c/appliance-repairers

Just logged my 500th call for a noisy dishwasher and it's almost always the same part

I was looking through my service tickets from the last year and realized I've been called out 500 times specifically for a loud grinding sound during the wash cycle. In 487 of those jobs, it was a worn out wash arm bearing ring letting the arm wobble and hit the rack. The part is like $12 and takes 20 minutes to swap if you know the trick with the locking tab. Has anyone else seen this many, or am I just in a weird pocket of town with old Maytags?

PSA: I used to think the little rubber gasket on a washing machine pump filter was optional, but finding a puddle under a unit I serviced in Phoenix last week proved me wrong.

I swapped the pump but skipped the 50-cent gasket, and the slow leak ruined the customer's new laminate floor, which taught me that even the smallest, cheapest part has a specific job.

Spent $400 on a thermal camera for my phone, and it's been a game changer for finding shorts

I was chasing a weird intermittent drain issue on a Samsung front loader for way too long last month. The Flir One showed a hot spot on the main control board that I never would have felt by hand, saving me from a misdiagnosis. Has anyone else found a specific tool that paid for itself on one tricky job?

My old boss in Milwaukee drilled into us to always check the door switch first on a no-start washer.

I still see guys pulling the whole machine apart before they even test it, wasting an hour. Anyone else notice this simple step getting skipped a lot now?

Am I the only one who started using a thermal camera for every call?

I got a cheap one on sale for about $150 six months ago... mostly just for fun. Last week, I had a fridge that was running non-stop but the temp was fine. Instead of pulling the whole thing out, I just scanned the door gasket with the camera. Found a tiny 2-inch cold spot where the seal was barely touching... it was letting in just enough warm air to keep the compressor going. Fixed it with a hairdryer on the gasket for a minute, saved an hour of diagnostics. Anyone else using one for quick checks like that?

Had a talk with my kid's teacher at the school open house last week. She said 'You fix things people think are broken forever.' Made me look at the pile of 'junk' boards in my shop differently.

Pro tip: I always thought the generic multimeter from the hardware store was fine until my buddy's Fluke 87V caught a weird voltage drop my cheap one totally missed on a fridge board.

Has anyone else had a cheap tool lie to them like that on a compressor circuit?

Rant: I used to fight with every ice maker fill tube, now I just cut the old one out

For years, I'd spend 20 minutes trying to wiggle a frozen fill tube out of a freezer wall, usually breaking the clip. About six months ago, on a Whirlpool fridge, I just took my side cutters and snipped the old tube flush. I slid the new one right in over the stub and clamped it. It takes maybe three minutes now. The old way felt like doing it 'right,' but the new way gets the same result without the fight. Has anyone else given up on the 'proper' removal for a faster fix?

Just dropped $200 on a thermal camera for my phone

Found a hidden water leak behind a fridge in under a minute. Anyone else using these for diagnostics?

Looking through my old work logs from 2008 and the part prices blew my mind

I was cleaning out my garage and found a binder with my service invoices from when I first started. A common fridge control board I replaced back then cost $47, and the same exact part is now $189 from my supplier. I found this out just yesterday when I quoted a repair and had to double check the price. Has anyone else noticed a specific part that's tripled in cost over the last ten years?

Update: A customer's comment about my work van changed my tool storage setup

I was finishing a dryer repair in a tight apartment complex, and the homeowner watched me dig through a pile of loose tools in my passenger seat for five minutes. He said, 'Man, you'd save half your day if that stuff had a home.' I switched to a wall-mounted rack system in the back last month and my average job time dropped by about 15 minutes. Do you think investing in serious van organization is worth the cost and setup time, or is a simple toolbox good enough?

Pro tip: I used to fight with dryer belt tensioners for way too long.

Now I just use a small binder clip to hold the spring back while I loop the belt. Started doing it after a job in Cincinnati last fall where the manual said to use a special tool I didn't have. What's your go-to trick for stubborn dryer belts?

Serious question, why do we all hate on the 'tap test' for fridge compressors?

I had a 3 year old Samsung fridge in a condo downtown that wouldn't cool. Everyone online said the compressor was shot and to replace it. I was about to order the part, but my old boss from my first job always said to give the compressor a firm tap with a rubber mallet first. I tried it, hit it twice, and the thing kicked right on. That was 6 months ago and it's still running fine. Am I the only one who still uses this trick, or have we all gotten too quick to swap parts?

Update: I stopped using my Fluke meter for every single call and it cut my time down

For years, I would pull out my Fluke 87V for every service call, even simple stuff like checking if an outlet was live. I thought it made me look more professional. About six months ago, I got stuck on a clogged drain pump job where my big meter was just in the way. Now I keep a basic $20 voltage tester in my pocket for quick checks and only grab the Fluke for board diagnostics. It saves me maybe 10 minutes a day just not fumbling with leads. Anyone else find they over-complicate simple checks with fancy gear?

Switched from a generic multimeter to a Fluke 117 for appliance calls

The Fluke's auto-ranging and low impedance mode saved me 15 minutes on a fridge compressor diagnosis yesterday. No more chasing ghost voltages from control boards. Anyone else find a specific tool that cut their troubleshooting time in half?

Pro tip: I switched from a standard multimeter to a clamp meter with inrush current and it cut my fridge compressor diagnosis time in half.

I used to spend 20 minutes minimum on a fridge not starting, checking amps with my old meter and waiting for the compressor to cycle. Last week I grabbed my new Klein CL800, clamped it on the compressor lead, and saw the inrush spike was only 2 amps when it should have been 7 or 8. That told me the compressor was locked up right away, no waiting. The old way worked, but this tool gives you the answer in about 30 seconds. Anyone else using these for quick compressor checks, or do you stick with the old method?

Hot take: I think we rely too much on those universal washer door lock bypass tools now

I mean, back in the day, maybe 8 years ago, I'd actually diagnose the whole circuit on a front loader that wouldn't start. I'd check the lock itself, the wiring, the main board, the whole deal. Now, the first thing a lot of guys do, myself included, is just pop in that little plastic bypass tool to see if it runs. It saves maybe 20 minutes on a call, but I feel like I'm skipping steps. Maybe it's just me, but has anyone else gone back to doing the full check first, or are we all just reaching for the bypass now?

A customer called me out for skipping the thermal fuse check on dryers

I was working on a Whirlpool dryer that wouldn't heat, and I went straight for the heating element. A homeowner, an older guy who used to be an electrician, watched me for a minute and then said, 'You know, you're gonna waste that part. The fuse is probably blown and it'll just pop again.' He was right. I had gotten lazy and was just swapping common parts. Now, I always check the thermal fuse first with my multimeter, even if I'm 90% sure it's the element. It adds maybe two minutes to the job and saves the customer money on a needless part. That one comment made me slow down and follow the proper diagnostic steps every single time. Has anyone else had a customer point out a basic step you were skipping?

Heads up on those new Samsung fridge ice makers from 3 years ago, the ones with the plastic auger motor housing

Just had to replace the whole assembly for the third time in a week because the housing cracks and seizes, costing a customer in Tampa over $300 in parts before we even got to labor.

Pro tip: The new apartment complex on 5th Street is full of the same fridge model

I was out there last week for a call on a unit with a bad ice maker. By the time I left, I had three more requests from other tenants in the same building. Every single kitchen has that same Whirlpool side-by-side, model WRS588FIHZ. The complex manager said they installed 80 of them two years ago. Now they are all starting to have the same drain pan clog and evaporator fan issues. It's a goldmine for repeat work, but also a bit of a red flag for that specific unit. Has anyone else seen a big batch of these go in somewhere and start failing on a schedule?

Spent 6 hours chasing a weird hum in a 3-year-old dishwasher

Customer said it was getting louder, and I checked the pump, motor, and drain line before I found a tiny piece of glass wedged in the spray arm bearing. How do you guys handle those phantom noises that eat up a whole afternoon?

Appreciation post: My $300 thermal camera was either a genius buy or a total waste

I bought a Flir One for my phone last fall, thinking it would help spot insulation gaps in fridges and heat issues in dryers. It did find a bad compressor relay on a Samsung that was a pain to diagnose otherwise. But I've only used it maybe five times in six months, and a good multimeter with a temp probe would have done the same job for less. Anyone else have a tool they bought that sits in the box more than it earns its keep?

Just saw a dryer that went from a 45-minute cycle to under 20 after I swapped the heating element and cleaned the vent path.

The homeowner said it had been getting slower for about four months, but the real fix was finding that crushed section of flexible duct behind the unit, you ever run into that where the symptom points one way but the cause is another?

Unpopular opinion: I used to think a quick fix with electrical tape was fine until a veteran tech in Omaha told me 'that's a fire waiting to happen, not a repair'.

Now I always carry a proper heat shrink kit and take the extra 15 minutes to do a splice right, even on simple calls for a dryer's door switch.

Spent two hours chasing a phantom noise on a Bosch dishwasher

Honestly, I feel a bit dumb about this one. Got a call for a loud grinding sound on a Bosch 800 series. Customer said it was awful during the drain cycle. I went straight for the drain pump, pulled it, checked for debris, nothing. Then I pulled the whole sump assembly, thinking maybe a broken impeller. Clean as a whistle. Took me a full two hours of disassembly before I finally ran a test cycle with the toe kick panel off. The noise was coming from a loose piece of trim on the customer's own cabinet, vibrating against the dishwasher frame at a certain frequency. Charged them my one hour minimum of $95, but I basically ate the other hour of my time. Ngl, it was a lesson in checking the simple, free stuff first. Anyone else ever get totally fooled by something that wasn't even the appliance?