Author - Kristin Hurst

In today’s virtual world, search engines have replaced the Yellow Pages as the #1 tool consumers use to find anything they need, from driveway paving to washer repair. Developing a dynamic business website is important, but ensuring your company is accurately listed on various other online channels is just as critical. These online directories or “citations” are any sites that post a company’s name, physical address, phone number and web address.

Some examples of citation sites are Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Foursquare, Merchant Circle, CitySearch and Bing Places, among others. Like the phone books of days past, businesses must ensure their listings are correct with updated information. Companies often set up their profiles and never look at them again. However, the Internet is a dynamic entity — it moves and changes like the wind.

A simple mistake can occur like it did recently with Fred’s Appliance Service.  A DSL (Internet connection) number ended up being listed by accident to multiple online directories. The DSL number would ring forever with no answer. An unintended error by the DSL provider caused major issues for Fred’s Service. Customers would call for hours with no luck assuming the company was closed, and they took their business elsewhere. Unlike today’s high-tech appliances, there is no error code for this type of blunder. The damage is hard to calculate since Fred’s had no idea how long the issue had been going on and how many people tried to call the wrong number.

Sometimes errors may be more intentional. Take this recent news story of a customer calling the number on a Google listing only to have someone pose as a company representative. It wasn’t until the customer found a different number listed on a different website that she discovered the issue. The company owner had not been checking his company listings, enabling others to siphon customers away while damaging his reputation in the process.

Ensuring your customers have the right information is important, but it’s also important to look through search engines like Google and Bing. Just because you have a Google My Business listing does not mean you will show up in Google search results when someone enters “appliance repair near me.” Search engines pull from all citation sites to narrow down the best results to search queries. So having your business listed on as many citation sites as possible will help increase your online exposure.

To check your business’ online profile, start by taking time to review listings at Google My Business, Bing Places, Facebook and Yelp. Make sure the correct data is provided, including your hours of operation (including holiday hours). It can be overwhelming and time consuming to maintain all your listings, so consider partnering with a marketing company like Fluid Services, which can help update listings and provide regular reports of the most common directories.  This will give you peace-of-mind knowing that your customers are going to consistently find the most accurate contact information for your company.

Special thanks to Fred’s Appliance Academy for this helpful tip!

**NOTICE**

Due the danger and complexity of electronics repair, the following shared technical tips are intended for professional reference only. Please refer to manufacturer’s recommendations as Encompass does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or safety of this information.

Hitachi TV, 60SDX88B
Reason for Service: Shutdown
Solution:  Q777, Q657 & EP98

Magnavox TV,  37MF321D
Reason for Service:  Dead, light flashing
Solution:  Found two swollen caps in power supply, replacing them restored normal operation.  2081,  1500uF/35V & 2074,  2200uF/25V.

 Panasonic TV, PT50LC13
Reason for Service:  Need to reset lamp timer after changing the lamp.
Solution: Turn on TV, simultaneously press and hold volume down on front of set and the PIP/VTR on the remote.  Hold for 10 seconds, then OSD will say Lamp Time Reset to 0.

 Polaroid TV,  TLX03210B
Reason for Service:  Set tries to start, then red LED blinks continually.
Solution: Found two bad 10uF/450V in the power supply.  Replacing fixed the set.

 Sony TV,  NSX-46GT1
Reason for Service:  Set turns on with the Sony picture, then freezes.  Goes no further.
Solution:  Replaced M board and upgraded software.  Part # A-1787-298-A

Toshiba TV,  52HM84
Reason for Service:  Lamp won’t light
Solution:  Check ballast components:  1k resistors, two rectifiers and C6,  0.1uF/400V metal film poly cap. Ballast needs 350V and a 5V enable signal to work. 

Vizio LCD TV E550VL
Reason for Service:  Shuts off intermittently.
Solution: Replacing the main board fixed the set. 

Zenith TV, 9-1302 module
Reason for Service: No video and intermittent raster
Solution:  Look for bad solder on fly pins; also check for bad solder on top and bottom pins of daughter board.

**NOTICE**
Due the danger and complexity of electronic equipment repair, the following technical tip is intended for professional reference only. Please refer to manufacturer’s recommendations as Encompass does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or safety of this information. 

Note: this tip applies to GE Refrigerator Model GTE21GSHSS

If the light is out in your GE refrigerator model GTE21GSHSS and a new bulb didn’t fix the problem, you are most likely dealing with a malfunctioning door switch.Replacing a fridge door switch is an uncomplicated repair, and should only take a few minutes. Here’s an easy-to-follow guide:

How to Replace Refrigerator Door Switch
Tools Needed:
● Putty knife
● Screwdriver
● New door switch wr23x20371

Safety First: Before starting any type of refrigerator repair , unplug the appliance. Wearing work gloves and safety goggles is also a must. Please read through the step-by-step guide provided before tackling this repair.

1. Open the refrigerator’s fresh food door and locate the door switch. Once you’ve found the switch, examine it to find out whether there is a screw holding it in place or not. If there is, use a screwdriver to remove it; if there isn’t, carefully pry the switch out of its housing with a putty knife. You may want to tape the edge of the knife to avoid damaging the inside of the appliance.

2. Gently pull the switch out to expose an inch or two of the wires. There will be either two wires, meaning the switch only controls your refrigerator’s light or four wires, which indicates the switch controls the light and the fan. Before you begin detaching the wires from the switch, label each one. This will make putting them back where they belong easier. To remove the wires, carefully pull them out by the connectors.

3. Connect the wires to the new door switch’s terminals. Once the wires are secure, either snap the switch back into its housing or reattach the screw you removed earlier.

4. Plug your refrigerator back in and test the door switch by opening and closing the fresh food door. If the light is still malfunctioning in your refrigerator or you have concerns about another appliance, please contact Fred’s Appliance today and we’ll be happy to help you.

Special thanks to Fred’s Appliance Academy for this helpful tip!

**NOTICE**

Due the danger and complexity of electronics repair, the following shared technical tips are intended for professional reference only. Please refer to manufacturer’s recommendations as Encompass does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or safety of this information.

Hitachi TV, 50V500A
Reason for Service:  All front LED indicators are flashing in sequence: Power, Temp, Lamp, Power, etc.
Solution: Replaced the lamp. 

Samsung Computer Monitor, 203B
Reason for Service:  No backlights.
Solution: Check all caps on power, inverter board.  It may have also blown a 3A fuse. 

Sony TV, KDL40EX400
Reason for Service:  Set turns on with chime, then shuts down with 6 blink code.
Solution:  Replaced the power supply module.  Part # 1-474-213-11

Sylvania TV, LC320SL1
Reason for Service:  Backlight flashes quickly, then the set shuts down.
Solution:  Replacing Q1970 fixed the set.  Used 2SC3200.

Toshiba TV, 40XV640U
Reason for Service: Has backlight, but no audio/video.
Solution: Replacing the main fixed the set.

Vizio TV, SV470M
Reason for Service:  Dead, no lights on.
Solution: Replacing the power board fixed the set.

Vizio TV, M3D421SR
Reason for Service:  Logo turns to white, but no picture, sound, OSD or control.
Solution: Updating the firmware did not fix the set.  Replaced Q19101 and Q19102, and R931, 0.1ohm, half W resistor.  All on the power board.

Vizio TV, E322VL
Reason for Service:  When you turn set on, the logo goes from amber to white, but keeps alternating amber, white then  set won’t start.
Solution:  Replacing main didn’t seem to fix the set.  This set has built-in Wi-Fi, and requires a couple of minutes to initialize the boot up. Set okay after that.

**NOTICE**
Due the danger and complexity of electronic equipment repair, the following shared technical tips are intended for professional reference only. Please refer to manufacturer’s recommendations as Encompass does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or safety of this information. 

If an electric oven is not baking at all, the issue can be diagnosed fairly quickly. If the oven has a sensor, shut the door completely to confirm the oven doesn’t work. If the door is working properly, then the issue may originate inside the unit.

Confirm that you need oven repair by actually seeing that the baking element is not heating. The back element itself can be checked once power has been disconnected from the oven and the element has been properly isolated. It should have roughly 10-50 ohms when checking for resistance. If the resistance is not within that range, the baking element on the bottom of the oven needs to be replaced. Replacing the bottom element is relatively simple; start by disconnecting power to the oven. Then, pull out the racks, remove the doors, and unplug the bake element.

Next, unplug the oven from the bottom. There should be two screws at the back of the oven holding the heating element in place. Remove the screws with a screwdriver, and plug the new element in at the same location of the old one. Make sure it fits properly.

Once the screws are on tightly, push the element into the oven cavity. At this point, all wires should be inside the wall and not visible. Things will get trickier if the bake element is hidden. More disassembly is required, and it’s recommended that you check the service manual for your specific product. Other components can prevent your electric oven from heating to the proper temperature such as the oven sensor probe,  main oven control board, and door alignment issues to name a few.

Special thanks to Fred’s Appliance Academy for this helpful tip!

**NOTICE**

Due the danger and complexity of electronics repair, the following shared technical tips are intended for professional reference only. Please refer to manufacturer’s recommendations as Encompass does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or safety of this information.

Hitachi TV, 51UWX20B
Reason for Service: IC401 failure, protection
Solution: Check solder connection of C417.  Add C480, 0.1uF/50V across C417.  Add C481, 0.1uF/50V to pin 40 and 44 of IC401.

LG Plasma, 50PS30UB
Reason for Service:  Shuts down immediately
Solution:  Replaced Q801 & 802 in the power supply.  STW20NK50Z.  Also F801 was blown, 4A ceramic, slow-blow.

 Magnavox TV, 37MF331D/37
Reason for Service:  Menu pops up intermittently
Solution: Replaced two power switches to fix the set.

Samsung TV, LN3242HX/XAA
Reason for Service:  No backlight.  Might flash very briefly at turn-on.
Solution: Found an open secondary on one of the inverter transformers.  Replacing fixed the set.

Samsung TV, HLS7178WX/XAA
Reason for Service: Set shuts down intermittently when changing input or channel.
Solution: Replaced the DMD board.

Sharp TV, LC32D47U
Reason for Service:  Set comes on with a message to input the password, but end user does not know it.
Solution:  Enter the Factory Mode and Initialize the set to the out of box condition. Hold volume down and input on the set while plugging in.  You should see a K on the screen.  Release the first two buttons and hold down the front volume  and channel down.  Look for initialize on page 2.  When you see the green screen, unplug the set.

Sony TV, KDL-40XBR2
Reason for Service:  Set will power on, but no picture or sound
Solution: Found an open T-Con fuse, 3A SM.

Vizio TV, GV47LFHDTV10A
Reason for Service:  Has backlight but no video
Solution: Found U10 on the main board was defective.

**NOTICE**
Due the danger and complexity of electronic equipment repair, the following shared technical tips are intended for professional reference only. Please refer to manufacturer’s recommendations as Encompass does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or safety of this information. 

If your ice machine suddenly goes silent with none of its usual rumblings, or you notice that the ice levels in your tray are decreasing, something in your ice machine isn’t working right. One of the most common problems is a broken connection point that stops ice from breaking free of the machine and landing in your tray, which signals the machine to keep making new ice.

How to Troubleshoot Your Whirlpool Ice Maker for Common Problems and Repairs:

• Is the connection to the heating element broken? Ice machines work by pouring chilled water through the inlet valve into the machine, and the water starts to freeze in the pan. Depending on your ice machine model, it will either sense when the ice is frozen or operate on a timer. When the ice is considered complete by either mechanism, the floor of the ice machine will start to warm up through a heating element with just enough of the tines of your machine to push cubes free into the waiting tray. The two most common ways the heating element can start to break down and not function as well is if mechanisms within it freeze over or if water gets inside to the electrical components of the motor and heating element. Check over the heating element and any moving parts for bits of ice, which can be carefully chipped away to free those parts of the machine. You can also remove the ice machine from the freezer for a more thorough investigation, and some of the icy obstructions will just melt away. If it doesn’t look like unwanted ice is preventing the heating element from turning on, dismantle and inspect the heating element. Be sure to unplug the refrigerator prior to working on it.  If the metal is corroded and starting to break down, water is probably getting in through one of the connection points. If you see rust, carefully sand it away and solder on a copper contact point to ensure a new, strong connection.
• Is the inlet valve hose frozen over?Look for a tub above your ice machine that pours water into the machine — it can often be found in the corner of the freezer. If the hose is full of frozen water, it will form an obstruction that prevents water from falling into the ice machine. Because it’s typically made of pliable material, squeeze the hose to break off or loosen any ice without detaching it from the valve.

If you think your Whirlpool ice machine might be experiencing different issues, try addressing the easiest solutions first that require the least amount of dismantling. This makes troubleshooting less of a potential headache, and also lets you determine trends in how your ice machine malfunctions if it frequently stops working. Once you can isolate the core problem, you can decide if a part needs to be replaced; if you would rather replace the whole machine; or if it’s simple enough to regularly maintain. When you have to dismantle the entire machine and inspect it outside of the freezer, make a list of any damage you see so you can systemically diagnose the problem. With ice machines, you often have to wait between each adjustment so the machine can try to complete a test cycle.

If your ice machine needs more than a soldered connection point to kickstart the heating element and it’s not just a frozen inlet hose blocking up your machine, be sure to contact Fred’s Appliance for more advice about how to fix your specific appliance.

Special thanks to Fred’s Appliance Academy for this valuable tip!