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Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Blog

A blog by Samurai Appliance Repair Man

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About this blog

Pearls of appliance repair wisdom from the Appliantology Forums

Entries in this blog

 

An open letter to America’s college cupcakes on Veterans Day

Brethren, on this Veteran's Day, I present to you a timely and fitting guest blog post by Ray Starmann, the Editor in Chief of US Defense Watch. Enjoy!   An open letter to America’s college cupcakes on Veterans Day November 11, 2016 by Ray Starmann, US Defense Watch, http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/11/an-open-letter-to-americas-college-cupcakes-on-veterans-day/   Dear College Cupcakes: America has watched for the last year or so, as our nation’s universities
 

The Future of Appliance Repair: a Profession or an "Idiocracy"?

We have a lot of moving parts at play in the appliance repair industry today. Over the past couple of decades, appliance technology has become much more complicated, yet technician troubleshooting skills have eroded. This creates some uncertainty about the direction our industry is going.  Are we going to be a profession, filled with well-paid, highly-skilled technicians at the top of their game, or a semi-skilled trade, filled with low-paid parts changers who are essentially just the eyes
 

Webinar Recording: Appliance Service Call Structure and Troubleshooting Strategies

Great turn out for this webinar-- had over 30 people on! That means there are lots of techs who recognize the need for help with these skills. This is good because they can be easily learned by anyone who wants to learn them! This webinar lays out a road map for you to declare your independence from tech lines. Professional Appliantologist members may watch the webinar recording here: Appliance Service Call Structure and Troubleshooting Strategies Master Samurai Tech Academy students m
 

Master Samurai Tech Academy Site Upgrade Today - Some Turbulence Expected

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, this is your Samurai speaking. We're expecting a little turbulence today as we make some adjustments to the Master Samurai Tech Academy website. There may be periods throughout the day where the site either doesn't load at all or may look strange. This, too, shall pass.  For now, I invite you to sit back, relax, and peruse the latest pearls of appliantological wisdom in my blog here at Appliantology.
 

Are Samsung Appliances Reliable?

Samsung's in the news lately with exploding washers and tablet computers. So people may be wondering how reliable Samsung appliances are.  Here's a good article from the Yale Appliance blog comparing Samsung repair rates with industry averages. Yale Appliance and Lighting [website] is a large appliance dealer and service center in the Boston area. Yale completes over 20,000 service calls per year so I expect their results to be a good representation of reality.  One comment that caught my e
 

Sub-Zero Wolf Factory Training

I had the pleasure of attending Sub-Zero Wolf (SZW) factory training last week in Madison, WI. Flew in on Monday, training was Tuesday thru Thursday, and then flew out on Friday. The class consisted of 15 techs from around the country but also included a tech from Puerto Rico and another from Barbados. The techs included a few students from Master Samurai Tech and some Appliantology members.   This session was all Wolf products: gas and induction cooktops, gas and dual fuel ranges, vent hoo
 

Applying Circuit Fu Katas on a Whirlpool Electric Dryer Schematic

In this video, I use an old skool Whirlpool electric dryer to demonstrate electric circuit troubleshooting and analysis techniques. This is the ancient art of Circuit Fu. Although this is a simple circuit by today's standards, the principles and techniques can be used on any circuit because electricity works the same way. When you know basic electricity and circuits, you can decipher these diagrams and become a troubleshooting master... Learn Circuit Fu and how to kick appliance b
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

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Triac Operation for Appliance Techs

Had some good questions at the webinar on the Bi-Directional PSC drive motor system used in Whirlpool VM washers. Professional Appliantologist members can grab some popcorn and watch the webinar recording here: Bi-directional PSC Drive Motor Systems in Whirlpool VM Washers During the webinar, Joe asked how triacs are turned off. I wanted to give a more complete and accurate answer in this post.  To understand how triacs are turned off once they're turned on (and conducting) we need to
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

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Troubleshooting and Repairing a Bosch Gas Range Surface Burner

No schematics on this one! I know that'll be a relief for some of you. Honestly, it was a nice break for me, too. I love these easy jobs where you can troubleshoot using only your eyeballs and fix it with something as simple as a paper clip.  In this short little video, I show you how to troubleshoot a problem with a surface burner on Bosch gas range. The burner was not lighting correctly and would sometimes flare up.  All gas range surface burners operate using the same principles so
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

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Updated Appliance Tech Webinar Recordings Index Page

Master Samurai Tech Academy students may access the webinar recordings here. Mr. Appliance® Academy Bundle 1 students may access the webinar recordings here. Professional Appliantologist members may access the webinar recordings here. The index page is continually updated with new webinar recordings but this is the index page as of this post: Ultra Short Primer on Basic Electricity, Circuits, Ohm's Law, and Schematic Reading Basic Refrigerator Troubleshooting Schem
 

Linear Motors and Linear Compressors Webinar Recording

In case you missed it or would like to review, Professional Appliantologist members here at Appliantology may watch the recording on Linear Motors and Linear Compressors webinar on August 15, 2016 here:  And just a reminder that Professional Appliantologist members have convenient access to all the webinar recordings on the Webinar Recordings Index page here:  Master Samurai Tech Academy students have access to all the webinar recordings here: http://mastersamuraitech.com/webinar-rec
 

Entering Program Mode and Running the Test Program in a Bosch Dishwasher

This short little video shows you how to enter program mode in Bosch SHE SHU model dishwashers. You'll want to enter program mode to retrieve error codes, which can help inform your troubleshooting strategy. You can also run the test program, which is helpful in diagnosing individual loads in the dishwasher.  One of the many benefits of Professional Appliantologist membership at Appliantology is hi-speed, unlimited service manuals and tech sheet downloads at Appliantology.org. Included with
 

Troubleshooting a Bosch Dishwasher No Heat Problem Using the Schematic and Live Tests

In this video for Professional Appliantologist members and Master Samurai Tech Academy students, I show you how to troubleshoot a Bosch dishwasher no-heat problem. No heat problems can manifest in a variety of ways: really long cycle times, a "1" shown on the display at the end of the cycle, or as an error code. Some models will show an error code readout, others may just show the error code as a flashing light. Whichever way, you need to troubleshoot the heating circuit. As with all electr
 

Troubleshooting a Samsung Electric Dryer No-Heat Problem from the Control Board

Join the Samurai on this Samsung electric dryer service call and learn how to troubleshoot a no-heat complaint from the control board, without having to tear apart the whole dryer, by using the schematic and strategic electrical tests. Work smarter, not harder!    Learn how to troubleshoot appliances like a real technician at http://mastersamuraitech.com Professional Appliantologist members here at Appliantology should watch my webinar recording on troubleshooting this s
 

Digital Data Communications in Appliances - Samsung Dryer

Most appliances today use computers to control the various appliance functions. Computers talk in logical 1's and 0's which are actually pulses or square waves of voltage that you can see on an oscilloscope or measure with a meter. These pulses are arranged in a specific sequence to transmit and receive information inside the appliance. In this video, the Samurai uses a Samsung dryer to show you what these pulses look like and how to use this information for troubleshooting. Come with me no
 

Replacing the Fuse on the Main Control Board of an LG Refrigerator

This LG refrigerator was DOA- warm inside, no compressor operation, no lights, no nuttin'. Found a blown fuse on the main control board. What took out the fuse: bad board or just a spike on the power line? I show how to check for that.  The fuses on these LG boards are soldered in and not easily replaceable. But a new fuse can be installed and I show how to do that without even having to remove the board, while it's still installed in the refrigerator.  Learn appliance repair at http:/
 

Master Samurai Tech Radio Episode 18 [Special Guest]

Introducing the mysterious Son of Samurai (yes, the actual spawn of Samurai), the man behind the scenes running Appliantology.org and MasterSamuraiTech.com. He's also a certified Master Samurai Tech and the Samurai's service call partner. In this episode we talked about: - Son of Samurai, who he is and what he does to keep our websites running - Behind the scenes at Appliantology - Common user questions at Appliantology - What it takes to be a professional appliance repair technician
 

Master Samurai Tech Radio Episode 17

Special 4th of July episode: - Industry News: Haeir buys GE Appliances; new Wolf induction cooktop; Italian appliance manufacturer, SMEG, gaining market share - Firing your customer; identifying and harpooning "land sharks." Link to article discussed in the vodcast: https://www.groovehq.com/support/how-to-fire-a-bad-customer - Current thinking on responding to negative reviews - Dealing with unreasonable customers - Master Samurai Tech news Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or
 

Appliance Repair Companies: Know Thy Customer!

If you're contemplating doing work for someone who lives out of town (eg., rental property in your area) and whom you've never met, it's worth spending a few minutes looking them up online. Google is your friend! Choosing the wrong customer can cost you a bad online review, even though you've already refunded 100% of their money after you've provided services.  There are people out there (mostly real estate types) who take a sadistic pleasure in screwing over service companies. Here's an example
 

Why do antiphase sine waves cancel each other out in a sound mixer but not in a center-tapped transformer?

This is an excerpt of the full split-phase household power supply webinar held on June 6, 2016. In this excerpt, I explain why antiphase sine waves (meaning 180 degrees out of phase with each other) cancel each other out in a sound mixer but not in a center tapped transformer. Just because an AC voltage can be represented or modeled as a sine wave does not mean all sine waves behave the same way everywhere regardless of the device-- you have to know what you're measuring!   R
 

Using an Oscilloscope to Understand 120 VAC Split-phase Household Power Supplies

Can you believe there are techs out there who use an o-scope to look at the output from a sound mixer and conclude this is how Line voltage works? The output of a sound mixer is the output of a summing amplifier (Google it). It is an electronically modified signal. To look at this output and assume that Line voltage behaves this way is the height of stupidity. I call it "Idiot with an O-scope syndrome."  Household power supplies in North America use what's called a split-phase system. The t
 

The Chatroom Diaries, June 9, 2016: Carbon Monoxide and Samsung Washer Door Lock Problem

Had some great conversations in the Appliantology Chatroom today!  First, had a very interesting conversation with Brother smee about carbon monoxide, measurements, standards, production and health effects. We pulled up this excellent training presentation from GE, that demystified a lot of the confusion about CO, and looked at it together:  Might make a good topic for a future Office Hours.  Next, had a good conversation with Mr.Pro-- to be continued-- as we tracked down a
 

What's Your Sine? How Sine Waves are used on Oscilloscopes to Represent the Real World

Introduction Some people say that a technician is only as good as his test instruments. I strongly disagree! In fact, just the opposite is true: a test instrument is only as good as the technician using it.  You can have the best, most expensive, fanciest test instruments in the world, but if you don’t know how to interpret what that instrument is telling you, what good does it do you?  Some techs are using an oscilloscope in appliance repair. Now, I’m all into cool toys but I don
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