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PSA: That guy who told me to skip the thermal fuse check cost me 2 hours last Tuesday | Appliance Repairers - Free To Speak

umar49•1mo ago

PSA: That guy who told me to skip the thermal fuse check cost me 2 hours last Tuesday

I was on a dryer repair in Portland last week, and some older tech at the supply house said 'just bypass the thermal fuse if it looks fine, saves time.' Ngl, I listened to him because he seemed experienced. Well, the unit ran for 10 minutes then shut off again. Had to pull the whole thing apart again and found the fuse was blown after all. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from folks at the counter who swear by shortcuts?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan5611mo ago

Did you ever read that article in the trade mag about how thermal fuses can test fine when cold but blow the second they hit operating temp? I saw that a couple months back and it changed how I look at them. Same thing with flame sensors, they can look clean but then readings go all over the place once the gas kicks in. The counter guys mean well mostly but they don't have to come back and eat the hours when their shortcut backfires. I'm with you on trusting your own tools over someone else's word, even if they've been at it for thirty years.

morgan_king361mo ago

Started ignoring those counter guys entirely after a similar thing. This one old timer at my local shop kept telling me to skip the vent cleaning on gas units because "it's never the issue." Took his word on a Lennox furnace and ended up with a flame rollout that nearly melted the wiring harness. Now I just nod and smile at their advice, then do the actual diagnostic work myself.

emeryj661mo ago

I get where you're coming from @morgan_king36 and that rollout sounds brutal, but I still think there's a middle ground here. I've had counter guys save me on a few Carrier units where the factory manual had me chasing a pressure switch that was actually fine, and the guy behind the counter just knew from seeing twenty of them that week. The old timers have seen a lot of weird stuff, but they also get stuck in their ways. I take their advice as a starting point, not the final word, and I always double check with my own meter and eyes before closing up a unit.