FAQs | Repair Videos | Academy | Newsletter | Contact
Entries in this blog
Did you miss our awesome webinar a few weeks ago? With all the computer-controlled dryers out there today, many techs forget that they still need Old Skool circuit troubleshooting skills to solve many dryer problems they'll encounter in the field today. With that in mind, our recent webinar covered four real-world dryer case studies on simple dryer circuits that trip up lots of techs who should know better (and think they do but, in fact, do not).
Some of the topics we covered include:
@fillthebarman ran into an interesting problem the other day: he had a stacked washer and dryer where the washer could only be run when the dryer was running. How is this possible? Brother @sh2sh2 had the answer:
A brilliant piece of insight, and precisely what turned out to be going on here. But how does this happen, exactly? Let's look at the schematics. Here's the washer:
As you can see from the circled bit, the power supply for the washer comes right from the dryer's connec
There are some electrical terms that are often used in vague and incorrect ways by the general public. This can make things confusing for us techs, especially those new to the craft, because these terms have precise meanings when used by those in the trade. A couple of these words are short and ground.
Short is often used by the non-technical to refer to any "bad" circuit. The term "short circuit" is a popular one to throw around in this sense. In reality, a short is just one of multiple di
Volts, ohms, and amps -- these are the three types of electrical measurements from which we draw our diagnostic conclusions as appliance techs. They all have their uses, but watch out -- they're not all equal in usefulness or reliability! Let's go through them one at a time.
Ohms: Despite being a lot of techs' go-to measurement, ohms is actually the least reliable of the three. This is due in large part to the fact that it can only be performed on a dead circuit. This means that it complete
Ghost voltage is a term that you'll hear used in tech circles, and often incorrectly. Ghost voltage is the name of a very specific phenomenon, but I've seen it used variously to refer to failing under load, high resistance connections, and even simple open circuits. What does it really mean?
What we call ghost voltage is transient, seemingly sourceless voltage. It does, of course, have a source. You know how when current flows through a conductor, it produces a magnetic field? Well that mag
Reliable income is something all techs want to achieve. But to have consistent profits, you have to perform consistently on service calls. While we all might like to think of ourselves as repair cowboys who can head out on every job half-cocked and still get it fixed right, that's just not reality. The way to achieve the most consistency possible on service calls is by using systems.
A system is coherent set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) designed to achieve a specific objective. I
You're fighting a constant battle in the appliance repair trade to get the most money out of the time you spend. One of the biggest problems you face is unprofitable service calls. Most often these crop up as repairs that are close to the replacement cost. What customer is going to opt for a $300 repair when they can buy a new dryer for $400?
Fortunately, there are 2 simple steps you can take to weed out 95% of these kinds of calls. These steps are prediagnosis and flat-rate pricing.
P
Sometimes, the hardest part of being a tech is dealing with the customer. Customers always have expectations, some reasonable and some not, and we have to manage these on top of performing our diagnostics and repairs.
A large part of being a real technician is knowing when to trust your own expertise over customer demands. This struggle generally manifests in two ways:
1. The customer has their own diagnosis that they're sure is correct. We've all encountered this before. Something alo
We're so used to our fancy control boards and computer-controlled appliances that we sometimes forget how to troubleshoot old-skool circuits. While these circuits are generally pretty straightforward, the manufacturers employed some clever tricks that can mess with your head if you don't have a firm grasp of simple AC circuits.
Take the buzzer in this dryer as an example:
The Tan or Black side of the buzzer goes straight to neutral through that unlabeled switch beneath the temper
We've all been there: you're looking up the part that you need for the job, and the price tag about knocks you out of your chair. No way that heating element costs that much to produce! Maybe your concern isn't just for yourself -- you're interested in saving the customer some money.
Despite the sometimes exorbitant prices, there are many good reasons to go with the OEM part over a generic one.
OEM parts are generally better quality and make for a more reliable repair. You're going
In this webinar recording for the ages, the Samurai explains everything you need to know to run a successful service call, minimizing return trips and maximizing profits. He covers the steps you need to take before the call and how you need to think while on the call. All of this information is neatly and concisely presented as The Samurai System for Service Call Excellence -- a must-know for any tech who wants to make the most money for the least headache.
The topics covered include:
One of the first steps when you're troubleshooting a warm temperature proble in both compartments of a refrigerator should always be to identify whether you're dealing with a problem in the sealed system or with a problem elsewhere in the unit.
The go-to method for most techs is to get eyes on the evaporator coils. While the frost pattern there can tell you a lot of things about the health of the refrigerator, it has a massive drawback: getting to the evaporator can require a lot of non-tri
Techs as a community have developed some bits of jargon that serve as shorthand ways of describing specific technical situations. These phrases are useful for saving ourselves time and breath, but sometimes the exact definitions get blurry. Even worse, sometimes the way that the phrase sounds gets confused for a description of the actual science/physics behind what's going on, leading to a variety of "tech myths". Let's clear up a few of these terms.
"Failing under load"
This a situat
There's a goal that any tech worth his salt should have when he heads into a service call: troubleshoot the machine until he has logically and definitively located the problem.
Most of the time this goal is achievable, as long as you have the documentation for the appliance you're working on. You can take measurements and compare them with the specifications from the manufacturer until you find what's not within specifications. This is called analytical troubleshooting and is, in fact, the
You can't get around it -- you've got to understand at least the basics of thermodynamics to troubleshoot sealed system problems.
Let's say you're working on a two-compressor R134a refrigerator -- completely separate sealed systems for the freezer and the fresh food compartment. Two evaporators, two compressors... you get the idea. You're experiencing an issue where the FF is always too cold. Say, 20F or so. All the other components seem to be in spec, so you put a gauge on the low side of
Tell me what's wrong with this picture:
No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you -- that schematic really is showing a split-phase compressor being run by an inverter board.
If you're sitting there sputtering and foaming at the mouth in disbelief, thinking, "That can't possibly be correct," then congrats! You had the correct reaction. What this diagram is showing simply can't line up with reality. Split-phase motors are never run using inverter boards -- the very idea is nonse
Why is it that manufacturers (such as GE, Electrolux, and others) always recommend that you seal any splices you make in their refrigeration units with silicone grease? The simple answer is that it keeps out water. This is obviously desirable because water can both corrode and short out electrical connections. A splice is already a weak point in a circuit, so especially in wet environments, you want to give them as much lasting power as possible.
And it gets even more interesting when you'r
VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) systems have been around long enough now that most of us know the procedure for troubleshooting them. You have three main tests that you perform:
1. Check for the PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) signal from the main control to the inverter. This is a DC square wave data signal that alternates between 0-5 VDC. The inverter has to receive this signal from the main board in order for it to run the motor.
2. Check the 120 VAC input to the inverter board. This has
What do you do when an appliance, despite all appearances of normality, simply refuses to do its job? The Samurai and I were forced to answer this very question today.
The culprit: A KitchenAid KGRS505XWH05 double oven all gas range.
The complaint: The customer told us that neither the top nor the bottom ovens would ignite, but the cooktop worked fine.
The customer's description turned out to be about right (for once). The upper oven broil and lower oven bake ignitors would glow f
Greetings, my brethren in the craft!
I wanted to give you all a heads up about the server migration that's currently in progress here at Appliantology. You shouldn't notice too much amiss while this is going on (besides some downtime early Saturday morning when the actual transfer takes place), but there may still be some weirdness. For example, we just noticed that some PA membership renewal notices just got sent out to a few of our users that had already renewed within the past few weeks.
By Rhubarb Tau in Rhubarb Tau's Sloggy Vlog Blog Bog0 comments
2 comments
By Son of Samurai in Appliance Repair Tech Tips0 comments