Household Appliance Maintenance: Share Your Successes and Failures

[bird dogger]

Here's the two solder joints that had let loose. If you zoom in on the picture you can see the circular crack all the way around each pin. The opposite side of those two pins were the screw terminals that the thermostat wires were connected two. (the small black screw terminal block in the previous post)
It was nice to find such an easy fix and have consistent heat in the shop again!!

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Here's the two solder joints that had let loose. If you zoom in on the picture you can see the circular crack all the way around each pin. The opposite side of those two pins were the screw terminals that the thermostat wires were connected two. (the small black screw terminal block in the previous post)
It was nice to find such an easy fix and have consistent heat in the shop again!!
View attachment 74370

I have a garage door opener that, I suspect, has the same issue. Apparently, lead free solder used on newer stuff is more prone to crack. Maybe one of these days I'll fix it so I can try to sell it.
Electrolytic capacitors from China have also sent many items to an early grave.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

One of my real head scratchers was my AC condenser unit. I've had to replace the contactor a couple of times, but this time it was an intermittent problem. I could wiggle the low voltage wire and it would run, like a loose connection. Turned out the light gauge solid wire had broken inside the insulation a few inches from the end.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

that solder -pin failure is common. All boads are 'wave soldered'..think assembly line ,where they travel across a sea of molten solder. Go slow enough to solder big pins, you can damage the little stuff...go too fast, big pins won't solder(too cold). They 'dial in' the speed for kind,just about right'.

 

[Chanceywd]

The saga continues....back to Maytag 'fridge.

Icemaker replacement went fine. Until.....

Started to leak a little water from icemaker couple weeks ago...just a little. Like cubes were melting, just a little now and then.

Long story short, freezer was getting warmer. Fridge was holding at 40F. No sweat. We have another refrigerator in garage, and 2 other freezers out there too..

Our 2-car garage can also act as a large walk-in cooler this time of year.

At first, cleaned coils and reset control board (we've had a few power outages).

I could hear some clicking sounds from unit. Like compressor short-cycling.

After some internet searching, last night ordered new run capacitor ($10) and start relay ($50+). The two plug into each other at compressor...figured replace both at once.....either could cause a similar issue.

Capacitor due here tomorrow 1/29, but relay not until Wednesday 2/2...

Fridge was 50+F after work....OH...FUDGE.....

Boy, I'm hoping that clicking is a bad capacitor and not the relay...It should be a 10 minute fix after it's pulled out and back off......

Hopefully will be fixed by tomorrow afternoon.....fingers crossed.

Defrost timers are another thing that can fail and click. My expirience included one that failed in the defrost point. Before looking at it I figured the start relay or compressor. Sometimes you can rotate the timer manually and get it going until you get a new one.

bill

 

[fried1765]

Yep - - pretty sure we got it. Been running 24 hours now. Didn’t want to declare victory right away….

SO glad that relay came 2-4 days early....

Was literally a 5 minute fix. Took longer to put the friggin’ back cover on….

Offending part(s)----- the gray-colored start relay was the problem. Could smell a little "burnt" after it came out.

Replaced the run capacitor twice, only because it ran with the funky relay for a few hours. For $10...why not?

$70 all in, and that includes an extra capacitor.

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41.1 degrees inside the refrigerator?
That is definitely too warm!
Should be in the 35-38 degree area in my opinion.

 

[RCW]

41.1 degrees inside the refrigerator?
That is definitely too warm!
Should be in the 35-38 degree area in my opinion.

Fear not....I was a Health Inspector for 15 years. Commercial cook for years before that.

That's a $15 non-contact laser thermometer from Harbor Freight. I use it for a bunch of stuff, like the engine of my Kubota when my temperature gauge goes wonky. They're a very handy tool.

if someone here on OTT says their tractor temp gauge reads HOT, first thing many of us will do is to suggest they verify the actual temp with a laser thermometer like that.

Some degree of error when I "zapped" a bottle of Italian Dressing from 3 feet.

First time on a food item. I did disinfect the laser first.

Close enough I was confident it was a "fridge" and "freezer" again.

First 24 hours I also had a cup of water in the refrigerator that I checked with a "good" immersion thermometer.

Temp ran 37-38F. Fridge is set at 38.

I do sincerely appreciate you pointing it out. For some it may not be intuitive.

 

[Henro]

I NEVER buy appliance extended warranties!
No "Car Shield" either!

Me neither. I figure they offer them because they are money makers for them. Not because they help the customer on average in the long run. Granted they do help some people.

I figured that in the long run by turning down all extended warranties I would end up positive. Never to in my memory needed one within the normal time limits.

 

[bird dogger]

First time on a food item. I did disinfect the laser first.

^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[johnjk]

Have a couple. MIL had a 40” Toshiba LCD TV that would not turn on. Offered to take a look but was told to just pick up a new one and bring it over. They pay for bulk haul on trash so being the good SIL, I offered to dispose of it. Took it home and popped the cover off. Visual inspection showed a couple blown capacitors. Ordered up enough to replace all 6 on the power supply for 3.00. That TV ran until we took a lightening strike in 2019. Second was our old hot water heater. Started not wanting to light. New ignition module was integrated with the burner and 200 bucks. Found the service manual and the specs for the flame sensor. Seems that due to multiple ignition cycles the sensor would move too far from the flame and cause it not to light. Distance was the thickness of a nickel. Bent it back and it worked great for a few years until I had to do it again. Last one was the AC failed due to a blown capacitor. BIL is in HVAC. He swung by and showed me where it was. He could get me one in 3 days but it was 97.00. Told me to look on Granger. They had it for 6.00 and available the following morning. Created an account with Granger and ordered up a few. Nice to have on the shelf when the AC dies in August or the neighbors dies and they have the same unit.

 

[woodsy]

Anyone figured out a way to grease a sealed bearing on
a top load washing machine. ? My 15 yr old whirlpool has started to squeal/squeak
after it spins a couple 3 minutes. Have to shut it down, let it rest , start again, repeat.

 

[RCW]

Had to replace icemaker on Maytag (Whirlpool) french door refrigerator again. This is #3.

Last was OEM at ~$180. Thinking about 2 years ago?!? $195 now.....

This time, decided to try some aftermarket. Bought one at $65, and another at $120. So, got 2 for less than 1 OEM.

The $120 version was delivered first and installed.

Didn't work.....dammit... That's what I get for aftermarket....

Pulled back out. Found a connector not-quite-seated....

All's good so far! Easy change, once you figure out how to take it all apart. Found a good youtube video with first change.

"They" say appliances are now 10 years, tops. Fridge is at 13 now....needed some work in time. Our last fridge was over 30 years before I replaced it with this one.

This is the old ice maker.

 

[Chanceywd]

Had to replace icemaker on Maytag (Whirlpool) french door refrigerator again. This is #3.

Last was OEM at ~$180. Thinking about 2 years ago?!? $195 now.....

This time, decided to try some aftermarket. Bought one at $65, and another at $120. So, got 2 for less than 1 OEM.

The $120 version was delivered first and installed.

Didn't work.....dammit... That's what I get for aftermarket....

Pulled back out. Found a connector not-quite-seated....

All's good so far! Easy change, once you figure out how to take it all apart. Found a good youtube video with first change.

"They" say appliances are now 10 years, tops. Fridge is at 13 now....needed some work in time. Our last fridge was over 30 years before I replaced it with this one.

This is the old ice maker.

View attachment 86943

I have a whirlpool side by side that I bought new 25 years ago. So far so good on icemaker! It could use the little flap door where the ice comes out. I did notice a fan noise last year so I bought both FSP fans for it but the noise went away so they are on the shelf waiting. I kept some backup parts from my old whirlpool washer and dryer but the washer died last winter at about 22 years and I replaced with new Electrolux front loader pair so my parts went to zero on them.

Bill

 

[DustyRusty]

Not an appliance, but a bathroom faucet. It was manufactured by American Standard back around 1989 and I bought it in 1990 from memory. The manufacturer's rep that I was dealing with worked with me on complete new bathroom fixtures for the new Master bath. Fast forward a few years, and the polished brass fixtures started looking bad since the clear finish was flaking off. Called American Standard and they sent me new parts that were bad. My mistake was not asking for a completely new fixture. Last week the fixture started to drip, so I called and asked for a replacement cartridge, but was told that it is obsolete. Asked what to do and they said that they would refund my original purchase price if I send the fixture back along with the purchase receipt. I had that and they asked for me to send them a scan of the receipt, which I did. Then came the bad news, it doesn't have a lifetime warranty since I bought it a week before the lifetime warranty went into effect. In 1990 the faucet was about $300, and there are dual sinks, so I will need to find 2 fixtures to replace them. I have searched the internet for hours looking for the original parts but cannot find them anywhere.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Had to replace icemaker on Maytag (Whirlpool) french door refrigerator again. This is #3.

Last was OEM at ~$180. Thinking about 2 years ago?!? $195 now.....

This time, decided to try some aftermarket. Bought one at $65, and another at $120. So, got 2 for less than 1 OEM.

The $120 version was delivered first and installed.

Didn't work.....dammit... That's what I get for aftermarket....

Pulled back out. Found a connector not-quite-seated....

All's good so far! Easy change, once you figure out how to take it all apart. Found a good youtube video with first change.

"They" say appliances are now 10 years, tops. Fridge is at 13 now....needed some work in time. Our last fridge was over 30 years before I replaced it with this one.

This is the old ice maker.

View attachment 86943

I don't know what I'll do when my MonkeyWard goes, 35+ years (R12). Defrost heaters, timer, lost count of ice makers. Last time, I bought a kit for fridges that didn't come equipped, cheaper than just the part. Sold the bucket and water valve on eBay.

 

[JohnDB]

Had a problem with the fridge tripping the house residual current circuit breaker - used an old style isolating transformer to keep it going and read up on all the suggestions for fixing and dire warnings. Fixed it within a few minutes of looking - noticed heat marks on the earth connection on the compressor. Don't know why that was the problem, but tightened the connection and no more tripping.

 

[Fordtech86]

On Sunday the dryer decided it loved life so much, that it never wanted to stop spinning…the motor stayed on constantly, even with the power off, had to unplug it to get it to stop. 2 year old Samsung, was flashing a 3C code.

So I did what any normal millennial like myself would do and hauled it to the road and bought another one.

Just kidding

Went to google, found it was common issue, just replace the control board…boring and $300…

Find it’s just a relay on the control board that is stuck on

Ordered new relay…

gain access to relay

melt the solder and remove

Solder in the new one

plugged it back in and waited for the sparks to start flying

estimated cost to repair

Relay about $15 (Amazon and 2 day delivery)
Hot knife-$20 (not really necessary but made it cleaner cutting the access hole)

Estimated time to repair

3 beers

 

[D2Cat]

That example right there is an example of how you become wealthy over a life time!!

Those expenses add up fast if one is not able to fix, and you have to pay sales taxes on the new items.

 

[GeoHorn]

Sears kitchen oven has electric “pilots” which are ceramic and glow constantly when “on” such as baking, broiling, etc. One day it decided not to light up… meaning the pilots would glow incandescent….but gas never flowed.
I bought a new gas valve and installed it. Nothing changed.
Called the local repairman who informed me it was probably the ceramic pilot-light.
I replied that the pilots worked fine….were just as incandescent as ever.. But he assured me that it was still the problem.
I swapped the broiler pilot with the baking pilot…and HE WAS CORRECT! It lit right up.
I bought aftermarket elements ($20 vs $60) ….installed it and had no further difficulties. Three years now. (Apparently the amount of current actually used by the ceramic pilots is detected before the gas-valve opens. A high-time pilot can look just fine but prevent gas flow.)

Anyone need a generic gas valve..?

 

[Oil pan 4]

Clothes dryers should probably have the lint cleaned out of them every 2 to 5 years depending on how much you use your dryer.
Hot water heaters need to have the scale flushed out periodically. More if it's a gas water heater, more if it's hard water and need the sacrificial anode replaced 1 to 3 years occasionally.