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I've been working with appliance techs online for over 20 years. One of the biggest changes I've seen in the tech community during that time is a steady decline in competence in troubleshooting electrical circuits. It's to the point today that many techs don't even know what real troubleshooting is or looks like. A common misunderstanding is that pattern recognition and parts changing are what constitute "troubleshooting." Real troubleshooting starts with a succinct problem statement that answers one or both of these questions: 1) What is the appliance doing that it should NOT be doing? 2) What is the appliance NOT doing that it SHOULD be doing? Using the problem statement and the schematic, a skilled technician will identify the load of interest (LOI), analyze the LOI power supply circuit, and then proceed to kick some appliance ass. I've codified this analytical troubleshooting technique into the Ten-Step Tango™ Troubleshooting Method. I've posted multiple webinar recordings demonstrating the Ten-Step Tango™ on various appliances, from simple to complex, from wall ovens to refrigerators and everything in between. Today, I want to call your attention to just three of these. In these three enlightening webinar recordings at Appliantology, each about an hour and a half long, the Samurai unveils the secrets of his own troubleshooting technique: The Ten-Step Tango™. In ten clear, easy to follow steps, you'll learn how to apply this structured troubleshooting procedure to diagnose ANY electrical problem, whether it's an appliance, home solar power system, or anything else electrical. And you'll troubleshoot it with precision and competence. No more guessing and hoping to get lucky. If you're a premium tech member at Appliantology (Professional Appliantologist, Appliantology Fellow, or Master Samurai Tech Alumnus), you can watch these webinar recordings at Appliantology on-demand, 24/7. Access to videos like these are one of the many perks of a Professional Appliantologist membership at Appliantology. You can become one today by clicking here. Reminder: Students and Alumni of the Master Samurai Tech Academy are eligible for a FREE premium tech membership at Appliantology-- see this page for more info. This first video walks you through the Ten-Step Tango™, then shows how to apply it by working through several scenarios based on real-life service calls. This next video gets into some more advanced troubleshooting kata with even more exercises. If you hadn't quite gotten the hang of the Ten-Step Tango™ in the last video, this one will really lock it in for you. Without a solid troubleshooting plan and schematic know-how, the refrigerator problems in this video might have made a parts-changing monkey out of you! Luckily, you've got the Ten Step Tango™ on your side. You'll find all three parts of this webinar series here on the webinar recordings index page at Appliantology. Beyond that, there's over 30 different videos -- that's over 40 hours of content -- all covering fundamental appliance troubleshooting and technology. The knowledge in this treasure trove will serve you well, no matter what kinds of appliances you service, because at Master Samurai Tech, we teach the fundamental technologies that are common to all appliances. Learn more, earn more.

Troubleshooting is the big missing skill among appliance techs today. In fact, many techs don’t even know what troubleshooting is and mistake pattern recognition and factoids for real troubleshooting. Classical troubleshooting is a structured and scientific method for thinking and solving appliance problems. There is a method to the madness! The Master Samurai Tech troubleshooting method is called the Ten Step Tango (TST). There are specific dance steps to troubleshooting, and we teach them to anyone who wants to learn. As an introduction to the TST, we’re offering a free short course to the entire appliance tech community where techs can quickly learn the TST troubleshooting procedure and immediately start benefitting from this skill on service calls. The TST short course uses a real-world, modern refrigerator (dual evaporator, computer-controlled) case study to lead you through each of the ten steps in the TST to troubleshoot and solve the problem. To get started, just register a free account at the Master Samurai Tech Academy, and you'll see the “Ten Step Tango Troubleshooting Procedure Case Study” listed as one of your free courses available to you on your login welcome page. If you're already registered at the Academy, just log in as usual and you'll see the course on your login welcome page. You'll also be able to take our other free courses: Appliantology 101 and Internetology. All our free courses are short and fun to do. So have fun, dammit!

Troubleshooting is the big missing skill among appliance techs today. This is the skill that distinguishes parts changing monkeys (PCMs) from Master Samurai Techs. It's the difference between a drunken street brawler making monkey jabs versus a trained MMA fighter making kill shots. PCMs will thrash about wildly, monkey-jabbing at components hoping to get lucky and usually end up getting their asses kicked. Anyone can monkey jab and the sad truth is that this is the dominant practice of the appliance repair trade today. It doesn't have to be that way. Anyone who wants to can learn how to make kill strikes like a Master Samurai Tech. Master Samurai Techs don't rely on luck. They have a plan of attack, a strategy. They deploy precision kill strikes that have been honed in the Dojo-- training at the Master Samurai Tech Academy and in the Office Hours webinars-- and systematically dominate the appliance. Whether you're troubleshooting a simple GE dryer with just a mechanical timer or a Sub-Zero refrigerator with a microcomputer board, multiple sub boards and two different compressor technologies, the troubleshooting procedure is the same. That's the Ten-Step Tango: a structured, disciplined procedure for solving problems. In our Office Hours webinars, we've begun a series of workshops on the Ten-Step Tango, applying it to different troubleshooting scenarios on real-world appliances. We started off by introducing the Ten-Step Tango procedure and then applied it to simple appliances (no control boards, just mechanical controls, like timers). Then, in the next workshop, we kicked it up a notch and troubleshot appliances with multiple control boards, digital communications, hoodoo, voodoo, and all kinda weird stuff. The workshop webinar recordings, along with all the other Office Hours webinar recordings, are available for Professional Appliantologists and Master Samurai Tech Academy students to watch at the links below: Master Samurai Tech Academy Students: http://mastersamuraitech.com/webinar-recordings/ Mr. Appliance® Academy Bundle 1 Students: http://mrappliance.mastersamuraitech.com/appliance-repair-course-support/student-forums/forum/webinar-recordings/ Professional Appliantologists: https://appliantology.org/topic/58003-webinar-recordings-index-page/ The next workshop will be in January 2017 and will be announced here at Appliantology as well as in the MST-Appliantology newsletter.