Problems with electrical appliances may not always result from a failure of the equipment itself. They can be caused by the failure of electrical supply to the appliance via the socket. A three-pin socket must have a live supply, a neutral return and a sound earth path. When a plug from an appliance is inserted, firm contact must be made at all three points. If the live or neutral pins of the plug or connection point within the socket fail to make adequate contact or are free to move, localized heating will occur within the socket. Typical signs of this problem are listed below.
There are various reasons for such problems. They may be caused by one or a combination of any of those listed here. Read the rest of this entry »
Whether cheap and simple or astronomically expensive, all decks are averse to dirt and debris which is statically attracted to the vinyl record. It then damages the stylus resulting in the all-too-familiar click, pop and jumping of the track.
Sound is stored on a vinyl record on a continuous groove starting at the outer edge and finishing at the centre of the disc. The groove has microscopic ridges proportional in size to the sound wave that created them. When the record rotates, the stylus is deflected by these ridges as it runs in the groove. These minute deflections are then amplified. Two requirements must be met for the stylus to track correctly. The first is that the groove of the record is free from all blemishes and foreign matter to which the stylus would react. The other is that the arm holding the stylus must apply just enough weight to hold the point within the groove (usually 1-2 grams) but not so much as to create excessive wearing of the groove. Read the rest of this entry »
It is easy to dismiss the disposable bag as just a receptacle in which the dirt is collected during cleaning. However, there is a little more to it than that. Many faults can be directly attributed to infrequent bag renewal or the use of poor quality bags and filters.
To work correctly, the bag must offer as little resistance to the airflow as possible, even as its contents increase. It must also resist clogging, while at the same time stopping fine particles from passing through. Restriction to the airflow through the bag and filter not only results in poor cleaning performance, but may cause premature motor failure as a result of overheating. Read the rest of this entry »
The aim of this manual has been to assist in the D-I-Y repair of your household appliances. I hope that you will now not only possess a greater understanding of how your appliances work, but also the knowledge to prevent many faults from occurring. Above all, I hope that armed with this information, you will feel confident enough to tackle most of the faults that may arise from time to time.
All this knowledge and new-found confidence will be wasted, however, if you cannot locate the parts that you require to complete the repair.
This would once have been somewhat of a problem, but in recent years the availability of spares has increased. This is for several reasons. Read the rest of this entry »
