It’s recommended that you hire an appliance repair professional to service your appliance, as it gives you peace of mind that they are doing the right job and will leave your appliance in tip-top shape. 

While this is the case, sometimes you don’t have the money to hire the service provider. In other cases, you don’t have time to wait for the service provider to arrive and need to service the unit. 

In such an instance, you don’t have any other way out than to service the appliance yourself. To help you out, here is how to go about it. 

Remove the filters, spray arms and racks.

Because the filters and spray arms are likely clogged, you should soak them with the racks in a mixture of warm water and distilled vinegar for at least one hour. Of course, you can soak them for longer if you want to and have time for it.  

After soaking them, wash them with a brush to ensure nothing is left behind. You can use a toothpick to clean the tiny pores in the spray arm and filter. This takes time, but it makes all the difference. Once you are done, use hot water to rinse them inside and out. 

Filters and spray arms typically clip off, but if you don’t know how to remove yours, examine the handbook. Look for dirt, food particles, or mineral deposits in the filters. Scrub away the accumulated debris with a soft-bristled brush, such as an old toothbrush. To remove any leftover residue, rinse the filters with warm water.

Put your toothbrush to work.

Using a toothbrush takes time, but it is well worth it. You should use an old toothbrush and dip it in equal parts baking soda and vinegar before going over all the nooks inside to ensure no food particles remain. 

Cleaning with vinegar and baking soda produces a strong solution that dissolves dirt fast.

Using the toothbrush, you should clean the gasket and door edges. Regularly clean the rubber gasket surrounding the dishwasher door and edges to avoid mold and debris buildup. 

You should scrub the gasket gently with the toothbrush to remove any debris or residue, then once you are done, rinse it. 

Remove debris or obstructions from the dishwasher drain using a small brush or toothbrush. To avoid water backup or drainage concerns, clear the drain.

Run a cleaning cycle.

Some dishwashers have a cleaning cycle. According to the manufacturer’s directions, you should run a cleaning cycle using a dishwasher cleaner or a vinegar and baking soda mixture. This cycle helps remove built-up residue and keeps the dishwasher clean.

When the cleaning cycle is complete, and the dishwasher has cooled, open the door and inspect the interior. Wipe any residual residue or buildup inside the dishwasher using a gentle cloth or sponge. Pay close attention to the corners, fissures, and door edges and ensure they are pristine. 

Rinse the appliance with vinegar.

To ensure the dishwasher is completely disinfected and all particles have been thoroughly removed, rinse it with vinegar.

You need to replace the filters, spray arm, and racks, then place a dishwasher-safe bowl of white vinegar at the bottom and run it on the hottest and longest cycle. 

You should always use white vinegar for this. The reason is that white vinegar has low acidity, so that it won’t ruin your appliance. Avoid other vinegars, such as apple cider vinegar, as they might cause some harm. 

The vinegar will dissolve any remaining food particles you may have missed when cleaning your appliance. This practice works like magic when it comes to descaling the dishwasher.

While vinegar is an efficient descaling agent, you should avoid using it on all dishwasher components. Use vinegar sparingly on any rubber or sensitive parts, such as the gasket or seals, as it may cause harm. You can see specific directions and recommendations in the dishwasher’s owner’s manual.

If you have highly tenacious limescale or mineral deposits or reside in a hard water location, you may need to repeat the vinegar descaling process or consider using a commercial dishwasher descaler as directed by the manufacturer.

Deodorize the appliance with baking soda.

Although the preceding step may have cleaned the appliance sufficiently, you can go further and sprinkle a cup of baking soda at the bottom of the dishwasher before running it on the longest and hottest cycle. This eliminates any remaining stains and deodorizes the machine.

How you go about it is that you close the dishwasher door after pouring the baking soda and leave it there for hours or overnight. Baking soda will absorb the scents as a result of this.

After the baking soda has had time to sit, wipe off the interior, including the door, walls, and racks, using a damp cloth or sponge. This aids in the removal of any residual baking soda and absorbed odors.

Finally, run a rinse cycle in the dishwasher without any dishes or detergent to guarantee that all baking soda residue is gone. This will assist in draining out any leftover baking soda, leaving your dishwasher clean and odor-free.

Using baking soda regularly can help prevent odors from accumulating in your dishwasher. If you continue to smell strong or persistent scents, it could be a symptom of a larger problem, such as a clogged drain or a problem with the dishwasher’s plumbing. 

In such instances, reviewing the manufacturer’s manual or seeking assistance from a professional dishwasher repair Springfield technician is essential.

When seeking the services of a technician, ensure that they are experienced and know what they are doing. You don’t want someone that ends up causing more problems than were originally there. 

Finish the job

Once you are done, you should return everything where it was before, and if the outside of the appliance is dirty, get rid of the dirt using a clean piece of cloth. 

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A faulty clothes dryer not only inconveniences you, it also puts your home at a fire risk. The US consumer product safety commission (CPSC) estimates that faulty clothes dryers cause over 15,000 fires annually. To prevent this danger, you should repair your dryer as soon as you notice a problem. To guide you through, here are dryer repair tips:

Timer

A faulty timer results to the dryer’s timer not functioning properly. To fix the faulty timer you should disconnect the leads from the motor and set the VOM or Volt-Ohm to RX100. You should then clip off the probes onto the leads, and if the timer is set on infinity you should replace it.

Drum

If the drum isn’t spinning it’s as a result of the motor pulley not working correctly. The remedy for this is simply replacing the pulley. Before you replace it, you should take your time to clean out the different dryer compartments with a vacuum in order to remove dust and dirt.

Sometimes the drum may fail to spin if the dryer belt is broken. To fix it you need to replace the belt.

Terminal block

A problem in the terminal block results to the dryer not working at all. Even when you turn it on it doesn’t work. You should thoroughly inspect the terminal block before you decide to replace it. For ideal results you should use VOM to check for the terminal block voltage.

When doing the work you should exercise extreme caution as you need power to test the terminal block. To be on the safe side it’s always wise that you hire an appliance technician to help you with the testing.

If the terminal block is working perfectly, but the dryer isn’t working, you should take a look at the switches. You should set the VOM to RX1 and get rid of the leads to the switch. You should then switch the reader to infinity and press the start button. If the reader doesn’t switch to zero, the switch is most definitely faulty and you should ask an appliance repair expert to replace it.

Conclusion

It’s recommended that you repair even the most minor dryer problem as soon as possible. To avoid high appliance repair costs you should prevent the problems from occurring in the first place. One of the ways is regularly cleaning the dryer. When cleaning it you should remove all traces of lint that might be stuck in the lint filter. You should also hire an appliance inspector to undertake appliance inspection on a regular basis.

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Wood burning stoves are one of the oldest stoves in the market. Technological advances have come up with modern wood burning stoves that are beautiful, efficient and very reliable. While this is the case, these fireplaces aren’t free from problems. Here are some of the common wood burning stove problems:

Smoking chimney

Although, you expect smoke in the stove, you shouldn’t have smoke in your living area. If smoke is reaching your living space, the stove definitely has problems that you should address.

There are many factors that can provoke smoke to reach your living space. These factors include: a faulty door, wrong quality of wood, poor insulation, faulty chimney cap, large stove opening, and strong winds.

Blockage

Your chimney can be blocked by different things such as animals, debris, excessive buildup of creosote, and deterioration of masonry. To avoid the dangers that come with a blocked chimney, it’s recommended that you clean the chimney at least twice a year. It’s also recommended that you regularly undertake chimney inspection to ensure that the creosote isn’t excess or there are any birds in the chimney.

Paint smell

This is a common problem when the stove is new. The problem comes about when the stove is initially fired up. If you notice paint smell you shouldn’t worry as it will go away in no time. While this is the case, the smell shouldn’t last for more than four days. If you notice paint smell that isn’t going away you should contact a chimney professional. You can also contact the stove manufacturer.

Maintenance tips

To avoid the problems that come with wood burning stoves, you should take good care of the stoves. One of the things that you need to do is to ensure that you clean them often. For ideal results you should remove the ash every time you use the stove.

Since wood tends to produce a lot of soot, it’s wise that you clean your chimney more often.

Stove seals tend to leak after working for a while; therefore, you should contact a chimney repair professional and ask him/her to take a look at it.

The stove door also tends to get damaged due to the opening and closing. To ensure that the door is working perfectly you should contact an appliance repair professional and ask him to take a look at the door. In some cases you may be forced to replace the door.

 

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HVAC stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. For your HVAC system to last for a long time, you need to take good care of it. To help you out here are HVAC maintenance tips that you should put into consideration:

Switch filters

Filters trap dirt and other debris. Over time, the filters get dirty and you have to replace them for your system to continue working properly. For ideal results, you should replace the filters every 6 months.

It’s highly recommended that you inspect the filters every now and then. If you are doing your regular HVAC inspection and you notice that one of the filters is dirty, you should replace it immediately—you shouldn’t wait for 6 months. Studies have shown that replacing the air filter with a new one aids in lowering the energy consumption by up to 15%.

In addition to changing the air filter, you should also clear the area around the outdoor unit. For ideal results you should ensure that the vegetation is 5 feet away from your HVAC system.

Schedule professional check ups

Although, you can undertake minor HVAC inspections, it’s recommended that you hire a professional HVAC technician to undertake thorough checkups. You should do this at least once a year. When you hire a technician, he/she will disassemble the unit and identify any problems that it might be having.  The technician will also clear the drain and clean both the indoor and outdoor units.

While there are many HVAC repair technicians, you shouldn’t hire anyone—you should do your research and only work with a certified professional.

Eliminate mold

Mold tends to grow on moist evaporator coils. You should get rid of the mold by cleaning and disinfecting the evaporator coil. To disinfect it you should use half-bleach, half water solution. To avoid damaging your system, you should ensure that you have switched it off for safety reasons.

Help the HVAC do its work

In addition to cleaning the filter, you can help your HVAC system do its work by getting a programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat helps you in saving energy as you don’t have to worry every time you want to change the temperature—all you need to do is to pre program the thermostat and it will change itself.

Another way of ensuring that HVAC system works to its optimum is sealing the heating/cooling ducts and any open spaces. This calls for you to ensure that the doors, windows and nooks are shut and properly sealed.

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Many new homeowners don’t know whether to install gas or electric furnaces. If you are one of the confused home owners, here is how the two compare:

Cost

Gas furnaces are more expensive than their electric counterparts. While the initial investment in gas furnaces is higher, they are usually cheap to operate as the cost of natural gas has gone down over the years. This is contrary to the cost of electricity which seems to be increasing every day.

Installation

After making the purchase, you need to install the furnace. Electric furnaces are small in size thus easy to install. In fact you can install it on your own. This isn’t the case with a gas furnace which is usually large in size and requires technical skills and specialized tools to properly install it. Due to this, it’s difficult to undertake gas furnace installation on your own—you have to hire the services of a gas furnace expert to help you out.

Maintenance

For your furnace to continue working effectively you need to maintain it. Electric furnaces don’t have many issues thus they are easy to maintain. In fact, you can troubleshoot the problems on your own. If you don’t have time you should ask a HVAC professional to come and take a look at it.

A gas furnace on the other hand requires a lot of regular maintenance as it emits low levels of carbon monoxide which can be lethal if not properly monitored. To ensure that your home is safe, you should seek the services of a HVAC expert to regularly maintain your gas furnace.

Lifespan

Research studies have shown that electric units last up to twice the life of a gas furnace (which is usually 10-20 years). This means that if you are after a furnace that will last for a long time, you should go for an electric unit.

Effectiveness

Gas furnaces have been shown to be more effective than electric furnaces in very cold temperatures. The reason for this is because gas heats up to higher temperatures than electricity. In addition to being more effective, it’s also more energy efficient than an electric unit.

Conclusion

This is how a gas furnace compares to an electric furnace. Regardless of the furnace that you choose to go with, you should ensure that you buy it from a reputable store. You should also ensure that the furnace is regularly maintained by a certified HVAC contractor.

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Are you wondering which are the common parts that break down in your appliance? Here they are as given by appliance repair professionals:

Refrigerator

The ice maker draws water into uniform ice molds. Once the cubes have formed, the molds are heated or twisted to release the ice, and a sweep arm ejects them into a container to be distributed as needed.

In the refrigerator, this is the most common part that breaks down. 

Problems with the water supply are the most common reasons ice makers stop working. Ice makers require a constant supply of water to function effectively. 

The ice maker may stop working if there is a problem with the water supply, such as a plugged or frozen water line. Examine the water line to ensure it is correctly connected and not kinked or blocked.

The water inlet valve controls the water flow into the ice maker. Water may not reach the ice maker if the valve is faulty or obstructed. This can result in no or insufficient ice production.

Ice can collect and jam the ice maker mechanism over time, preventing it from working correctly. This can happen in the ice mold, the ice chute, or the water line, causing the ice-making process to slow.

Regardless of why your ice maker isn’t working, you should try out troubleshooting methods specific to your model, listed in the user handbook.

If the problem persists, it is recommended that you contact a professional technician or the manufacturer’s customer care for assistance.

Dishwashers

In most cases, you won’t notice most dishwasher problems immediately. Your dishwasher will gradually stop washing well until you’re fed up and wondering what’s happening.

The most common problem with dishwashers are clogged filters and spray arms. Over time, dishwasher filters and spray arms can get clogged with food particles, debris, or hard water deposits. 

When these components become clogged, water flow is impeded, resulting in poor cleaning performance or a dishwasher that won’t finish a cycle.

In other cases, the problem is brought about by a simple act of overloading. Overloading or poorly loading the dishwasher can obstruct the spray arms, prevent adequate water circulation, or interfere with the operation of other components.

To avoid damaging your dishwasher, follow the manufacturer’s instructions when loading your dishwasher.

In rare cases, your impeller will break. The impeller is the pump component that creates the water pressure required to spin the spray arms. 

If a seed, pit, or piece of glass gets inside the pump, it might cause harm. You should address this problem as soon as possible.

This can cause water to flow into the motor and onto your floor. How will you know if your impeller needs to be replaced? There will be a loud rumbling.

As mentioned, you should move with haste and fix it before things turn for the worse.

Washers

The most common parts that break in a washing machine are: 

The door or lid switch: prevents the drum from spinning until the door or lid is shut.

The drain pump: It is responsible for removing water from the drum.

Tub bearings keep the tub in place and allow it to spin smoothly.

When your washing machine has problems, it will make squealing and knocking sounds. 

A worn or loose belt often causes a squealing noise. The belt that drives the drum might have become worn or slack over time, causing it to slip or squeak. This problem means it’s time to get a replacement for the belt.

You will have the sound heard if the motor is malfunctioning. You should contact a professional technician to inspect and repair the motor in such instances.

Knocking sounds often come about due to loose or damaged parts. Check for any things that might have fallen into the drum or trapped between the drum and the tub, such as buttons or coins. 

Unsecured drum paddles or tub mounts might cause knocking sounds during the wash cycle. Find out where the noises are coming from.

Dryer

The common parts that break in the dryer are: 

Thermal fuse: Prevents overheating of the appliance.

A wire coil in an electric dryer or a burner in a gas dryer serves as the heating element.

A continuous piece of felt wrapped around the rim of the drum allows it to spin while controlling airflow.

The beauty of most dryers is that they are often well made, and as a result, there are relatively few dryer problems that cannot be fixed—it is uncommon to have to replace the entire unit.

How to ensure your appliances last for a long time

You need to do several things to prevent your appliances from breaking down often and ensure that they last for a long time. These things include: 

Ensure that your appliance is properly installed. This calls for you to follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions. Remember that improper installation can cause problems with performance or even damage the unit.

Because appliances are susceptible to power fluctuations, it is critical to ensure that you have a stable power source. Use surge protectors or voltage stabilizers to safeguard your appliances from voltage spikes and electrical surges.

Keep your appliances on the outside and inside by wiping off surfaces regularly and following the cleaning recommendations. Remove any accumulated dust, grime, or debris to ensure proper functioning.

It’s wise to have a maintenance regimen for each of your appliances. During maintenance, regularly inspect and clean filters, vents, coils, and other components, as directed in the user handbook.

Also, arrange for professional servicing or tune-ups to keep the appliances in good working order.

As a rule of thumb, ensure that the servicing is done by an expert commercial appliance repair Springfield who knows what they are doing. 

Regardless of how versatile an appliance can be, use every appliance for its intended purpose and only utilize it for tasks it was not built for. For example, don’t use a dryer as a heater.

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There are many benefits that come with having a gas furnace. One of the benefits is that the furnace is energy efficient. Another benefit is that you can use it in almost every location. For example, you can use it in your rural home.

For you to get ideal results, you should ensure that the furnace is large enough for your home. If the furnace is too small, your house won’t be heated well thus your energy bills may go up. To know the right size of furnace that you should use, you should ensure that you consult a gas furnace expert.

How to maintain the gas furnace

For the furnace to last for a long time you should maintain it. This calls for you to properly maintain the main parts of the furnace. The parts that you need to maintain include:

Fan motor: the fan motor is located behind the filter. You should note that you may have to remove the metal grille in order to access it. To access it you should remove the two screws at the top and bottom of the grille.

You should clean all the surfaces using a vacuum cleaner brush. Once clean, you should inspect the rubber drive belt for signs of wear or deep cracks. If there are deep cracks, you should contact a gas furnace service technician for replacement.

You should also take a look at the lubrication tube which is usually 1/8 inch in diameter and is at the center of the motor. You should note that not all furnaces have lubrication tubes as many of them are permanently sealed. You should place 10-20 drops of machine oil inside the tube.

Thermostat

The thermostat is the one that controls the unit. It sits on the interior wall away from the furnace. To maintain it you should vacuum around it to remove any dust that might be there. To avoid damaging it, you shouldn’t remove the thermostat’s cover.

Filter

The filter is the one that collects all the dust; therefore, you should clean it as often as you can. To access it you only need to open the filter’s enclosure. You should clean it using a soft brush to vacuum both the filter and the interior housing. You should also clean the filter door.

Conclusion

These are tips on how to maintain a gas furnace. Although, you can do the maintenance on your own, it’s highly recommended that you hire a gas furnace repair professional who will not only maintain it, but also repair it in the event of any problem.

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A heating pad is a small electrical unit that is usually a continuous electrical wire encased in a plastic pad. The pads also come with a removable sponge-line inner that holds the moisture to pass heat.

Major problems with the heating pads

Although, the pads don’t require any maintenance, they tend to develop a number of problems. One of the problems is the breaking of the electrical wire resulting to the pad heating intermittently or not at all. Another major problem is the malfunctioning of the thermostat.

Before you take any action you should try manipulating the pad. If you manipulate it and it goes on and off, the problem is most likely due to a broken wire within it. In this case you shouldn’t try repairing the heating pad—you should simply buy a new one.

If the pad works on some settings and not on others, the problem is most likely in the thermostat. You should open the pad and repair the thermostat according to the manufacturer instructions.

Heating pad repair

You should consider repairing the unit if you manipulate it and there is no change. You need to two items to repair the heating pad: screwdrivers and multimeter. You should attach the multimeter to the electric cord prongs while the controller is in the “off” position.

The multimeter will help you in determining the resistance. When you see that the resistance is infinite, it means that you have an open circuit or no connection. This means that there is a break inside the wire in the electrical current. If you test and you see zero ohms, it means that there is good flow of electrical current.

You should also test the thermostat. If you test the thermostat and you see a zero reading, it means that the switch is working well. If you see any other reading, there is an interruption thus you need to replace the thermostat.

Although, you can test the unit by yourself, it’s highly encouraged that you hire an appliance repair professional to test it for you. In addition to the professional, testing the unit, he/she will also recommend the best heating pad in case you need to replace it.

Conclusion

These are tips on how to undertake heating pad repair. If your heating pad is faulty and need to be replaced, you should ensure that the heating pad replacement is done by a certified technician.

 

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