Any appliance could cease working abruptly, leaving you few chances to keep on with your daily life as usual. At Pittsburgh Appliance Repair, we know how hard it is to do the simplest home chores without the use of dryers, washers, freezers, ovens, etc. However, it would be nice for you to know how to fix a broken appliance by yourself. Diagnosing the problem before you call the maintenance professionals could earn some valuable time and money for you.
Flip the Breaker Switch
Sometimes there is a short-circuit happening for multiple reasons within the electric network of your appliance. It’s important to check your fuse box where the breaker switch could have been automatically shut off due to the excess electric energy passing through its mass. Letting the appliance cool down and flipping the breaker switch to its normal position could offer you the chance to fix a damaged appliance without the use of any professional services.
Inspect The Cord For Visible Damages
Dryers and other moveable devices could suffer from power cord insulation issues. That could be dangerous since a naked electric cord could give you an electric shock under the right temperature and moisture conditions. If your cord does have visible damages, it would be better to replace it by yourself. Your appliance then could work like brand new without any stops during its operation.
Also Learn: How to fix a Broken Samsung Dryer
Extract and Thoroughly Clean All Filters
Air conditioners and fans could have dust and pollen accumulated to their internal filters. It’s rather easy to unscrew the cover and extract all the filters for a thorough inspection. Most of them are washable, using tap water and a mild detergent. After you wipe them, you may leave them for a couple of hours in a warm place to dry. Then you could re-install them to your device and check if it’s working. The chances are that you will have resolved the malfunction issue with less pain and, above all, without any extra charges.
Shake the Device
All major appliances have ball bearings and moving parts inside their motors. For that reason, it would be a good idea to shake them before calling the professional maintenance services kindly. That will make the ball bearings loosen up and even take their natural position in the device. After performing some shaking, you may connect the device to the power network and check if it’s working properly. After that, most devices would work smoothly; otherwise, you need to call the experts and take their valuable advice.
Check the Seal
Refrigerators usually have issues with their seal. The elastic band makes it possible to isolate the internal refrigerator’s area from the surrounding environment. After many years of use, that seal could be broken into several parts. Especially if you have a big family, you have the freezer door open dozens of times throughout a typical day. Checking the seal by yourself reveals small superficial cracks that are not easy to see with bare eyes. You can remove the worn-out seal and replace it with a new one. That’s easy to perform the procedure and could restore your refrigerator’s best performance.
Find the Symptoms Of Your Broken Appliance
Every appliance has a reason to stop working. Having the right tools (like electric voltage meters) to check the operation status of the various cables and circuits is important. Before you call for expert maintenance services, it’s worth investigating the symptoms of your broken appliance. You can often identify the root of the problem and apply a simple solution that will make the device work even better than before.
Have A Clear View Of The Appliance Serial Number
Even the most experienced maintenance personnel could place the wrong spare parts on a device by mistake. Companies have placed serial numbers on all their appliances to ensure that you know the right model and order the spare parts that are particular for it. User’s manuals are different among models of the same manufacturer. Most of them are available online, so it would be wise to click on the serial number and know the exact model and make of the appliance that has been broken. Then you can go to the troubleshooting area and check the most common issues and how to deal with them. It’s your last resort before calling professional maintenance services.
Even though users can handle most damages in modern appliances, it would be a good practice to call for the experts. It assures you that your device will have no further damage and reduces the waiting time before you finally use your appliance again, as usual.