Before Calling a Repairman - Washing Machines

Decided to do a series on common issues to help you decide when to call or not call for a repairman. Bear in mind that every instance where I say that maintenance is needed you can complete it yourself but if your not confident you can do it yourself you can get an appliance repair technician to do the maintenance for you.


Common things to check on your washer before calling for assistance:

Power - Does the machine seem to have power? Are any lights on or the display?  If there is nothing check your fuses.  If it has power but doesn't start anyway you'll need to look at a few other things.

Overloading - Did you stuff too many clothes into the washer in an attempt to get your laundry done more quickly or before your leaving on a trip?  Pull a bunch of them out, the motors in these machines are only good for a certain amount of weight and so are the moving parts that bear the drum weight.  Be patient, overloading will just break your machine.  Besides, it'll take a long time to dry in the dryer when you get to that stage too.

Not draining - Did the rest of the cycle run without a hitch until you got to the drain cycle?  Try selecting just a spin and drain cycle if you can and see if it works the second time.  If it doesn't you'll need to either check the drain line for clogs or call for help unfortunately, there are several reasons the machine doesn't drain and the drain line is just one of them.  It can also be an issue with the controls or computer, the wiring between a few components needed to drain, the pump, the drain lines, etc.

Leaking - This is a one stop check; if it's the drain hose that's leaking it's something you can probably replace yourself without too much fuss.  If it's coming from inside of the machine or anywhere else you will be better off getting a professional to figure out where it's coming from and fix it.  To help you out: If the leak is coming from the water hook up that's actually in the wall you want a Handyman or a Plumber; if it's the machine you want an Appliance Repair Technician.

Dents, rents, and holes in the drum - Unless it's under warranty still don't bother calling for repairs. The drum is a very expensive part and it's also labour intensive to install.  You would typically be looking at the same cost, or more than, as purchasing a new machine.

Bad Smells - Cleaning is required.  I imagine sighs every time I say to clean an appliance, unfortunately maintenance really is key.  Just tackle it one day when you have extra energy!  If scrubbing out the drum and seals with vinegar and baking soda doesn't solve them smell you might need to have the door seal replaced or the drains cleaned more aggressively. To help prevent bad smells in the first place always leave the door open a crack or the lid up on the washer, the extra air flow will allow it to dry out more quickly so mold can't start growing.

Before calling a Repairman - Dryers

Did you ever think your dryer was broken and you needed to have repairs done but it turned out it was fine?  Here are a few things to check before calling for an appliance technician.


Power - Does the machine not even turn on, no lights, no display?  Check your fuse box before calling someone.  Big appliances like washing machines and dryers tend to be put on their own circuit in newer homes and you might not realize that it's tripped.

The dryer takes hours to dry anything - This tends to be a maintenance issue, you might need to call an appliance tech but you should take a few steps yourself before calling.  Typically, the reason this happens is because you have not cleaned out your dryer or dryer vents recently enough.  The harder it is for air to vent the more heat and moisture will stay in the machine.  If you have a condenser dryer (ductless dryer) your problem is not something that can be fixed, slow dry times is just part of the way the machine works.

Not drying at all! - Are the clothes even slightly warmer than they were when they came out of the wash?  Check that you aren't using an "Air Fluff" or similar cycle; not all cycles on the dryer actually heat up.  If you are using a regular dry cycle you will need to call for help.

Shuts off right away - Check that you haven't over loaded the machine.  Try spinning the drum gently to ensure it's moving or doesn't spin wildly.  Some things like this will make the dryer not run if you have a newer model with safety features built in.  If the drum doesn't spin or spins with no traction at all you'll need to put in a service call.

Grinding or screeching noises:  Likely a maintenance issue; clean your machine.  If you can't solve it call for help.

Banging Noises:  Just wanted to put this here to distinguish between them; aside from checking that you haven't put something heavy or hard inside that is making the bang you will need to call for help on this.

Summer Refrigerator Overloads

It might be a good idea to invest in a bag or two of ice!

This past week has seen more refrigerators stop working in the GTA than we've seen for the past several months.  While the heat certainly makes it more difficult for a fridge to keep it's cool do what you can to help it out.  If it's dead in the water call for an appliance repair technician ASAP.  The sooner the better since this is popular vacation time so a lot of techs are out of town and it might be more than a day before you can set an appointment.  Which isn't very nice when your food is spoiling.


Do what you can to keep your fridge from breaking:

• Make sure the fridge is clean, inside, out and underneath!  
• Keep the door closed as much as possible so the compressor does not need to turn on as frequently and save it some stress.
• Fridges actually regulate temperature better when they are mostly full instead of empty. Don't go buy more things if it's stopped cooling, but don't try to have as few things as possible either; it's not actually going to help.
• Did I mention clean it?  Yes clean it! (and make sure you vacuum)
• Make sure your door seals are good and if not get them replaced.
• Don't cover the air vents in the freezer

It is always cheaper to maintain something than fix it so ensure you keep your fridge in the best shape that you can.

Other Dryer Vent Tips

In addition to cleaning out your dryer vents here are a few other tips.

Your dryer should be absolutely no further than 10 feet away from an outside wall.  The further a dryer is from the area that it is going to be venting to, the longer the vent needs to be.  While this sounds rather obvious any turns or bends in the vent will be catch points for lint and other debris to build up, increasing the risk of a fire.  The more direct the path is the better.  If the dryer does need to be buried inside of the home or you are in a condo where a vent is not available you should be looking a condenser dryers instead.  Condenser dryers do not use vents and thus can be placed anywhere.

Check the hose that connects between the dryer and the vent, while this is also technically part of the vent it is a very important one.  This part of the vent tends to be a soft flexible hose and that flexibility is where you can run into trouble.  The hose should be as short as possible; the longer it is the bigger the chances are that it is going to be coiled up or bent at an awkward angle. You can also get this soft hose replaced with a hard tube that looks more like the rest of the venting system; it's a bit more expensive and you'll need to be very certain that that is exactly where you want the dryer to stay but it's typically worth it.

Dryer in the basement?  If the vent goes up to the main floor before going outside you might want to invest in an air booster which in simple terms is just a fan that goes inside of the vent to help promote air flow.  Just as with kinks and bends if the dryer is not using enough force to get the air out lint is going to get stuck at the bend and you can end up with a serious problem quickly.

Are you Cleaning your Dryer Vents?

Even if you are extremely careful about cleaning lint out of your dryer catch there is still some lint that will get through that and end up in the machine and the vent.  If you are lucky your vent will have a secondary catch that acts very similarly to the catch inside of the dryer itself.  If you don't you might want to look into getting one installed, they are relatively inexpensive and can make vent cleaning an easier and less frequent task.


Regular dryer and dryer vent maintenance is an absolute must to keep your home safe against fires.  On top of being safe it will also allow your dryer to work more easily since air flow will not be blocked by any debris.

It doesn't matter if it is summer or winter, dryer maintenance can be performed at any time of year.  It is more important for you to pick a month, or a specific date every year where you will have your vents cleaned.

Finding your User Manual if it has been Lost

And by lost I mean you likely threw it out because you didn't think it was handy or it's been too long since you bought the appliance that you have no idea where it might be. Fear not!  Replacements can normally be found and either downloaded (for free no less) or a physical copy can be purchased.


Step 1: Find your model number
If your sticker with the model number has faded or been scraped off you are out of luck. Start looking around the house for the booklet or if you purchased it recently see if you can find the receipt and get in touch with the store you bought it from. They might have it in their digital records which model it is or which series it's from and if it's a really recent purchase maybe you can find the same model on the floor still. Maybe, good luck.


Step 2: Google it!
Search Google for your model number and include "user manual" (in quotes as I have) in the search terms.  Make sure your results are for your model number, you might end up getting hits for a similar one that maybe is more recent.  If you are put the model number in quotes as well.  Getting hits for part suppliers? Look at words in the search results to include as negative terms, normally -parts will get rid of those people trying to sell you something.


Step 3: Finding a user manual (from somewhere not sketchy)
Note 1: If it is asking for payment to download the manual put that tab as the dead last option. There are places to get the manual for free and we're going to try and find one first.
Note 2: If it's to download a PDF put this one off until near the end when you have a chance to look over the site carefully. PDF's can include a lot of junk, including viruses, so if it's a site that looks sketchy (More than three ads or ads to porn everywhere) this is not a good choice, delete it from the list of options.
Now... hopefully we are on the manufacturers website with links to download the manual.  If you are, fantastic! If there's a link to purchase it and have a physical copy mailed to you, keep this one in mind but hold off for now.
If we are on a site such as Manualslib or InstructionsManuals you are in good hands, check the model number is correct and before you click on anything just hover over the link with your mouse pointer. See something like "GoogleLeadsServices" ? That is an AD, not your lovely user manual, so ignore it.  Hover over a different link until you see something like instructionmanuals.com/u2/pdf... ending with your model number and this is the one you want.  Download and enjoy.


Not finding it?  Not all manuals are online unfortunately, try calling your manufacturer to see if they have the manuals in their database or if they can ship you one.  User manuals do get tossed/deleted when they are old enough so if this is the case, my apologies.  On the upside, if this is the case your appliance worked so well for so long you definitely don't have a warranty on anything. Unfortunately there probably aren't even parts available for it anymore either, so if you have a problem it's time to go shopping for a new one.


Final note:  If you clicked anywhere that pulled up an ad go download an antivirus scanner or use the one you have installed already.  Better safe than sorry.

No idea where to find your model number?  That article is up next.

Reasons to Never Leave your Appliances Running Unsupervised Part 4 - Legalese

Ever read through your user manual for your appliances? Unfortunately you really should and you might want to find your Legalese to English dictionary while your at it because there are most certainly going to be annoying and convoluted legal terms worked into your warranties.

Most user manuals go over the not only the length, but the conditions surrounding any warranties you do and don't have on your appliances. Typically, it will be mentioned somewhere that you should only run your machines while they are supervised (by an adult no less) or it will void any warranties. To be clear on this: it may void ALL of the warranties the manufacturer has placed on the machine, leaving you completely at fault for any damage to the appliance, your home, your person, and anything else!

While your digging through the user manual, which I hope you haven't thrown out as it's "useless", read through the areas on maintenance and proper care as well. There is probably some annoying legal mumbo jumbo in there as well about how improper or infrequent maintenance will also void your warranty or extended warranty.

These are all the tips I have for not leaving your appliances home alone when they are working for now. When I think of anything else to cover I'll make another post!

Next up: How to find your user manual if you threw it out since I'm sure at least a couple of you have...

Reasons to Never Leave your Appliances Running Unsupervised Part 3 - Halt!

This situation certainly is not as serious as any of the others but it is annoying nevertheless. Sometimes appliances simply stop in the middle of doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Imagine that you have clothes in the washing machine or dishwasher; it starts the load and fills with water no problem but partway through the cycle or when you hit the drain cycle it just never does it. Your poor clothes and dishes will be sitting with a tub full of water and food and dirt! No matter what temperature you start the cycle at it will eventually return to room temperature and become a petri dish for bacteria.

This kind of situation is well... ripe, for mold to start growing and there is also a possibility that water will start leaking from any small imperfections or damage in the system.

Keep your things smelling fresh!  Don't trust that your appliances will work perfectly every time just because they normally do.  Next week we'll include important details on why, legally, you should not run your appliances when they are unsupervised.

Reasons to Never Leave your Appliances Running Unsupervised Part 2 - Damage

There is always the possibility that a machine may damage itself when it is running either because something has gone wrong or because it has been loaded improperly.  One example that I'm sure everyone has shared is with a washing machine.  

Ever overloaded your washer or put something too heavy on one side and it started banging around on the spin cycle like an old western shootout?  It's a terrible racket and even if you were sleeping you would probably hear it and wake up but the unfortunate truth is: every bump and bang is the washer drum hitting the outside panels and other parts in the machine and each one is a possibility for the drum to get damaged.

Dents in a drum might be able to get hammered out but any cracks in the drum and you will need to replace the entire thing!  Since most models have the drum attached to the motor assembly at the bottom and panels and supports surrounding it removing the drum to replace it essentially calls for a complete and utter disassembly of the washer.  A lot of technicians won't even bother doing this type of repair because the drum is an expensive part and the labour is as well since it's a hard job.  Often it is cheaper to purchase an entirely new washing machine than replace the drum.

If you've gone out (or are a very heavy sleeper) and don't stop the washer while it's banging around there are other things that can happen as well!  The machine will start moving around on the floor from the force of the motion possibly causing scratches on your floor and the drain or water hose leading to the washer may become disconnected and cause a flood!

Keep your home and you appliances safe and only run your machines when you are home!  Part 3 will be up later this week with more tips of things to watch out for.

Reasons to Never Leave your Appliances Running Unsupervised Part 1 - Fires

This time we're going to do several articles covering reasons why you should never run your appliances when you are not home or awake to watch, or listen, to them working. While this is something that just about everyone has done at some point this is actually a terrible thing to do. Ignore those that say it is a great energy and money saver and here is why:

Fire Hazards:

Dirt, lint, grease and other things can build up within your appliance and nearly all appliances get hot while they are running. This can be because it is necessary for them to work properly such as a dryer or a dishwasher or as a simple side effect of moving parts and electricity.

If the appliance has not been properly maintained and cleaned there is a risk that the debris can get hot enough to catch on fire. Even with proper maintenance however there is always the risk that wires have not been insulated properly; whether as a manufacturer defect or due to work that was done on it later.

Any money you may save while running an appliance at night is not worth the risk of it catching on fire while you and your family are asleep. At best the machine will be damaged, possibly beyond repair, or you could be looking for a new place to live if it goes badly.