There are a lot of funky things going on on this Electrolux dishwasher schematic -- including normal-looking switches that are labelled "transistor switches". What does this label mean, exactly, and how does it affect our troubleshooting? That's what the Samurai breaks down in this short clip from a longer technical webinar recording.
Want to watch the full webinar? Click below to watch -- available only to premium members.
A lot of techs lose their heads when it comes to control boards. This leads to the classic PCM behavior of "throw a part at it and hope it works." But isn't there a better way of troubleshooting computer-controlled appliances?
Of course there is. With a concrete and logical troubleshooting plan like the Ten-Step Tango, you can troubleshoot any appliance with a control board with confidence. In fact, in many ways, a control board being present makes it easier to do your troubleshooting.
DC power in appliances works the same way no matter the manufacturer, but everyone has their own way they like to talk about it. And if you're not up on the lingo, you'll be left mystified by DC circuits in schematics.
You don't have to worry, though, because we explain all kinds of DC terminology in this latest workshop. From VDC to VCC, we cover everything you're likely to encounter in your troubleshooting travels through DC power, including:
Terms for DC voltage supplies
T
You don't have to be a physicist or a mathematician to troubleshoot properly, but you can't get around the fact that math is the only way to really understand electricity. Sine waves are one such mathematical representation used for both voltage and current. But how does this representation work, exactly, and how does it help us wrap our head around voltage, current, and power?
That's what we'll break down for you in this excerpt from one of our many full-length technical webinar recordings
It should always be our goal to get our diagnosis with as little disassembly as possible using our schematic-reading know-how, but did you know that you can sometimes track down the problem without any disassembly at all?
That's just what the Samurai did for this Thermador gas range. Want to learn how he pulled off this magic trick? Watch the video below.
Want to watch the full recording? Click below -- viewable only by premium members.
How does a dryer dry without a vent? Why is there a sealed system in this dryer, just like what you would find in a refrigerator? How well does this model dry clothes compared to a conventional dryer?
All of those are questions we answer as we explore Whirlpool's hybrid heat pump dryer. In this thorough rundown of the machine's key systems and components, we cover topics such as:
The function of the sealed system in this heat pump dryer
How this dryer condenses moisture rathe
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Appliantology Brethrens!
I'm thankful to be part of a community of such sharp techs who are always willing to help each other out. Here's hoping you're popping open a cold one with the family and enjoying the things that matter most.
What do you do when a seemingly simple problem stumps you? Well, it's times like that when it's essential to have a structured troubleshooting strategy like the Samurai's Ten-Step Tango.
What is the Ten-Step Tango and how do you use it? That's exactly what we're going to teach you all about in this webinar recording, using a real-life example from here at Appliantology: an LG electric wall oven that won't heat. Strange as it may seem for such a simple problem, most techs would troubleshoot
How are we as techs supposed to understand the specifications we see on a split-phase motor's label? What's the difference between a motor's output power and its input power, and which of those specs is given on the label? What do acronyms like FLA and LRA mean? All that and more covered in this short video on motor specifications.
This is just a short excerpt from the great technical discussions we have every other Saturday during our Live Dojo Workshops. If you're not joining us for these
We had some fun in this Live Dojo Workshop! We went beyond the screen into the big, scary Real World and showed off live a few things about BLDC fan motors, including:
BLDC fan motor wire color conventions
Expected readings on PWM and RPM feedback lines
Simulating a PWM signal
Identifying failed speed sensor
...and more! Click below to watch the workshop recording -- viewable only by premium tech members.
If you're an Appliantology tech member and y
Schematics and wiring diagrams -- two different kinds of service documents that seem similar, but actually serve completely different purposes. One of them is essential to any electrical troubleshooting and should be consulted on every service call, while the other has much more niche applications. But which is which, and how do you tell them apart?
That's what we explore in this workshop, which is an excerpt of the discussion from one of our latest Live Dojo workshops. In it, we go through
When it comes to switches in appliances, it's hard to think of one more ubiquitous than the relay. It can be used with and without a control board, and it allows a small voltage to control a much larger voltage. But what exactly does that mean, and how do they do that? And what about triacs, the relay's solid-state cousin?
We cover both of these devices, including how they work and how to troubleshoot them, in detail in this excerpt from one of our recent Live Dojo workshops. Give it a watc
What do you do when even the service manual can't be trusted?
In this video, we discuss how to deal with bad or missing information in all kinds of tech docs -- service manuals, tech sheets, schematics, you name it. Topics covered include:
Pin numbering discrepancies
Reconciling pinouts with schematics
Identifying power supplies
Recognizing incoherent specs
What are dummy directions?
..and more!
You can watch this one right now for free! We've
The current usage of “Black Friday” came from retailers celebrating the time of year they finally turned a profit.
Master Samurai Tech and Appliantology help service techs and companies to be profitable year ’round!
We’re celebrating Thanksgiving and repair excellence with a Black Friday discount.
Get 10% off everything. It’s never been a better time to enroll in a new course or renew your membership.
What do we mean by everything? Well, everything, which means:
Appli
Reading timer charts may just seem like an old-skool skill for a bygone era of appliances, but there are still plenty of these old workhorses around that need troubleshooting. Plus, analyzing these circuits teaches you a lot of schematic mojo that is useful in all areas of appliance repair.
In our latest Live Dojo workshop, we worked through how to read this timer chart and schematic in harmony with each other. You can't understand the schematic without the timer chart, and vice versa. Topi
In this interactive webinar workshop, we explored an LG gas dryer issue that had stumped an Appliantology tech. We performed a forensic analysis on the troubleshoot to figure out how it could have been improved, and then we moved on to thoroughly examine the circuits and understand how they work.
This and our dozens of other technical training webinar recordings are only viewable by premium tech members at Appliantology.
Topics covered include...
DC and AC loads
Compute
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us on Team Samurai!
I'm thankful for a year of Appliantology members keeping each other sharp and preventing us all from devolving into turkey techs. It's due to this fine community that we're not the ones in the oven.. this time.
Here's to another great year!
What are strip circuits and how do you read them? What purpose do they serve in troubleshooting? Are they better than normal schematics, worse, or just different?
That's what we explore in this workshop, which is an excerpt of the discussion from one of our latest Live Dojo workshops. Parallel to that, it also acts as something of a part 2 to our previous workshop on DC terminology. These schematics that we show have a number of esoteric and straight up confusing DC terminology, but don't w
Merry Christmas from Team Samurai! Here's wishing you a joyous and peaceful holiday with all of your friends and family. And after that, lots and lots of kicking appliance bootay in the new year.
Need help with your very, very last minute gift shopping? This might help you out. (Weren't appliance ads just the best back in the day?)
Timer charts may be for old-skool appliances with mechanical timers, but there are still plenty of old-skool appliances knocking around, so reading timer charts remains a vital troubleshooting skill.
That's exactly what we cover in this workshop: how to cohere the timer chart and the schematic, reading them in tandem. Kind of like they're dance partners in the Timer Chart Cha-Cha!
Topics covered in this workshop include:
How to decipher the rows and columns on a timer chart
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By Samurai Appliance Repair Man in Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Blog1 comment