Scott Brown

[Scott Brown]

Equivalent resistance is the sum of the resistance

Not quite. It’s the INVERTED sum of the INVERSES of the resistors values. Makes a huge difference in the answer! Go back and watch the screencast again– it’s an important concept to understand.

[Scott Brown]

Let’s try to re-arrange the question a bit:

In the timing chart, some of the cycles call for high speed; others for low speed. The motor has two speed windings to accommodate the desired speed change. The question is asking component is responsible for selecting the high or low speed motor winding depending on the selected cycle.

Does that help?

[Scott Brown]

Hi Brandon,

I have some questions for you!

1. What are equivalent resistors?

2. What does equivalent resistance mean? (HINT: comes right out of the lesson).

Scott

[Scott Brown]

Thanks great, Dion! What was the problem? Would be good to know in case one of your fellow student has this problem.

Thanks!

Scott

[Scott Brown]

Good question, Mark. The recommendation for using crimp connectors with silicone dielectric grease actually comes from the manufacturers so I’m just passing that along. I sometimes find it expedient to use a variation on that them using a product called Drycons. These are wire nuts that have silicon grease already loaded inside them. They are made for outdoor electrical splices I’ve had excellent results using them the past few years. Here’s a link to them at Amazon where you can read more about them: http://amzn.to/1L0ajfK

You can buy them from Amazon but my local hardware store carries them and I buy them there.

Heat shrink has its place, such as range wiring connections, but freezer electrical connections are not a good one, in my opinion. The reasons are largely practical. Consider: you’re working in a tight, confined space surrounded by a cheap, plastic liner. Not only do you have to wield a heat gun to shrink the insulation, but you must do so without charring, blistering or warping the plastic liner. This practical limitation alone rules out heat shrink for freezer electrical connections.

Then there are technical limitations. Heat shrink simply does not present a barrier to water vapor migration as does silicon dielectric grease. It presents some limitations, but it is not a barrier.

While there is no code requirement calling for making splices using crimp connectors with silicone dielectric grease the Drycon equivalent, it does comply with manufacturer recommendations.

[Scott Brown]

Everything. No gimmicks. All the money they spent.

[Scott Brown]

Hi John,

This is a great question for a situation that does happen occasionally. Despite telling customers that we don’t have crystal balls and there’s just no predicting what else could break or when, sometimes a second failure– completely unrelated to our repair and unfit drably– happens. Now there’s a perception problem.

We handle this with a 30-day second problem guarantee. If another problem appears within 30 days after my original repair, I’ll do the repair without the service call fee. If they’re not happy with that, I just give them their money back. It’s part of our triple guarantee: http://www.applianceguru.com/our-triple-guarantee/

I’ve only had this situation arise once or twice and in every case, the customer was happy to do the second repair at the reduced rate.

[Scott Brown]

Hi Dion,

I just checked those videos and they’re all playing with sound for me. Windows 7 should work fine.

Which browser are you using? If Internet Explorer (IE), try downloading and using the free Firefox or Chrome browsers. They are generally superior to IE.

Let me know if you’re still having problems!

Scott

[Scott Brown]

I just checked and all videos played fine for me. May have been a temporary glitch with Vimeo. What browser and version of browser are you using, Dion?

[Scott Brown]

Hi Ron,

Great question! Here’s a link to the fine point test leads that I use. They’ve actually come down in price from when I bought them. These work great, been very happy with them: http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=M3Z5UvI%252bDu04Wns0I8WHcA%3d%3d

[Scott Brown]

Ah, okay, I’m glad you weren’t confused about switches and voltage.

Hi Robert,

The point of that video, and it’s placement in the course– the lesson on Basic Electrical Measurements– was simply to illustrate the concept of using continuity measurements in a real troubleshooting situation. The question you’re asking, while a good one, is specific to the Whirlpool direct drive front load washer (Alpha platform), which was simply used as an example to illustrate this concept.

But your question and much, much more are answered in super-abundance in the Advanced Schematics course: https://mastersamuraitech.com/appliance-repair-courses/advanced-schematic-analysis-and-troubleshooting-course/

In the meantime, many of your specific questions about this particular washer (Whirlpool direct drive front loader, Alpha platform) may be answered in this post at the MST blog: https://mastersamuraitech.com/troubleshooting-an-alpha-platform-whirlpool-duet-fl-washer-that-wont-start/

[Scott Brown]

Hi Robert,

I suspected the door switch was open because the washer would start a cycle and would just beep when you presses a cycle burton or start pad on the touch panel– exactly the kind of behavior you would see if the door was actually open.

I confirmed the door switch was stuck open with my continuity measurement.

The voltage doesn’t control the door switch– it’s the other way around: the door switch controls the voltage by opening and closing the door, which opens and closes the circuit.

Voltage doesn’t make a switch open or close. This is an important concept to grasp. Voltage in the power supply just is, it is simply there. The various controls, like switches, then do things with that voltage such as supply it to a circuit or not. It seems like you’re thinking on this is backwards.

Just remember: switches control voltage, not the other way around.

PS- I saw that posted this same question in the Teoubleahooting forum and I went ahead and deleted that so we can keep all the discussion in this topic.

[Scott Brown]

Exactly!

As a sidenote, just be careful how you use the term “voltage drop” or saying things like the voltage “drops off”. I say this only because it can be confusingly similar sounding to a very specific technical term: voltage drop.

Voltage drop is a specific technical term that refers to the voltage that is dropped or deposited across a load when there is current flowing through that load.

For this reason, I find that it’s safer and keeps my thinking clearer when I use terms like “lose voltage”.

Other than that cautionary note on using precise terminology, you seem to have grasped the concept illustrated in the quiz question and I’ll go ahead and unblock you so you can continue with your lessons. No need to retake the quiz as we have discussed it here.

[Scott Brown]

Hi James,

The problem states that nothing is working on the washer, no lights, no motors, nothing. Given that, why jump right to the motor? For that matter, why not jump to the Water Fill valves, for example?

You may have been thinking of one of the troubleshooting tips where you jump right to the thing that isn’t doing it’s thing. But in this case, nothing is doing its thing. So which component do you jump to?

The answer is that there is no clear component that is not doing its thing. Therefore the only logical move is to follow the voltage inside the appliance, the washer in this case, and find out where you are losing the voltage.

You asked about jumping to the motherboard. The problem doesn’t state that there even is a motherboard in the washer. You could just be dealing with a washer that uses a mechanical timer instead of a motherboard. But in the problem situation as presented in the question, it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t change your basic troubleshooting strategy in this case. Again, you need to follow the voltage inside and see where you are losing it. This is the only logical option for the set of possibilities given in the answer to the question.

Please let me know if you are still not understanding the rationale for this.

Scott

[Scott Brown]

P.S. I’ve unblocked you so you can re-take the quiz. 🙂

[Author]

Posts