Easy and Quick Fixes for Common Appliance Issues
Appliance issues are very common in most places. From refrigerators to dishwashers, homeowners spend innumerable dollars on services and repairs. While some homeowners are fortunate enough to secure enduring results, others still continue to deal with mechanical issues and failures.
Not anymore! It might surprise you to know that you can fix some common appliance issues on your own. Here are some suggestions and tips on restoring life and functionality to bothersome appliances.
Disposer
All disposers come with an overload feature. When the motor gets too hot and overloaded, this overload feature automatically shuts off the power. As soon as the motor cools, you just have to push the reset button that you will find on the side of the unit or under the unit.
On the other hand, if you notice a humming sound but the unit does not spin, there are chances that it has something stuck in it. In this case, you need to put off the disposer and use a special disposer wrench to turn the blades. You can also try to turn a bottom bolt and check if it helps. There are many disposers having an Allen wrench for that reason, inset on the bottom of a disposer.
Refrigerator
If you have a dog or a cat as your pet and in case your refrigerator breaks down or fails one fine hot day, check the refrigerator coils for pet hair as soon as possible. Service experts encounter this issue on almost half of the refrigerator calls they get. Coils happen to be the black tube-and-wire grid cooling the fluid present in the compressor. If there is a hair buildup, it tends to cause overheating of the compressor which in turn triggers the overload switch. There are many fridges that allow you to reach the coil by opening the grill situated at the lowest bottom of the refrigerator. Once you get the coil, you can push the coil cleaning brush in the coil and then vacuum clean the coil.
If the coil is installed behind the fridge, you can pull out the fridge and brush the coil clean. Just so you know, a cleaner coil can cool more efficiently plus help you save money on the bills.
When the overload switch trips, you will have to wait for a couple of hours for the coil to cool. It will automatically reset itself and turn on the refrigerator.
If the coils are located on the back, pull out your fridge (it’s often on rollers) and brush them off. Bonus: The clean coils will cool more efficiently and save you money on your utility bill!
Once the overload switch is tripped, you may have to wait a few hours for it to cool. It will reset itself and turn the refrigerator back on.
Gas Stove
In case your stove burner is getting on, the reason is probably the spaghetti sauce that was spilled over it few days ago. Cleaning the igniter is not very difficult. You can use a toothbrush to clean it. it’s a small ceramic nub located under the ceramic steel strike plate or the stovetop. Also ensure that the ceramic steal strike plate is accurately seated on the stove burner.
Electric Range
If the stove burner is not heating properly, turn off the burner and pull the burner out from its socket. Plug the socket again and wriggle it. if it seems loose, remove the burner socket again and slightly bend the burner prongs outward in order to have a tighter connection. You need to do it very carefully. You surely don’t want to have the whole socket out of the bracket.
Standing Pilot Gas Range
You have to pop the lid if you want to access the ignition system in an old fashioned standard gas range. Generally, it is hinged towards the backside. if you see the pilot flame out, poke a tiny needle into it so as to clean the soot. Make sure you do not ream it wider. Once done, brush off the debris properly and then clean the tube leading from the pilot towards the burner. After that you can relight the pilot
