DIY Appliance Repair

Model #110.96284800, this electric dryer made by Whirlpool would dry and tumble properly, but the door would open during a cycle. Once the door opens, the cycle stops requiring the door to be closed and the dryer started again. With the door constantly interrupting the drying process, clothes were taking a long time to get dry causing frustration for the customer.

Most dryers use a metal door strike and nylon catch to hold the door closed with enough pressure to keep it shut, but not enough to make it to difficult to open by hand. This latch and catch setup can become damaged or worn over time requiring one or both to be replaced. A common reason for failure is allowing the door to slam shut causing premature wear to the catch. Or from snagging clothing items on the strike as they are removed from the dryer, resulting in a bent strike. Whatever has happened, if the door opens during dryer use, or the door just doesn’t seem to close properly, then this is most likely the reason.

Taking a look at the photo above, I have removed the strike from the door frame and placed it near the catch. The catch on this unit has been damaged causing the strike to hit the side instead of the middle of the catch. This prevented the door from properly latching and resulted in it opening during the drying process. I replaced the strike using a set of pliers as they are pressure fit into place. The catch on the other hand can be a bit more difficult to remove, but if you be careful of the inner door paint, it will come out easily. Often times it is easier to remove the outer door panel which usually only consists of a few screws along the sides. With the panel removed, the catch can be easily removed with the same pair of pliers.

Both the strike and catch come as a pair in a convenient latch kit. You will find this type of latch on most of the dryers out on the market, so check yours out and if it looks like the one pictured above, this kit will work for you.

Read more of TechnicianBrian’s Service Adventures

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Your ice maker had been working just fine. Now all of a sudden it stopped making ice.

You could call someone out to repair your ice maker, but believe it or not it could cost you hundreds of dollars to get your ice maker repaired.

That’s right, hundreds of dollars! Lets take a look at what a typical ice maker repair bill will look like.

• Service Call:

$79.00

• Milage:

$10.00 (this is at $1/mile, 10 mile round trip) Expect to pay more if you live further away from the appliance repair shop.

• Labor:

$25.00 ($50.00/hour, but 1/2 hour min. charge)

• Ice Maker:

$172.33 2198597 Ice maker (this was the retail price at the time of this post)

——————

• Total:

$286.33 plus tax!

Wow, almost $300.00!

Now that you know the bad news let me tell you a little secret.

Chances are you can repair your ice maker for half that price or less yourself! In fact you maybe able to repair it for a lot less!

In the repair bill example I use the 2198597 Whirlpool ice maker as a example.

I wanted to use this ice maker as a example because it is one of the most common ice makers out there. It is also used in many of the refrigerators that are manufactured by Whirlpool. This includes many Kitchen Aid models and a lot of Sears/Kenmore models.

This is also the most complex ice maker system to repair, because there are three main parts to it, but don’t worry.

With our help it will be easy to diagnose and correctly repair your ice maker.

Here are the three parts.

• 2198597 Ice Maker
• Ice Maker Optics
• Water Valve

Some of the other ice maker systems only have two parts. That would be the ice maker and the water valve, making them even easier to diagnose.

You can easily replace any one of the three parts I listed above yourself and you don’t need any special tools to do it.

All you need is a little help to correctly diagnose the problem so you can be sure to order the correct part.

To help you correctly diagnose the problem with your ice maker you can download the Ice Maker Service Repair Manual (48 page, 8.43MB) for free and read through it.

Everything you should need to know will be right there in the factory service manual, but if you still need help feel free to post your questions on our Appliance Repair Forum, it’s also free!

Make sure you order the correct ice maker parts for your model refrigerator.

Simply Enter Your Model Number Here or give the Parts Detective a try.

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This Sears Kenmore 110.47512601 front load washer would leak water out of the soap dispenser when you would start the washer.

What I ended up finding was a small sock in the Hose that runs from the bottom of the soap dispenser to tub.

This was a odd service call as I often find these small socks down in the water pumps. I ended up having to replace the hose because the sock did some damage to the end of the hose that connects to the tub.

With the top removed and the complete soap dispenser removed this was a cheap and easy repair.

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