Household Appliance Maintenance: Share Your Successes and Failures

[aaluck]

I have had success with a dryer heating element, a couple of ice makers and a 55 and 75 inch Samsung TV--that break just as easy. These new TVs are surprisingly easy to fix.

 

[Oil pan 4]

An HVAC buddy helped me install a new gas furnace in the year 2000. About 5-6 years ago during the winter the furnace gas valve started to sometimes stick in the closed position. I would notice the drop in the room temperature, check to make sure the thermostat was calling for heat, etc. Tapping the gas valve with a screwdriver handle would let it open and function normally for few weeks. The wife insisted I call a heating contractor to get it "professionally" fixed. It's a good quality furnace, lifetime heat exchanger, etc.

The contractor came out to have a look after I had told him I just need the gas valve replaced. He noted the age of the furnace and said I should replace it. (It did not need replacing, only a new gas valve!) I told him I know it's just a bad gas valve and can you replace it and when. He said he'd see if he could even get one and get an estimate for me and I shouldn't be tapping the gas valve meanwhile. A few days later, he came with a $3000 estimate for a new furnace install. Didn't want to just replace the valve, if he could even find one. (Adios, to that contractor!)

I went online and quickly found a new replacement gas valve delivered for about $70. I also bought a digital manometer to set it up. For under a $100 I installed, tested and set up the new gas valve and it's been working fine since! those digital manometers sure beat using the old "U shaped" tube & water setup for adjusting the gas pressures.

The hvac guy wanted your furnace. Probably thought he could con you into buying a new one for $3,000 and them sell your old one as a used furnace for $1,000.

 

[RCW]

It’s alive!!

Idler pulley on dryer belt seized.

Pretty much have to tear everything down. Had two side panels and the back left. Lot of you guys probably have had to do similar repair.

Repair kit with new drive belt and all 5 rollers and pulley was $65. I call that a win…. sort of….

Tension arm, pulley and belt are universal, but there’s very, very few parts still available for this dryer.

It’s only 14 years old……

 

[Chanceywd]

Deer season I have a refrigerator in the basement I use to put the quartered deer in and then Wife and I process over a couple days. Well I plugged it in the day I got one and it wasn't cooling in ref but the freezer was. So I see it was the evap fan. I Had a spare evap and condenser fans for kitchen one, but the fan was a little different and shaft was longer. I checked and it would fit in the mount and plug in. So a couple seconds with a cut off wheel and slide the fan blade on. plugged it in and cooling.
So I went back to the internet and re-ordered the spare fan and an exact one for the basement one.
I try to keep spare parts for the appliances on hand and it definitely paid off this time.

In the tractor department I have some hydraulic hoses and a box of adapter fittings so I can fix one right away with even if it is too long or the wrong sizeI can get them back to the garage until I can get the correct one

Bill

 

[RCW]

Deer season I have a refrigerator in the basement I use to put the quartered deer in and then Wife and I process over a couple days. Well I plugged it in the day I got one and it wasn't cooling in ref but the freezer was. So I see it was the evap fan. I Had a spare evap and condenser fans for kitchen one, but the fan was a little different and shaft was longer. I checked and it would fit in the mount and plug in. So a couple seconds with a cut off wheel and slide the fan blade on. plugged it in and cooling.
So I went back to the internet and re-ordered the spare fan and an exact one for the basement one.
I try to keep spare parts for the appliances on hand and it definitely paid off this time.

In the tractor department I have some hydraulic hoses and a box of adapter fittings so I can fix one right away with even if it is too long or the wrong sizeI can get them back to the garage until I can get the correct one

Bill

Bill - I’ve gotten so I do the same for the pellet stove. It’s our primary heat. Have both blowers, circuit board and a couple other parts just in case.

Heck, a while back I could have built a pellet stove if I had the panels and a burn pot…

I always have spare filters and fluids for the tractor.

Reminds me I need to check shear pins for the snowblower…..especially with the weather you and I have coming…

 

[Chanceywd]

Bill - I’ve gotten so I do the same for the pellet stove. It’s our primary heat. Have both blowers, circuit board and a couple other parts just in case.

Heck, a while back I could have built a pellet stove if I had the panels and a burn pot…

I always have spare filters and fluids for the tractor.

Reminds me I need to check shear pins for the snowblower…..especially with the weather you and I have coming…

I replaced my washer and dryer just about a year ago with a front loader pair. So all my spare parts I had for the whirlpool toploader probably won't work. That was over 20 years old. I need to start a list and get some for them.

Bill

 

[GreensvilleJay]

When you see the price for new door seals and the MOLD leaky ones cause, you'll really,really wish you'd KEPT the top loaders.

 

[Chanceywd]

When you see the price for new door seals and the MOLD leaky ones cause, you'll really,really wish you'd KEPT the top loaders.

I hear you Jay, I looked at a lot of top loaders and they have eliminated the agitator on a lot of them and they had terrible reviews. My wife is under 5' and it is difficult for her to reach down in the new ones. So we took a chance and got an Electrolux pair. they had decent reviews. There is a cleaning cycle it has and I try to cycle that every week or so. It also has a steam cycle I want to look at further as I wonder if that would affect the mold potential if that was used.

I found that there is a lot of difference between the washers and all the green things being pushed that they use low water levels in the top loaders too.

Kind of like trying to avoid the different smog systems on Diesel tractors and why I chose a L2501.

We used to have great appliance and furniture store here but when lowes and home depot came in the area they called it quits So we have to deal with that too. They had parts and service at Wernicks Something the box stores lack.

Bill

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Take a clean,white rag and run it INSIDE the door seal 'lip' on the inside. Just gently lift the seal to get the rag in there...THAT is where the nasty mold can live.
Friend had one ,junked it as the bearing on the drum at the back was SHOT after 4-5 years. OK, bearing $$$ was available but NOT the bearing 'holder/drum support bracket' !!!!

My current top loader does have agitator AND a 'suds saver' feature. yeah, it's THAT old......
I've also got a spare electric dryer...just in case..... it's 20+ years old.....

It is sad that 'white goods' are built so shabby.

 

[RCW]

We used to have great appliance and furniture store here but when lowes and home depot came in the area they called it quits So we have to deal with that too. They had parts and service at Wernicks Something the box stores lack.

Bill

Bill - - I think our first kitchen table, stove, and washer/dryer all came from Wernicks on Homer Ave. First place my family always went. Can't guess how much stuff we bought there over the years.

It is sad that 'white goods' are built so shabby.

So true. internally, these things are very lightly built. Amazed me that nearly all parts for that dryer are no longer available (NLA).

 

[GreensvilleJay]

If you step back and think about it, nobody builds ANYTHING to last. If they did, they'd make one batch and be OUT of business. Be it 'white goods', cars, computers, TVs,houses virtually everything is designed to fail and be replaced. I bet there aren't many here who are still driving their ride from 1997, using they're first 'smart device', in their first house ?? Pretty sure 'they' only make enough parts for 2-3 batches ,then onto the next 'new' model, with all new parts of course....

 

[Pawnee]

If you step back and think about it, nobody builds ANYTHING to last. If they did, they'd make one batch and be OUT of business. Be it 'white goods', cars, computers, TVs,houses virtually everything is designed to fail and be replaced. I bet there aren't many here who are still driving their ride from 1997, using they're first 'smart device', in their first house ?? Pretty sure 'they' only make enough parts for 2-3 batches ,then onto the next 'new' model, with all new parts of course....

I think you are right that nobody builds home appliances to last but they used to.

I don't have a 1997 ride but my bike from 1996 still runs like a new one (192,723Km). Sure I've repaired it many times, sometimes with re-engineered parts that were design errors I guess.

Still in the passive solar house I built in 1981. Repaired it a bunch of times as well but that is to be expected.

I've gone through a few TVs that resisted repair attempts, the flat screens are amazing but they don't last forever.

I'm typing on a Lenovo T400 which I believe is 13 years old. It was starting to get stupid slow until I switched to Linux, now it's faster than my wife's Win10 laptop.

I know you're just ranting Jay, you fix lots of stuff just like I do. Certainly the appliance situation is a sad one but even with those there is often a way around the problem.

 

[Fordtech86]

I bet there aren't many here who are still driving their ride from 1997,

My daily driver is the first car my wife bought when we started dating, 2005 focus, around 210,000 miles. Current truck is 05 Super Duty, 230,000 miles, I bought it as soon as it was traded in and it had 170-180,000 miles on it at the time. Not looking to replace either one any time soon . Not 97s but to be fair I was 11 in 1997 .

 

[johnjk]

Had a hot water tank that would not heat. Would start the cycle and then kick off. Called a repair guy and they wanted to do a new burner and valve for a couple hundred. Did some research and found that the flame sensor would move away from the burner due to the heat cycles and the metal bending. Found that a nickel was the right gap to get it working again. Kept that heater running for 15 years before the tank gave out. Also kept the neighbors going as well.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

My ride's a '97 F150 reg cab, sht box XLT with 144,000KM on it, in 1st and only house I'll ever own(bougt 1985), next residence is a prepaid small hole in the ground. Gas furnace was 'retired' last December. Even though still 95% efficient, I bought a new one (93% ) in order to get cheap truck insurance ($0.74 /day ) with house package.
I try very hard NOT to support China.

 

[xrocketengineer]

Let me add to this. I have a Maytag washer the uses the following part to drive the tub:
P/N W10396887
Installation Video for Plastic Part

The original part lasted several years. The second part lasted less than a year. The third lasted less than a month. I found out that a metal part from a different model would fit. I got it installed today and it appears to fit and work perfectly:

P/N W10324651
Installation Video for Metal Part

 

[The Evil Twin]

Success story. Modifying the return duct for a better air filter.
Wanted to get better filtration in the new house. The 1" filter is only designed to protect the fan and coil. I hate tin knocking but it was simple enough. To meet the airflow requirements I had to go to a bigger filter. Made a transition from the 17x24" opening in the side of the furnace to 20x25". That took 2 tries to make right. Lol! The filter box was easier. Basically a cube. Tacked a 5‐5/16 track in the top and bottom for a 20x25x5" filter.
Since I added the filter box, I then needed to extend the return duct a little so I could bring it in before the filter. I was found to add a turning vane, but ended up just cutting in a plenum return at the end of the box. That'll help turn the air. Basement isn't finished so it's just a large storage area.

 

[RCW]

We have a bathroom/laundry room project slated this fall.

Will replace washer and dryer as part of it. They’re 15 years old and if had to do several repairs on both.

Washer was leaking a little last night….. appears only while running……hopefully can get by until….

 

[RCW]

Found my washer leak issue. Cracked “billow tub seal.”

Just below where all the detergent and bleach are pumped into the tub. Obviously pretty brittle now.

At $200 with tax and delivery not looking to replace the seal. Looking to replace the washer in a couple months.

Going to try to limp it through.

Thinking about a patch on the “outside” surface you can see.

If I try to pull the billow seal out to patch interior, think it may fall apart.

Wondering if tire/tube patch might work.

Also saw on YouTube someone used JB Weld Instant Epoxy with a homemade rubber patch.

Patch on the outside surface can’t be very thick. Again, just trying to get another couple months…

 

[D2Cat]

Might use Permatex 81158 silicone adhesive sealant. It's good adhesive quality and flexible.