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Top content from across the community, hand-picked by us.
Appliantology Live Dojo, Saturday, 1/18/2025 @10 AM ET
Son of Samurai posted an event in Tech Training,
All Appliantology tech members are invited to join in the conversation for all things Appliantological: bidness, customers, tools, troubleshooting, flavorite brewski, whatever. Webcams and microphones are open and live!
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Avoid These 4 Mistakes When Troubleshooting a Dead Appliance
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
In this video, we're going to explore a real service call and analyze the troubleshooting techniques the tech used and figure out how he can structure his call better next time. You'll have to watch it to find out exactly how the call went down, and what the problem turned out to be, but let's go through the four mistakes that were made in the initial troubleshoot...
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Don't Let This Frigidaire Oven Booby Trap Get You
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
Frigidaire has left a booby trap in the form of an RTD with unique specs in some of their ovens. What's more, this difference isn't even properly reflected in some of their tech sheets. They've got incorrect specs!
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Wire Piercing Probes in Action - Locating breaks in Whirlpool SxS Lower Hinge Wiring
Rhubarb Tau posted a blog entry in Rhubarb Tau's Sloggy Vlog Blog Bog,
I made a video the other day on a callback for broken lower hinge wiring on a Kitchenaid SxS. Earlier in the week I had spliced all of the breaks I could find, found two wires with multiple breaks along their length, some concealed inside unbroken insulation, advised the customer that it was a temporary fix, and was relieved when the icemaker finally passed its harvest test.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
WPL Direct Drive “burning smell”
Koi Guy posted a blog entry in Koi Guy's Amazing Compendium of Timeless Appliantological Wisdom,
Every now and then I’ll run across this. The complaint is the customer smells burning- possibly rubber or electrical. The machine works fine.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Using Schematics and Wiring Diagrams to Figure out Why the Lights Won't Turn Off on this GE Wall Oven
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
At one of our recent Live Dojo workshops, a tech shared an interesting problem he had encountered.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
R600a starter kit
Koi Guy posted a blog entry in Koi Guy's Amazing Compendium of Timeless Appliantological Wisdom,
About a year ago I was ready to start learning R600a systems. Watched all the vids and decided I was ready to buy.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
[Free Full Video] Learn the Secrets of Whirlpool's Hybrid Heat Pump Dryer...
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
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?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
How to Decipher Schematics like a Pro!
Samurai Appliance Repair Man posted a blog entry in Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Blog,
In this journey to Total Appliance Enlightenment™ in a Live Dojo workshop, we worked on a real-world problem on a Kitchenaid refrigerator posted at Appliantology. We were interested in how the defrost timer motor gets Line and Neutral in both defrost and run modes. Turns out that doing so required that we also understand the rest of the circuit, including the dumbed "PC board". But how? That's what we show you!
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
WPL Ceiling Mount IM hack
Koi Guy posted a blog entry in Koi Guy's Amazing Compendium of Timeless Appliantological Wisdom,
I’ve seen lots of the WPL build units with the ice maker in the ceiling that get a condition where the fill tube freezes up. I’ve been working on a hack for this and I think I have it dialed in.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
WPL dryer timer- intermittent heat
Koi Guy posted a blog entry in Koi Guy's Amazing Compendium of Timeless Appliantological Wisdom,
As you’ve probably seen, the new Whirlpool dryer timers have not been very robust and are prone to several failures. These failures include: no heat, intermittent heat, not advancing the cycle, and not ending the cycle. Here's what I found on a recent service call.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Microwave Madness and Meter Category Demystification Double Feature
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
This microwave will run with the door open -- lucky for the customer, it also doesn't heat. But why is the turntable able to run with the door open? What do you do when a circuit doesn't work at all the way it's supposed to?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Read Timer Charts with Certainty Using the Timer Chart Cha-Cha
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
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.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
How to Troubleshoot Control Boards with Confidence
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
When a control board doesn't seem to behave the way it's supposed to, does that mean it's always time to replace the board? How do you avoid the dreaded callbacks on service calls where you replaced the board because you had no idea what else to replace? Is there a way to reliably troubleshoot computer-controlled appliances and avoid guesswork when it comes to the control board?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Functional Understanding of Circuits: the Key to Reading Unclear Schematics
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
Got a fun exercise for you today: let's use our electrical and schematic know-how to figure out how a circuit works in a schematic that leaves out a lot of useful labelling.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,![[Video] Demystifying Strip Circuits and Confusing DC Terminology](https://appliantology.org/uploads/monthly_2023_10/image.png.76bde7d86caa83db04f32d7678e5f09c.png)
[Video] Demystifying Strip Circuits and Confusing DC Terminology
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
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?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,![[Video] How to Never Get Tripped Up By DC Terminology in Schematics Again](https://appliantology.org/uploads/monthly_2023_09/Screenshot2023-09-19110218.png.d6cbd67341b51774b8187e759f860c02.png)
[Video] How to Never Get Tripped Up By DC Terminology in Schematics Again
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
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.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Quick Tips on How to Troubleshoot Relays, Triacs, and Diodes
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
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?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Schematics vs. Wiring Diagrams -- Do You Know the Difference?
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
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?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,![[Video] How to Use a Loading Meter to Identify Ghost Voltage AND Watch the Samurai Electrocute Himself!](https://appliantology.org/uploads/monthly_2019_11/PMS_MST_07092014.png.9bd5211981cdf4fd58b2c4c143abe48e.png)
[Video] How to Use a Loading Meter to Identify Ghost Voltage AND Watch the Samurai Electrocute Himself!
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
Ghost voltage has misled many a green tech during his troubleshooting. How are you supposed to interpret it when the VAC function of your meter tells you that you have 108 volts going to a load? Is your voltage supply bad? Or are you perhaps simply missing your Neutral?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
How Do the High-Voltage Circuit and Magnetron in a Microwave Work?
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
We're going to take a dive into what exactly is going on electrically with the high-voltage circuit in a microwave. We'll use this specific schematic as an example, but these principles apply generally.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Motor Specs Demystified -- and More Sizzling Live Dojo Workshop Discussions!
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
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.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
How to Identify DC Power Supplies in Appliance Schematics
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
While all appliances use the same fundamental technology, their manufacturers often talk about them using different terms. Let's talk about DC power supplies and how not to get tripped up by the different terminology used there.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
How to Catch Loading Down in DC Power Supplies Before It Catches You
Son of Samurai posted a blog entry in Appliance Repair Tech Tips,
Loading down is a failure scenario unique to DC power supplies, and if you don't know what to look for, it can leave you scratching your head and eating some expensive parts. How do you identify that you have a potential loading down scenario, and what steps can you take to verify that? That's exactly what we cover in this Master Samurai Tech Workshop.
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man,
Master Samurai Tech Radio, Episode 29: Appliance Repair Triage Tools or Dummy Directions?
Samurai Appliance Repair Man posted a blog entry in Samurai Appliance Repair Man's Blog,
Triage tools for appliance repair service calls are all the rage today. Whether based on a frequent parts replacement database or more sophisticated database queries and constructs using AI, there's lots of talk about these products. Team Samurai weighs in on this topic to discuss the proper and improper use of these tools.
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