Electronics in general provide us with nearly all the creature comforts we enjoy today. They make our cars more efficient, provide light to see in the dark, etc. Many of those comforts have made much of the culture that I am familiar with…well…lazy. Going to school, we had mechanical pencil sharpeners. You know the ones, they looked like an egg, had a hole in one end and a crank on the other. Stuck your pencil in the hole, cranked a couple times and voila, a sharp pencil. Fortunately, we no longer have to expend the effort of turning the crank. With the invention of the electric pencil sharpener, now all we have to do is stick the pencil in. Boy, what a relief…
While I am being overly dramatic here for effect, you get my point. I do not think that everything needs to be computerized. Yes, they make our lives easier, but for those of us that are too cheap to hire a repair guy to fix our stuff, this creates some unique challenges.
For example, about five years ago, Laura and I bought a LG front load high efficiency washer and LG dryer. Of course, both have computers to manage their operation. We really liked them until the washer started acting up recently. Laura was doing some laundry when it started making a growling noise when the drum turned one direction. Which happened to be a fifty percent reduction in the number of directions it used to turn. When the drum went to turn the opposite direction, it just made a high pitched squeal and didn’t turn. I’m thinking, great the motor has either burned out or has a bad bearing.
I decided to tear into the washer and do a little troubleshooting. Of course, Laura just wanted to call a repair guy. She hates it when I ‘troubleshoot’ her appliances. Anyway, after getting the back cover off I noticed that this particular washer is has a motor that directly drives the drum. Interesting design. However, this means that the brains of the operation is a computer to determine drum rotation and speed. Not looking good. I was able to get the motor off the drum with no problems. There were two gadgets attached to it with about half a dozen wires coming out. I deduced that one gadget was the speed and direction sensor and the other was where the power came from to drive the motor.
The drum turned very easily telling me that the problem was not a bearing. That’s good news. Back to the motor. At this point, all I can conclude is that either the motor has a short and needs replaced or the signal going to the motor in not correct. Unfortunately, I do not have the tools needed to troubleshoot the computer. I decided to clean up the terminals and the plugs to make sure that all the electric connections are good. After getting everything back together, I started the machine and the drum turned both directions for a little while before stopping. Ok, so it’s not the motor. Crap, it’s in the electronics. Time to call the repair guy. I hate admitting defeat like that, but at least I could tell him where to start and save myself a little money by him not having to do as much troubleshooting.
In one ear, out the other. As soon as he started the washer and heard the noise, he said it was a bearing and he would have to take it back to his shop. Unfortunately, I was at work at the time and was not able to argue with him. Several days later, he brought it back saying that the switch on the motor went bad. Really, so it was one of the gadgets on the motor, who might have suggested that several days ago?!? It cost us over $200 for the repair guy to change out a $20 part.
I really wish the story ended there, but no. So, a couple days later and about half the laundry from the previous days done, it breaks down again. Called the repair guy to come back out. Laura said she was not going to let him leave with the washer again. He replaced the exact same switch again. That was all it took…an electronic component…again. I’m starting to see a pattern.
It was not a complete loss though because Mason was able to extract some revenge on the repair guy. While he had his head stuck in the back of the machine, Mason snuck up behind him, got really close and yelled “BOOO”! Apparently the guy jumped a mile high. If only I could have seen in person. Good job Mason!
