As a professional technician, I’ve seen my fair share of appliances that are difficult to diagnose and repair. However, there’s one situation that I always try to avoid – going behind other technicians. This is especially true when it comes to the stack Frigidaire washer dryer system, which is notoriously difficult to access.

Recently, I was called out to a 180-year-old house to take a look at a Frigidaire washer dryer system that had been flooding the floor. When I got there, I discovered that another technician had been there the day before and had installed brackets on the machine, but hadn’t been able to get it back in place properly. As a result, the drain pipe was dangling and flooding the floor.

To diagnose the problem, I had to pull the unit out, but even then, it was almost impossible to access the back of the machine. It was clear that whoever had installed the system originally had not done a good job. The unit needed extended hoses and a drain extension, which it didn’t have.

In my professional opinion, the machine had already reached the end of its engineered service life. It was six years old and had already caused a lot of problems. I advised the client to replace the unit, especially since she rented the house out and didn’t want to risk damaging a historic home with an old machine.

This situation reminded me of why I don’t like to go behind other technicians. In my experience, many of them are simply boneheads who don’t know what they’re doing. They may try to repair a six-year-old machine by replacing a part, thinking that it will last for another six years. But in reality, it’s often better to replace the machine entirely.

The point of this rant is to remind myself – and other technicians – to be wary of repairs initiated by others. It’s often better to start fresh with a new machine than to try to fix an old one that’s reached the end of its life. As a professional, my job is to help people solve their appliance problems, but I also have to be realistic about what can be repaired and what can’t.

Article by Brett Singleton | Brett Singleton is a Technical SEO consultant and also runs an appliance repair service in Mount Pleasant SC. He is also the founder of Marketing Appliance Repairs.