Lesson 9
Repair, Replace or Hand Over
Know the jobs that are never yours, combine what you've learned to solve a real fault, compare a repair with a replacement on complete costs, and hand over evidence a repairer can use.
The line is drawn by mechanism, not confidence
By now you can read a stalled programme, clean a filter, reset a siphoning hose and work out what a trip means. The line between that and a repairer's job isn't about how confident you feel. It's drawn by things you can't judge from outside.
- Stored energy. Capacitors can hold a dangerous charge after the plug is out, and hot water, pressure and heavy moving parts hold energy too.
- Live parts. Never run a machine with its covers off, or probe inside it while it's connected. Testing inside an appliance comes after it has been isolated and proved dead, by someone with the equipment and training to do both. A power button, a dark display or a pocket tester isn't that.
- Sealed refrigerant loops. Fridges, freezers and heat-pump dryers stay closed.
- Hardwired appliances. No plug means isolating them is work on the fixed wiring, for an electrician.
And if there's a burning smell, smoke, a shock, water near electrics or a protective device tripping, you stop, with no further run to gather evidence. Gas or suspected carbon monoxide is an emergency.