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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

Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Hard-Earned Pearls of Life-Wisdom

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in. I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just jerks. I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only suspicion, not proof, to destroy it. I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more messed up than you think. I've learned that you can keep puking long after you think you're finished. I've learned that we are responsi

How to Troubleshoot Any Appliance

I've heard a lot of appliance techs complain that the reason they can't fix more appliances on service calls is because they don't get enough training from their company or from the manufacturers. I'm here to tell you that you can get all the appliance training in the world and still be nothing more than a trained monkey unless you have one crucial skill: Troubleshooting. Troubleshooting is the higher mental function that separates the real technicians from the parts changing monkeys. A technici

Dryer Photo Challenge

As seen on our Facebook and Google+ pages: our latest "What's Wrong with this Picture?" quiz... Problem: Answer: Solution: LintAlert: http://amzn.to/1vJ4hEl LintAlert: http://amzn.to/1vJ4hEl

Hillstomping Update: Mt. Moosilaukee Moonwalk

Gorgeous hike with the Oz Man up Mt. Moosilaukee. Up and back via the Glen Cliff Trail. Only saw one other pair of hikers today and they turned back before reaching the summit. Too bad because it was one of those days on the summit that was so beautiful it was surreal. Turn your speakers up and check out the slideshow. Best viewed in full screen mode. Enjoy! <img src="http://cdn-3-service.phanfare.com/images/external/4169021_5041669_123400833_WebSmall_3/0_0_dba7a19992c27632fff86eac43c

Ignorance and arrogance: a toxic combination in the appliance repair trade

The techs here at Appliantology and Master Samurai tech really are the exceptional techs in the trade today. The "techs" who comment on videos at YouTube: eh, not so much. Unfortunately, many of the "techs" at YouTube illustrate the biggest problem in the appliance repair trade today: parts changers who know a little and think they know it all.  A comment on this video from a PCM who’s been changing parts for 45 years (ie., 1 year of experience repeated 45 times) reveals much of what’s wron

Nuke Boy has a Tummy Ache

Oh those nutty Japanese! <embed width="320" height="240" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" name="main" id="main" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://video.godlikeproductions.com/modules/vPlayer/vPlayer.swf?f=http://video.godlikeproductions.com/modules/vPlayer/vPlayercfg.php?fid=8f27d23aedf7aff903f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/></embed>

Fun Times at ASTI 2015 in New Orleans

Just got back from the best-ever ASTI in New Orleans. Reconnected with old friends, made new ones, met many of my Appliantology brethren and several of my Samurai Tech Academy students in person. Not being a city person myself, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed New Orleans-- fantastic food and lots of fun in the French Quarter. For example, here's a plate of the best soul food you'll ever eat at a place called Mother's: Pictured above is Blackened Ham Red beans and rice Turnip greens with h
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

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Scrotum Scrubber Roundup

Here are a few of the scrotum scrubbers I've repaired in my distinguished career as an appliance repair professional. Personally, I don't use this type of appliance-- why have an appliance do something that a simple wash cloth will do? Saves money and energy and it's better for the environment. Honestly, I think our society's obsession with technology is unhealthy sometimes. The Poly Scrub Has a more gentle scrubbing action than some of the others but may leave some skin behind and may not be a

The Hard Facts about Hard Water and Your Appliances

Complaints about the washer or dishwasher not cleaning very well are one of the more common ones I get from grasshoppers at my website and from paying grasshoppers in the field, also known as customers. The first thing I always like to figger out in these cases is how hard the water is. What’s water hardness and why’s it so ding-dang important? Well, Hoss, hang on ’cause I’m gonna ‘splain it to you. Hardness is a term them fancy-pants engineers use to talk about dissolved minerals, mostly calciu

Jumper Wires Used, and NOT used, in Appliance Repair

A common and powerful electrical troubleshooting technique is to by-pass suspected bad components. This is done using what's called a jumper wire that is placed across the contacts of the component, typically a switch of some type. You can buy a bag of jumper wires at Radio Shack or just make your own. With this in mind, I present you this illustrative and thought-provoking photo. Can you answer the question it asks? Give up? Okay, here's the answer: Related: The Fine Art of Wire Termina

Using the Tech Sheet Schematic to Root Out Appliance Gremlins

We all love those jobs where, given the brand, model, and problem description, you walk into the house already knowing what the problem is. After you've worked as an appliance tech for a while, you start noting that every machine has weak points and particular failure patterns. Some failures become so well-known that the manufacturer will issue a service bulletin on it. But what about those jobs where it's not a clear case of plug n' chug, in other words, where you DON'T know exactly what part t

Appliance Techs or Computer Techs?

Appliance techs servicing today's modern computer-controlled appliances need both analog and digital skills to be effective. This is exactly why we teach these skills at the Samurai Tech Academy. More and more people are realizing this, too. Here's an industry leader who agrees! http://mastr.tech/1MfkcCt
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

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Tech Talk

Don't confuse Old Skool with Dumb Skool

Most techs today work by the philosophy of "tear down first, use the meter later." They claim that this is "old school. I'm old school and I'm here to tell you that is absolute BS. Let's take an all-too common, simple example: dryer keeps blowing the TCO. I can't tell you the number of techs I hear talk about disassembling the dryer, replacing the TCO, only to have it blow again soon after. And they have no idea what's going on or how to even troubleshoot this problem. As an old school tech
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man in Tech Talk

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Troubleshooting a microwave oven using the Divide and Conquer Method

Electrically speaking, microwave ovens have two sections: low voltage and high voltage. The low voltage section consists of the door switches, start button, control panel, turntable motor, cooling fan, stirrer motor, and some miscellaneous switches. The high voltage section consists of the transformer (which steps 120vac line voltage in residential units and 240vac in some commercial units up to 2,000+ volts), the high voltage rectifier (diode), and the charging capacitor (which together with
Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Samurai Appliance Repair Man

3

How to replace the drain pump in an LG front load washer stacked laundry unit

The need for this repair could be something obvious like the washer isn't draining (though other things can cause that, too, like a plugged drain hose) or something less obvious like an OE error code. First step is to come git you a new drain pump with a 365-day return policy ratcheer ==> http://www.repaircli...EA2001D/1266821 The Academy's resident Professor of LG-ology, john63, tiptoes us thru these tulips... Source: LG Front Load WM2077CW, won't spin

Hillstomping Update: Welch n' Dickey Loop

Good to finally be out on the trail again today after being sick for over a month! Still not 100% and definitely felt that on the trail as I was hacking up some really interesting greenies on the snow. Good thing I chose a shortish hike for my reappearance in the White Mountains. The Welch and Dickey Loop is a 4.5 mile hike that has one of the highest views-to-effort ratios in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Accompanied as always by my semper-fi canine hiking partner, The Oz Man, we st

Using Jing to Make Screen Shots and Post them at the Appliantology Forums

Here's a screencast I made showing how to use Jing to clip an image, upload it to the Gallery at the Appliantology Academy and then post that image in a topic in the forums. <iframe width=652 height=533 frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/embed?sc=cleY1YBmm&w=650&v=3"></iframe> (If the screencast won't play, you need to update the Java version on your computer.)

How to tell whether the touchpanel or control board is bad in a Whirlpool dishwasher

Many times when troubleshooting a Whirlpool-built dishwasher (also sold under the Kenmore and Kitchenaid brands), you'll have a problem that looks like it could be either a bad touchpanel or the control board, but you can't really be sure. Examples include: - Normal light keeps blinking but the dishwasher won't run - none of the lights on the panel work and the dishwasher won't run Could take on lots of other variations but the thing they'll all have in common is that dishwasher won't run. The c

A warning about buying cheap appliance parts from Amazon or Ebay

Like to shop around Amazon or Ebay for cheap stuff, including appliance parts? Did you know that you may be buying either cheap Chinese knock-off parts or used parts? Do these parts come with a one year replacement or refund warranty? No? Hmm... did you know that all parts purchased here at Appliantology.org are new, OEM parts that can be returned for a refund or replacement for 1 year, including electrical parts like circuit boards that have already been installed? Yeah, I know, it's insane! Ye

Things customers say while you're in their home on a service call...

Every day, professional Appliantologists have the unique privilege of going into people's homes on appliance repair service calls. And it really is a privilege... most of the time. We meet all kinds of people and every professional Appliantologist has fond memories of those "special" customers because of some of the things those customers say to brighten our day while we're in their homes and working on their appliance. Here's a slice-of-life collection of some of these memorable pearls from our
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