SiteSeeing: ApplianceRepair.com offers useful how-to troubleshooting tips for home appliances

Stuck with a leaky, noisy, bouncy, smelly, or otherwise underperforming
appliance? The folks at RepairClinic.com, who have helped us with “Can
This [fill in the blank] Be Saved?” sidebars on refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, and other household gear, has a new site that provides
even more sage appliance-repair advice for DIYers. (We haven’t tried out any of the repairs, so use your judgment to determine whether the you want to proceed with the recommended fixes.)

At the heart of ApplianceRepair.com
are dozens of transcripts of the site’s Sunday-morning radio show with
host John Sowden (shown). Each transcript is quite effectively divided into
detailed descriptions and savvy solutions to problems like:

• Musty, noisy, or dancing washing machines.

• The balky top burner on a Kenmore range.

• Refrigerator lightbulbs that won’t stay lit.

• Enigmatic error codes for GE electric ranges.

• Cures for a shaky garbage disposer. See our buyer’s guide to garbage disposers.

The entire archive is keyword searchable, so you might be able to find
your specific model. If it’s not covered, there’s still plenty of good
general information available; Sowden is very good at describing how
each appliance works as he queries callers about particular problems.

And he often comes up with cost-effective fixes users should try before an expensive replacement. Examples include heating lemon juice in a microwave to banish the smell of popcorn and replacing a refrigerator’s low-cost cooling fan rather than an expensive compressor.

If you don’t find an answer there, check our stories on excessive vibration and mold in front-loading washing machines and preventing dryer fires in and installing proper venting for clothes dryers.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: You might be able to avoid these repairs by picking the recommended models in our appliance ratings. Our own appliance-maintenance advice, repair-or-replace timelines (available to subscribers), and our members’ applicance-buying strategies will help you get the most value for your money.