Topic: Tech Talk

Anatomy of a Warm Refrigerator Service Call

Posted on December 12, 2014 by - Tech Talk

Join Samurai Appliance Repair Man on a real-life service call where he shows you how to troubleshoot and repair a warm Samsung French Door bottom mount refrigerator the Master Samurai Tech way.

 

 

You may notice in the video that I ask a couple times where all that ice came from but I never explicitly explain where. There's a very simple explanation and I thought I'd let that come out in any followup discussion. Do you know the answer?

Okay, I'll tell you. The melted defrost water that was pooled up in the pan below the evaporator was sucked up by the venturi effect caused by the evaporator fan motor running in a tightly controlled air channel. The water would have gathered around the evaporator fan and started freezing, slowly squeezing in on the evaporator fan motor blade like an icy boa constrictor. An early warning sign would have been noise from the fan blade tapping on the accumulating ice, which these owners ignored. Eventually, the ice built up enough to completely encase the fan blade in its icy tomb.

If you have any questions about the Samurai Tech Academy that aren’t answered on our FAQ page, just contact us by phone or email.

The Samurai Tech Academy
Learn more. Earn more.

 

Pre-diagnosis: the key to being a Master Samurai Tech

Posted on December 4, 2014 by - Tech Talk

Are you going on service calls without having pre-diagnosed the appliance and problem, figuring you'll just fix it on the fly?

Unfortunately, those care-free, cowboy days of appliance repair are gone. With today's computer-controlled appliances, if you don't walk into the house with a game plan already in mind, you're gonna look like Bubba the Parts Changing Monkey instead of a Master Samurai Tech who will inspire customer loyalty and referrals.

You want to be that master tech, right? That’s what the Samurai Tech Academy is here for. Watch and learn the technique of a master. You'll dramatically increase both your first call complete (FCC) rate AND customer satisfaction. Both of these combined means increased profitability for tech owner/operators or increased compensation for tech employees.

 

This presentation is just one of the many expert appliance repair techniques we teach at the Samurai Tech Academy to help you become a Master Samurai Tech and increase both customer satisfaction and profitability through increased FCC rates.

If you have any questions about the Samurai Tech Academy that aren't answered on our FAQ page, please contact us by phone or email.

Read about our current offerings of online appliance repair courses. Take our sample course to get a feel for what it's like to learn appliance repair online at the Samurai Tech Academy. Finally, enroll in the course or courses of your choice.

Schematic Magic for Appliance Technicians

Posted on November 10, 2014 by - Tech Talk

Schematic diagrams are the go-to technical document when troubleshooting any appliance. Every professional technician should be fluent in reading schematics and using them to troubleshoot. But the reality is that most techs don't use schematics, either because they can't read them or they don't understand how to apply them to the actual appliance they're working on. Unless you're using the schematic to formulate your troubleshooting strategy, you're wasting time and incurring liability from moving an appliance when you might not need to. You're also guaranteeing that you will be obsolete as an appliance tech in the very near future.

This video reveals the elegant power of having Schematic Magic work for you:

 

You can do this, too! Learn how in the Fundamentals of Appliance Repair training course.

The point of the Fundamentals course is to teach you troubleshooting skills, NOT disassembly and parts changing skills. The appliance repair trade is full of guys who know how to disassemble an appliance and change a part but have no idea how to actually troubleshoot and diagnose what’s going on with the appliance. This is especially true if it’s a complicated circuit or involves a computer control board.

This is exactly the knowledge gap that the Fundamentals course is meant to address.

You can get disassembly and parts changing information anywhere. There are lots of YouTube videos out there that show you how to take stuff apart and put it back together. The service manuals themselves have lots of disassembly information. No need to pay for a training course to show you what you can readily find for free! At the Samurai Tech Academy you are going to build the troubleshooting and diagnostic skills you need to stand out from the crowd.

Will the demand for Appliance Repair Techs increase in the near future?

Posted on November 4, 2014 by - Business Talk, Career Talk, Tech Talk

PCB_Testing_400The short answer is "yes!" according to the Bureau of Labor. We discussed their projection that the demand for appliance repair technicians will grow by 21% over the next decade in an earlier Blog Post.

It's an important question for anyone looking to invest time and money in training. You want to make sure there's a good chance of getting a job or running your own business once you've geared up.

Besides the overall growth trend that the BoL is predicting, we also think there will be another important shift in the trade due to the changes in appliances happening right now.

Due to a number of factors, especially the government Energy Star requirements, appliances are becoming increasingly "electronified."

We think the increasing computerization and complexity of appliances will only create more opportunities for skilled technicians to have a steady work flow with lots of interesting and profitable work. This will weed out the people who don't want to learn new technologies and change with the times from the people who do keep up with technology and continue to learn and hone their skills. That second group of techs will find that they have plenty of work.

It was recognizing this trend, along with noting the lack of convenient training available in these critical skills, that inspired us to create the Samurai Tech Academy.

The Fundamentals of Appliance Repair course at the Samurai Tech Academy provides an excellent technical foundation giving you the basic skills you need to build on and understand the present and future technologies coming out in appliances, and how to profit from that knowledge.

 

Then take the Advanced Schematic Analysis and Troubleshooting training course to get advanced instruction on troubleshooting appliances with multiple electronic control boards.

 

How to build your own custom library of tech documents on a Kindle Fire, iPad, or other tablet in 4 easy steps!

Posted on November 3, 2014 by - Tech Talk

technical-documentsInstead of acquiring a pre-loaded Kindle with technical documents that may or may not be what you need, create your own custom, searchable library on the tablet of your choice following these 4 easy steps!

I'm going to show you how to save lots of money and make sure you have what you need when you need it.

It all starts with Professional Appliantologist membership at our tech support site, Appliantology.org.

 

The following four, easy steps will show you how to find and download technical documents at Appliantology.org.

(If you'd rather watch a screencast showing this, check out this Blog Post.)

NOTE: All of the images below can be clicked for a larger view, opens in a new window.

1. Log into Appliantology.org from your computer or mobile device. NOTE: Your Appliantology.org login is NOT the same as your login here at MasterSamuraiTech.com. They are two different websites with two different logins.

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- If you are on a mobile device, you need to be viewing the Full Version as shown above. If you are seeing the mobile version, simply scroll down to the bottom and click "Full Version."

- Look in the upper right-hand corner to make sure you see your user name. If you don't, click "Sign in" to log in. (If you are not yet a member at Appliantology, please see this page.)

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2. Use the search box in that upper right-hand corner to find the document you need.

- Click the grey box to select the Downloads section.

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- Enter the model number of the appliance you are wanting to find information for into the search box. (Note: an optional, but helpful, tool is to use the asterisk symbol, as shown, as a "wild card." This means that the search results will include any model numbers that begin with the letters and numbers before the *.)

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3. Download the document that you want.

- Look in the search results for the doc you need.

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- Click the document title, then click the Download button. It will open up the file and you will see the document.

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4. Save the document and/or send it to your device.

- If you are at your computer, then you can save the document there, but then also share it with your tablet using an application. Popular app choices among techs are GoodReader, Evernote, or, if you have a Kindle Fire, Send to Kindle.

- If you are already on your tablet, then "Open in" the application that you use to store your documents (such as GoodReader or Evernote). (On iPads you double-tap the screen to get the "Open in" option.)

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What if the search results don't include the manual or tech sheet you are looking for? Simple! Go to the Appliance Service Manual Requests Forum at Appliantology and state your need, and your Brethren in the Craft will assist you by locating and uploading the manual you need to the Downloads section. Please follow the posting guidelines carefully to expedite your request.

Would you like to see a video that goes into more detail about how to do all of this? No problem - check out this Blog Post.