– Upcoming webinar on Schematic-foo: ancient Samurai art using tech sheets as deadly weapons in appliance repair. Get the details here!
– Appliance product training today: we don’t need hands-on, we need brains-on. The future is here NOW!
– Bidness Talk: Pricing your services; fixed and variable costs; how much should you be charging for repairs? Strategic customer selection and when to fire your customer; Property managers: the scourge of the appliance repair industry?; Getting paid for your service.
– Troubleshooting: what it is and what it is not. Recognizing when you don’t have enough information to make an analytical diagnosis.
– De-bunking another electric circuit myth… this time promulgated by a manufacturer. Using Ohm’s Law to analyze the effects of high resistance/loose connections on a circuit using an electric oven bake circuit as an example.

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– We’re back from our bidness trip last week but Mrs. Samurai has a cold so this episode is mostly Tech Talk.
– Visit to American Appliance in Golden, CO, one of Sub-Zero’s premiere partners.
– Recap of Dacor training in their Android-controlled ranges
– GFCIs and AFCIs. What they are, what they do, how they’re different, and current NEC requirements.
– Voltage and current in series and parallel circuits.

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– Samurai and Son of Samurai are off to Dacor training.
– Manufacturers focusing on producing higher-profit upscale major appliances and what this means for your service business
– Sub-Zero doing a huge expansion in Wisconsin to crank out upscale dishwashers and ranges. What are these manufacturers seeing that you should also be seeing as an appliance repair company?
– A recent Samsung warranty debacle shows how there’s a greater need for skilled appliance technicians but the trade is still “ate-up” with parts changing monkeys.
– Voltage sag re-visited.
– 120/240 VAC, three-wire, single-phase electric service vs. 120/208 VAC, four-wire, three-phase electric service. Samurai explains the difference between these two common types of electric service and gives some examples of how some appliances are equipped and labelled to work with either service. Link to a Samurai video that explains 120/240 VAC split-phase household service: https://youtu.be/zs4HjHhf0x8
– Customer selection: Do you pick and choose your customers? Why or why not? We talk about a recent topic at the tech-only forums at Appliantology where this subject came up. [Link to forum topic, must be logged in and a tech member at Appliantology to read it: http://appliantology.org/topic/55055-general-question-for-stovetop-wiring/]

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Industry News: an interesting twist in the legal drama surrounding the GE-Electrolux merger. GE’s biggest laundry product launch in 20 years: yet another top-loader? Future tech: are ultrasonic dryers on the horizon?

Appliantology News: Traipsing through the various incarnations of the Samurai’s online appliance repair forums and groups (first one on the internet in 1997!) right up through the present incarnation as Appliantology.org. Discussion of the various membership groups at Appliantology. Link to blog post that explains the recent change in focus at Appliantology from DIYers to supporting the tech community and the current membership groups: http://appliantology.org/blog/1/entry-831-appliantology-is-changing-with-the-times/

Samurai Live! Have you checked out Periscope? It’s a cool way of doing live, spontaneous videos on your smartphone that anyone else and drop in and watch. Your followers get notified when you start shooting and can watch, too. We talk about our plans to use it for sharing live videos from interesting service call situations. https://www.periscope.tv

Linear compressors: The Samurai gives a quick rundown of the three types of compressor motors used today in home appliances: split phase, BLDC, and linear, then explains how linear compressor motors work and how to test them.

Phishing alert: We expose an authentic-looking phishing scam we recently received in our email claiming to be from Samsung. We detail this and also explain phishing in general– what it is and how to spot it.

Hotel reservation scammer alert: We describe a recent hotel reservation scam where a company calls and wants to book your hotel reservations at a conference you’re planning on attending, like an appliance repair training conference. In our case, it was for the upcoming ASTI in Miami.

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