Refrigerator Turning into an Ice Cube?

If your refrigerator is starting to build up ice in the freezer or the fridge section of the fridge you should take a few steps yourself before calling for service.

First check whether or not anyone left the door open for an extended period of time or if the door seals are loose.  Leaving the door open will allow extra moisture to enter the fridge and then the compressor will kick into overdrive to try and cool the area down quickly.  This can easily result in a lot of ice forming inside.

Second before you call for a repairman defrost the fridge.  You will need to leave it off for a full 24 hours to make sure that all of the ice melts before running it again.  After it is up and running again give it about another day of solid running before calling for help.

Ranges, Stoves, and Ovens - Self-Clean Cycles

Trust me on this: Don't use the self clean cycle for your oven.  Clients constantly end up baffled when they call me and tell me that their oven door is locked and I immediately ask if they used a self clean cycle.  The answer is always yes.

These cycles seem to cause more problems than the solve with the oven door remaining locked after completing the cycle, melting wires and electrical components, and other similar issues.  The amount of time that you will save by not cleaning the oven manually will very likely be offset by trying to get the oven open again afterwards or by needing to call for a repairman.  Cleaning manually might be a pain but calling for service is worse.


Try to keep your oven clean to begin with by placing another sheet below the one you have your goods baking in and keep the "catch pan" about the same size as the other pan to promote good air flow.

Before Calling a Repairman - Stoves

This will be the last one in this series; a large majority of refrigerator issues need to be checked by a repairman. So here are a few things to check on your stove/range/oven before calling for an appliance technician.


Power - Does the stove even turn on or are there no lights, no display?  Check your fuse box before calling someone.

Burners not igniting/elements not heating - For gas appliances check that there is no dirt or other crud blocking the holes that the gas comes out of.  For electrical appliances make sure the elements are cool and try pulling them out of their sockets and putting them back in again.  If those things are fine you will need an appliance tech.

Oven Does not Heat - Does it really not heat at all or is it just not getting hot enough?  This is a rather similar fix as the burners and elements since the oven element is very similar in function to the top ones. Check if the oven needs cleaning and if not call for service.

Oven door is locked - There are a few reasons this might happen but the biggest offender is the self-clean cycle. Dig up your user manual, you may need to hold certain keys to get the door to unlock after the cycle.  If you can't find it or it doesn't work, call for help.

Bad odors - Cleaning required; if it is a gas smell rather than just a bad smell call for assistance.  A gas leak is not something that you want to just leave.

Broken Glasstop or Oven Door Glass - Find your model number and call for quotes; the glasstop or ceramic top for your stove is a special order and it's going to take at least a week if not more to come in. It is also ridiculously expensive, so if it has gotten cracked or shattered I am very sorry.  Oven door glass is much more reasonable but it can still be annoying to install so the quotes for the labour might be higher than you expect.

Before Calling a Repairman - Dishwashers

Dishwashers are a wonderful appliance to have but it is very annoying when they break.  Here are a few things you can do yourself before getting an appliance technician involved.


Power - You'll notice this comes up every time if you read all of my articles.  Check your fuse box, lots of embarrassing service calls could have been avoided if someone had just checked their fuses.

Dishes not getting cleaned - Haul out your user manual and check if you are following all the directions on how to use the dishwasher best. Some dishwashers will actually have a reservoir for a certain kind of salt; the salt will help soften your water and improve the shine on your dishes and cups. Make sure you are using a good type of dishwasher soap and unfortunately you really do need a "finisher" like Jetdry to really get rid of soap scum. If your finding left over soap in the machine after the full cycle is run you should call a tech.

Cycles not completing or Stopping during cycles - Make sure you are closing the door 100% if the door isn't completely shut it might start alright but end up stopping before finishing since it thinks you've opened it. You may need to call someone to adjust the door for you or perhaps change out the latch if it's a constant issue.

Bad Smells or an explosion of bubbles - For smells clean it with a special detergent or stick with the always effective vinegar and baking soda trick.  Bubbles comes from somebody using hand dishwashing soap for the dishwasher.  They are very different things.  The soap for dishwashers are specially designed to not "sud" or make bubbles and if you use regular soap it's going to be.. interesting...

For things like leaks, floppy doors, power problems not caused fuses, and other issues you'll likely need a repairman.

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.