Should I use Self Clean in my oven?
We get lots of oven repair jobs around the holidays. We always ask what the customer was doing before the problem showed up. A large number of customers tell us they were running a self clean cycle and it stopped working.
Self cleaning ovens clean by getting extremely hot (up around 900 degrees) This heat doesn’t all stay in the oven. It escapes and does damage to the main control board and many times will blow a safety thermostat.
We never ever recommend running a self clean cycle, but if you feel you must, don’t do it right before you plan to cook.Also, never use oven cleaning products in your oven with the self cleaning cycle.
The best way to clean your oven is by hand. scrub it!
Some newer ovens have a low temp or a steam clean option. These are much better than the older super high temp cleaning cycle. So far these newer clean cycles do not seem to cause the problems that the other method does. Check your manual to see your options. Most will say “Steam clean” or “hi/Lo” if there is an option besides super high temps.
If you have an oven problem and need it repaired, please give us a call. We service ovens in Katy, Fulshear, and part of Richmond. We can usually ge to you the same or next day and get you fixed up very quickly. Don’t wait til the last minute if you have oven problems. We get very busy close to the Holidays.
Another cheap off-brand water filters problem
Use only OEM parts when you replace the water filters on your fridge
I posted a while back about some of the problems that can happen with off-brand water filters in your fridge. Today a customer’s house was flooded. She had an off brand filter in her Samsung refrigerator and the filter literally exploded and water came out of the fridge and put water all over her house.
She was in the other room when it happened. It must have run for a bit because there was water everywhere!
Buy the right filter for your fridge!
Are cheaper water filters any good?
I encounter a lot of problems with refrigerators not dispensing the proper amount of water, or not water. Many times the filter can be clogged. I see a lot of customers that choose to buy the off brand cheaper filters. This would seem to make financial sense, but I see quite a few more problems with the off brand filters than the name brand that the manufacturers recommend.
I see many of the cheaper ones that crack and leak.
Just last week, I had a customer whose off brand filter got stuck in the filter housing an could not be removed. We had to replace the filter housing and put a factory filter in. The repair was over $230. It wiped out any savings that she had before.
I dont believe the off brand filters filter as well or last as long.
Buy the name brand filters and you will prpbably have fewer headaches in the long run.
You can add a inline filter to the back of the fridge and this will make the interior filter last longer. Something like this filter assembly from Home Depot
If your water is flowing slow, or not at all, and you need help, please give us a call!
Dishwasher not cleaning very well
I have had a few customers recently that said there dishes were not getting very clean. They had similar situations. I tested the dishwashers and they were working fine. All a dishwasher does is fill, spray water, drain, fill, add soap, wash, drain, fill, rinse drain… etc. If its not cleaning and its doing those functions properly, there is another problem.
Both of these customers were using a cheap off brand soap. I like to use Finish tablets. One of the customers was not using the dispenser for the soap, that’s very important. the longest cycle is the wash cycle, the soap needs to be dispensed then, not before.
Its also important that the dishwasher has HOT water going into it. Hot water activates the soap.
The other thing that both had been doing was completely washing the dishes leaving nothing for the soap to attach too. You want to scrape off most of the food, but leave a little bit of gunk on the plate. It gives the soap something to attach to.
I also recomend using Affresh brand dishwasher cleaner to keep the gunk out of the dishwasher.
If these tips don’t make your washer clean better, you may have a problem with your dishwasher. If so, call me and I can help.
Every Reason to Stop Pre-Rinsing Dishes Before They Go in the Dishwasher
Dishwasher won’t drain
If your dishwasher won’t drain properly, you could have a problem that needs a professional to come and check it out, or you may have a fairly simple problem like a clogged air gap. The air gap is a device designed to keep the water in your sink from going into the dishwasher.
If you have one, its a small round device right next to your faucet. It is very easy for this to get clogged, especially if you don’t scrape the larger food items on the dishes into the trash before putting them in the dishwasher.
Here is a video that shows hoe to check it for blockage
