Appliance repair


 
S

Steve Petrone

TVWBB Diamond Member
I am not a handy homeowner. When our 28 y.o. Maytag washer started leaking, my wife and I went shopping. We narrowed it down to a couple of washers $6-700 or so.
Then I got busy on the inter webs. Youtube can be dangerous. It could be this or that. I checked hoses and connections. Determined it was left rear.
I figured out how to remove the front of the washer, then swing the top back. After sloothing around, I found an open plastic bit where the water came out. I disassembled it and two plastic bits associated with it to clean and inspect. This is the last plastic piece before a rubber hose pours water into the tub. I reassembled this assembly truly hoping I had solved the problem. Nope.
Next I took pictures and a video of the offending parts as they spewed water. It seemed to entertain the guys at the parts store. I had a young guy checking it out and then the old guy came over to look. This was at least a 28 y. o. Maytag. The old guy called another guy who has worked on Maytags for 35 years. The video confirmed I should buy two parts. $16. $16 to fix what would have been $700.... Was I in luck or what? If that wasn't enough, he could get the parts in one day! I'm feeling pretty good about myself at this point.
One part came in only two days. No word on part two. Three days by no part. Finally the part arrives. I go to pick them up. They don't exactly match what was original (I'm sure you handy guys get that and don't let that bother you). Anyway the young parts guy said before I left just put the parts number in Youtube. Sure enough I did and found the perfect video on how to install. I would have forgotten to re-install the hose which allows the Clorox to be added-guess If I had not done that, we would have been cloroxing the floor....(do peeps still Clorox?). I reassembled the top of the washer.

My wife is now texting everyone how wonderful I am and that I am now available to service whatever... I wisely advised her that it isn't done till it's done but surely I could put this box back together.

The front of the washer did not go back together easily. It took some pressure here and there and a few contortions on my part but I jammed it back together. So now my wife goes about cleaning the floor, the outside of the washer and puts ammonia in the washer to clean the tub (because her mother always added ammonia). We turn it on and it runs. It actually started filling properly with no leak.

Damn I'm good. I go back to my business. 10 min. later she says, "It's burning" "I smell smoke"

So much for my brilliant repair. I must have pinched some wires or the insulation broke off...anyway I do not play electrician. Back to buy a new washer.
 
I was cheering, praising, laughing, and yelling "oh no!" while reading this.

I had early childhood memories of Dad doing all his repairs around the house. I remember grimy coveralls and a grease-covered Chilton's manual when he'd go to the garage to tackle some problem with one of the cars. I suppose watching him is the reason I grew up feeling I was supposed to [attempt] to do my own repairs.

We once had an 8 year old GE where the tub cracked. I pulled-out the owners manual and found a 10 year warranty (I think) on that part and after a simple call to GE they shipped a new tub. I was fortunate on that attempt; it lasted several more years (and I don't say that to boast).

GE Washing Machine Repair.jpg
 
Yeah, you got the YouTube being dangerous part correct :D Hate to tell you how many mixers I get in the shop that have been "You Tubed". Sometimes it's as minor as the aspiring tech simply put the carbon brushes in upside down. (Yes they only go in one way), or I get a box with a large piece in some stage of disassembly, a bag of parts and some bent and broken pieces to go along with it all. Then I have to "knit" a machine back together. One thing I never do though is rub the YouTubers nose in it. Why hurt their feelings any more than they've already hurt themselves?
 
Darn, I was pulling for you there Steve.

Is it true, they just don't make things as good as they used to? I can't believe how cra**y things are today. We will know Monday the fate of our stove. :unsure:
 
Joan said:
Darn, I was pulling for you there Steve.

Is it true, they just don't make things as good as they used to? I can't believe how cra**y things are today. We will know Monday the fate of our stove. :unsure:
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Some things yes some no. Except for the Artisan mini if you buy a KitchenAid stand mixer you're still buying a made in USA high quality appliance that can be repaired if something should go wrong. The sad part is that there are very few people like me left who will repair them and do it correctly. Just got a call the other day from a guy in LaSalle-Peru IL who wants to run his 50+ yo machine up to me he inherited from his mother, and another call yesterday from a lady in Lake Geneva WI who is going run her machine to me as well. Have another machine on the bench I am rebuilding for resale that's presold to another person who this will make their 3rd machine buying from me. There is a need for quality appliances but even quality stuff can wear out or break so the sad part is finding someone who really knows how to fix it right is hard
 
Just for the record, my KitchenAid stand mixer is soo old, I can't remember how old. Thank goodness it is still running beautifully. Also, thank goodness there are still people like you.
 
I think my Kitchen Aid is probably pushing 40, I guess I need to bring it the next time I go to see my friends in Milwaukee. It needs a little TLC. We can talk about how to truss when I drop it off!
 
We just replaced our Kenmore refrigerator. Two years ago, I went to replace the water filter and it wouldn't lock in so I had to bypass it. Two months ago the ice maker suddenly quit working and a months ago It started to sound like an old flat head 6 getting ready to throw a rod.
Can't complain though we got six years out of the hunk of crap, which I understand is about the new norm now.
At least our KA mixer just turned 39 years old and still going strong.
 
@LMichaels, I think my mother's 5 qt lift model is on the order of 40-50 years old. Unfortunately, my brother doesn't bake.

I have been telling everyone I know that if you've got a KA that needs work, contact me, and I'll put them together with the expert. :)
 
Way back in the day, my mom bought a nice new KitchenAid K5A (the precursor to the current K5ss). This was like 65 or 66. That machine survived tons of holiday baking for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and everything in between. Until she became too ill with Louis Body Dementia to carry on. About 3 or 4 years ago I asked my dad if it was ok if I took it home, to rebuild and gift to my youngest. That poor thing was a bit of a mess. I plugged it in and gave it a tryout and was promptly met with a pretty hefty electric shock when I happened to touch the kitchen sink. Those old machines were made to run on DC or AC due to the fact they were originally sold door to door especially to farmers before electrification. Those farms typically used a wind machine and battery banks so everything was run on DC. Well upon disassembly after some 55 years. The grease in the gearbox had turned to cement and begun to literally rot thanks to years of ingesting flour and such and plain old age, one of the wires connecting a stator winding had shorted to a mounting screw and was electrifying the outer housing.
So after everything got cleaned out, parts cleaned in my ultrasonic cleaner, wiring repaired and a new 3 wire properly polarized cord the machine now proudly sits on daughter's counter and she gets to use grandma's machine. And a smooth running quiet machine it is too. Sadly though, other than a small supply of electrical parts I salvaged from years of working on some of these old units. I would not doubt if that thing gets handed down to one of her daughters.
 
The last thing I fixed using a YouTube video was the ice maker in our refrigerator. It had stopped making ice and I couldn't figure out why so looked for videos on trouble shooting an ice maker. I found one pertaining to my exact model where the guy used a paper clip to get it to make a test cycle so you could see what the problem was. I did this twice and it started working fine again for the last several months. The interesting thing is that I have no idea why this worked, but according to many of the comments on the video it does. Sometimes this has a happy ending.
 
Steve Hoch said:
The last thing I fixed using a YouTube video was the ice maker in our refrigerator. It had stopped making ice and I couldn't figure out why so looked for videos on trouble shooting an ice maker. I found one pertaining to my exact model where the guy used a paper clip to get it to make a test cycle so you could see what the problem was. I did this twice and it started working fine again for the last several months. The interesting thing is that I have no idea why this worked, but according to many of the comments on the video it does. Sometimes this has a happy ending.
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Likely hard water deposits getting broken loose
 
New Maytag top load with agitator arrives on Wednesday. Sales guy said expect 10-12years with a little luck!

I am so reassured as the front panel proclaims it has "Commercial Technology" and 10 year tub warranty !!!
 
On the bright side it was a pretty good buy. Delivery and removal included under $650 (no it does not connect to my wifi or phone or have a window to view the wash cycle-hopefully it will clean as it has a "deep clean" cycle).
 
Steve Petrone said:
Damn I'm good. I go back to my business. 10 min. later she says, "It's burning" "I smell smoke"

So much for my brilliant repair. I must have pinched some wires or the insulation broke off...anyway I do not play electrician. Back to buy a new washer.
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Lucky for you she smelled smoke.
We had a short start a fire on our dryer and almost burnt the whole house down.
We were not at home at that time....
 
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