years of working with other appliance techs online here at Appliantology.org, I have found that many, from rookies to seasoned and battle-hardened techs, do not have a firm grasp of these concepts. As a result, many professional appliance techs (I said many, not most) don't know ho

Retrieving Fault Codes Stored in a Bosch Dishwasher Control to Help Troubleshoot a Problem

Bosch dishwasher not heating? Stalling in cycle? Not filling? Some other weird problem? Wouldn't it be nice if you could get just get some clue about what's wrong? Well, you can! All Bosch dishwashers (and most modern appliances that use electronic control boards) store fault codes pertaining to specific areas the appliance is having a problem with... or at least the areas that the control board thinks is having a problem. Anyway, it's a good place to start. These control boards all hav

Now Accepting Applications for the Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp Beta Class!

The Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp is currently in the Beta testing phase. Final pricing for tuition will be announced after the Beta phase. The Beta class will be a very small group of carefully selected early testers who agree to provide constructive feedback for improving the course. After the Beta period, all students will pay the full tuition at the current rates. The specially-reduced tuition for the Beta class is $100 for the first half of the course, Part 1: Fundamentals. This is a fra

Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp Sample Course

We're still pecking away like little Woody Woodpeckers writing unit lessons, making screencasts, creating quizzes, working from sun up to moon rise to get Part 1 of the Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp ready to unleash on an unsuspecting and woefully unprepared world by April 13. Yep, that's our deadline so picked because it's right before Holy Week. Seemed like a good place for a deadline. Meanwhile, as promised in my last post, I've prepared a little morsel of the course which you are invi

Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp Update

Just wanted to give a quick update on the Samurai Appliance Tech Boot Camp. Don't think we've forgotten about it! In fact, just the opposite-- developing the course has been an all-consuming task for me and Mrs. Samurai (she's a world-class technical editor). You can get a sneak-peak and what we've been doing at the Boot Camp website: http://ApplianceTechBootCamp.com You won't be able to click into the units and view the contents but you can see the basic course structure and the units that we'v

ASTI 2014, Evernote Edition

Well, mah bruvahs, heading out on that big ol' jet airliner from Logan tomorrow afternoon making that long haul to San Diego for the 2014 ASTI. Looking forward to seeing some of you there and will miss those of you who can't make it this year. For my absentee brethren, the Samurai's got your six! I'll be taking copious notes and will post them all as PDFs in the Downloads section when I return. Additionally, if any of you have any specific questions you'd like me to ax the instructors, plea
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

5

When you buy a GE appliance, the initial purchase is just the beginning of your long, corporate gang rape

Hi, boys and girls! For today's excursion into Corporate Gang Rape™ excellence, we have a Frigidaire-built washing machine with a GE label slapped on it. Frigidaire parts will work in this machine just fine-- if you happened to know that it was built by Frigidaire in the first place. That's where the Master Appliantologists in the Samurai School come in. In this example, Master Reg shows us the difference in price for two identical motor control boards for this washing machine. The only di

The Appliantology Academy's Appliance Tech Boot Camp, Coming This Spring

Question: what's one job skill that cannot be outsourced to India or China? Answer: home services. Looking to get in on the glamour life of being a professional appliance repair technician but you don't have the time or the money to travel somewhere and be gone for a few weeks at a time? Now you can learn appliance repair at your own pace right online at your computer with the Appliantology Academy's Appliance Tech Boot Camp. The Appliance Tech Boot Camp is a structured and guided online trainin

What causes SUDs and SD error codes in high-efficiency front-load and top-load washers?

Many important questions have plagued mankind since the dawn of time. Questions such as, "Why am I here?", "Who is God?", and, most importantly, "What causes SUDs and SD error codes in high-efficiency front-load and top-load washers?" Here now to guide us into the truth and understanding of this important epistemological question is Brother Delawaredrew: Source: Suds error sd

Helpful Tips and Tricks for Troubleshooting Samsung Refrigerators

Troubleshooting Samsung refrigerators can be a head-fake for Appliantologists who aren't used to some of their special quirks. If you know just a few tips, it can really facilitate your troubleshooting and even keep you from faking yourself out or running down rabbit holes. Brother Durham has put together a short list of some very helpful tips and tricks to keep tucked into one of those cerebral creases when you're tracking down a problem in a Samsung refrigerator. Let us attend: Buy parts for y

Tool Backpack: The One Year Report

Well, it's been over a year now ridin' with my trusty tool backpack, doing service calls in every imaginable situation, including hiking up snowy and icy driveways to get to the house and I just wanted to give an update. I LOVE this thing! Keeps my tools clean and organized so I know exactly where they are when I need 'em. Impresses customers, too. Get one for yourself, your favorite toolhead, or that special fixit dude or dudette in your life. Currently 37% off retail at Amazon! https://www.am

"What should my refrigerator controls be set at?"

How many times have you been on a refrigerator service call and the customer asks you, "What should the controls on my refrigerator be set at?" You notice that they do not have any thermometers in their fridge and do a mental face-palm. How do you even begin to explain to this customer that the single most important indicator of a refrigerator's health - and the way you determine where to set the controls - are the temperatures inside the freezer and fresh food compartments? Relax, compadre, cuz

Beware Appliance Parts Buyer's Remorse!

Y'all gather 'round, ol' Uncle Samurai has another sad tale to tell about how someone thought they were gonna save a buck or two buying cheap, generic parts off of Ebay or Amazon but it turns out the parts either don't last long or don't work at all. I rectum this is an increasingly common story in these tough economic times with everyone pinching pennies so hard you can almost hear ol' Abe screaming. But, as we're gonna see in today's saga, buying cheap, knock-off parts from the online peddlers

What about Protection Plans or Extended Warranties for New Appliances? Are they worth buying?

I get asked about new appliance protection plans and extended warranties a lot both during real-life service calls as The Appliance Guru and via emails from this site. So, FWIW, I thought I'd offer my contemplations and musings on the topic. First off, you gotta realize that protection plans and extended warranties are only as good as the people offering or doing the actual service work. Protection plans are basically a form of insurance. Lots of companies want to get in on the protection plan b

Dishwasher Filmology: Handling Hard Water and Mineral Buildup Problems in Today's Wimpy Dishwashers

Intro The dishwashers being made today ain’t like yo mamma’s dishwasher. Dishwashers made as recently as 1997 used big honkin’ motors that practically sandblasted your dishes clean and then reversed direction to pump the water out. They used a lot more energy and water than the delicate little dainties being made today. They also lasted much longer and weren’t as prone to having problems with mineral buildup inside of ‘em… but don’t get me started on that rant. Prodded along by the Beltway Bandi

Gas range goes BOOM! after a particular stove burner is lit

In this adventure into appliance dysfunction, the customer called me with a scary problem with her gas range. After she would fire up the left-front (LF) cooktop burner and it was on for less than a minute, a big flash-boom would erupt from underneath the burners. I reproduced the problem when I was there and it was a pretty impressive explosion! I wish I had gotten video of it but thought better of repeating it. I knew I was dealing with a gas leak and had to get to the burner gas supply tubes
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

6

Soot: A Clear and Present Danger in your Gas Oven

I was at a service call on gas range the other day for an oven that wouldn't bake or broil. The cause turned out to be a bad range control board. Nothing unusual about that. The astonishing thing with this range was the inside of the oven cell-- all the surfaces inside were coated with a thick layer of soot (click the images for a larger view): This is NOT a normal condition in any gas range. If you see soot accumulated on your oven cell walls, even a little, STOP USING IT AND GET IT CHECKED O
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