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Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Blog

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Pearls of appliance repair wisdom from the Appliantology Forums

Entries in this blog

Orifice Size Code Markings for LG Gas Stove Burners

The orifice hoods are the little brass hoods that screw down on the gas jet that supplied the stove burners in a gas stove. Their purpose is to meter the correct amount of gas into the air-fule mixture that gets ignited at the burner ring. The diameters of the orifice vary with the BTU rating of the burner and the type of fuel being burned. Professor john63 provides us this handy listing of orifice metering hood size codes for LG gas cooktops and ranges: Source: LG Center Burners

Theory of Operation of Electrode Gas Flame Detection

If you're working on a gas stove where the burners keep clicking even after the flame is established, you may be tempted to throw a new spark module at it and hope for the best. But you would probably be disappointed. Let's start the troubleshooting process with a fundamental understanding of how the spark module is supposed to detect that the burner has established a flame: Source: G.E. ZGU36L6H4SS Cooktop

Replacing the Recirculation Hose in a Whirlpool Calypso Washer

If you need to replace the recirculation hose (recirculates water inside the tub) in a Whirlpool Coll-apso washer, you'll be relieved to know that you don't have to remove the inner basket to do so. This page from the service manual shows where the location of the recirc hose and explains its function: http://appliantology.org/files/file/492-recirculation-and-drain-in-a-whirlpool-calypso-washer/ And Chief Master Appliantologist DADoESTX explains the technique: Here's the part link to the repla

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Troubleshooting a Whirlpool Dishwasher with the Clean Light Blinking Seven Times

Here's the low-down on a Whirlpool (or Kenmore-labelled, Whirlpool-built) dishwasher that has the Clean Light blinking seven times. In other words, blinks seven times, pauses, then repeats. The reason the light is blinking seven times is because the control board is looking for a specific temperature rise in the water in the basin and is not seeing it. "Well, if the water temperature ain't rising, then the heater must be bad, right?" Maybe. But other things besides a bad heater can cause the wat

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Tip for Testing the Door Switches in a Microwave Oven

Most microwave ovens have three safety microswitches in the door latch assembly. The diagram below is typical: These microswitches aren't the most robust switches ever made and can be down right squirrely. They may test good one minute and then look bad the next. When a switch looks flakey like that, trust your meter and just replace it. Chief jumptrout's experience with this is typical: Source: Weird microswitch

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Money-Saving Tip for Replacing a Motor in a GE Dryer

Some models of GE dryers are actually made my Frigidaire... or they at least use Frigidaire parts. One example is the GE DSXH43EA3WW dryer. If you have one of these with a bad motor, here's a tip that could save you a couple of of Benjamins: use the Frigidaire part number instead of the GE part. Grand Master Reginald explains: Source: GE Dryer: model# DSXH43EA3WW, Starts but won't stay running.

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Tip for checking a mechanical cold control in a refrigerator

Some refrigerators use a mechanical cold control like this one: for regulating the temperature inside the compartments. These controls have a feeler capillary tube attached to the body of the cold control. Inside the body, changes in temperature, as picked up by the capillary tube, cause the bellows to expand and contract which, in turn, causes a set of electrical contacts to open and close. These contacts control the line power to the compressor and need to be closed for the compressor to run.

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Trick for solving no-drain problems on Frigidaire / Kenmore top-load washers

You'll find these Frikkidaire top loaders either as stand-alone units or as part of a stack. If it's disguised as a Kenmore, it'll have a 417 prefix in the model number. Okay, so you're working one of these cheesy washers and it's not draining. You check the obvious thing: the drain pump is clear, getting 120vac and running during the drain cycle but still no drain. What else could it be? Academy Fellow and Professor Emeritus of Laundry Appliantology nickfixit shares with us his hard-won p

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

How to replace the Oil Seal Kit for gearcase input shaft on a Whirlpool Direct Drive Washer

Y'all go grab a brewski and kick back while Professor jumtrout 'splains it to us... And here's the part link for the oil seal kit you'll need ==> http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Oil-Seal/285352/470681 The kit comes with two different seals so it can work with different Whirlpool-built D/D transmissions. Use the one that's made for your transmission. Match 'em up by sight. Source: Kenmore 90 Series Washer 11020922990 Oil Leak

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

How to replace the heating element in an electric hot water heater without draining the tank

If you need to replace the heating element in your electric water heater, you may be thinking that you need to first drain the tank. You could do it that way but the Old Timers would shake their head at you and think, "What a rube." Below, a few of the Master Appliantologists here at the Academy offer some tips and procedures for repalcing the heating element with a tank full and not making a flooded mess: Source: suggestion for new electric water heater?

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

LG Refrigerator Compressor Start Relay Madness

Every now and then, you run into a real CF when you're trying to order a part to fix an appliance. A case in point is trying to get a start relay kit for some models of LG refrigerators, such as the LFX25960ST. Grand Master kdog, adept extroidinaire of all things appliance repair, explains how to de-frak this mess: Here's the link to the start relay you need ==> http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Relay-and-Overload-Kit/4387835/586449 Source: LG Fridge Model# LFX25960ST, Totally Stumpe

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Troubleshooting a Frigidaire Dishwasher with the Spray Arm Re-Direct Check Ball

If you're having washability problems with this funkified Frigidaire-design dishwasher that uses a check ball to alternate the spray between the upper and lower spray arms, Professor Willies explains the basic operation: And Grand Master kdog offers this experiential wisdom: Here's the replacement electronic control ==> http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Main-Control-Board/154806401/1793650 And here are the various ball and housing parts: Source: Frigidaire D.W. Model# DGBD2432KF1, Se

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Refrigerator Troubleshooting and Repair: Ice, Frost, and Condensation

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

Converting Kenmore refrigerator model number to LG equivalent for Tech Info

As almost everyone with a pulse knows, Kenmore appliances aren't made by a manufacturing company called, "Kenmore." There ain't no Kenmore factory in Malaysia or anywhere else. The only thing Kenmore makes is money. Kenmore appliances are all made by other, well-known manufacturers under contract for Kenmore. This can present a problem getting tech info, like service bulletins and manuals, for independent appliance techs. Since the technical documentation is written by the original manufacturer,

Using a Test Cord to Diagnose a Microwave

A powerful troubleshooting technique when working on microwave oven that won't heat is to split the problem in half to determine if the problem is coming form the low voltage side or the high voltage side. A test cord can be a very useful troubleshooting tool because it allows you to so just that. Sublime Master Chat_In_RI enlightens us on this technique: Source: GE Double Oven Microwave not heating
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