Conference 7.286::home_work

    Is there an 800 number for White-Westinghouse?  I know there is
    one for G.E. that you can talk to a technician.  I'm looking for
    the same thing for W.-W.
    
    Thanks,
    Chris D.

    Yes,
    
    The number is 1-800-245-0600.
    
    Peg

    Also, there is 800 information, for any number that you might want
    in the future:
    
    	800-555-1212
    
    Bob

    I tried the 800 number for W.W. and they don't have techs there.
     They only refer you to service places in your area.
    
    Chris D.

    I need a name or number for a local (Manchester, Nashua) Maytag dealer 
    that is reliable/resonable.  Any recommendations?
    
    Replies would be appreciated.
    
    
    c'ya,
    Frank
    
    
    

P.E. Fletcher, Nashua.

	Steve

    Worn out brushes?
    

    buy a new one

    Before buying a new one, I'd try a couple of things, first see if the 
    power cord is damaged. Sometimes when disconnecting from the outlet,
    you may have pulled by the cord thus may have caused a loose
    connection or intermittant connection. I'd then look at the brushes and 
    clean the armature with fine sand paper. A dirty armature would also
    give an intermittant run. If it still doesn't work THEN it's time for a 
    new one. 
    
    Angelo

    You used to be able to get small appliances repaired, but most of them
    anymore are not even designed to be fixable, let alone fixable for less
    than replacement cost.  Being a cheapskate at heart, I hate replacing
    stuff that ought to be fixable, but even my handy spouse can't reapir
    some small appliances of current design.  Even things like fuses (in
    the hairdryer) are wired in in such a way that you can't replace them
    (soldered in with high-temperature solder! - gimme a break!) - my
    hairdryer runs again but is now fuse-less, which probably isn't such a
    great idea, but it is not the sort of device that is likely to run
    unattended anyhow.  Even replacing the motor brushes of my electric
    drill turned out to not be cost-effective anymore - I could have
    ordered the parts, but at a cost more than a new one!  Just one reason
    the town dump is stuffed to the gills...
    
    /Charlotte

    
    Be careful. That "little fuse" I suspect is a thermo protection device.
    They are usually welded in because they are right where the high heat
    is. If someone put the dryer down on a towel or whatever they will
    block the intake. The thermo device will shut it down so that it
    will not catch on FIRE !!!. It could be a fuse but I doubt it.
    

    
    It's not just small appliances that can't be repaired anymore. Some of
    your major appliances can't either. Sears is notorious for this. Oh,
    they can be repaired, but the cost is more then what the appliance is
    worth. In repairing a old dryer, it needed a new motor, and control
    switch. Well the cost of the control switch and motor was only $10 less
    then a new dryer (same brand, same style, only 8 years newer). Same
    goes for lawnmowers. The manufacturers build this into their products
    (at least it seems like they do). 
    
    Mike

    Things are not "repairable" because of cost to manufacture. It's
    cheaper for manufacturers to rivet,glue,weld etc. with automatic
    equipment. This is why the new product is so cheap !!!
    
    If it was repairable, (nuts, bolts, modular, etc.) it would cost
    more and be worth repairing.
    
    It also costs a lot of money by the manufacturer to have a distribution
    system for the parts.
    
    Parts dealers also charge "list" price when selling directly to the
    consumer. I think it's to discourage DIYers.

	    I prefer to go with the conspiracy theory; the manufacturers
	are out to get us!  (Do I hear crazy laughter in the background?)
	    I figure I'm doing better than 50% fixing non-repairable items.
	Some things could be repaired (like a hair dryer recently) but are
	not worth the time or effort.  If you catch them on sale, which is
	the 'only' way to buy, you can get a new hair dryer for less than
	$10.00.
	    BTW, mail-in rebates to not classify as sale items... unless
	they're for at least $5.00.  ;^)

					Tim

.5>Are you sure was a fuse?

.5>That "little fuse" I suspect is a thermo protection device.

Electrical fuses work by heating up when the amperage gets too high, melting, 
and thus interrupting the circuit.  There are also mecahnical fuses.  My oil
furnace has a wire running from near the furnace back to the oil tank.  If 
the furnace gets too hot, an inline fuse in the wire (fusible link) melts and 
the oil feed shuts off.

    The cost of spares is definitely the reason for appliance repair
    being uneconomical.  For a small appliance repair shop just to
    stock the thousands of small parts required for small appliances
    today would require lots of expensive space and overhead.  Then add
    in the manufacturer's stocking overhead and the distribution costs
    and the price of small parts has to be at least 3 to 5 times the
    actual part cost.
    
    When an element goes on a Proctor Silex toaster, you can replace
    the elements ... sort of ... what you replace is basically the
    entire innards of the toaster ... for about 1/2 the cost of the
    toaster.  These are standard items and go in ALL standard slice
    size toasters -- so the cost is relatively low.  If the individual
    elements were replaceable, they would actually cost as much as the
    whole innards!
    
    Crazy, ain't it!
    
    Stuart

    re:.9
    
    Correct, but I don't understand the point.
    
    What's in the hair dryers are not either of what you described. You
    described a fuse and a circuit breaker. Not a thermo-protector. A
    thermo-protector does not trip due to high current. It trips from high
    external heat. It's basically a thermo-stat.
    
    All hair dryers I believe have thermo-protectors.
    I've never seen a fuse (or circuit breaker) in a hair dryer but their
    might be.
    
    

    
    re .7
    
    I'll give you a little story to explain what I'm talking about..
    
    About 3 years ago, the carb, and starter pully broke on my 15 year old
    Craftsman lawnmower. So I went to the sears service center to pick up
    the 2 pieces. The cost for these 2 parts was $145. A new mower was
    $170. A new starter pully for a newer mower would have cost me $15, yet
    the one for my 15 year old mower was over $70. They look almost exactly
    the same ( I thought that I might be able to use the newer one), but
    the bolt pattern is different. Besides that, there is no difference.
    Both engines are Tecumsha (? on spelling). There is no reason they had
    to change the design of that part. By changing the bolt pattern, it
    didn't give them any advantage over the old one. The only reason they
    did it was so I'd be forced to buy a new mower (which I did). 
    
    Mike

    re: the hairdryer: Yes, it is a fuse - my husband was an electronics
    technician before be came to DEC.  The thermal sensor is still in the
    hairdryer - it was fine.  I'm not too worried about the thing since I
    am the only person who uses it except when he is using it to shrink
    heat-shrink tubing - no kids in the house.
    
    At least the thing could be dismantled without destroying it - I
    dislike appliances that are riveted together, or glued.  We've had to
    drill out rivets in a few things and replace them with small bolts
    after repairing the device - a nuisance in general.  Even what I would
    consider expensive home devices, such as a CD player, share this
    toss-it-out philosophy: the first one of those we had died, and even my
    spouse could not repair it (not designed to be fixed), so we bought a
    new one that was easier to repair: when it also eventually gave out, he
    was able to open it and fix it (after buying a really tiny torx
    screwdriver set - it was one size smaller than anything else we own!).
    
    I'd rather pay more and have repairable appliances, even if we can't
    fix them ourselves in some cases and end up paying someone to do it - I
    have a philosophical problem with toss-it appliances, plus I feel like
    my money has been wasted (I'm real cheap).
    
    There may be hope yet, though - I have been seeing ads lately for a
    local place that fixes microwave ovens.  When the first one of those I
    had died (had a mechanical problem with the door interlock mechanism -
    the electronics worked fine), I was quite miffed that no one would even
    look at repairing it for less than the cost of a new one - that is not
    what I would call a cheap device, and it seemed pretty short-sighted to
    consign it to the landfill, but that is where it went.  Sigh...
    
    /Charlotte
                                                                   

    Back to the basenote!
    
    You say it "hesitates" and then runs fine?  Is the hesitation
    accompanied by a loudish hum (and an ozone smell) as if the motor was
    straining to turn?
    
    If so, I had a similar problem which turned out to be mechanical -  the
    motor was not direct drive and drive was relayed through a series of
    nylon cogs.  As these wear they stick until the motor builds up emf and
    forces the drive train through the sticking point.  A dab of silicone
    grease might free it up unless a cog or a bearing has gone too far.
    
    Another possibility is that there could be some kind of choke or
    capacitor start up control which is malfunctioning.
    
    Regards,
    
    Colin
    
    On the sideline discussion, I had a relative staying for the weekend
    who has a small business rebuilding car starters, alternators and
    carbs.  He's been doing this for fifteen years and has become convinced
    that the manufacturers *deliberately* set out to prevent cost-effective
    repair.  It's done under the guise of improving design and efficiency.
    They do exactly as described in previous notes -- pricing small, cheap
    and essential components like a starter cog within a few dollars of a
    complete new module.  In the current economy, where a lot of folk are
    trying to keep their present car running longer it's a pretty low
    strategy, but what should we expect from big business?  What really
    p**es me off is that there is *no reason* why many auto parts and small
    appliances could not be kept running for a lifetime instead of ending
    up in landfills.  [End of moan. I wish someone hadn't mentioned
    irrepairable CD players and dead small engines! ;-) ]
    
    
    

I'm the kinda guy (read: cheap!) who also believes that things should be 
able to be repaired.  When I had cars in college, I would rebuild every-
thing possible.  Usually, if you took it apart, you could fix it somehow.  
Now you can't even figure out how to get it open without dynamite.

	Me: My car isn't running right.

	Mechanic: That's OK, we'll just replace the engine.

This pet peeve really applies to TVs.  

Well, our TV developed an intermittent problem wherein it would not come 
on completely.  You'd click the clicker to turn it on and you'd hear it 
start to make a 'fizzing' noise which meant it was trying to come on.  If 
you wapped it just right it would come on.  Obviously, a simple, poor 
connection somewhere in the power circuit.

My wife wanted it repaired immediately (read: long before I'd be willing 
to buy a new one :-).  So she called a repairman.  I warned that he would 
not be able to find the problem since it was intermittent and intermittent 
problems never manifest themselves when there is a repairman in the same 
room.  I was right and $50 poorer. :-(  We waited for the TV to get better 
by itself since I refused to pay another $50 to have a repairman tell me 
"These things never go bad.  They are electronic." and "Looks fine to me".  

Meanwhile, I found a sweet spot on the bottom of the TV where, if you 
pressed upward, you bent motherboard inside and the TV would come on.  I 
carved a wooden block with a rounded top and put it under the TV so it 
pressed up in just the right spot.  So for a year or two we got along just 
fine.  But things, ever so gradually, got worse and worse.  This winter 
things reached a climax when even I, who knew the sweet spot, couldn't 
coax the TV on.  We left it for a few days but my wife experienced extreme
TV withdrawal symptoms wherein she threatened to raid the savings account
and buy a new TV.  :-!

This was enough to galvanize me into action!

So despite my incomplete knowledge of electronics which can be summed up 
as of the 5th grade science fair level (circa early 1960's), I decided to 
wade into the back of the TV.  Having read a number of cautions in this 
file about high voltage and near death experiences, I opened it with a 
screwdriver friction taped to a 10 foot pole :-).  When the TV didn't 
explode in a dazzling shower of sparks like they do in the movies, I was 
encouraged.

Once you open up a TV, you realize it has about five parts (probably 
fewer now - this sucker is 11 years old):

	1) Big picture thing - picture tube
	2) Tuner thing - the thing the clicker clicks to
	3) Steering thing - the thing on the back of the tube that tells 
	   all the tiny electrons where to go.
	4) Noisy thing - speaker
	5) Electronic thing - motherboard with what looks like dead multi-
	   legged critters on it.

(My complete knowledge of electronics shines right through here ;-)

Well, I postulated that all I needed was a connection.  So here is what I 
did:

	1) I got a piece of wire (my complete electronics analyzer kit :-)
	2) slid the motherboard out as far as it would go
	3) laid on the floor under the mother board
	4) where I could see the connections inside the motherboard and 
	   could find two corresponding available bare locations I made a 
	   parallel connection with the wire.
	5) in about 3 minutes I found it.
	6) soldered the bad connection and voila!

The TV works fine except every now and then it hiccups like it has momentar-
ily lost power.  I'll have to check my solder joint.  I think something else 
might be going.  Sigh.

Stan

>          <<< Note 4525.12 by KOALA::DIAMOND "No brag, Just fact." >>>
>
>    
>    re .7
>    
>    I'll give you a little story to explain what I'm talking about..
    
  Gee, that's too bad Mike. You should have gone to Small Engine Supply in 
Nashua and purchased those parts for well under $50. They are the area 
distributor for Tecumseh. Yes, even Craftsman spec'd Tecumseh.

Ross

    I just repaired my Sunbeam Mixmaster due to a similar problem.  It
    turned out to be a combination of a couple of things.  One was that the
    screw that holds the dial switch together was loose and the vibration
    from the running the mixer was causing intermittant contact.  The
    second thing was that the switch had accumulated a bunch of flour/cake
    mix/etc. over the past few years.  Pry that white thingamabob off the
    end of the mixer.  Use a screwdriver and remove the brown collar that
    has the mixer speed settings printed on it, and give everything a good
    cleaning with something like a make-up brush and one of those spray
    cans of air (or a few good blasts from your lungs).

re: .12

A possible reason for chaning something like a starter pulley within the last
15 years would be to implement the Federal regulation that requires
lawn mower blades to stop within 3 seconds of letting go of the handle.  In the
cheaper case this requires a brake which could require a different housing
shape which could require different mounting points.  There are other
reasons that occur to me, the conspiracy theory being just one.

You probably should have tried a parts dealer for small engines; I would
expect more knowledge and possibly better prices than Sears.

Or, depending on the pulley and the problem, you could have just repaired it
yourself.  It's tricky, requiring both patience and caution, because of the
danger of the spring, but some pulley repairs can be done.

   Gary

    
    RE .16
    
    I tried them...They didn't have any parts for a Tecumseh engine that
    went back that far. I also tried the John Deer place just south of the
    Mall of NH. I must have called 20 different places. Only Sears carried
    the parts (or at least was able to get the parts, I would have had to
    order them and wait 2 weeks).
    
    Mike

    RE: .12
    
    I agree with some of the replys. They are not out to get you. They
    really have little to gain. But what they may do is not worry about
    what a change might do to you and worry only about today.
    
    Of course everyone likes a repairable item. Everyone should own a
    JohnDeer tractor, but who can afford one !!! But instead we say "I
    could buy 3 sears units for that price, how can I loose". But 5 years
    down the line we forget and instead of throwing it away and buying the
    second one we say, lets fix it. Then we complain that it is not so
    repairable. "You get what you pay for"
    

 According to one of the 'business rags', there's a trend in product 
design returning to 'repairable products'. I think they're refered to as BFD - 
Built For Disasembly.

 The idea is to make things very easy to repair and/or disassemble. I beleive
it's Germany which has or will have legislation which put the responsiblilty
of product disposal back into the laps of the manufacturer. Basically this means
that if your lawnmower, mixer, computer is no longer working, you can bring
it back to the manufacturer and tell them, "this is your problem to dispose of"
and leave the dead carcass on their doorstep.

 All of a sudden it becomes in the manufacturers best interest to either
make the products repairable, recyclable, reusable or else THEY have a massive
disposal nightmare on their hands. 

 I believe the BMW is already something like 90% recycable/and or reusable.


 Bob

    
>>    I agree with some of the replys. They are not out to get you. They
>>    really have little to gain. But what they may do is not worry about
>>    what a change might do to you and worry only about today.
    
    I've rebuilt enough small engines to know that some of the redesigns
    had no usefull purpose. In the Tecumseh 2h engine built since 1970,
    there are over 10 different start pully's. None are interchangable.
    I've only seen a need for 2 or 3 different ones. They've made 3
    different crank shafts for that engine (that's more then some car
    manufacturers have made for their car engines). I'm confinced that they
    know exactly what they're doing. They purposly make the parts just a
    little different. Then charge a astronomical amount for the
    discontinued part. And if you don't want to pay that price, then you'll
    have to buy another product. Lets face it, lawn mowers last longer then
    the average car (at least it should). And if these manufacturers were
    to make a lawnmower completely repairable with cheap parts, then they
    wouldn't be selling too many lawnmowers.
    
>>    Of course everyone likes a repairable item. Everyone should own a
>>    JohnDeer tractor, but who can afford one !!! But instead we say "I
    
    No thank you, I'll buy a tractor that'll last more then just a couple
    of years.
    
    Mike

    
>>A possible reason for chaning something like a starter pulley within the last
>>15 years would be to implement the Federal regulation that requires
>>lawn mower blades to stop within 3 seconds of letting go of the handle.  In the
>>cheaper case this requires a brake which could require a different housing
>>shape which could require different mounting points.  There are other
>>reasons that occur to me, the conspiracy theory being just one.

    I doubht that that's the reason. Tecumseh use to sell a kit to convert
    your lawn mower over to the new Fed standards. It was difficult for the
    consumer to buy it. It was mainly sold to dealers to convert their
    existing previous years models over to the new standard. It saved some
    dealers a lot of money. They wern't going to sell too many of the older
    models if they didn't have this kit.
    
    Mike

Mike --

Why not write a letter to Tecumseh and ask them why they've made so many
changes?  If you keep the tone non-accusatory, you might get an interesting
answer (not necessarily an honest one).

    
    Sounds like your an unhappy customer now. So what has tecumseh
    gained. A happy dealer with one less customer !!!
    
    P.S. I'm happy Briggs & Straton customer myself :-)
    

>          <<< Note 4525.19 by KOALA::DIAMOND "No brag, Just fact." >>>

    
 That's unusual. I repair many old Craftsman (among others) snowblowers,
 lawnmowers and never had a problem getting parts outside of Sears. You
must have had one odd ball product.


Ross

    
    re .25
    
    I've worked on many Briggs and Straton engines, and they're not any
    better.
    
    RE .16
    
    Some parts I've had no problem getting, others were a bare. I haven't
    done much work on small engines in a few years, maybe they've gotten
    better, but I doubt it.
    
    Mike

I took the mixer apart last night.  I cleaned a lot of crud out of it, but
it didn't help.  I then pried the speed control knob off, but the area behind
the knob was clean.  I noticed that one leg of the potentiometer was bent,
and I figured that I had bent it when I removed the knob.  When I tested
the mixer, it would only go full speed.  By the judicious use of a wire,
I discovered that there was a bad connection at the bent leg.  I resoldered
the connection, and everything seems to be OK.  My guess is that there was
an intermittent fault at the potentiometer.

    When I have a small appliance that has failed, after warranty expires
    is the usual case, I still box it up attach a small but polite note
    telling the manufacturer that the appliance should have lasted longer
    and to please replace. 
    
    I sent a 4 year old skil drill back that had been worked pretty hard.
    A new one showed up several weeks later. I took a craftsman router
    that was several years old back to Sears and told the sales person
    that it really should have lasted longer. He immediately gave me a
    new one without question.  
    
    I don't know if this was luck but I encourage everyone to try it. 
    Maybe competition is brutal and companies now realize that every
    customer is important.
    
    By the way, my Japanese Kubota tractor was so easy to completely 
    diassemble and replacement parts were available overnite if I
    wanted it. 

    
    I have been purchasing replacement parts for Sears appliances
    directly from Sears (Either from their Northboro Mass parts
    store or from their 800 number).  Typically the parts needed
    are not stocked locally and have to be shipped from their 
    warehouse or manufacturer.  Recently, I ordered some small
    items for our clothes dryer and have waited over two weeks!
    Needless to say, the lack of a dryer has created quite the 
    fuss within my family.
    
    Can anyone point me towards a parts store that usually stocks
    the items needed for Sears appliances?  Looking in the following
    Massachusetts areas
    		Maynard
    		Marlboro
    		Framingham/Natick
    		Milford
    
    BTW: The order I placed with Sears is for one Thermostat and
         one Thermal Fuse.  Would think that these types of items
    	 should be readily available.
    
    
    thanks for your help
    
    Bob Schneider @MSO
    dtn 223-9275
    POWDML::RSCHNEIDER
            ^ Note the "R"
    
    

    You might try calling Crest Appliance in Hudson MA, they do repair work
    on Sears appliances so possibly they maintain a parts inventory.
    
    Judie
    
    

    
    I think the Sears in Leominster (Searstown Mall) has a parts
    store, it's in the Auto building. I picked up parts for our
    carpet cleaner there.
    

There's a Sears parts place in Westboro MA, Rte 9 eastbound, just before 
Somerville Lumber.  At least it was there a couple of years ago ...

In the Framingham phone book is a listing for Sears Appliance Repair Service
and Parts in Northboro: try this number for Parts: 508 393 6810.  This is from
the 1990-1991 phone book.

-Chris

    I recently went through the same thing with some drier parts.  Seems with
    Sears re-organizaton it's real tough to order parts locally.  It's no
    done through a central number.  If you can't get the parts locally call 
    Sears back and talk to a supervisor.  Make sure you take their name so you 
    can deal with the same person.  Sears has to have the worst parts ordering 
    process I've ever encountered. With service like this no wonder they are 
    losing so much money.
    
    George

    Sears has a parts and service depot in Norwood (Route 1) on the
    Northbound side.  They only stock parts and perform service there.
    
    Sears also has a parts and service depot in Norwell near route 3.
    
    I am unsure of the Norwell facility, but the Norwood facility
    has always had what I wanted in stock (except for a rotted out
    4-year old lawnmower body).
    
    Ron

    .3  The Sears Service Ctr in Westboro on RTE 9 moved several years ago
    to Otis St, Northboro.
    
    Judie
     
    
    

    Thanks for the info. The parts finally arrived last week.
    
    The parts/repair center is in Northboro Mass (not far from BJ's on
    route 9).  I've gotten parts there but they typically don't stock
    a good selection. There is even poorer selection in Sears retail
    stores (like in Natick).
    
    I'll have to check out the Norwood location.
    
    

I have an old table saw (bought for $50 a couple years ago) on which the motor
finally died a couple days ago.  I'm looking to repair (rebuild?) it as the saw
is so old, lacking in features, that I'd rather milk this one along for a few
more smaller projects until I decide to take on a large enough project to
justify a newer-bigger-better one.  I'm looking for some tips/explanation from
some of the more electrically adept DIYers out there on tackling this repair (I
have a software background and only know the basics of electricity and the how a
electro-magnetic motor works.) Also, I've seen the other notes recomending just
replacing it for low power (<1 HP) motors, but I wanted to understand better
what it takes to fix this motor.

    Background:  When I bought it, it seemd to have a few "dead" spots. 
    I.e., when I'd turn it on, it would just hum.  To work-around this I'd
    turn it off, rotate the blade 1/2 revolution or so, and then turn it
    back on at which point it ran fine.  

    Then one evening when I had nothing better to do (and being the fairly
    mechanically inclined fix-it-yourself type), I decided to tear the
    motor apart and see if I could fix the "dead" spots problem.  I cleaned
    it up as best as I knew how and put it back together.  It seemed
    to barely if at all help the problem (but it was fun anyway).  After this
    noticeable rapid clicking could now heard when the motor is on too.  But it 
    other wise has worked fine since.

    Over time the number of "dead" spots seemed to increase.  Finally last
    week, I turned it on and the motor would not turn at all (just hummed).  I 
    tried turning the blade with a piece of wood, while on, but it still
    didn't "kick" on as in the past.

    Occasionally, I'd also notice that, say, after cutting
    a long cut and binding the blade a few times, when "kick" starting it,
    it would be slow to come up to speed.  What does this indicate?  Once or
    twice when ripping a 2x4, the motor would smoke a bit and I'd have to cut
    real slow to finish.


So, what's wrong with this motor?  Burned out?  If so, what exactly does 
"burned out" mean?  And how exactly does it get fixed?   What part of the motor
is probably "failing"?


								_Mike

P.S. - With such an active and organized conference I was surprised to
       need to enter a base note, but I didn't see anything close enough 
       in the TOOLS subject or DIR/TIT=motor.  Pleaes excuse me if I've
       overlooked something.

    Well I don't know if this will help you or not but here is what I have
    learned about electric motors.
    
    You may be able to extend the life of your motor by undercutting the
    spaces on the armature (?). In some cases, when the motor is old the
    armature becomes worn and the spaces between the parts of the armature
    wear down. 
                               (imagine a circle)
    		ex  a new Motor     _   _   _   _  <- This is the surface
    				    X|_|X|_|X|_|X|    the brushes ride on.
                                                      |X|  = metal surface
    
    		    a worn motor    _ _ _ _ _ _ _  <- Worn surface, no real
    				    X| |X| |X| |X|    separation between
                                                      sections
    
    The material bewteen the metal surface is a material that may be able
    to be cut with a file, or scrapped out with a srewdriver. Cutting this
    material down/out will extend the usefullness of the motor. However, 
    you can't do this forever. Eventually the motor is worn out.
    Be carefull not to leave any burrs on the surface. 
    
    A friend of mine worked at the Navy Yard a few years ago. This is how
    they would do maintenance on the eletrical motors on a ship. We used
    this method on automobile starter motors, motocycle generators back when 
    things were easy to work on.
    
    You should replace the brushes. There is also something that kicks in
    on startup that gets everythig started. I don't know what it is called.
    But it is replaceable, as I had it replaced on the motor on my oil
    burner.
    
    I am not an electrician nor do I have any background in elec, only,
    like you, I take things apart when they don't work to see if I can 
    find anything that doesn't look right. Then put it back to gether to
    see if performance has improved. 
    
    Steve   	
    
    

    I assume the motor in .0 is an induction motor, not a universal motor,
    so .1 won't apply.
    
    When a motor is "burned out" there is either a short or open circuit
    in one of the windings.  (If it smokes it's a short, if it just sits
    there it's probably an open circuit ;-)  )
    
    The starting capacitor (if there is one) could be gone.  There are
    other starting circuits that don't use a capacitor; whatever kind 
    of starting circuit your motor has, it may be having problems.  From
    your description, that seems to be the case.  The clicking is probably
    the starting circuit engaging/disengaging.  In theory, when the motor
    gets up to speed (or 70% of rated speed or something), the starter circuit 
    should disengage.  
    
    I guess the first step is to find out just what kind of motor you have.
    Likely candidates include:
    	a split-phase induction motor  (most likely)
    	capacitor-start
    	repulsion-start
    	repulsion-induction
    
    Then get a book a read up on how it works.  (I don't really know; I
    just know some of the names of the different types.)
    

re: .1  I do the same thing. Take it apart and look for something out of place
        or broken.

>    in one of the windings.  (If it smokes it's a short, if it just sits
>    there it's probably an open circuit ;-)  )
 
It smokes.  And last night I disengaged the belt and the motor did actually
turn, but very slowly.  I took it apart again and cleaned it out (there was a
lot of sawdust that I thought that might be impeding the moving parts, but it
didn't help.  I'll examine the wiring more closely to see if I can figure out
if there is a short.

One problem I'm having is that the pully piece on theend of the shaft (see 'H'
in diagram below) will not come off the end of the shaft.  (The shaft is
notched and a thumb screw holds the pully piece in place.  I can knock it in/on
more, and it spins freely, but when I go to pull it off it sticks pretty
solidly.  This means I can't pull the entire shaft/armature? from the casing
which makes it hard to inspect things. I'll have to look closer tonight.
   
>    The starting capacitor (if there is one) could be gone.  There are
>    other starting circuits that don't use a capacitor; whatever kind 

Is that the 3-4" tube with a cardboard case that is attached to the side of the
motor (under a sheet metal casing)?         

      _______ <-- capacitor?    
     _|_____|______
     |            |
     |============|===H
     |____________|       

>    the starting circuit engaging/disengaging.  In theory, when the motor
>    gets up to speed (or 70% of rated speed or something), the starter circuit 
>    should disengage.  
 
There's has also always been a definite click (seemingly normal/expected) after
shutting the power off, after the motor has slowed a bit (possibly at 70%
speed?).  (some kind of disengage circuit to slow the motor down quickly?) I
know that doesn't really seem related toa starting circuit, but when you
mentioned that, it came to mind.)
   
								_Mike

>There's has also always been a definite click (seemingly normal/expected) after
>shutting the power off, after the motor has slowed a bit (possibly at 70%
>speed?).

	    The motor sounds like it has a centrifugal switch on it. The 
	capacitor is used to induce a phase shift (vague recollection) to
	help get the motor spinning.  When it gets up to (near) speed,
	the the weights on the cent. switch are forced apart and engage
	(or disengage) the switch.  This disables the capacitor and the
	motor runs by itself.
	    These motors are known as capacitive start, inductive run.  
	If the cap. is gone, it should be fairly easy and inexpensive to
	replace.

					Tim 

    
    Be sure to check the centrifugal switch contacts also. They might be
    burned and pitted. File them clean and make sure they are closed when
    the motor is at rest. Make sure to turn the shaft so that you can
    be sure they make contact at 360 degrees of rotation. This is probably 
    the cause of you dead spots. Its the only thing that moves thats related 
    to starting those motors.
    
    Paul 

    The pulley is probably sticking because of burrs caused by the
    setscrew on the shaft.  If anybody knows of a good way around
    the problem, I'd like to know too!
    

    	If you can see burrs, file them off. I was just in the 1-2-3 store
    by me. In case you're not familiar with these, everything in the store
    is either $1, $2, or $3. I saw a gear/pulley puller while I was in
    there (meaning it was $3 at most).
    
    	If you put a gear/pulley puller on it, tighten it up, then tap on
    the pulley, you can probably get it off that way.
    
    	Another alternative is to get some lapping compound from an auto
    parts place. It is used to seat valves. It is an abrasive paste that
    you could put on the shaft and then rotate the pulley as you worked it
    towards the end of the shaft. You would of course have to hold the
    shaft from turning somehow while you did this. This stuff takes metal 
    down amazingly quick.
    
    	Ray

Thanks to all who replied! As a result of the information I have solved the
problem.  

The copper contacts to engage/disengage the startup circuit were misalligned
and thus the startup circuit was no longer engaging (never at this point).  I
also was able to file off the shaft and remove the pulley.  After cleaning up
everything (once more this time with the entire shaft removed), bending the
copper contacts back into allignment, and reassembling, the thing once more
purrs like a kitten.  Almost like new!  

Now back to building that shed...

								_Mike

    I am looking for a repair person/company to repair an Amana dish washer
    and Amana frig. in the Westford MA area any suggestions
    
    Thanks
    
    Tom

    Tom,
    
    I don't know if they do Amana, but give Hunter Appliance in Littleton a
    call.
    
    
    Pat

    
    We bought Amana's from Hunter. They are excellent, I highly recommend
    them. Great people, good service.
    
    Mary
    

    You might want to try Walcott Sales and service in Bedford Ma.(across
    from tne Dodge dealer on Great road).  They're excellent and reasonabley 
    priced and just a few miles from Westford.  
    
    						Bob

  Re -.1: Be careful about calling a repair shop that's more than a few miles
away. If they charge for the time and/or mileage to drive to your home, it
could get expensive.
  I will mention Bright Appliance of Acton. I have not called them for in-home
service, but I have gotten bring-in service from them and they are OK. They
have just moved and are in a converted house behind Colonial Chevrolet on
route 2A.

    Cotton swabs are absolutely the wrong thing to use on video heads.  The
    fibers catch in the heads, which protrude from the head drum.  You can
    actually rip the head out of the drum that way.  Use foam swabs only -
    the TEXWIPES are fine too.
    
    I have several of the old TUC01 cleaning kits with cans of Freon in
    them.  This is the best stuff, but of course you can't buy it anymore.
    
    					Steve

    In short, it sounds as though your VCR needs a professional cleaning
    now (if you're lucky)...
    

On an episode of the English TV show about how things work (can't think
of the name - it was shown here on Discovery ot TLC - tacky animation, used 
a version of "Take Five" as their theme music - arrgh!),
the head geek pointed out that the most technologically advanced,
closest tolerance, most carefully manufactured item in your house
is the rotating video head in your VCR.

(This apparently displaced the shadow mask color TV picture tube,
which probably still ranks as runner-up.)

- tom]

  re .75,  "The Secret Life of Machines"

>(This apparently displaced the shadow mask color TV picture tube,
>which probably still ranks as runner-up.)

Given higher resolutions on most computer monitors I suspect its shadow mask
would be "higher tech". Or do they use different technology?

    Thanks for the tips on cleaning my VCR.  May I suggest rather than come
    out with your destroying your VCR fear messages that it would be more
    productive to state your experience and advise in term of what you do
    and why as some of you did.  Suggesting I may have destroyed my VCR was
    counter productive. I understood the comment about cotton swabs and
    went back and bought those pads designed specifically for VCR cleaning
    along with a bottle of VCR head cleaner.  Going back over the cleaning
    process I found I missed a capstan which was really gunked up.  Once I
    cleaned that up the vcr tracks fine now.  It was my error to report 3
    heads, the book merely recommended demagnetizing the two heads, erase
    and record.  However, I don't think I need to do that based on your
    inputs.
    
    Brian

The book's author still doesn't know what he's talking about...  Don't use
a demagnetizer at all.

The proper way to clean a VCR is as follows.  Use foam swabs and pure 
isopropyl alcohol (as I mentioned, Freon is better but is no longer available).
For the head drum, dip the swab in the alcohol so that the swab is moist but
not dripping.  Press it lightly (!) against the side of the head drum.  On the
top of the drum is a rotating disc - twirl it gently with a finger.  The heads
will brush against the swab (they stick out a tiny bit from the surface of
the drum.)  With a fresh swab, you can carefully clean the surface of the
drum going around the circumference - NEVER up and down.

Then with more fresh swabs you can clean the erase head and the capstans, being
careful not to drip alcohol into the capstan bearings.

				Steve

    This should probably go under "bonehead confessions" but here it is.
    
    We have an electric stove on which sat our tea kettle with the baked
    on enamel finish.  Now I normally do check the kettle for water before
    I turn the burner on, but for some reason I didn't do it this last
    time. By the time I realized that I wasn't hearing any water boiling,
    the enamel finish had heated up so much that the kettle was now stuck
    to the burner coil.  I got the kettle unstuck, but now I have a lovely
    yellow finish on my burner coil.  Short of going out and buying a new
    coil, is there anyway to remove the enamel from the coil?  How much
    does a new coil cost?  Of course this is the larger of the 2 coil
    sizes. 
    
    /Susan

New coils aren't that expensive.  You can find them at places like Home Depot.

				Steve

If what you have on the coil is truly enamel, you should be able to burn it
off by turning the coil on high for a while.  Are you sure you don't have
a porcelain teapot?  Porcelain pots are coated with glass, not paint.  To
clean the glass off the burner, heat it up to red hot and drop some water
droplets on the area that has the discoloration.  Make sure you wear safety
goggles while doing this.  Of course, you can alsways spend $10 and buy a
new element.

Jim

    re: .81/.82
    
    It must be porcelain then.  I've tried letting the burner stay at high
    and see if it burns off (didn't try water, though), but it doesn't.
    
    I didn't realize that new coils were that inexpensive, I thought they
    would go for a lot more.  Ok, that problem is solved.
    
    Thanks!
    
    /Susan