c/appliance-repairers

Unpopular opinion: thermal cameras are overrated for most fridge callouts

I heard a guy at the supply house last Tuesday bragging about his fancy Flir camera catching a bad evaporator fan in 30 seconds flat. But honestly, I think folks rely on them too much now. I've fixed ten fridges this month alone just by listening for a hum or feeling the airflow with my hand (no fancy gear needed). A thermal cam might save time on a walk-in freezer, but for a standard Whirlpool or GE? Total waste of money in my book. Am I the only one who sticks to old-school troubleshooting over dropping $400 on a gadget?

Took me 3 years to figure out I was using the wrong type of multimeter for fridge compressor checks

An old tech from Arkansas showed me his Simpson 260 analog meter on a call last fall and I finally understood why my digital readings were all over the place on starting windings - has anyone else switched back to analog for certain tests?

That customer taught me to double check thermostats first

Was out on a call last Tuesday over near Boulder, dealing with a Whirlpool dryer that wouldn't heat. Old guy was sure it was the heating element, kept telling me he already tested it. I was about to pull the whole thing apart when I decided to check the thermostat first. Sure enough, it was reading open with a cold meter. Saved myself an hour of pulling panels and the customer $60 in parts. Now I always start with the simple safety components before diving into the big stuff. Has anyone else had a customer swear it's one thing but it ends up being something way smaller?

Why does nobody talk about leaky icemaker lines in older fridges?

I was out on a call last Tuesday near Oak Park, an older Whirlpool from 2012. Found water damage behind the fridge that was way worse than the customer knew about. The plastic line had a pinhole leak that probably dripped for months before they noticed the floor bubbling. Took me 45 minutes just to dry out the area and replace the line with a braided steel one. Anyone else run into these tiny plastic lines failing way before the compressor gives out?

That Samsung fridge compressor I swapped last week is acting up again

I put a new compressor in a Samsung french door fridge on Tuesday over in Oakwood. Customer called me this morning saying it's not cooling past 50 degrees. I checked my connections and they look solid, so maybe it's a board issue or a bad start relay. Has anyone else seen these things fail again within a week of a swap? I'm thinking about just ordering a whole new sealed system part next time.

Talked to an old timer who made me rethink compressor oil choices

Met this guy at a parts counter last Tuesday who must have been repairing fridges since the 70s. He told me he never uses synthetic oil in older compressors because it can strip out the mineral oil residue and cause seal leaks. Got home and checked three units I had on my truck, turns out I'd been mixing oils on two of them for years without realizing it. Has anyone else heard this or am I just getting paranoid about my compressor swaps?

Had a week where I fixed 5 dryers in a row - then everything fell apart

Last Thursday was my best day in months. I fixed a Samsung dryer that was squeaking and a Whirlpool that wouldn't heat, both in under 45 minutes each. Customer even tipped me $20 on the Samsung job. But then Friday hit and I spent 3 hours on a GE dryer that kept blowing the thermal fuse. Turned out the vent was completely clogged with lint, took forever to clean out. Made me wonder if I should start charging extra for vent inspections on every call. Anyone else see big swings like this in your workload?

Ngl I was dead wrong about aftermarket dryer belts

Honestly I always used OEM belts for everything because I figured the cheap ones would snap in a week. But last month I swapped an aftermarket belt into a Samsung dryer and it's still running fine after 40 loads. Has anyone else had good luck with generic parts or am I just getting lucky?

That time a washing machine threw me across the room

I was working on a top load Whirlpool at a customer's house in Toledo last Tuesday. I pulled the cabinet off and reached in to check the drain pump, but I forgot to unplug it first. The lid switch was busted and the machine kicked on mid spin cycle, threw my arm sideways and knocked me into the dryer next to it. Now I always pull the plug before I even touch anything on a washer, no exceptions. Anyone else had a machine bite back at them like that?

Crawled under a customers house in Tampa yesterday and found the grossest dryer vent setup I've ever seen

Tried fixing a fridge compressor relay last Tuesday and it backfired real bad

I was working on a fridge in a house out in Maplewood when the relay I replaced started sparking after 10 minutes. Had to scramble and swap in a different part from my van while the homeowner watched me like a hawk. Has anyone else had a relay go bad that fast on a new install?

Bought a $200 multimeter and it paid for itself in one call last week

Walked into a house in Phoenix where the fridge was dead and the owner was ready to buy a new one. Used my new Fluke to check the start relay and found a bad connection at the compressor terminal instead. Fixed it with a 50 cent part and saved them $1,200. Anyone else had a tool that made you money back quick?

Talked to an old timer about compressor oil and it blew my mind

Ran into this guy Frank at a supply house in Tulsa last Tuesday. He's been doing refrigeration since the 70s. I was complaining about a compressor failure on a 3 year old fridge and he just laughed. He said most guys kill their compressors by not letting the oil settle after transport. Said to always wait 4 hours minimum before plugging in a fridge that was tipped. I've been rushing that step for years. Never even crossed my mind that the oil drains out of the compressor when you lay a fridge on its side. Now I'm wondering how many callbacks I could have avoided. Anyone else ever get this tip passed down to them?

Swapped from a cheap multimeter to a Fluke 117 last month, night and day difference

I was troubleshooting a fridge that kept tripping the breaker, and my old meter was giving me wild readings. The Fluke caught a micro-amp draw right away that saved me a return trip. Any of you guys notice a big jump in accuracy with certain brands?

Finally caved and bought a thermal imager after years of guessing

I was at a supply house last Tuesday and overheard a contractor saying he never uses his multimeter for compressor checks anymore, just points his FLIR at the lines and can tell if it's a bad start cap in 5 seconds. That stuck in my head. Got a cheap 300 dollar unit off Amazon and tried it on a fridge that was cycling off too fast. Sure enough, the compressor was way hotter than the condenser outlet. Replaced the relay and it's been running fine for a week now. Anyone else ditch their clamp meter for a thermal cam on certain calls?

Tried an OEM belt vs a generic on a Samsung dryer last week - night and day difference

Had a call for a Samsung dryer that was squealing like crazy. Customer had put a cheap belt from Amazon on it 3 months ago. I replaced it with a genuine Samsung belt and it runs smooth as butter now. The generic belt had these little mold lines that were causing friction on the pulley. Anyone else seen this with aftermarket belts or just me?

A customer's complaint about a loud fridge totally changed my diagnostic approach

I had this lady call me out to her house in Tacoma last Tuesday because her fridge was making this weird grinding noise. I went in thinking it was the compressor or maybe a fan blade hitting something. But after I fixed what I thought was the issue and charged her $175, she called me back the next day saying it was still making the same sound. She told me straight up 'you didn't even check the drain pan or the ice maker line, did you?' And she was right. I had skipped the simple stuff and went straight for the expensive parts. Now I always start with the cheap easy checks first like loose panels or clogged drains before I even touch the compressor. Has anyone else had a customer call them out on skipping steps like that?

TIL the compressor in my own fridge was the issue all along

I was scratching my head over a customer's fridge that kept running warm, swapped out the start relay and capacitor, no luck. Turned out the compressor terminals had gone bad, something I usually skip checking on newer models. After that I opened up my own fridge at home, same thing, 10 year old Whirlpool with a weak compressor. Has anyone else found themselves ignoring basic checks on their own gear?

I used to pull ice makers out every time a fridge iced up, now I just check the defrost timer first

Wasted a whole Saturday last month on a Whirlpool in a condo complex, tugged the ice maker, tore the harness, whole mess. Realized after talking to an old timer that 9 times out of 10 it's a stuck defrost timer or a bad thermostat, not the ice maker itself. Has anyone else found a quicker fix that saves you from ripping stuff apart?

Noticed a huge shift in GE washer drain pumps over the last 5 years

I've been repairing washers for about 8 years now and GE drain pumps used to be bulletproof. The ones from 2015-2018 would run for years with no issue. Now I'm swapping out at least 3 a month on units from 2020 onward. The new ones just seize up way faster. Has anyone else seen this quality drop or is it just my area in Phoenix?

That Frigidaire ice maker took me 4 hours to figure out

I kept thinking it was a bad control board but it turned out to be a tiny crack in the water line behind the fridge that only leaked when the door was closed. Anyone else had a simple fix hide behind something that obvious?

Just realized I used to fight every ice maker fill tube with a screwdriver. A tech in Phoenix showed me a $2 plastic tool and it saves 15 minutes a job.

Pro tip: stop telling people to just replace the thermal fuse on a dryer that won't heat.

I see this advice all the time, and it's lazy. Last month I went to a job where the homeowner had already swapped the fuse twice. The real problem was a clogged vent line in their apartment building, causing the high-limit to trip. You have to check airflow first, every single time. It's a five-minute test with a meter. How many of you actually run through the full diagnostic before just throwing parts at it?

Showerthought: I used to dread fridge compressor swaps, now I just rent the recovery machine.

Used to spend half a day trying to do it by the book, but after a job in Phoenix last summer took 6 hours, I switched. Anyone have a faster method they swear by?

Had a weird one with a new model Bosch dishwasher and a 'quick fix' I tried.

Got a call for a dishwasher not draining. It was a newer Bosch 800 series, maybe two months old. The customer said they'd already tried a home remedy they saw online, which was pouring hot vinegar into the drain. I got there, pulled the unit out, and found the drain hose had a weird kink right behind the cabinet kickplate. The vinegar hadn't done anything but the real issue was the install. The hose was pinched almost flat. I straightened it out and the unit ran fine. Lesson learned: always check the simple, physical stuff first, even on a brand new machine, before assuming it's a pump or a board. Anyone else run into install problems that looked like major failures on these newer dishwashers?