Picked up a Fieldpiece scale off Facebook Marketplace last month after my old one started giving wrong readings on a 410A system. It was crusty but cleaned up fine and has been dead on for 12 calls since. Anyone else ever get burned by a bad scale reading or am I the only one who cheaped out on a used one?
Had a call last week from a lady in Phoenix whose ice cream was all mushy. Checked the seal on her Whirlpool freezer and it looked perfect no cracks or gaps. But I ran my finger along the bottom edge and felt a tiny bit of cold air. Turns out the magnet strip inside was shot. Replaced the gasket and bam 0 degrees again. Anybody else run into seals that look good but are actually failing?
Compressor went out on a Wednesday, repair shop quoted me $650 for a new one plus labor, but a basic replacement fridge runs $800. Anyone else stuck deciding between fixing a known unit or just tossing it for something new?
Ngl I didn't even keep count until a coworker mentioned it at lunch. That number felt wild since I started out ruining two units my first month alone. Anyone else track random stats like this or is it just me?
Had a 20 minute talk with a C-Store refrigeration tech at a parts counter last Tuesday about those little Hoshizaki float switches getting sludged up, and he showed me a better way to clean them with a spray bottle of hot water. Anyone else get stuck on these things more than you'd expect?
I bought a supposedly universal drain pump for $28 on eBay to fix a customer's Whirlpool. Bad move. It didn't fit the mounting bracket and the flow direction was backwards. I spent an extra hour trying to get it to work before giving up. Ended up ordering the OEM part from a supplier in Austin for $65. Total waste of $28 and a whole afternoon. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way with aftermarket parts?
I was working on a Whirlpool dryer last Tuesday where the high-limit thermostat kept reading open even though it was fine. After wasting 20 minutes testing around it, I tried heating the thermostat with a heat gun for about 10 seconds before testing continuity. It closed right up and confirmed it was good, so I moved on to find the real issue was a clogged vent elbow. Has anyone else used heat to get a more accurate reading on these things without pulling them out?
I was swapping a compressor on a 10 year old fridge in St. Louis last Tuesday. The homeowner was right there, and I got into a debate with my helper about Copeland vs. Tecumseh reliability. She heard us going back and forth, got nervous about quality, and canceled the repair. So here's the debate: do you keep shop talk quiet around customers, or is it fine to discuss pros and cons openly? Has anyone else lost a job because of a casual argument?
That stuck with me because I just replaced a compressor on a 2 year old fridge last month and now I'm wondering if I should have checked the start relay more carefully first, has anyone else wasted time swapping a compressor when it was just the relay?
Last Wednesday in Phoenix I had back-to-back calls where every dryer turned out to be a simple blown thermal fuse, so I had each one done in under 20 minutes. The homeowners were so relieved and one even tipped me 40 bucks cash on the spot. Has anyone else had a day where everything just clicked like that?
Fixed one at a client's house in Denver last Tuesday. The ice maker stopped making cubes, had to replace the whole assembly. Cost them $220 in parts alone. Anybody else seeing these Samsung ice makers fail way too fast?
Picked the OEM part even though it cost $45 more. The aftermarket one I tried first was dead out of the box and I wasted an afternoon installing it. Anyone else just pay the premium now to avoid that hassle?
For like 5 years I'd always just swap out the whole start relay when a fridge wouldn't kick on, never even checked the PTC or overload. Last month this retired repairman watched me toss a good relay in the trash and showed me how to test each part with a multimeter right there on the counter. Anyone else been replacing parts they didn't actually need to replace?
Was digging through some GE service bulletins last night and saw a stat that blew my mind - something like 60% of ice maker no-ice calls are actually just clogged filters, not the machine itself. I had a job last Tuesday where the customer swore the auger motor was dead, swapped the filter for $12 and it worked perfect. Has anyone else noticed how many calls you can save just by checking the filter first?
Was working on a fridge in my shop last Tuesday and stripped a terminal nut clean off, then it hit me I'd been cranking them down like lug nuts this whole time. How do you guys torque terminal connections without snapping something?
Customer in Maple Ridge said it just stopped mid-cycle and the display went dead. Pulled the board and found a burnt spot near the relay, but this model's only three years old. Anyone else seeing these boards fail way too early on newer Bosch units?
Last Tuesday I got a call about a dryer taking forever to dry. I pulled the vent cover outside and barely any air came through. So I dug out my drill and the brush kit I got from a supply house in Nashville about 3 years ago. After running it through I pulled out a wad of lint the size of a football. Made me wonder how many of these jobs I've been overcomplicating when just cleaning the vent line would solve it. Anyone else find simple fixes like this getting pushed aside for replacing parts?
Had a lady call me back twice last month because her Whirlpool was still humming after I replaced the condenser fan. She said it sounded like a swarm of bees lol. Went back and checked my work, turns out the mounting bracket had a tiny crack I didn't spot on the first visit. Now I always run the unit for 10 minutes after any fan swap and listen with a stethoscope. Anyone else add extra testing steps after getting burned by something dumb like that?
I was reading through a tech manual from 1987 last night and it mentioned using a 20k ohm resistor instead of my usual screwdriver short method. Tried it this morning on a dead fridge compressor start cap in a KitchenAid and the discharge was way smoother with no spark. Has anyone else switched to resistor-based discharge and noticed less damage to the capacitor terminals?
I always thought the $15 multimeters from Harbor Freight were good enough for basic checks. But after chasing a ghost voltage issue on a Whirlpool washer for 3 hours last Tuesday, I borrowed a Fluke from a buddy and found the real problem in 5 minutes. Anyone else find cheap meters lead you down the wrong path?
Swapped out a dead main board on a 2018 LG French door, got everything running, then the ice maker refused to cycle. Checked voltages, harnesses, and the door switch for two and a half hours before noticing a tiny piece of styrofoam blocking the ice maker's shutoff arm. Anybody else spent way too long on a stupid simple fix like that?
Was working on a Samsung fridge in a tight kitchen in Philly last month. Couldn't get to the compressor without pulling the whole unit out. This 60 year old guy walks by, sees me struggling, and shows me how to zip tie the condenser fan blade to hold it while I work. Saved me 30 minutes. Has anyone else got a random hack from a random person on a job?
I did 3 service calls last week where people complained their clothes took 2 hours to dry. Pulled the vent hose and it was basically solid with lint 6 inches deep. One lady said her dryer was making a weird noise - that was the blower wheel trying to throw itself through the housing. A standard 4 inch vent should flow like a straw, not a clogged artery. How often do you guys actually check the full run vs just cleaning the lint trap?
I used to just swap control boards when a Samsung fridge threw a 22E code. Wasted $300 on a board that wasn't even bad. Changed my ways after a guy in Toledo showed me the multimeter trick. Now I check the door switch and evaporator fan every time before ordering anything. Anyone else had luck testing before replacing on this model?
I saw a stat from an old repair manual I dug out of my truck that said 9 out of 10 compressor burnouts come from clogged coils, and now I'm spending an extra 5 minutes on every call cleaning them instead of just swapping the part-anyone else notice that makes a difference?