Maintenance Tips for your Washer

Water-fill hoses

Over time, the water hoses that came with your new washing machine may leak or burst. It’s a good preventive maintenance practice to check these hoses from time to time for any sign of wear or weakness. Often there’s a small blister in the rubber of the hose, which could rupture. Most manufacturers recommend replacing the hoses every 5 years.

Note… If the hose ruptures, large quantities of water could gush from the hose. If it’s the hot water hose that ruptures, the gushing hot water may scald anyone nearby.

For more peace of mind, one alternative is to use high quality stainless steel fill hoses. In addition, we carry the black rubber hoses supplied by the manufacturer– go to our Shop For Parts section and enter your model number to locate the ones for your unit. We also offer universal washing machine hoses.

Leveling

Because your washing machine is so heavy, when it’s not level, it can vibrate strongly during the spin cycle. If your washing machine is not perfectly level–with all four legs touching the floor–it can bang and rock back and forth, and even begin to “walk” across the room. This isn’t good for the machine and may damage anything near the machine.

Your washing machine has adjustable, front leveling legs with a lock nut. You adjust the leg to the proper height, then tighten the lock nut up against the body of the machine to keep the leg from rotating.

Some machines have adjustable leveling legs in the rear also, and you can adjust them in the same way. Keep the machine as close to the floor as possible–the lower it is, the less likely it is to vibrate.

Most machines, however, have “self-adjusting” rear legs. You set these legs by tilting the entire machine forward onto its front legs (with the rear legs 3 to 4 inches off the floor) and then setting the machine back down. The legs should adjust automatically. If they don’t, you may need to tilt the machine forward and rap on the rear legs with the handle of a hammer to loosen them–a procedure that’s easier to accomplish with a helper.

Surface cleaning

Your washer has either a painted steel or porcelain-coated steel cabinet. It’s perfectly safe to use a little dish detergent and a damp rag to clean all of its surfaces. If the surface is porcelain, you can even use a little non-abrasive cleanser for stubborn stains.

Lint disposal

Most washing machines collect lint during the wash cycle and send it down the drain during the drain cycle.

If your machine is a Maytag, though, it may be different. Most Maytag washing machines collect lint in the center tube of the agitator. You need to lift out that tube and clean it periodically. Other machines have a lint filter near the top of the tub, which you need to slide out, clean off, and reinsert.

Courtesy of http://www.repairclinic.com/Washing-Machine-Maintenance-Tips

Holiday Season Cooking – Turkey Baster and Digital Meat Thermometer

Thanksgiving and the Holiday season is almost upon us. Make sure you have a turkey baster and digital meat thermometer.

High quality turkey baster with oversized bulb
Turkey Baster

Polder 3 function thermometer
Digital Meat Thermometer

Large LCD read out displays the temperature of food during cooking. Presettable HI/LOW and inside the range temperature alert. Timer: 24 hour count down and count-up. Clock: Real-time clock. Stainless steel probe. Temperature chart and battery included.

Our 2 year Anniversary!

Thanks to everyone that has come to our Appliance Blog for useful help and tips we try to provide people to save money on refrigerator, washer, dryer, range, stove, oven, dishwasher repairs.
Its been a very busy summer so far, and I will try to return to posting my daily diary soon of the repairs I do.
Everyone is Welcome to join our forums, its free to register at:
www.applianceblog.com/mainforums

Warranty Parts Service

OK, I started my Appliance Repair Company last November. Today I went on a service call for a water heater under a 6 year parts warranty, the water heater was installed in 2004, its made by A.O. Smith.
The main control valve on it is bad and needs to be replaced, but I’m very hesitant to put a warranty claim on getting the part, as I’m not really set-up to start doing claims on warranty parts for reimbursement, and would rather not start doing it, as I have enough to do already with my website and forums here.
If anyone can comment on this issue, please do, I welcome all comments from other Appliance Companies and anyone else who would like to say something about it.
Jake