When you buy from a trader who has called at your home without an appointment, you, have seven days in which to cancel the contract and reclaim the money you might have paid. This applies to goods you buy and to work you have arranged to have done, provided the sum involved is over £35. This law covers home improvements such as replacement kitchens or double glazing, but not new building work such as home extensions. If in doubt, contact the local Citizens Advice Bureau. Read the rest of this entry »
Anyone who calls on you uninvited has no right to assume that you want to talk to them, let alone invite them into your house. Keep the back door locked at all times as well. Many tricksters work in pairs and one may keep you talking while the other slips round the back! Don’t feel guilty about leaving them on the doorstep while you check their identity. Genuine callers will not object to you taking sensible precautions. Read the rest of this entry »
Most callers are genuine but, sadly, no-one can afford to be too trusting these days. Beating the doorstep conman need cost very little but common-sense precautions are necessary to ensure that a caller is genuine, and to avoid being pressurised into buying goods or services that you do not really want.
The most important point is to ensure that you can see and talk to the caller before opening the door and putting yourself at risk. If the front door or nearby windows do not provide a good view of the caller, you should install a door viewer. Read the rest of this entry »
If the washer is not spinning, the next check is of the washer control magnet. Washers use a control magnet, an electrical-mechanical component, to enable the gearcase to shift into the spin cycle. You can easily check the control magnet by using the volt/ohmmeter set on the RX-10 scale. With the volt/ohmmeter on RX-10 scale, connect the probes to both terminals of the control magnet. NOTE: When checking a suspected faulty control magnet, remove the wires from the washer wiring harness to avoid an inaccurate reading. Read the rest of this entry »
Specific failure symptoms include: 1) Clothes are not dry at end of cycle. 2) The dryer timer assembly is not advancing in the cycle properly.
To find the cause of the problem, first move the dryer out from the wall and remove the vent hose. With the dryer running, place your hand on the dryer exhaust duct to determine if there is any hot air being discharged. If the air is cold, you will have to make a line voltage check at the dryer receptacle to determine whether full 220-to-240-volt power is available. Read the rest of this entry »
Unplug the power cord or gas supply before servicing the clothes dryer. Move clothes dryer out from the wall. Exercise care when moving the dryer from its original position because the dryer legs can easily tear holes in your floor.
Remove screws to dryer top. Lift the top of the dryer by inserting a flat-blade screwdriver between the cabinet and the top of the dryer. Remove the screws that secure door switch to dryer front panel and discard the door switch. Read the rest of this entry »
Other specific symptoms include: 1) Food not remaining at desired temperature. 2) Compressor does not cycle ON.
Because the interior light is ON, the Fridge has the required electric power to operate.
Something is causing the compressor not to cycle ON. Check the components in the order that they are listed below. The most likely component at fault is the defrost timer, which could be stuck in the defrost cycle. The Fridge is then in a permanent state of defrost and does not cycle ON. However, if the compressor tries to start and the interior light dims, the problem is probably not the defrost timer or the thermostat; therefore, check the components of the compressor assembly starting with the starting relay. Read the rest of this entry »
Throughout this post, references are made to meters and their use in continuity testing of individual parts of the appliances and their connecting wires. All testing and checking for ‘open’ (not allowing for current flow) or `closed’ circuit (allowing current to flow) must be carried out using a battery-powered multimeter or test meter. Testing should never be carried out on live items under any circumstances. Appliances must be disconnected from the mains supply. Read the rest of this entry »
Refrigerators and freezers are now commonplace items in the home. Faults are inconvenient at the very least and, at worst, can prove expensive if the contents thaw out. In addition, most, if not all refrigerators and freezers contain environmentally unfriendly CFC gases for the cooling system and within the insulation materials. Although efforts are being made to eliminate the use of these gases in new appliances, it will be some time before non-CFC use becomes the norm. While CFCs are still in widespread use there are a number of things that you can do to minimize their associated environmental problems. Read the rest of this entry »
