Categories: Sharing experience, Repair of household appliances
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How to repair electrical appliances

 

How to repair electrical appliances?Your household appliances, faithfully served before that suddenly stopped working? If we are talking about something inexpensive (a radio, a hairdryer, an electric kettle, a phone charger), then you have a choice - go buy a new one, or try to reanimate household electrical appliance in the home.

For all the pros and cons of both options, read this article: What to do with a broken household appliance?

Trying to repair a broken household appliance is definitely worth it, because it will not be any worse, and extra money does not happen in principle. To begin with, you should arm yourself with a minimal gentleman's set consisting of a screwdriver, pliers, a multimeter and soldering iron.

Whatever you repair, everything will happen according to the same scheme, consisting of the following steps.


Opening a faulty appliance. Use a screwdriver of suitable length and width to unscrew the screws that connect the case. It’s good if there is a place nearby where to put them, because the screws are very fond of getting lost or falling to the floor. be careful  - Chinese comrades love to place fasteners in hard-to-reach places, so do not rush to use force if the case does not open after all the screws are unscrewed.

 


Electrical Appliance Diagnostics. In good lighting, carefully inspect the inside of the appliance for broken wires, broken boards, charred elements, or swollen capacitors. As a rule, a visual inspection reveals a problem. For example, the same hair dryers often stop working due to the fact that the hair is wound around the fan and repair of the hair dryer can only consist in disassembling and cleaning it.

If it comes about power cordsfusible fuses and heating elements, a multimeter is indispensable for their diagnosis. In a broken core of a cord, a blown fuse or a blown spiral of a heating element, the resistance will be infinite. It is also very convenient to check the batteries and accumulators with a multimeter, since their status is immediately visible.


Multimeter (tester) - universal measuring device and the most important measuring electrician tool. You can get the basic skills of using a multimeter and the principles of measuring the electrical characteristics of various components of household electrical appliances with the help of this article:

A multimeter for dummies: the basic principles of measuring with a multimeter

An example of using a multimeter to check the performance of capacitors: How to identify a faulty capacitor.

The most common malfunctions in electrical circuits of electrical appliances and household appliances, as well as the troubleshooting algorithm in household electrical appliances is discussed in detail in these articles:

Useful troubleshooting tips for repairing electrical equipment 

Using the block-sequential method for troubleshooting electrical circuits.

If all the details are intact and workable, and the problem is that something has come off, then you are lucky - solder back and everything works. If not, then go to the next item.

 


Replacing electrical parts. When an inoperative element is identified, consider the likelihood of finding the same, but serviceable. If some exclusive microcircuit fails, then the game is not worth the candle and there is only one way for such a device - to a landfill.

If a conventional resistor, capacitor or heater burns out, then you can try to look for it on the radio market or in a store. Rewrite its parameters, and if it does not take much time and effort, try to find. Do not forget to weigh the cost of the part and the new device, since if they are approximately equal, then the repair makes no sense.

There should be no problems with soldering - this is a fairly simple operation, even with a minimum of experience. About equipment and tools for soldering, about how to correctly five and what fluxes and solders are used for soldering, see here:

Devices and tools for soldering

How to learn to solder

Soldering: very simple tips


Assembling a repaired electrical appliance. Well, it’s easy if you remember how to disassemble. Be sure to check that there are no extra parts left. Believe that the designers of the device are not fools, and in fact, these details are not even superfluous. Have you checked? Has it earned? Well, you can be congratulated!

Specific troubleshooting and repair recommendations:

How to repair an extension cord

Why is my phone not charging?

How to repair a New Year's garland

DIY computer power supply repair

How to repair a microwave

When repairing electrical appliances, be sure to observe the electrical safety rules!

And what if the household appliance could not be repaired? On the one hand, it is not worth littering the dwelling, on the other, there is a possibility that the parts from this appliance will be useful in the next repairs. Therefore, if you have free space in your apartment, then you can organize an improvised warehouse of spare parts.

See also at e.imadeself.com:

  • What to do with a broken household appliance
  • Useful troubleshooting tips for repairing electrical equipment
  • How professional multimeters differ from household ones, how to choose a multimeter ...
  • How to repair a do-it-yourself microwave oven
  • Electronic Circuit Troubleshooting Methods

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    Comments:

    # 1 wrote: Oleg Semenov | [quote]

     
     

    Can I add a hairdryer repair (based on personal experience)?
    Characteristic malfunctions of the electric hair dryer, causes and their elimination.
    Malfunction. When turned on, the hair dryer and the spiral do not turn on.
    Cause. The connecting cord is defective.
    Remedy If the cord is broken at the plug, it should be recharged. If the breakage occurred at the place where the cord exited the casing, then you must unscrew the six screws securing the casing and open it. Slide the insulating tube from the junction of the conductors of the heater, electric motor, capacitor and connecting cord. Solder the second wire from the motor switch. Repair the cord and solder it to its original place.
    Malfunction. When turned on, the hair dryer does not turn on.
    Cause. The motor switch is not working.
    Remedy Open the housing as described above. Pull the double switch out of the groove and, twisting the plate contacts of the switch with tweezers, adjust them so that they close tightly when turned on. If the circuit breaker is working, check the motor windings with an ohmmeter. If the device shows an open, then such an electric motor should be replaced. To replace the electric motor, unscrew the nut of the plastic impeller fastening by turning it counterclockwise and remove it. Remove the two screws that secure the electric motor and the conductors going to the heating element and remove the electric motor. Unscrew the screw securing the motor conductors on the switch and disconnect them, remove the other two conductors from the capacitor. Put a new electric motor, solder the conductors in the circuit and assemble the heat fan in the reverse order.
    Malfunction. The hair dryer electric motor works, but the fan does not supply warm air.
    Cause. Faulty electric heater switch.
    Remedy Open the appliance and check the electric heating element switch. If its contacts do not close tightly, make their adjustment in the same way as described when repairing the motor switch.
    With a working switch, with an ohmmeter, check the health of the heating element.If the element is open, then it should be replaced. To do this, unscrew the two screws securing the conductors and disconnect them. Connect the conductors to the new element and assemble the heat fan. There must be a reliable contact at the junction of the heating element.
    If necessary, replace the housing. Remove the six screws that secure the hair dryer housing and remove the cover. Unscrew the nut securing the plastic impeller and remove it. Remove the two screws that secure the conductors to the heating element and electric heater, and remove the electric motor. Remove the dual switch from the groove. Install an electric motor in the new hair dryer housing. Put on the electric motor and fix the plastic impeller. Replace cover and fasten with screws.

     
    Comments:

    # 2 wrote: andy78 | [quote]

     
     

    Oleg, thanks for the interesting detailed comment about the repair of hairdryers. Your comment allowed to qualitatively supplement and improve the material of the article "How to repair electrical appliances". Maybe you have a desire to become an author of articles for e.imadeself.com? I would be glad if you send me your contact details. Here you can see the requirements for the articles to be posted: https://e.imadeself.com/en/article.html

     
    Comments:

    # 3 wrote: | [quote]

     
     

    The author of the above set of tips would like to wish to MANDATORYLY indicate that the device must first be disconnected !!!

    And then, walking "point by point", with horror I imagined how an inexperienced housewife does these actions without removing (forgot !! not in the know !!!) plugs from the outlet, for example, with:

    "If the breakage occurred at the place where the cord exited the case, it is necessary to unscrew the six screws securing the case and open it. Slide the insulating tube from the junction of the heater, electric motor, capacitor and connecting cord. Solder the second wire from the motor switch. Repair the cord and solder him to his former place "....

    Safety must always be in first place!

    Good luck!

     
    Comments:

    # 4 wrote: Golosvseti | [quote]

     
     

    My five cents for disassembling the case ;-). When disassembling various kinds of cases, you should know that quite often a couple of screws or screws can easily be hidden behind stickers, labels, etc. There are cases with fastening on plastic clips. Here you can not do without a plastic (unnecessary and old!) Card. She needs to go around the seam between the parts of the body, gradually snapping off the clips. Although there are cases where the clips snap off through special grooves with a thin screwdriver.

     
    Comments:

    # 5 wrote: Phase | [quote]

     
     

    Well done!!! I remembered about TB !!! Correctly said - in the first place TB.