Jump to content
Click here to check out this guide

FAQs | Repair Videos | Academy | Newsletter | Contact


Appliance Repair Tech Tips

  • entries
    222
  • comments
    747
  • views
    514,040

Entries in this blog

Can a PTC Start Device Create a Short?

Here's the problem scenario: The customer's refrigerator has stopped running. You take a look at the start device, and it's completely burnt out -- enough so that you can see that the plastic housing has melted. You swap it out for a new start device and... Still nothing. In fact, a quick voltage measurement shows that the control board isn't sending voltage to the compressor. Now the board needs to be replaced, too. So what happened here? Did the start device just short out and t

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

Schematic Exercises to Help You Step Up Your Troubleshooting Game

Here's your problem statement: in this GE dryer, the timer doesn't advance in auto-dry. How do you approach this like a real tech, without making guesses and monkey-jabs? In this excerpt from a longer webinar, the Samurai shows using the timer chart and the schematic in conjunction to form a foolproof troubleshooting plan. Give it a watch! Want to watch the full recording? Click below -- viewable only by premium tech members.

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

How to Never Get Tricked by an Open Neutral Again

Here's the situation: the tech has a Maytag dishwasher with no lights, no life, no nothin'. With a multimeter on LoZ, the tech has already checked the following with reference to ground. Here are his findings that he reported: Seeing that there was a solid 120 volts to the board and no operation, the tech concluded (with the aid of a few ohm checks across the control board) that the board was the culprit. He replaced it, and... Still nada. How could such a seeming slam-dunk

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

Identifying Power Supplies on a Samsung Control Board

See if you can identify two things on this Samsung dishwasher schematic: 1. Where does the control board receive line and neutral? 2. Where do the sub-control boards get their DC power supply? The answer to the first question can be found easily enough, if you have a little schematic reading experience. But it's a bit trickier for those who don't have as much practice. For one thing, line and neutral aren't explicitly labeled. Just wire colors are given, but fortunately

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

Most Techs Wouldn't Troubleshoot this Door Switch the Right Way...

I want you to take a look at the door switch I've circled below. Think about it for a minute, then answer one question: what single test could you do to prove beyond a doubt whether or not that door switch is operating within spec? There's no trickery going on here -- it's just a simple switch. But many techs will test it using a flawed, limited test that has a big chance of leading them to the wrong conclusion. And they'll do a bunch of unnecessary disassembly. Post your answer in th

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

Bimetals and RTDs: How Do They Work and What's the Difference?

Bimetals show up all over the appliance world in all kinds of applications. Resistive Temperature Devices (RTDs) are widely used in ovens and ranges and are commonly called "oven temperature sensors." Both are devices that respond to temperature, but beyond that, they work completely differently and serve different purposes. Watch this short excerpt from one of our many technical education webinar recordings to learn all about these devices! The full webinar covers all the common

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

A Quick Introduction to Computer Board Troubleshooting

As control boards, and especially multiple-board configurations, become more and more prevalent in appliances today, we need to keep our troubleshooting skills sharp and adapt. So what troubleshooting strategies should you apply when you're dealing with a computer board? The good news is that you don't need to be a computer geek to work with boards. You just need a troubleshooting strategy for dealing with them, and you need to understand how they operate on a basic level. That's what the S

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

BLDC Motor Configurations, FG signals, and PWM signals

BLDC motors aren't new technology in appliances anymore -- in fact, they've become the norm. As such, it's important to be aware of the different configurations you'll see these motors in across appliances. These configurations fall into three categories: 2-wire, 3-wire, and 4-wire. An important thing to note before we continue: all BLDC motors in appliances are run by inverters. The inverter may be a separate board, like you'll see in washers with BLDC motors, or it may be built into the m

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

How to Correctly Measure Dryer Vent Airflow

The general rule for dryer vent airflow is that, if the airflow feels like a breath (even a strong one), then you have a problem. This rule of thumb will serve you well a lot of the time, but sometimes a "calibrated palm" just isn't enough. Sometimes, you need to get an actual measurement of the airflow so that you can compare it to the specifications. What you really want to know is the volumetric flow rate of the dryer exhaust. That is, how much air it's pushing out over a particular peri

Son of Samurai

Son of Samurai in Tech Talk

×
×
  • Create New...