My 2008 Whirlpool Duet board swap took 45 minutes, now these new machines eat up 2 hours
I started fixing washers back in 2007 in my uncle's shop in Toledo and back then a control board on a Duet was 3 screws and 2 harness plugs, done in under an hour. Last week I did a board on a 2022 top load and it took me almost 2 hours because you gotta pull the whole console apart, fight 6 tiny clips that snap if you look at them wrong, and then run a calibration cycle that hangs for 10 minutes. I mean the old boards were simpler but at least you could get to them. Now everything is packed so tight you need a trim tool just to pop the top. The part cost went from like $140 to $260 too, which customers always think I'm making up. Maybe it's just me but the trade got harder for the same money. How are you all handling the calibration steps on these newer boards, is there a shortcut I'm missing?
I used to roll my eyes when techs complained about the newer stuff, figured they just needed more practice. Then I swapped a board on a 2021 Maytag last month and spent 20 minutes just getting the console clips to let go without cracking them. I was wrong, the job really did get more annoying for the same pay.