My Experience Fixing Appliances Online

Generally speaking I've had years of trouble-free service from most of my appliances, but when tragedy strikes and you find yourself hunting for pickles in the back of a dark fridge at 3am or unable to wash that good shirt for a meeting... it could save you a bunch of cash and time to fix it yourself. Most of the appliances I own are Hotpoint branded and after a bunch of research online I've decided to share my experiences so you don't suffer traumatic electrical incidents on your own.

If you are on the luckier side of failure, it could be something as easy to replace as a bulb or stubborn leaking hose. Identifying these issues takes a good amount of common sense and caution and this is by no means a complete reference manual, if you ever feel even close to out of your depth; it's helpful to remind yourself how dangerous electricity can be and don't hesitate to call an engineer. Worst-case scenario is a bill versus physical harm and further damage to whatever it is you are trying to fix.

Some of the more common spare parts to go are generally high-wear areas like hinges, latches and handles. These are pretty easy to find on spare part sites that stock washing machine spares; I generally use the same spare sites as they have guides and even videos for things like oven elements. For starters make sure you have basic tools stocked and your manual, as it may show warnings specific to that appliance and double check any visible connections and screw holes to make sure you are going to be able to do it yourself without specialized tools.

Replacing the parts on doors is one of the easiest tasks but does take some special caution and always remove the highest located screws and connections first, so that parts don't unexpectedly fall down while you are removing lower sections. Also ensure surfaces are properly cleaned so that dirt doesn't hide any issues or make it more difficult to access key parts.

My last word of advice is that if your appliance was dropped, damaged or abused in some weird accident or by water and fire, I would suggest extra caution and if its faults are electrical in nature rather send it straight to a reputable engineer who is familiar with your brand and type of appliance than risk injury.