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The DRSNews
October / November 2011
Happy Fall (the best season
of the year up here!)
Published by subscription only, by Dave's Repair Service
©2011 All Rights Reserved
WELCOME to all of our new subscribers! I
truly appreciate you! DRSNews
Subscribers are THE BEST!
WHO ELSE WOULD LIKE THIS NEWSLETTER?
If you enjoy this issue, you're welcome to forward it to any friends or
associates who
might find it useful.
(There's an unsubscribe link in every issue
if it's not their 'thing')
Thanks!
***************************************
In this issue:
1) A Non-phosphate Dishwasher Detergent That's Working (Finally!)
2) Just Found: MIT Course Materials Posted Online - Free!
3) Two or More STILL Ship Free to Subscribers (only)!
4) A Word About Whirlpool's Newest (Steel Insert) Direct Drive Washer
Coupler
5) The Lyme Documentary Under Our Skin is Now Available Free!
1) Newer dishwashers (and their owners) have been going a
little crazy since phosphates
were removed from dishwashing detergent a while back. With the lower
water usage of
newer 'Tall Tub' designs, pretty much the only style made now,
dishes just haven't been
getting clean - to put it mildly.
We've been doing some practical experimenting with newly
formulated detergent/rinse aid
packs, and have been very impressed with Finish products,
especially their Quantum all
in 1 product. It seems to have solved the issues my customers and
family members were
having with filming and really awful wash results in their newer
machines.
More expensive than earlier 'non-green' detergents (but then, so are
today's 3-year clothes
washers
and 5-year refrigerators in the long run - green is expensive!), but
it does seem to
correct the
issues.
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'Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you
a failure.' - Thomas Edison
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2) You may already know about this, but I just discovered that
MIT now has the materials
from
their courses - some 2,000 of them - posted online, for free. And
there's no registration
required - just use the materials!
I've been a fan of 'Open Source' software for some time, and
now it's 'OpenCourseWare'!
Check it out:
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
************************************************
Always have your files - wherever, whenever you need
them, with DropBox. Get your free 2GB account!
Here
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3) Many of you continue taking advantage of me
<grin> with the 'two or more ship
free'
sale, and I'm happy to keep it up and running for you.
Details for newer subscribers: shipping
is free for
any
two or
more
online products purchased
on the specials
page, to any US
address. But
only for DRSNews
subscribers. Regrettably,
this has to be limited
to US
subscribers, as
international shipping rates have gotten really
pricey.
Note: this subscribers-only deal doesn't show up
anywhere on the website, but I just refund
your shipping on these orders.
And just for you wise guys, remember - it's the
shipping & handling that's free, not the
parts! (You know who you are <grin>)
Here's the current list of parts and tools included:
Sale Parts . If you don't see what you
need there, just
ask. I can probably throw in parts that
aren't listed if you get in touch.
And I keep saying this because it's true: one of the biggest rewards I've gotten
out of
writing this little newsletter over
the years is the blessing and encouragement
the thousands
of
you have been, and continue to be, to me!
You
send me the most wonderful 'feedback' comments (I keep them all!),
and I want you
to know just how much I appreciate
you. This
shipping deal is just a tiny token
'thank you'
that I'm pleased to do as a feeble attempt to say THANK YOU for
your incredible
support
over the years!
Please feel free to send me any other ideas you might have for
subscriber 'perks' I can
add for you, and I'll do my best to make them happen. And any suggestions for article
topics, manuals you could use, tools you'd like to have available,
improvements you'd
like to see, etc, are
all always
welcome.
************************************************
In case you missed it or are a new subscriber (Welcome!),
many of
the most popular
'How-To' articles that have appeared
in the newsletter over the
years are archived on the
website,
indexed at:
www.DavesRepair.com/DIYhelp/index.htm
************************************************
4) I've been getting a lot of questions lately about why I don't sell
Whirlpool's new version
coupler (#285753A) for their direct-drive washers (sadly, this excellent washer
is no longer
being manufactured).
This latest version coupler has steel inserts imbedded in its 2 plastic
sections, the idea being
to make it more reliable. I'm afraid this hasn't been the case in practice, so
I've avoided this
one, and will continue to do so unless it's improved. It looks like this:
I have two reasons for this. First, they are so tight and hard to drive
onto the gearcase and
motor shafts, it's hard to install one without damaging the shafts. And because
they are so
tight, removal when they do break can also be very difficult.
Secondly, we're starting to see them stripping/rounding off the drive
flats on motor shafts,
ruining motors - and that's unacceptable! The idea behind any drive 'weak
link' - belt, coupler,
etc - is to slip or sacrificially fail when something goes horribly wrong, to
keep from ruining
something more major and expensive.
Having to replace an expensive main drive motor due to a $10 drive coupler
failure tells us
there's a major problem with this coupler design.
If you've been reading this newsletter for very long (God bless you for
enduring my rambling!),
you've heard me 'preach' about the brake lockup issue in these washers (it's
easy to fix),
and the damage it does to couplers. I'm pretty sure - haven't proven it yet -
that most of the
motor shaft failures we're seeing from these steel couplers start out as simple
brake lockup.
One of my fears with this issue is that Whirlpool won't make any
improvements on it now
since they've stopped building these machines. Even though there are many
millions of them
still in daily use (we just bought the last new one we could find, and also have a
spare!), it may
not
be cost effective for the company to make the necessary tooling changes to these
couplers.
'Sure hope I'm wrong about this, and I may well be. Whirlpool is usually
on top of these kinds
of problems. However, I remember telling Whirlpool reps about the brake lockup
issue and
submitting a suggestion for solving it, some 15 years ago, with no change
to date. Frustrating.
Anyway, I hope that helps explain why I'm still using and selling the
non-steel version of the
coupler. Keep those brakes lubed,
folks!
************************************************
Researchers say playing video games prepares you for
tomorrow's global workplace. Especially if your job will
involve flinging birds at pigs.
************************************************ 5) Note: Just in case any of you are also dealing with chronic Lyme
disease, here
again are
some
resources that have
helped me a lot:
www.LymeDoctor.com - Dr Singleton's book, 'The Lyme Disease Solution',
is a keeper
www.ILADS.org - Another excellent resource
www.LymePA.org - From SE PA;
download your free 'The Basics' pdf booklet Also, you can now watch the
excellent full-length movie (1:44) on Lyme, 'Under Our Skin'
on Hulu
here
and on Netflix, as well. I highly recommend it.
***
May
God richly bless you,
Dave Harnish
Dave's Repair Service
New Albany, PA
www.DavesRepair.com
Quickly and easily research your parts, here:
(The largest appliance parts inventory on planet Earth!):
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"Light travels faster than sound. This is why some
people appear bright until you hear them speak."
Psalm 14:1
Copyright 2011
www.DavesRepair.com All Rights Reserved
This information may be reprinted and distributed freely, but
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