Planned Failure In Frigidaire Refrigerator In Mt Pleasant

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Bad Evaporator Fan Planned Failure

Bad Evaporator Fan Planned Failure

This is the kind of thing you’ll see me rant about on my blog from time to time, planned obsolescence.

Sometimes you see an appliance fail due to a mechanical problem or a simple electric part short, but this is more insidious than that to me.

I’ve been called out to look at a Frigidaire Gallery Refrigerator that is reading a 5YEF error code. This is the code that signifies that the evaporator fan is not working correctly. Your evaporator fan is what moves the air around in your freezer and fridge, if it is not working correctly your refrigerator effectively becomes an old fashioned ice box, whatever is close to the evaporator coils stays cool, the rest gets warmer the further it moves out.

To give you some perspective on this, this whole evaporator fan system has been engineered to fail. You see in the old days, these fans worked on 110 volts just like your compressor and were controlled by a switch on a defrost timer. It was a very simple, easy, inexpensive system to troubleshoot and repair.

Jump forward to the new computer controlled refrigerators. Now the simple 110v evaporator fan has been replaced by a 12v fan. That’s right, 12 volts, like your car uses. To get that 12 volts, there is a  transformer built into computer board, which is supposed to supply that power. This is usually the point of failure, what happens is that the transformer burns out and supplies no power at all, or as in this case, it produces too much voltage and burns out the fan. Right now a 12 volt fan is being fed 15 volts by the transformer.

So too repair this issue, we’ll have to replace the fan and the control board, which is right around 250.00 for both, add on an installation charge and we’ll be close to $500.00.

We also need to figure out how much life is left in this unit, there are another 400.00 worth of computer boards on this unit. Will they hold out for enough time for this repair to be worth it? I seriously doubt it.

Sometimes a part breaking is just that, an incidental problem, you fix it and move forward.

Sometimes a part breaking is like a canary in a coal mine, an indication that things are about to go downhill rapidly.

Posted in GE, Refrigerators

Whirlpool Dishwasher Not Draining In Mt Pleasant

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Whirlpool Dishwasher Repair Mount Pleasant

Whirlpool Dishwasher Repair Mount Pleasant

This particular Model of Whirlpool Dishwasher is famous for the problem today’s clients are having. If you accidentally break a glass in it, the fragments of the glass will work their way down into the drain pump and jam the whole apparatus up. They can be a nightmare to completely clear out and often the shards can damage the pump as well.

The worst case scenario is when they lock the rotor on the pump up and cause the pump motor to burn out, I don’t believe this is the case on this particular one because the winding on the pump motor still have continuity. Which leaves with an obstruction in the drain.

As in many cases, the client has already tried himself to remove the blockage, but to no avail. These can be a bear if you haven’t worked with them before. In this case the drain appears to be free of obstructions, but the pump is still not pumping the water out of the unit.

In the end this unit was clogged with debris in the main sump assembly which Whirlpool intentionally does not allow you any access to, to replace this assembly will be almost as much as getting a new unit so the smart move is to go ahead and get a new dishwasher. What is insidious about this whole situation is that Whirlpool has planned every aspect of this to maneuver homeowners into getting a new dishwasher instead of repairing the old one.

I can’t imagine how many dishwashers get thrown out everyday because of corporate greed. Needless to say, I don’t recommend Whirlpool dishwashers to my clients any more. What I do recommend is GE or Bosch because they are much more repairable in the long run.

If you’re having a similar issue and would like to verify what is going on with your dishwasher, please give us a call.

 

Posted in Dishwasher, Whirlpool

Oven Replacement In Charleston SC

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Emergency Saturday Oven Replacement In Charleston, SC

Emergency Saturday Oven Replacement In Charleston, SC

It’s the kind of thing I absolutely hate to have to tell a client, that even though the part that failed is probably just a tiny microswitch on  the computer board, because of the way GE has designed the oven I have to replace the whole touchpad/control board to repair it.

In these cases, my practice is to pull up the parts site and let the clients see for themselves what my cost on the part is. In this particular instance, my cost on the control board assembly is $649.00 and some changes. That’s before I add any shipping, handling or markup, also I’m going to have to add something for the installation. By the time we finish, we’re probably looking at around $800.00 to repair the oven which is already 10 years old.

To make matters worse, all the parts suppliers are out of this part so it would have to be backordered and will take anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks to arrive.

This simply won’t do, my clients have company in town for the weekend for the Solar Eclipse and they like to cook. I explain to them that the normal rule of thumb I use to advise people is that you don’t want to spend over 50% of the cost of a new appliance on an old one, especially on an appliance that is 10 years old.

To compound the issue, it is 1:oo on a Saturday, all the parts houses are closed and the appliance stores are probably not too far behind. So my client asks me if I can install a new one today if he can locate one. While it’s not how I intended to spend Saturday afternoon, I understand the predicament they are in and change my plans.

Luckily the choose an appliance store that is really fast on service, Wholesale Appliance, a local distributor. Too make a long story short, he makes a run to pick out a stove and I am right behind him to pick it up and install. By 4:00 my clients have a brand new stove installed and their old one is in my van on it’s way to the recycling yard.

So if you need emergency repairs on a Saturday try giving us a call, we can get you squared away one way or another!

Posted in Cooking, GE, Ovens

Microwave Not Working In Mt Pleasant

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GE Microwave Not Working In Mount Pleasant

GE Microwave Not Working In Mount Pleasant

“You just don’t realize how much you use a microwave until it’s broken” my client is telling me. “I needed to thaw some chicken out for dinner yesterday and had forgotten to put it out in the morning. Needless to say we couldn’t wait a few hours once I got home from work! So we ended up eating out.”

Her microwave problem stems from a chronic issue I see in appliance engineering, using cheap plastic and not making the parts robust enough. In this particular instance the door closure clip was not doing it’s job, which is to depress two microswitches in the door which tell the computer the door is closed and allow the microwave to come on.

Even worse, the part we needed to do the repair was not to be found locally anywhere. Luckily, my online supplier had the part in stock and was able to get it here in two days.

Another accommodation we make for our clients is late afternoon appointments. In this lady’s case it was imperative that she not have to miss any work in order to meet us for the repair, so we scheduled a late afternoon appointment in order to meet her needs.

We understand that it is already inconvenient enough to have to spend money on repairs without having the amount of the repair increased by the amount of time you have to take off from work to meet a repairman.

So while it turned into a late Friday afternoon service call for me, (not my favorite kind) it was worth to have a satisfied customer able to use her microwave and get back to her normal cooking routine.

If you’re having a problem with your microwave or other household appliance and you live in the greater Mount Pleasant or Charleston area, give us a call, we’ll get you squared away as quickly as possible. Hopefully without you having to take off any time from work.

Posted in GE, Microwave

Excessive Moisture In Your Dryer in Mount Pleasant

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Excessive Moisture In Dryer In Mount Pleasant

Excessive Moisture In Dryer In Mount Pleasant

My client today was very frustrated, he has had the Lowe’s repairman out on multiple occasions. The repairman has replaced multiple parts and yet the dryer is still taking too long to dry, often they are having to run it multiple times to get one load dry. Imagine what that is doing to their power bill as well.

However it only took me one look to figure out  what the problem was. The exterior duct vent was jerry-rigged in one of the most awful ways I’ve ever seen. In fact they had taken the normal 4 inch duct and reduced it to 3 inches as well as adding an almost 90 degree turn to the duct work on the exterior.

There are two factors in how well your dryer will dry your clothes, the first is the heat your dryer produces. The second is how much air flow is going through the dryer. Without sufficient airflow, your dryer simply will not be able to remove the moisture from your laundry in an efficient manner.

What I did to resolve the problem was to remove the old exterior set up and replace it with a 4 inch flap cover which is the most effective way to let the dryer air out and keep any local critters from crawling in when the dryer is not in use.

If you’re having a similar issue, you might consider giving us a call. Chances are we can have your problem resolved same day just like we did for this client.

Posted in Dryers

Samsung Top Load Washer Leaking On Isle Of Palms

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Samsung Top Load Washer Leaking On Floor

Samsung Top Load Washer Leaking On Floor

It’s a good thing my client came home when he did, just in time to keep his entire bottom floor from being flooded. Apparently his wife had started the washer and left to do some errands, something the manufacturer warns you not to do, while I have seen this lead to some catastrophic damage, luckily caught it just in the nick of time.

Still, it had completely flooded the laundry room floor, and the way he discovered it was rather painful. He came walking in the room and slipped and hit the floor hard, he was still nursing his shoulder when I showed up. I was thankful that neither he nor the house had suffered any serious damage.

The leak was caused by a faulty clamp on a hose underneath that had given way and let the hose slip off of it’s connection, thus allowing water to just pour all over the place. I once had a similar case in which the washer was on the second floor and the owners had gone out to dinner and by the time they got home the water had flooded the second and first floors.

Leaks on upper levels in a house tend to pyramid, in other words, what affected one room on the first floor will spread to 3 or 4 rooms on the level beneath and to 6 or 7 on the level beneath that.

So do yourself a favor and plan your washing around times when you can be home and you can prevent a world of problems.

Anyway, as bad as the issue was, I had the necessary parts with me to take care of the hose problem and within an hour my client had his machine back online, complete with a 90 day warranty.

So if you are having issues with your Samsung washer leaking in Mt. Pleasant, Isle Of Palms or surrounding areas, please give us a call. Chances are we can have your washer repaired same day, like this client, at an affordable price.

And please, please stay home when your major appliances are running, just to play it safe.

Posted in Samsung, Washers

Don’t buy until you’re ready for delivery!

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Don’t buy until you’re ready for delivery!

This something I see all the time. Someone has bought a terribly expensive brand-new appliance and only a year later, shortly after the warranty runs out, something breaks down which is expensive to repair. Only this one had a brand-new twist.

In this case the client had paid for his brand-new Samsung dryer, but had Lowes hold it at the warehouse and not deliver it for three months. The problem was the warranty started counting down from the initial purchase date, not from the date that it was delivered and installed.

Had they waited to purchase the dryer till they we’re ready to install they would have had an additional three months of warranty and it would have covered the repair I’m about to do on their dryer. As it stands right now however, their warranty is out and Lowes told them that the cost of repair is on them.

So there you have it maybe not the world’s biggest tip, but one which would have saved my client and probably a lot of other people several hundred dollars in repair bills.

If you need Samsung dryer repair in the greater Charleston and Mount Pleasant area, feel free to give me a call, I’ll be happy to consult with you on whatever problems you’re currently dealing with.

New, thanks for reading, check back soon for more tips!

Posted in Dryers, Samsung

The Future Has Arrived

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Ladies and gentlemen, the future has arrived, and it’s right inside your front door. The advancing world of tech in 2016 has brought new generations of smart phones, computers and  an impressive lineup of smart home appliances that will undoubtedly change the way you run your household.

Amazon Echo by Amazon, $179.99

The Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo

The Echo is Amazon’s newest and one of their most exciting innovations yet. This hands-free, voice controlled speaker not only fills your home with crisp, quality sound from virtually any music application, but serves as a control center for other appliances in your home — it’s Alexa Voice Service can provide you with the latest sports scores, read eBooks, give traffic updates, news, weather and more. It can even control lights, switches and thermostats with compatible smart appliance technology, and all just by the sound of your voice (which, by the way, the Echo can hear from across the room, even with your favorite song or eBook playing at the same time). Trade in the plastic flowers and the outdated vase and make this slice of Jensen’s-esque technology your new centerpiece.

Nest Learning Thermostat, $241.99

Comfort and efficiency are essentials of any modern home, and the 3rd generation Nest Learning Thermostat has this completely covered. After a week of use, the thermostat automatically adapts to your preferences and habits. That means you don’t have to worry about turning the heat down before bed or to a comfortable 70 degrees while you eat breakfast — Nest has it covered. The Learning Thermostat even knows when you’re away at work and when the seasons change, and adjusts accordingly, saving potentially hundreds of dollars in energy costs without you lifting a finger. And did I mention it comes in different colors? The Nest Learning Thermostat is just as sleek as it is effective, as useful as it is innovative, and will elevate your quality of living in the most effortless way.

August Smart Lock, $229.00

This cutting edge security system delivers the complete peace of mind of a hefty locks and alarms with the ease and convenience of your smart phone. The lock itself can be installed without any changes to your existing doors/exterior, and it works with the free August Smart mobile app to maintain a 24/7 activity log to show you who’s been in your house and when. You can grant self-selected users access to your home with their own personalized virtual key, and delete users at any time as well. The Smart Lock even unlocks your door when it senses you approaching it, eliminating the need for clunky sets of keys while preserving your home’s security.

 

By Francesca Mathewew

Posted in Smart Appliances

The Recent Yelp Scandals

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The recent Yelp scandals and what the company is doing about them

Yelp Logo

Should you really trust Yelp reviews?

Yelp has recently come under fire from business owners who have accused the company of manipulating reviews to ‘push’ for advertisements. One owner of a restaurant in Brooklyn, Danny Teran, posted a woeful tale about the review company further confirming consumers fears: that Yelp could actually be involved in review manipulation. Teran is not the only complainant, more business owners have claimed that negative reviews popped up after refusal to purchase advertising from Yelp.

These grievances have surfaced amid allegations of extortion from businesses to doctor reviews. In fact, a Yelp Spokesman admitted that the company receives around six requests monthly, ordering it to reveal information about anonymous reviewers. In 2013, Eric T. Schneiderman, New York’s Attorney General, discovered that 19 companies had fake Yelp reviews, purposefully written to attract more customers. Those companies agreed to stop “astroturfing” and were required to pay hefty penalties.

Businesses are employing various ways to dupe Yelp. For example, they can create fake accounts and write reviews for themselves – using the services of creative writers. Worse, there are paid services that are propagating the act. Websites like Craigslist.com and Fiverr.com allow their users to hire people who perform these heinous tasks.

Another method, recently detailed in the New York Times, is to offer rebates to customers when they write reviews.

There are two main reasons behind false reviews: to trash one’s opponent/competitor and to inflate one’s ratings. For this reason, more businesses are out to leverage on Yelp’s massive traffic as the scramble for reviews continues to experience a surge. According to a study published by Michael Luca, boosting the Yelp ratings for a restaurant – by even one star – can translate to as much as a 9% increase in revenue. This discovery backs a Harvard Business School report that revealed an increase in the number of fake reviews from 5% in 2006 to 20% in 2013.

What is Yelp doing about fake reviews? According to a CBS News report, Yelp has initiated the fight against such reviews by conducting sting operations. The company has set up decoy businesses to try and catch review fraudsters. Ian MacBean, from Yelp, further confirmed that the company is sometimes among the first to respond to Fiverr or Craigslist offers for reviews.

That is not all, in 2012, Yelp started flagging businesses that recorded suspicious activity through the use of Consumer Alerts. The company identified businesses that had been caught red-handed – soliciting for reviews – and pinned an alert on their page to notify consumers about their malicious involvements.

Yelp’s number one defense against these incentivized reviews is the review filter. According to the company, the filter can track all the signals and make decisions on which reviews to display. However, Yelp has not publicized the algorithms that go into this filter; so, consumers have been left to make wild guesses.

By Brian Obudho

Posted in Reviews

Kitchen Power

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Nice Kitchen Appliances

Great Appliances Can Give You An Edge!

When it comes to a home – whether buying or selling, entertaining, or simply scrolling through Houzz or Pinterest swooning over ideas – the room that comes into play more than any other is the kitchen. It can make or break a deal in the real estate market, it can make the difference between being mediocre entertainers and being the life of the neighborhood, and for many, it can make the difference between being an average cook and being one’s own personal gourmet chef.

Here are the top three reasons you should put kitchen appliances at the top of your list for home improvement:

1) Updated appliances will close the deal
When it comes to real estate, many people don’t think about their home strictly as a product they are trying to sell. Emotions often blind a seller because they have so many memories that are attached to the property. However, it is important to remember that, regardless of whether it is a hot market or a stagnant market, you are in competition with every other house in your price category. Your goal is to come out on top as the best option with the fewest needs for improvement.

In a hot market, inventory is low. This means that buyers are often in what could be described as bidding wars, where a house will have multiple offers. By having the newest appliances, your home will have the most competitive edge as far as commanding the highest price.
In a more stagnant market, inventory is abundant. This means that home choices are more abundant and buyers can use discretion with the choices. New appliances can certainly give your home the cutting edge that will steer buyers in your direction.

2) Updated appliances can enhance your social life
Let’s face it: life moves way too quickly. For many Americans, the daily litany goes as follows: they wake up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, and then go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. Why not add some excitement to your life by hosting a neighborhood cocktail party and a potluck dinner?

Most of the latest kitchen appliances are made to handle a food demand that is more suitable for entertaining: quicker cook times, better heat distribution, higher capacity washers, more voluminous refrigerators: and that’s not even mentioning the high end appliances. Be the talk of your neighborhood by hosting weekend dinner parties and showing off your entertaining savvy with your new appliances.

3) Updated appliances can enhance your diet
Motivation is everything in life. It can make or break your intentions for healthy living. No matter how much you want to go on that five mile run or you want to try that new recipe from that healthy eating cookbook, there has to be a catalyst. For many, the desire to eat healthy is limited by time and, you guessed it, motivation. It’s the first step that is the hardest, so when something is pushing you to make that first step, the obstacles seem like minor speed bumps. And what better motivation to cook more than to have brand new appliances?

It is fairly common knowledge that eating out is not as healthy as a home-cooked meal, but it takes energy to prepare and cook delicious meals at home. A brand new gas stovetop or a brand new convection oven could very well be that spark to jump-start your fledgling gourmet talents. New appliances will give you a reason to spend more time in the kitchen and be adventurous with new recipes. After all, the newest toys get the most attention.

There are some areas of the home that can be overlooked as far as improvements are concerned, but regarding quality of life and monetary value, the kitchen is one of the first to which attention should go.

By Andrew Thomas

Posted in Kitchens