Master Samurai Tech Radio

Special guest, Justin Duby, with Just-in Time Appliance Repair in Grantspass, OR, joins us to talk about his experience selling new appliances and offer tips and advice for anyone thinking of adding this to their appliance service business. Also, at the end of the show, we give an update on the developing Facebook data-selling debacle that's unfolding. More info on this in my blog post at Appliantology.   You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

We compare and contrast three online training options with the Master Samurai Tech Academy. Oh yeah, we're naming names! The Master Samurai Tech Bushido (code of honor)   You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

The Samurai and Mrs. Samurai share some highlights from the inaugural Appliantology Peer Group meeting. One of the topics discussed was the idea of doing electronic control board repairs as part of an appliance repair business.   You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

Samurai Appliance Repair Man and Mrs. Samurai suss out various angles and facets in a sensational recent news story where a Sears contractor tech attacked a customer. Lots of interesting lessons from this story for both customers and in-home service professionals. Link to the news story: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/02/19/repairman-arrested-homeowner-attack/   You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

The Samurai and Mrs. Samurai give you some straight talk about the bidness of appliance repair and other topics: Customer relations and strategic market targeting Culture of dumbass among some techs Free Appliance repair expos like in the HVAC industry Upcoming Appliantology Peer Group web meeting   You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

  All of Team Samurai comes together to explain the exciting new tech membership programs at the web's premier tech support resource, Appliantology.org. You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

  This is an update to our last podcast episode giving some new, verified information on one of the big things we talked about: access to GE technical information for independent servicers. You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

  In this epic episode: Wrap up of the 2018 Annual Service Training Institute (ASTI) held in St. Petersburg, FL Technical and business training at the ASTI Travel tips to avoid getting sick Fun facts to know and tell about how social media manipulates you and gives you brain damage You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

https://youtu.be/cUi7TI7CHLI   In this special episode, we explore the question of size of the Samurai's ego. Turns out that it's so massive that we needed a whole episode devoted to it. Yes, size does matter! Also: - Upcoming ASTI in St. Petersburg - Tech training challenges - Three stumbling blocks to becoming a better tech - What makes Appliantology so great? - MST Alumnus program You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

https://youtu.be/amL4HPgl-Qw   Industry News: Employment numbers for the appliance repair industry Whirlpool lawsuit against Samsung because Samsung is kicking Whirlpool's corporate *ss on front load washers Samsung opening a new, state-of-the-art $380 million manufacturing facility in South Carolina Kenmore appliances on Amazon Appliantology monthly workshops: https://appliantology.org/calendar/event/822-webinar-appliantology-workshop-using-appliantology-as-your-indispensable-appliance-repair-information-tool/ Refrigerator sealed system repairs: what you really need to know https://appliantology.org/blogs/entry/999-sealed-system-repairs-the-mystique-the-reality/ Top Kendo Master at Appliantology each month wins $100! https://appliantology.org/blogs/entry/1000-the-top-kendo-master-each-month-wins-100/ Oven and Range repair training course- just in time for cooking season https://mastersamuraitech.com/appliance-repair-courses/oven-range-repair/ You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

https://youtu.be/XvGHkrP3V-g   - Industry news: Consumer right to repair laws coming to a state near you. Consumers will have the right to purchase appliance service manuals from the manufacturer. What does it mean for you as a professional appliance repair technician? - The Ten Step Tango troubleshooting procedure: Troubleshooting techniques for any appliance brand or type. If you aren't already registered at the site, click here to sign up for the free TST course. - Tech training webinars at MasterSamuraiTech.com and Appliantology.org - Monitoring the training progress of your technician who is enrolled at the Master Samurai Tech Academy. Online appliance repair training: Master Samurai Tech Professional appliance technician support: Appliantology.org You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

https://youtu.be/3sFRrYGMeM4   In this long-awaited episode, the Samurai and Mrs. Samurai recap the recent Annual Service Training Institute. Some of the links referenced in the podcast: - Photos from ASTI 2017 - MST Ten-Step Tango Troubleshooting Procedure - Understanding "Loading Down" in Appliance DC Power Supplies You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

https://youtu.be/yh5l7Qf1bZk   Introducing the mysterious Son of Samurai (yes, the actual spawn of Samurai), the man behind the scenes running Appliantology.org and MasterSamuraiTech.com. He's also a certified Master Samurai Tech and the Samurai's service call partner. In this episode we talked about: - Son of Samurai, who he is and what he does to keep our websites running - Behind the scenes at Appliantology - Common user questions at Appliantology - What it takes to be a professional appliance repair technician today - Getting the most out of your Professional Appliantologist membership at Appliantology.org Subscribe to this podcast at http://mstradio.com Subscribe to our newsletter at http://mst.buzz You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

https://youtu.be/xCqKdgQkz-o   Special 4th of July episode: - Industry News: Haeir buys GE Appliances; new Wolf induction cooktop; Italian appliance manufacturer, SMEG, gaining market share - Firing your customer; identifying and harpooning "land sharks." Link to article discussed in the vodcast: https://www.groovehq.com/support/how-to-fire-a-bad-customer - Current thinking on responding to negative reviews - Dealing with unreasonable customers - Master Samurai Tech news Learn more about managing an appliance repair business and your customers in our online business course. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Android and listen to past episodes at http://mstradio.com Subscribe to our newsletter at http://mst.buzz You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below:

Memorial Day 10% tuition discount Two new FREE and fun courses: - Internetology: Basic Internet for Everyone - Appliantology 101: Your Guide to the Ultimate Appliance Repair Information Tool Weekly tech training webinars and recap of the most recent one Circuit Fu - bringing back the lost art of appliance repair The MST newsletter is chock full of appliance repair goodies, subscribe now at MST.buzz   Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Android and listen to past episodes at mstradio.com You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below or subscribe on iTunes/Android:

Another all-new vodcast episode of Master Samurai Tech Radio! In this killa episode: - Weekly tech training webinars, aka., Office Hours, for MST Academy students and Professional Appliantologist members at Appliantology.org. - Webinar recordings available for both students and PA members. - Open Q&A Office Hours- a great time to ask questions about a schematic or tech sheet that you're having troubles understanding. - Live Tech Help at Appliantology.org!   Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Android and listen to past episodes at http://mstradio.com You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below or subscribe on iTunes/Android:

In this long-awaited episode: - Mr. Appliance tech training website powered by Master Samurai Tech - ASTI 2016 recap and discussion - Industry news - trends in the evolving appliance repair profession - Tech training webinars at Appliantology.org and MasterSamuraiTech.com - Bidness Talk: "Where can I hire good techs?" - Tool Talk: Information tools for more effective appliance repair service calls Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Android and listen to past episodes at http://mstradio.com   You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below or subscribe on iTunes/Android:

In this year-end vodcast, Samurai Appliance Repair Man and the Mrs. Samurai do some reminiscing about all the great students we’ve worked with during 2015, the new features we’ve added to the Samurai Tech Academy's state-of-the-art online appliance repair training courses and we describe even more improvements coming in 2016!   New features already in place: - Midterm exam with open answers in Core: challenging, enlightening, empowering. - Weekly live webinar “Office Hours” with the Samurai for students: powerful presentations and illuminating Q&A. Exciting announcement: even though we’ve increased the features and benefits of the Academy, the tuition is NOT increasing! Instead, we have changed to a continuing access fee model. When you enroll in a course, you receive full access for 1 year (2 years if you purchase a bundle), then you can opt to continue paying a very small monthly fee for access after that time period. (Note: this does not affect students who have already enrolled.) More flexibility in 2016: we are changing the nature of the quizzes - they will no longer be “blocking” - leaving it up to each student to personalize their learning experience. Oh, one more thing… In our enthusiasm to describe all the exciting goings-on at Master Samurai Tech, we forgot to mention our year-end tuition special! D’OH! Use coupon code SUPERTECH2016 at get a 10% tuition discount off any Samurai Tech Academy course or course bundle! This coupon is good through January 6, 2016. Merry Christmas! You can listen to just the audio portion of the vodcast in the player below or subscribe on iTunes/Android:

  Industry Talk: - BSH- what's the "H" stand for? - Charge your smart phone from your refrigerator *wirelessly* with WattUp technology. Master Samurai Tech news: - New post on how loose electrical connections, like splices and terminals, can produce enough heat to burn wires and insulation. http://mastersamuraitech.com/loose-electrical-connections-and-heat/ - Recapping the dismal and outdated state of appliance repair training today. YouTube makes hands-on disassembly training obsolete. What we need today is BRAINS-ON training! Learning the theory of operation and the underlying technology in modern appliances today so you can figure out weird problems without relying pattern recognition (if this problem, replace that part). Real technicians today are skilled in the lost art of troubleshooting: following a cause and effect chain of reasoning to its logical conclusion and identifying the defective component that is no longer operating within specifications. Business Talk: - How to handle those tricky service calls where there was no problem found. Tech Talk: - Troubleshooting scenario: electric dryer element not getting hot. Good power supply. Known good element. Element connected: have 120vac from each end (L1 and L2) to N, but 0vac across the element terminals. What conclusion can you draw? Voltage vs. voltage drop; 120/240 single phase-split phase household electrical power supplies; loads in series.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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/]

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.

In this special episode of MST Radio, the tables are turned and instead of being the host, Samurai Appliance Repair Man is a guest on another radio show, the Scott Horton Show. We discuss the changes going on in the appliance repair trade today and the opportunities this creates for skilled appliance techs. Whether you’re contemplating a new career in appliance repair or are a seasoned veteran in the trade, the Samurai explains how the Samurai Tech Academy can teach you the technical and business skills you need to succeed as a technician and/or service company owner-operator.

In this life-changing episode of Master Samurai Tech Radio, Samurai Appliance Repair Man and Mrs. Samurai talk about all kinds of things appliantological. Due to the overwhelming response we've gotten the last few days, we've extended our Labor Day tuition discount on all courses and bundles at the Samurai Tech Academy thru Sunday, 9/13! Coupon code: LABORDAY2015. Enroll here! Industry News: we talk about the international appliance brand Beko - number one in the UK - that plans to enter the American market soon. The Turks are coming!! Appliantology News: Check out this great post on laundry detergents--HE, non-HE, and Eco. The difference is critical for a professional tech to know! Learn how when it comes to molecules, being bipolar is a good thing. Also - helpful tips for the helpful techs who answer questions over at Appliantology.org - dealing with the different types grasshoppers. MST News: an appliance repair veteran reveals how MST training helped him earn even more money. Tech Talk: Voltage sag - the cause of a mysterious rash of failures in a Whirlpool VM washer. What is it? Is is the same as voltage drop? (NO!) And, a new feature--a segment on Soft Skills! Samurai and the Mrs. discuss the sensitive issue of how to handle dog problems on your service calls.

In this killa-manilla episode of the Master Samurai Tech Radio podcast, the Samurai and Mrs. Samurai reveal the answer to every burning question you’ve ever had about anything! Okay, okay, well we at least know you’ve been losing sleep over the mysteries of centrifugal switches and what the heck is the difference between NTC and PTC. Oh, yeah, we cover that and much, much more in what can only be called an appliance repair revelation. Here’s a list of the meaty stuff we carve up and serve in this episode: Appliance industry news on dishwashers. Link to more info. Exciting Labor Day tuition discount on all courses and bundles at the Samurai Tech Academy; Coupon code: LABORDAY2015. Enroll here! Hot tips for searching the Downloads section at Appliantology.org to find the service manual or tech sheet you need to kick some appliance bootay. Link to Downloads section at Appliantology. Link to How-to-Search Appliantology screencast. Dispelling common misconceptions about power strips: surge suppressing vs. non-surge suppressing types; power strip over-current fuses vs. those equipped with GFCI. Link to power strips with and without surge suppression. Link to GFCI power strips. Debunking technician mythology on centrifugal switches: what they are, how they work, and where they’re used "NTC" and "PTC": What do these acronyms stand for? Where do the names come from? What common appliance parts are these acronyms referring to? “You gotta know what right is in order to know what’s wrong.” New Segment! Tool talk: headlamps and kneepads. Business tips: customer database software / apps / paperware. Link to Princeton Tec headlamp. Link to Duracell rechargeable batteries w/ charger. Link to kneepads similar to the ones I use.

- New credit card readers for the EMV technology; merchant (appliance service company) liability for fraud if not using the new readers. - Square has already issued the new EMV readers. - Electrolux buying GE Appliances - complications, lawsuit, implications for the appliance market. Samsung and LG brought into the fray! - Customer education: How to spot a parts changing monkey. http://appliantology.org/blog/1/entry-851-3-sure-fire-ways-to-spot-an-appliance-repair-hack-in-your-home/ - Tech education: rinse aid vs. vinegar; GFCIs vs. surge suppressors Send us your tech tip, war story, topic idea and, if we use it in the show, we'll give you and your company a shoutout! Free advertising, build cred with your customers! Be sure to subscribe on iTunes!

In this scintillating episode: - Industry news - Passed 4 million views on our YouTube channel! You may have been one of them! - Correction on loading meters - Meter current draw, input impedance, and why you should care - Ghost voltages and open neutrals - Lord Wiggington propositions an outlet for his wiggy - Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Here are your helpful links to items we talked about in this episode: Yale Appliance Blog post on "Affordable Luxury" appliances. MST blog post "The Low Down on Loading Meters and DMMs"

Topics covered: - We're now listed on iTunes! Subscribe here. - Industry News: Whirlpool Internet-connected laundry set, GE refrigerator/coffee brewer, GE dryer service bulletin - MST News: Jobs listing, Affiliate program - Tech Talk: Which Wiggy and why? When to use the Wiggy? Link to the Wiggy (loading meter) that the Samurai uses and talks about in the podcast: http://amzn.to/1No9RGX

- 1 About this podcast: a podcast by appliance techs, for appliance techs - 2 About the Samurai Tech Academy - 3 MST news - 3.1 About Appliantology, features. - 3.1.1 Grasshoppers moderated at Appliantology. - 3.2 New course bundles - 3.3 Jobs listings and resumes for students and grads - 4 Tech talk - 4.1 Voltage Sniffers vs. Loading Meters vs. Non-loading digital multimeters