How to Repair Appliances Yourself

We buy appliances because of its use, which makes our life comfortable. We should therefore take good care of them and not abuse them. Preventive maintenance is the key for their longer life, although as time passes, we cannot stop their parts to wear out. In order to save time and money, why not do the maintenance and repair by yourself instead of going straight to the shops or hiring a professional. Below is a guide on how to repair appliances yourself.

1. For appliances with motor, clean and lubricate it often. To remove dirt, you can use a vacuum to clean the motor housing. You can avoid many problems when doing this.
2. If an appliance gets wet, unplug it right away and let a professional check the motor. Also, do not operate any appliance when your hands are wet.
3. Remember not to overload an appliance since this may cause the motor to overheat or not to work properly. Lessen the load of your appliance before switching it on again if the motor turns off.
4. If an appliance is not working, check whether the outlet where it is plugged has the right voltage that your appliance requires. Under voltage of the socket might be the cause why it is not operating. You can also use a grounded adapter plug if an appliance needs to be grounded. You can also check if there is something wrong with a fuse or the circuit breaker in your house. If there is, contact a licensed electrician to fix it.
5. Make sure that the fuses and breakers of your appliance are in good condition.
6. Double check if your appliance receives enough supply of gas or water, if it uses one.
7. Appliance with belts should be changed when they worn out. The tension of the belt should also be checked. Halfway between the motor shaft and a pulley, you should be able to press the belt about ½ inch. Tighten the adjustment bolt if the belt’s tension is too loose. Otherwise, loosen the bolt. Sometimes, pulleys also become misaligned. If this happens, align them again by carefully bending them back.
8. If you know that your appliance is using specifically a universal motor, check whether it is permanently lubricated or it has lubrication ports that are covered, in which case you have to oil this every 6 months or as instructed in the manual. Open the covers and apply one or two drops of number 30 non-detergent motor oil.
9. If your universal motor is not operating properly, this may be due to damaged carbon brushes, which are carbon blocks that helps in supplying electricity to the motor’s commutator. The motor sparks due to incomplete electrical contact if these brushes are damaged. In order to check the brushes, unscrew and remove the brushes and brush springs. You need to change the brushes if the ends are not curved anymore to fit the commutator. Same goes with the springs behind the brushes if these are already worn out. Simply put the new brushes and springs in the brush holders and change the brush assemblies. Then, fasten the brushes with the screws.
10. If your appliance has capacity-start motor, take note that before working on it, use 20,000 ohm, 2-watt wire-wound resistor in order to discharge the capacitor. This step is needed because even if your appliance is switched off, the capacitor still contains electricity.
11. For other problems with your appliance, try to check the owner’s manual. Usually, it indicates the common problems that you can experience with corresponding solutions to it.

We buy appliances because of its use, which makes our life comfortable. We should therefore take good care of them and not abuse them. Preventive maintenance is the key for their longer life, although as time passes, we cannot stop their parts to wear out. In order to save time and money, why not do the maintenance and repair by yourself instead of going straight to the shops or hiring a professional. Below is a guide on how to repair appliances yourself.

1. For appliances with motor, clean and lubricate it often. To remove dirt, you can use a vacuum to clean the motor housing. You can avoid many problems when doing this.
2. If an appliance gets wet, unplug it right away and let a professional check the motor. Also, do not operate any appliance when your hands are wet.
3. Remember not to overload an appliance since this may cause the motor to overheat or not to work properly. Lessen the load of your appliance before switching it on again if the motor turns off.
4. If an appliance is not working, check whether the outlet where it is plugged has the right voltage that your appliance requires. Under voltage of the socket might be the cause why it is not operating. You can also use a grounded adapter plug if an appliance needs to be grounded. You can also check if there is something wrong with a fuse or the circuit breaker in your house. If there is, contact a licensed electrician to fix it.
5. Make sure that the fuses and breakers of your appliance are in good condition.
6. Double check if your appliance receives enough supply of gas or water, if it uses one.
7. Appliance with belts should be changed when they worn out. The tension of the belt should also be checked. Halfway between the motor shaft and a pulley, you should be able to press the belt about ½ inch. Tighten the adjustment bolt if the belt’s tension is too loose. Otherwise, loosen the bolt. Sometimes, pulleys also become misaligned. If this happens, align them again by carefully bending them back.
8. If you know that your appliance is using specifically a universal motor, check whether it is permanently lubricated or it has lubrication ports that are covered, in which case you have to oil this every 6 months or as instructed in the manual. Open the covers and apply one or two drops of number 30 non-detergent motor oil.
9. If your universal motor is not operating properly, this may be due to damaged carbon brushes, which are carbon blocks that helps in supplying electricity to the motor’s commutator. The motor sparks due to incomplete electrical contact if these brushes are damaged. In order to check the brushes, unscrew and remove the brushes and brush springs. You need to change the brushes if the ends are not curved anymore to fit the commutator. Same goes with the springs behind the brushes if these are already worn out. Simply put the new brushes and springs in the brush holders and change the brush assemblies. Then, fasten the brushes with the screws.
10. If your appliance has capacity-start motor, take note that before working on it, use 20,000 ohm, 2-watt wire-wound resistor in order to discharge the capacitor. This step is needed because even if your appliance is switched off, the capacitor still contains electricity.
11. For other problems with your appliance, try to check the owner’s manual. Usually, it indicates the common problems that you can experience with corresponding solutions to it.