Appliance Maintenance Tips To Help Around Your Home

FRIDGE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

In the good old days, all you had to do to your icebox was add more ice. Well, refrigerators have come a long way, but they still require regular maintenance if you want them to last and run efficiently. Probably the most important thing you can do to keep your refrigerator in good working order is to clean the coils. Whether the coils are located on the back or under the unit, vacuum them thoroughly once a month or so. The unit can overheat and cost you a lot of money on repairs if this simple cleaning isn't done regularly.

ELECTRIC STOVE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

There is really only one thing you can do for stoves in the way of preventive maintenance--KEEP THEM CLEAN!

I guess I should expound on that a little and make an article out of that sentence, somehow. On electric stoves the wires often run under the drip pans and often when drip pans get really dirty, people just throw them out and do without. Wires get crisp, the insulation breaks, and shorts occur. Bad idea.

Spills, both on top and inside the oven clean easily, if they don't bake on forever. Pumice stone is excellent for stains inside your oven-- if it is a smooth porcelain surface, not a rough continuous clean surface, (which is really NEVER clean). For all oven, or heavy top surface cleaning, other than aluminum surfaces which will be stained by this product, use a janitorial supply non-aerosol oven and grille cleaner, with gloves. It is much cheaper and less fuming than the aerosol from the supermarket. It costs about $12/gallon, which can be diluted 1:1 with water and sprayed on. This industrial type cleaner will last you 20 times longer than 1 $3-$4 can of spray.

Installing new drip pans for burner top areas occasionally will save you from hours of scrubbing, but in between not letting them get really bad is best. If your gas stove "spiders" (the pot holding grates) get VERY greasy, soak overnight in a plastic pail of water w/ a can of crystal DRANO. This is very caustic, so use great caution and never get on your skin. Your grates will be like new next day.

Oven racks can be cleaned w/ pumice stone also. If you have scratched/stained areas around burners on gas stoves without separate drip pans, or above pilots between burners, use a paste of Comet with oven and griddle cleaner, leave it on overnight and remove with water the next day (wear gloves!). Will be best possible without replacing whole top.

Knobs have to be cleaned with gentle soaking in soapy water- again this best if done regularly. Try not to remove markings/numbers. New ones also available for most models. burners which don't light off pilots or sparkers generally have lighting holes on side closest to pilot or sparker plugged up. Clean with a stiff fine wire and try not to spill food on them. The actual burner tops, often aluminum, should NOT be cleaned with oven and griddle cleaner, but can be done with a bench-mounted wire whell, or a drill-mounted round wire brush, or even steel wool or sandpaper.

On electric stoves try not to spill things onto the actual coils, especially things which will melt on--like plastic bags, paint, etc. Replace or have replaced the woven door gaskets on self- cleaning ovens if/when the wire mesh shows through--they get very hot during the clean cycle and the gaskets keep that heat away from you!

If you have very old GE stoves with pushbutton controls, keep buttons clean and regularly cycle through all positions to keep them from sticking. On rotary knobs that is generally not a problem.

Not really much else to say. To reiterate-- KEEP IT CLEAN.

WASHER PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

The following are a few tips for maintaining your washer:

Closing and reopening the water faucets that supply the washer each month is a good idea, especially if you have hard water. Otherwise they may bind up and not be able to be closed when needed, or leak at intermediate positions. Also, while we have never had a problem or run into one with fill hoses bursting, it is a good idea to inspect your fill hoses for weak spots or bubbles.  It is also a good idea to replace the washers inside the hose ends every year or two. An even better idea, though rarely done, is to use braided high-pressure hoses as fill hoses. Also when you have the hoses off for washer replacement check for buildup on the screens in the fill valves onto which the hoses attach and clean the screens as necessary.

Inspecting the belt on belt-driven machines, either through a rear access panel as on older GE/Hotpoint and Kenmore/Whirlpool machines, or by removing the front panel on many other brands, can allow you to replace the belt at a convenient time instead of at the time the belt decides to break (on a holiday as you are washing the urgently needed holiday finery). Also on most belt-driven brands other than GE/Hotpoint you won't have to work on a machine possibly full of water if you change the belt BEFORE it breaks. (GE has the pump directly coupled to the motor and will pump out, though not spin or agitate, without the belt.

On belt-driven Whirlpool/Kenmore lightly greasing the cam slide-bars on top of the transmission will greatly increase their trouble-free life. Also checking for worn snubbers will eliminate most chronic out-of-balance problems. Checking any brand for traces of minor water leaks before they become major is also a good idea--especially at the pumps. And where rubber hoses such as bleach hoses are attached to the outer tub. Any trace of water tracking/deposits may be indicative of seepage and a possibly larger future leak.

If your machine has variable water level/temp settings, especially if they are push-buttons rather than rotary knobs, you should change the settings through all positions once in a while- or they tend to function only in the setting you always use and freeze up there. Maytags and some Whirlpools are particularly prone to this.

If you move the machine for these inspections, or for any reason, check that you haven't kinked the drain hose which will slow the pumping and may accelerate wear of the pump internal vanes due to excessive back-pressure. For the same reason NEVER hook your drain hose up to a long small-diameter hose to bring your used wash water to your garden, for instance. If you decide to do that (and most building codes/health regulations frown on grey water usage) empty the regular drain hose into a large drum, like a 55 gallon one, and drain using gravity and a hose from the drum, or create a large black-plastic pipe drain system to get your water where desired with gravity, and just place the smaller diameter regular drain hose loosely into the top of the new drain pipe. All drain systems need to be about 36" high where the drain hose hooks on to prevent siphoning problems.

DRYER PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

First, always clean the lint filter between loads. On those with filters just inside the door opening also clean out occasionally the area into which the filter is inserted as far as you can to remove at least some of the lint that has gotten past the filter. These include most brands other than most Kenmore and Whirlpool models, and most Maytags. Always replace a torn filter immediately. Also twice a year disconnect the vent hose and clean out the entire vent system. This is especially important if the vent hose goes into an interior wall and up to the roof or makes a long and/or multi-bend path to the outside. Metal vent tubing is better than plastic and shorter and straighter is also more trouble free. Dryer fans never were designed to push the lint- laden exhaust great distances or up to 1st or even 2nd story roofs. While disconnected also reach into the vent pipe on the dryer itself and pull out any accessible lint.

Opening up the dryer cabinet and removing all interior lint, especially around the motor itself will prevent eventual overheating requiring motor replacement. This should be done at least once a year and will also minimize the possibility of lint catching on fire inside the dryer. Each brand varies greatly in cabinet design and access.

While you have the machine apart always check the belt for cracking and wear indicating a need for replacement. If you do need to replace it be very careful to note the belt path around the idler pulley/tension device and the motor shaft. On recent Westinghouse Consolidated Industry models(Frigidaire, Kelvinator, Westinghouse,etc) check that the "pushnut" which secures the idler pulley to its shaft is firmly in place, they tend to work their way loose. On GE/Hotpoint/JC Penney models with the heating coils in a large circle behind the drum the cover on the rear of the drum tend to collect lint, as does the area inside the door which is above the filter when the door is closed. Late model Kenmores and Whirlpools with a filter inside the door opening have a removable panel on the front of the duct into which the filter is placed. Clean inside there.

Also on the GE etc. models the rear drum bushing can be greased while the drum is out for lint removal and the nylon support glides attached to the inside of the dryer front can be checked for wear and replaced as necessary. The nylon can be replaced by itself for less than replacing the entire metal assembly to which it is riveted. <> On all the top-filter Kenmore and Whirlpool models there a 2 rubber rollers supporting the rear of the drum which should be lubricated lightly with white lithium grease in the shaft/bushing area, or replaced if sloppy on the shaft or "flat-spotted", which causes a thumping noise when the drum turns. Also remove and lubricate the idler pulley on it's shaft with a light machine oil like "3-in-1" or with turbine oil. (Local appliance parts stores carry the belts, rollers, glides and lubricants you may need.)

Dryers are pretty simple machines which, for many brands, with minor maintenance can be kept working for years. Even when malfunctioning, diagnosis and repair is usually neither difficult nor expensive. Replacing motors or timers tend to be the most expensive and, if you keep lint off the motor, most will last a long time.

If you notice a significant change in the way your dryer works or sounds, investigate promptly. Inexpensive fixes can quickly become expensive major problems if ignored. "If I ignore it maybe it will go away" is rarely wise thinking