Search the Community

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 wrong with the appliance repair trade today: ignorance combined with arrogance. Robert Love commented, “Why not simply measure for 120 VAC at the evaporator motor. And you could also check the ohms of the motor.” This is a classic PCM and the teaching in the video flew right over his head. I assumed his comments were offered in good faith and so I wanted to help a brother out. I explained that checking voltage at the evap motor required a freezer tear down, which is a huge PITA in this model. Further, it was unnecessary because I could get the same information by doing my testing from the easily accessible control board (two plastic snaps and it drops right down). Also, ohms checking is amateur hour- professional techs rely on volts and amps for diagnostic conclusions as much as possible. Finally, tearing down the freezer to access the evap fan motor would have been totally wasted time and effort because the problem turned out to be the control board anyway. If you watch the video, all this will be obvious to you. My comments were offered in good faith, offering helpful instructions. His reply (which has since been deleted) consisted of instant hostility, ignorant mocking, condescension, and name calling. Like too many "techs", he exhibits the toxic combo of ignorance and arrogance. Rarely do you find people so overly impressed with what little they think they know than among appliance techs with a few years of experience. Maybe it’s because they have no other credentials or accomplishments so their sense of self image and worth are all tied up in fixing broken appliances. Sad, very sad. There’s nothing wrong with ignorance. We’re all ignorant about something. Ignorance is curable with education... unless arrogance gets in the way. And that’s the story with our friend, Robert Love. Sadly, his story is not uncommon among appliance techs with a few years of experience: they know a little, have fixed a few appliances, become impressed with their little nuggets of knowledge and so become untrainable and unteachable. These guys give the trade a bad name, set a poor example for younger techs new to the trade, and make crappy employees for companies looking to hire techs. We just returned from the United Appliance Servicers Association Annual Service Training Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. We had a booth at the trade show and had great conversations with many multi tech appliance company owners looking to hire techs. They, too, were sick of the attitude baggage that comes with many “experienced” techs. Most of them have taken our advice and preferentially hire rookies based on character and then use Master Samurai Tech training to ensure they learn the core concepts and how to troubleshoot. Of course, there are exceptions to this-- not all experienced techs have the attitude and ignorance affliction of our parts changer friend. For example, the technician brethren at Appliantology are helping each other hone their craft and become better at their trade. It’s a mix of rookies and veterans in the trade. We’re all here to both learn and teach. That’s what we do for each other every single day and we do it with civility and humor vs. the snark and snipe that seems so pervasive on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook. Here’s the video that I discussed above:

A recent topic in the tech forums here at Appliantology illustrates perfectly a point I’ve made in the past that replacing components on electronic control boards, rather than replacing the whole board, is a bad idea both for the customer and for the technician. The discussion was about a power supply problem on the main control board in a Kitchenaid KSCS25INSS refrigerator which is NLA. This topic pointed out three specific reasons why replacing components on electronic control boards is in neither the customer’s nor the technician’s best interest In this case, we’re not talking about merely re-soldering a burnt solder connection (which I do often). We’re talking about identifying a visibly damaged component, such as a bulging electrolytic capacitor, spending time to source the replacement component(s), unsoldering the old component(s) and soldering in the new ones. Some techs see this component replacement on electronic boards as the new cash cow. I hope to disabuse you of this notion as well and show you how you are actually losing money when you do this. In this particular case, there is a tech bulletin out about a service kit Whirlpool has released for the replacement board (PN W10823804). As one of the techs, @Rob Fowler, pointed out: In this one statement, Rob neatly points out the three reasons why it is not a good idea to do component replacement on electronic control boards. Let’s break it down: 1. You lose the markup on the replacement kit. A replacement capacitor costs maybe $0.23 or so. How much markup can you charge for a replacement cap? $1.00, maybe? How much can you charge for the entire repair? Service call plus skill fee, maybe $175? On the other hand, the service kit retails for over $350 and the completed job can easily sell for $600. Loser: Technician. 2. The customer misses out the latest engineering improvements in the service kit. Depending on the specific board and service kit in other situations, this may also include upgraded software on the board. The customer gets a much better repair with the latest hardware and software. If all you do is a bandaid repair by replacing a bulged cap, they get neither. In the case of refrigerators, you’re talking about better food preservation, user operability, and reduced chances of food loss. Loser: Customer. 3. The service kit is recommended and supported by the factory; the field repair is not. This means that if there’s a problem with the new service kit during the warranty period (usually a year), the factory will cover it. Both the customer and the technician are protected. Otherwise, the customer is paying for an inferior repair that you, as the tech, are on the hook for. Loser: Customer and technician. Replacing components on electronic control boards sounds sexy to some techs because electronics are mysterious to most of them. Maybe it gives them a sense of knowing more than they actually do. But at the end of the day, it’s the same old Parts Changing Monkey (PCM) game that so many techs today like to play. Replacing a visibly damaged component on an electronic board does not require any troubleshooting skills-- just unsolder the old one and solder in the new one. No complicated schematics and specifications to deal with. No need to understand the technology being used on modern, computer-controlled appliances. Just plug n' chug. In addition to all the foregoing, consider the time spent researching the needed components to buy, placing the order, storing and stocking the parts--- they’re chasing pennies and losing dollars. Learning how to troubleshoot electric circuits is the high income but difficult skill to acquire because you need to learn Ohm's Law, basic circuits, and a disciplined mental troubleshooting approach to problem solving. Low skill techs would rather replace an obviously damaged part than troubleshoot an invisible problem any day. But, as a general rule: high skill = high income. This situation also illustrates the value of being an active tech member at Appliantology and asking the right question when faced with a failed NLA board situation. Instead of asking, “Which component on the board should I replace?” ask, “Is there a service kit available for this board?” You may be asking, "Are there situations where component replacement on boards make sense for both the customer and the technician?" In situations where the board is NLA and there is no service kit available, the answer is another question: what’s your time worth? If you’re slow and you service mostly low-end appliances, maybe you have more time than money. If you’re busy and your business is focused on high-end appliances, you probably don’t have time to waste playing trivial pursuit and replacing caps on boards— too much money to make on the next job. One last thing I want to mention is that we have various contacts with manufacturers and know that they do not like techs doing component replacements on control boards, mostly for Reason 2 listed above. Some techs have a hostile attitude toward manufacturers. I’ve heard techs say juvenile things like, “We have to beat the manufacturers at their own game.” This is an asinine statement and if you listen to such petty-minded people, you will end up playing a chump-change parts changing game and never realize your full potential as a tech. Some manufacturers are aware they need to do a better job communicating with non-warranty techs. This is going to happen and has already started (announcement coming soon-- stay tuned). Some of this is being driven by Right to Repair laws. Meanwhile, your time is better spent improving your troubleshooting skills. Learn how to price your services according to your actual cost of doing business, not what seems “fair.” Finally, set your sights higher than PCM repairs, focusing on high-end and more complicated appliances that require higher skills to repair-- this is the single best way to increase your average repair ticket.

I used to do board level repairs on state of the art computer controlled radar systems where there was real troubleshooting involved with signal generators, digital probes, oscilloscopes, and a fully stocked bench. Yes, you had to understand how electronics circuits work and how to read electronic schematics. I did this all day long for several years in the Navy and with Delta Air Lines. And by the way, almost all the electronic failures in these units were completely invisible— you had to find the problem with skillfully selected electrical measurements. That ain't what we're talking about here with PCM (parts changing monkey) field repairs on electronic control boards. What we're talking about here is PCM stuff- finding visibly burned triacs or bulging capacitors on a board and replacing it. No troubleshooting, just monkey see monkey do. In their shortsightedness, many guys are spending time on this rather than learning how circuits work and how to troubleshoot. And they think that because they can change a bulging cap, they know electronics. The impulse to improve their expertise is good, but this is the wrong application. As I've shown in other posts, board-level repair should be done rarely and only in very particular circumstances. The notion that board repairs can improve your bottom line is also wrong-headed... Question: How often do you run into electronics boards with a visibly failed component and is a good candidate for a field repair (no urethane coating, damage contained to one or two parts, no damage to the chips that store the software program)? Answer: Less than 5% of total call volume. Electric circuit troubleshooting, on the other hand, applies to about 85 to 90% of the total call volume. Put your time into gaining expertise where it’s needed most often. Meanwhile, many techs can’t even tell from the schematic when loads are in series vs parallel. Some of these same techs think that L1 and L2 are in phase with each other and they'll prove it to you by looking at the output of a sound generator on an oscilloscope. This is the depth of understanding about basic electricity that is ubiquitous in the appliance repair trade today. This is where idiocracy meets appliance repair. It’s like this: if you cannot pick up a schematic, read it and understand how electrons shoot through those circuits, troubleshoot problems with your meter and properly interpret what your meter is showing you, then you have no business wasting time learning PCM board repairs. First things first- spend your time learning skills that will serve you on almost every service call you run. Learning how to troubleshoot and think analytically is hard. But the PCM game is easy-- that’s exactly its appeal. This is why field repairs on electronic control boards is the new PCM frontier.