c/appliance-repairers

Took me 8 years to figure out I was checking compressor windings wrong

Started when a Frigidaire fridge kept tripping the breaker. I checked resistance between all three terminals, saw open line on the run winding, and ordered a new compressor. Got the replacement in, same damn reading on the bench, then I noticed the thermal overload was still in the circuit. Took the overload out and it read fine. My old mentor in Phoenix never mentioned disconnecting the relay assembly, and I'd been fooling myself this whole time. Has anyone else gotten burnt by testing through the overload?

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fionam11•13h ago

That one customer who watched me fix their dryer for 2 hours

Had a call last Thursday in Arlington. Old Maytag dryer, no heat. Turned out the thermal fuse and the heating element both were shot. Customer stood right over my shoulder the whole time. Asked a question every 30 seconds. At first I was annoyed. But then he started handing me tools before I asked. Knew the model number off the top of his head. Told me his wife bought it in 1987 and they raised three kids on it. When I finished, he shook my hand and said 'you saved our dryer, not me.' Gave me a $60 tip. Has anyone else had a customer that actually helped instead of hovering?

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lucast81•23h ago

Bought a $80 thermal camera adapter for my phone, best money I've spent in a while

Had a fridge not cooling right last month in my own shop, compressor was kicking on but it was warm. I was about to start swapping parts one by one until someone told me to get one of those FLIR phone attachments. Plugged it in, scanned the condenser coils and saw a hot spot right behind the fan motor, turned out the motor was spinning but the blade was cracked. Cost me $80 on Amazon, probably kept me from wasting $150 on a new control board that wasn't the problem. Has anyone else used one of these to find weird heat issues on sealed systems?

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evan_davis•1d ago

Overheard a guy at the supply house say my multimeter was wasting my time, he was right

I've been doing this for like 9 years now and always used the same clamp meter for everything, even checking a simple continuity on a dryer thermal fuse. Last Tuesday I was at Appliance Parts Plus in Columbus picking up a capacitor and this older tech, maybe 60s, was talking to the counter kid about how he only uses a $15 wiggy for 90% of his calls. I kinda laughed it off at first. But then I had a fridge not cooling this week, compressor was kicking but no cold. I spent 40 minutes chasing a bad start relay with my fancy meter readings. Finally I just swapped the relay with a universal one I had in the van, fixed it. The wiggy would've told me the same thing in 2 minutes. I mean, I'm not throwing my meter away, but I'm definitely grabbing a solenoid tester for quick checks now. Anyone else find they over-complicate the easy stuff sometimes?

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wren230•4d ago

Old timer told me to always replace the belt on a dryer even if it looks fine

Ignored him on a Whirlpool job in Denver last Tuesday and the belt snapped 3 loads later. Had to go back and eat crow. Anybody else learn this the hard way or is it just me?

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jordan_henderson13•4d ago

Walked into a kitchen in Tulsa where the ice maker had been leaking for 3 weeks straight

I was called out to this house where water was pooling under the fridge and the owners just put towels down instead of calling me sooner. Took off the back panel and saw the water line had a pinhole leak right where it bends into the valve. Replaced the line with a braided steel one for $12 and checked the filter housing for cracks while I was back there. Everything held fine after that but it could have killed the compressor if they waited much longer. Anyone else deal with people ignoring small leaks until it gets bad?

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taylor957•5d ago

Debate: When do you call it on a tough diagnosis? I spent 4 hours on a fridge not cooling yesterday - turned out to be a bad start relay all along.

Lucky I didn't swap the compressor. Do you guys keep digging or throw in the towel after 2 hours?

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charles_baker28•5d ago

Tried using a thermal camera for fridge diagnostics, now I'm a believer

I was at a supply house last Tuesday and one of the old timers was raving about using a thermal camera to find failed evaporator fans without tearing apart the freezer. I thought it was overkill, just another gadget. But I borrowed his Flir unit, hit up a noisy Kenmore that was warming up on top. Within 30 seconds I saw the fan wasn't spinning, clear as day. Saved me an hour of pulling panels and checking defrost timers. Has anyone else swapped their multimeter for a thermal cam on tricky sealed system calls?

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taylor_patel•5d ago

A customer called me out for using a putty knife on a dishwasher door seal

Last month I was fixing a leaking dishwasher in Eugene and used a putty knife to pop off the old rubber seal like I always do. The homeowner watched me for a second and said 'you're gonna scratch the porcelain with that.' I hadn't even thought about it before. Any tips for getting those seals off without damaging the door?

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violag80•7d ago

Went from a 45-minute dryer fix to 3 hours thanks to a stripped screw

I had this dryer in Des Moines, you know the one where the drum belt snapped? Normally those are 45 minutes tops, I've done a hundred of them. But this time, someone before me had stripped out one of the front panel screws (probably used a hex bit on a cross-head, ugh). Spent 2 hours drilling it out and retapping the hole, and then another 30 minutes just to get the new belt on because I was so frustrated. Has anyone else run into a simple job that turned into a nightmare over something stupid like that?

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phoenix_martin40•7d ago

That expensive thermal imaging camera for finding fridge leaks was a complete waste of $800

Bought a Flir unit last year thinking it'd help me spot those slow evaporator leaks faster... spent $800 and it's been useless for actual repair work. The camera picks up temp differences fine but by the time I see a cold spot on the wall, the leak's already spread through the insulation. Plus the condensation messes with the readings every time. Anyone else ditch the fancy gear and just go back to soap bubbles and a mirror?

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ericcraig•10d ago

That $150 ultrasonic cleaner I bought for caked-on ice maker parts actually got gunk out I thought was permanent after just one 8-minute cycle

I ran a dirty auger from a 2019 Whirlpool through it and the before and after pictures look like two different parts, has anyone else had luck with those cheaper 6-liter units or did I just get lucky?

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leo_johnson•12d ago

That house fire in Denver last month changed how I check dryers

I got called to a job in Denver last month where a dryer had nearly started a house fire. The owner said they cleaned the lint trap every time, but when I pulled the machine out, the vent pipe was packed solid with lint going back about 6 feet. Nobody ever told them to check the exhaust line behind the dryer. I spent 3 hours cleaning out old lint and replacing a crushed vent hose that was kinked behind the unit. The landlord told me he'd never had anyone look past the trap in 8 years of renting that place. Now I make it a rule to always check the full vent path on every dryer I touch. Has anyone else run into a dryer fire risk that was hiding in a spot most people ignore?

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susan81•13d ago

I finally swapped out a control board on a 10 year old dryer without a schematic

Used to always rely on the wiring diagram glued inside the panel, but last Tuesday I was stuck on a job in the suburbs with a dead board and no diagram. The sticker had faded to almost nothing, so I just matched the wire colors and plug shapes by memory from similar models. It worked on the first try and saved me a trip back to the shop for a new part. Now I realize I need to study more common layouts so I can do this faster next time. Anyone else ever skip the schematic and just wing it based on experience?

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smith.elliot•14d ago

Customer told me my dryer vent cleaning was too rough - changed my whole approach

I had a lady in Maplewood last month yell at me for scratching her vinyl siding while I was pulling the vent cover off. She showed me the marks and I felt terrible, so now I always wrap my tools in electrical tape before I touch any exterior parts. Anyone else had to adjust how they handle delicate trim or siding after getting called out on it?

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felixhenderson•15d ago

Found a trick for getting stripped fridge door hinge screws out

Had a Samsung fridge last week where the bottom door hinge screws were completely stripped. Tried a screw extractor kit from Home Depot for $15 and it just made things worse. Then I remembered an old trick - I jammed a flathead screwdriver in there and tapped it with a hammer to create new threads. Worked on three out of four screws. Anyone else got a go-to method for stripped screws on fridges?

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colethomas•18d ago

Saw a stat yesterday that made me stop mid-repair

I was reading through some old trade journals my mentor left me, and one from 1985 said the average washing machine had 8 moving parts in its transmission. I had a Maytag from that era on my truck and popped the top off to count out of curiosity (you know, for fun), and sure enough it had exactly that. How many of you guys keep any older reference materials around for those weird one-off calls?

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robinp89•20d ago

Spent $150 on a fancy multimeter that couldn't handle a basic fridge compressor

I bought a high-end clamp meter from an online deal last spring because I wanted to be fancy. Took it out on a call for a fridge that wouldn't cool, hooked it up to the compressor start relay, and the thing just blinked errors at me. Turns out it wasn't rated for the inrush current on older compressors, which is basic stuff I should have checked. I wasted a whole afternoon driving back to my truck for my old $40 meter that worked fine. So that $150 is sitting in my toolbox as a lesson learned. Anyone else bought a tool that looked great on paper but failed on the first real job?

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emma_wells83•22d ago

Worst Wednesday ever - blew a compressor in a walk-in at a restaurant downtown

I had a day last month that almost made me quit... was working on a True reach-in at Luigi's Pizza on 5th Street and the compressor went up in smoke when I tried to test the new start relay. Took me 3 hours to find a replacement and the owner was breathing down my neck the whole time. Has anyone else had a job just go completely sideways like that with a customer watching?

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lee689•22d ago

Got told my solder joints looked "like a 5 year old did them" by a veteran tech last month

He showed me how to clean the tip twice as often and use a tiny bit more flux, and now I haven't had a callback on a board repair in 3 weeks, what's your go-to tip for keeping joints clean?

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abby_morgan18•23d ago

DAE have a fridge compressor fail on them mid heatwave last July?

I was in Phoenix fixing a neighbor's unit when the compressor seized up at 115 degrees, leaving me scrambling to swap it out before their frozen goods spoiled, has anyone else dealt with that kind of ambient temp killing a run capacitor?

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jenny_lee•23d ago

Took me 7 years to notice my multimeter was lying to me

I was working on a dryer that kept blowing the thermal fuse and could not figure out why. After swapping the vent, the thermostat, and the heating element twice I finally checked my meter against a known good one. Turned out my meter was reading about 15 ohms higher than actual on the low range. My neighbor Dave who has been repairing appliances for 30 years let me borrow his Fluke and that is when it clicked. Has anyone else had a tool go bad slowly like that where you just never thought to question it?

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the_sean•24d ago

Walked into a customer's house in Phoenix and their fridge was running on a 50-year-old compressor

I'm not kidding, the serial number tag was so faded I had to use a flashlight and a magnifier. Still cooling perfectly. Made me wonder if we're overcomplicating modern fridges with all these circuit boards and sensors. Has anyone else run into ancient appliances that just refuse to die?

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charles836•24d ago

Best week I've had in a while - fixed 3 washing machines in one day

Last Tuesday I somehow hit a perfect streak. First call was a Samsung that just needed a new drain pump, took me 20 minutes. Next was a Whirlpool with a bad lid switch, easy swap. The third one was a tricky LG that kept erroring out, turned out to be a clogged pressure hose. Three jobs before noon and every single one worked on first test. Have you ever had a day where everything just clicks like that?

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paul_ramirez•25d ago

Tried using a shop vac to clear a dryer vent from the outside and almost blew the whole thing apart

So I had a job last month in a 1980s ranch house where the dryer was taking forever. Usually I just pull the machine and clean from inside. But this one had a vent hood I could pop off easy so I figured I'd save time and blow it out from the outside. Hooked up my 5hp shop vac in reverse mode, sealed it against the vent with a rag, and hit go. Man that thing shot lint and debris out the other end like a cannon. But the flex hose between the wall and dryer literally ripped apart at the seam. Homeowner was standing there watching. Had to replace the whole hose and crawl under the house to fish out lint clumps that got pushed into a collapsed section. Never doing that again. Any of you guys had a reverse blowout backfire like that?

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