When do you REPAIR and when do you REPLACE your appliances
To decide ask yourself a few questions:
Is the appliance over 25 years old?
Is the appliance an imported or unusual brand?
Have you spent more than the present value on repairs during the past 2 years?
Is the physical condition of the appliance poor?
If you answer yes to any of these, you should probably go ahead and replace it, if you answer yes to more than one, DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY! BUY A NEW ONE! If, in reviewing these questions you are still unsure, call us for an appointment. A “Hands On” evaluation is the best way to have an accurate diagnosis and repair estimate.
Assuming you have answered “no” to the questions above, many times we have heard the suggested rule of thumb is “50% of the cost of a replacing the unit”. We believe this is a fairly accurate figure. Although, there are a few other things to consider. For example, we would suggest a much lower % on water appliances (washers & dishwashers) and higher on dryers and refrigerators. Also, as a unit increases in age, the percentage would decrease. After speaking to a retailer, consider all aspects of replacement and compare to repair estimate.
After we are asked whether to replace an appliance, the next most asked question is what brand we recommend as a replacement. We do not have one answer. We would suggest considering our opinions expressed here, and then buy the model that you feel best meets your needs. Primarily, we recommend brands that we do warranty service for. We feel that in our area those brands offer the best likelihood of long term satisfaction and a good value, based on cost per year to own. You will find these brands listed below. In the past, we have been partial to American brand names and in general still find that they offer the best service support as the appliance ages. However, the differences continue to lessen as the majority of American branded appliances are being sold by large conglomerate corporations less sensitive to the individual consumer. We tend to be partial to the basic models, ones with simple, mechanical controls, when you can find them. There are a LOT of premium featured appliances being marketed today, but from a service point of view, these high-end models often create unrealistic customer expectations about the overall quality of the unit. Often, the added features provide few significant benefits. We suggest looking at features carefully and evaluating what real benefit they will offer you. Digital controls in refrigerators and range products are pretty standard now. They are generally pretty dependable, but tend to be more expensive to replace and sometimes not available as the appliance gets older.
Long Drying times is probably our number one service call. Ironically, most of the time it is not caused by any fault in your dryer. Let’s go over a few basics. We often tell customers that your dryer it takes 2 things to get your clothes dry, heat and air flow. Of these 2 things, AIR FLOW is the most important. Another subject that should be addressed is what is normal? In the 1960’s, we often heard people talk about ½ hour as a normal load. We still hear from customers that swear their loads routinely get dry in 30-40 minutes. We would consider these exceptions today. It is very hard to say what is normal. There are a lot of variables, more than possible to cover here, but we’ll mention a few. Design of dryer, size of load, type of fabric, temperature setting of dryer, washer spin settings and your venting system are a few.
Since 1985 manufacturers are relying more on air flow and less on heat to accomplish the drying in order to meet federal energy requirements. This is adding drying time. It is also why your old dryer almost always dried faster than your new one will. The newer the dryer it seems the worse this is. Here is a real general guideline – for what it’s worth- If you have an “automatic” cycle (as opposed to a timed cycle) of some sort on your dryer and you set the temps to match your fabric, a normal load (for instance 5 pairs of jeans and 5 shirts) should be dry when the dryer stops. However, as we discussed above, this could take some time. Drying times of 60-90 minutes would not be unusual today. Many people jump to the conclusion that long drying times has something to do with the heating element. The heating element in your dryer is a filament- like a light bulb. It is either good or bad. Just turn your dryer onto the middle of a normal cycle and let it run 10 minutes, open the door and feel inside the drum, if it is warm your element is ok. This discussion is assuming that there is heat present in the drum—- in these cases long drying cycles is almost always caused by an air flow problem.
There are a few things inside your dryer that affect the air flow. First, and the one you control, is the lint screen. Clean it after every load. The most common air flow problems are caused by your vent system. We will cover those first and then come back to the less common issues with the dryer. All modern dryers use 4” venting. NO 3” pipe or fittings are acceptable. The ideal vent would be short rigid pipe, with no turns. In most homes this is usually not possible. For practical reasons we need to add length, turns and flexible venting. ALL of these slow down the air flow and make the drying times longer. The goal is to make the venting system as efficient as possible to keep your drying times to a minimum. If your drying times have never been good with your present installation you probably need to examine all your venting. If you can keep the total length under 15 feet with only 1 or 2 solid elbows you should hardly notice any additional dry times. As you add any of the things mentioned above your times will go up. If you have to have a long vent it is important what it is made out of. Flexible venting usually comes in white plastic and aluminum foil. You should discard any plastic venting you might have. It collects lint, tends to collapse easy when it is hot and is no longer UL approved for safety. We use flexible aluminum venting for transition from the dryer to the wall. We find it is most practical for servicing and cleaning, but care must be taken to be sure it is not mashed or restricted. In some situations you might be able to get away with some additional flexible venting, but we would never go more than 10 ft total.
For best results, all vent pipe should be rigid. Rigid dryer vent is available in aluminum, galvanized, or plastic (PVC). Aluminum is the best. It has lowest air resistance, is light, easy to work with and will never corrode. Galvanized works good too, is usually available in longer lengths, and sometimes is a little cheaper than aluminum. It is a little thicker, so a little harder to work with, will corrode after 15-20 years and when it gets old tends to build up with lint worse than aluminum. PVC is ok, is durable, and can be blown or “roto’d” out to clean. It has some tendency for moisture to collect inside it and then lint will stick to it and build up. You should always drill small drain holes at any low points for moisture to drain out if you use PVC.
If you previously had good drying times and it has recently changed the first step is to usually look for a restriction. Look over the top of the dryer with a flashlight and examine the venting behind before you move the cabinet any. Many times you may find the vent mashed or otherwise collapsed- sometimes that is hard to tell after you move the dryer out. If that looks ok pull out the dryer and begin inspecting it for other restrictions. Lint build up or birds nests are 2 of the most common things. If you find a restriction in your venting and get your drying times back to what they have been, maybe it would also be a good time to review some of the suggestions above and improve your vent system overall for even better drying times
If you feel like your venting is as efficient as it can be, there are some things inside the dryer to check and it is probably time to call for service. Lint buildup within the dryer itself, felt drum seals, missing door gaskets, and malfunctioning temperature controls are all possibilities. If you can’t get what you consider an average load dry in one cycle on your dryer and you’ve went as far as you can yourself with the venting system it is probably time to call us! We will be glad to come out and evaluate the overall system and make recommendations to get that time down. Remember- you never get those minutes back that you spent waiting for the towels to dry!
Theoretically, if you are running a clean, empty dishwasher, you should be circulating clean water. There should never be soap suds in your dishwasher. It would be normal to see a few suds bubbles when you open the door that dissipate within a few seconds. If the water is murky or if there are suds on the surface of the water, you probably have a significant soap issue. If this is the case, the system MUST be purged of the soap build-up. One way to do this is to run the dishwasher on the heaviest soil cycle (i.e. pots & pans) until the water is clear. You may also pour a cup of milk or vegetable oil into the water during the main wash to help dissipate the soap. This may resolve itself in as few as 1-2 cycles, or may take many cycles, depending upon the severity of the build-up. Reduce detergent and /or change brands to correct problem. If you have a water softener you may need to buy detergent formulated for soft water. For softer water or very well rinsed dishes you may need as little as 1 teaspoon of detergent for good results. You may need to do this test for a few weeks to be sure it is not reoccurring.
Additionally, it is imperative to use a “rinse aid”. Rinse aids like JetDry lower the surface tension of water, causing it to sheet off dishes during the final rinse cycle. When droplets cannot form on the dishes, it makes drying more efficient.
Has the water filled the bottom of the tub to within 1 inch of the side walls? If there is not enough water in your dishwasher, it will not clean well, and the spray arms will not spray with enough force. Be sure you are in the middle of a wash when you check this, 2-3 minutes after you hear water circulating. Check this twice. Call for service for this issue.
Have all of the spray arms moved, or are they in the same position? Some dishwashers don’t use all spray arms simultaneously, so you may have to check again after the cycle has run for more than a couple minutes. If spray arms are not turning, check for obstructions or stopped up nozzles in the arms. Some machines have filter screens in the sump area. If they are removable, take them out and clean them. On Machines where the screens are not removable use of Dishwasher Magic once or twice a year will help keep them clean. If the arms are not turning and these steps do not correct the problem then call for service.
The water temperature should be a MINIMUM of 120 degrees. An easy way to check this temperature with a meat thermometer. Assuming the dishwasher is next to the sink, run hot water into a cup until at it’s hottest. You may need to raise the temperature of your hot water heater, or make sure you run the faucet in the kitchen to get hot water to the sink before starting your dishwasher. Water that is too hot may cause some issues. Maximum recommended for home situations would be 135 degrees.
Be sure the machine is pumping out all the water after each wash and rinse. Sometimes you can tell this by listening, but the simplest test is at the end of the cycle. There should be no water in the bottom of the tub, except the center sump area after the machine finishes the cycle. Some machines leave a small amount of water around the center sump, but no more than a cup or two. If the machine is not pumping out all the water this could be related to your washing issues. This will need to be repaired. Call for a service appointment.
Follow common sense when loading your dishes. All dishes turned down. Load light enough that water can reach all surfaces. Make sure dishes are not blocking spray arms. See the Use and Care manual for your machine for other loading tips.
Some materials may not completely wash off in dishwasher. Food such as burned on grease and dried eggs will have to be manually cleaned off before putting in machine. If you do not run machine every day, but add items until you have a load then you may improve this issue by using the Rinse and Hold cycle. Each time you add items run Rinse and Hold. Other than this, follow the same suggestions as above for poor washing.
This problem is usually caused by low water fill, restricted filters, or incomplete drain. Be sure you have read the section on Dishwasher Basics. If the information there does not help resolve your problem this is one that can probably be helped by a Service Tech.
Be sure rinse Aid is present and being dispensed. Most dispensers only put out a few drops per load, so it may take 20-30 washes to actually see a difference in the liquid level. Some machines have an adjustment for the amount dispensed. For hard water turn setting up. Try both Air Dry and Heat Dry to see which gives you best results.
This may be etching. This can be aggravated by water that is too hot and too much detergent. Check water temps as outlined in Dishwasher Basics. Reduce detergent use to a minimum.
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