I recently built a website for a local appliance repair company in Sussex. Putting the content together and speaking with the owner about the different services he offers, I have picked up plenty of appliance repair tips to save me a few quid in the future. To be honest, I will be pulling in a few favours!
Here are 5 tips I have picked up regarding appliance repairs.
Oven bulbs
These allow you to see your food cooking but also trip fuse boards when they blow! A novice like me might think their oven has blown up as everything stops working. I know first-hand this to be true as a few years ago I had to call an appliance repair company and pay a call-out charge of £65+ parts only for the engineer to unscrew the bulb from behind a glass casing, then flick my fuse switch back to on. If I had only checked before calling them!
I included this tip on the oven repairs page as the owner of the appliance repair company would rather get recommendations for helping people and stick to more complicated appliance fixes people should attempt to do.
Fan Element
The element for the fan-oven function will be located behind the fan cover plate at the rear of the oven compartment, mounted so that it surrounds the fan blade tips. You will have to remove the cover plate to check the element. The element is usually held in place with 2 screws in the top bracket and one or more small clips with screws. The push-on wires may not always be free enough to pull forwards for removal and re-attachment onto the spade terminals, so the oven may have to be removed from its housing to manipulate these, its always best to call a specialist to do this for you if possible but watching a few videos on YouTube I reckon I would have a go!
I have also learnt and would like to share that many oven element faults can be caused by cleaning liquids getting onto elements behind near where the fan is exposed. If you clean your own oven, it is worth putting something in front of the fan hole before cleaning starts, you need to stop any oven cleaner from corroding the element.
Door Seals
Many silicone door seals start to sag and deteriorate after a few years, and this means that there will be wasted heat loss and problems with the time a meal might take to cook. This waste not only heats up your kitchen needlessly but costs you money! For the price of a new seal replacement, I would definitely get it changed or have a go yourself watch a few videos on YouTube or read the manufacturer’s manual.
Grill Element
These usually just unclip from a holder and then pull out from a ceramic socket. If you suspect that your grill element has failed you should be able to remove it and test it with a test meter, some elements fail in a spectacular way.
Mould on the Washing Machine Rubber Door Seal
A simple way to remove mould from the door seal is to soak an old tea towel in bleach and place it around the seal overnight. By the morning you should have completely eradicated the mould from the rubber seal. Then put the machine on to a hot wash with nothing in it and not only will you clean the machine, but you will also wash away any remanence of bleach.
