From the Bench

PROFITABLE SERVICE

Properly managed, opportunistic and realistically priced white and brown goods service can be a good earner – and it’s not necessarily di cult, says Alan Bennett

It’s making a noise like pebbles crashing through it” said the voice on the phone.

“Can you come today?” When we got there we found a Beko washing machine, maybe six years old. The (very loud) noise was coming from the pump where we quickly found a 5p coin. Fifteen minutes, a £55 call-out charge and we were on our way.

‘SIMPLES’

Many other jobs turn out to be quick and easy for us. Starting in the kitchen, and with washing machines: bra-wires, coins and other debris often get trapped, while blocked drains and pipes are common, causing failure to pump out. In fridges a build-up of water and droplets is usually due to a blocked internal drain hole, easily cleaned, while both fridges and freezers can su er from long and laborious motor running times due to a build-up of fl u and dust on the rear radiator. Blocked fi lters can be dangerous here and especially inside tumble dryers. Less seriously, fridge light bulb failure is common, as it is in cookers. Blocked fi lters often prevent draining in dishwashers, while ‘stuck’ rotary arms lead to poor washing performance.

AV equipment, too, can develop minor faults with ‘big’ symptoms. We’ve been called out to TVs and tuner boxes whose aerial or mains connections have fallen out; less often a mains reset is all that’s needed, or a re-scan of the broadcast band. Occasionally, reloading of the operational software is required, available over the air for recent equipment. All of the above require little or nothing in the way of spare parts, and minimal labour: easily and profi tably covered by the callout charge – ours covers the fi rst 30 minutes.

We have known perfectly good equipment

discarded for such trivial faults as these! We fi nd that many people, especially younger ones, do not even consider a repair to anything unless it’s got wheels or a roof: in many of these cases we become aware of this only after a new purchase has been made. Back at the workshop we may refurbish the gear, PAT test it (vital for safety reasons if it’s going back out), load the latest software where appropriate, then put it out on rental or sell it second hand. Items with more serious or uneconomic-to-repair problems may, depending on viability (e.g. age, model population) be stashed for cannibalisation and reuse in rental equipment, or even for chargeable repairs. In the latter case it’s important to make the customer aware that the replacement parts are second hand.

MINOR REPAIRS

Above and beyond this, many repairs due to wear and breakdown are easily done by a (necessarily versatile!) technician in the fi eld or workshop. We fi nd that hardworked washing machines are the most likely category to fail in service, and that diagnosis is not usually di cult, while spares for many makes are easily obtained.

SPARES

For white goods a wide range of replacement parts is available: washing machine pumps, belts, bearings, water seals, solenoid valves, motors and brushes, doors, hinges and ‘brain’ modules; heating elements, fan motors, knobs, hinges, doors and control modules for cookers; motors, fi lters and elements for tumble dryers; and so on. With brown goods the availability of spares is not as wide, but for some models you can get PSU modules and (generally older types) backlight LEDs in various forms. Other PC boards and modules may be available, but some of these might have been salvaged from broken-up sets, and a software update may be required on completion of repair. Certain TV designs su er from abnormally high failure rates within their switchmode power supply modules; here enterprising freelance companies can supply complete repair kits in the form of a handful of components (fuses, semiconductors, capacitors etc.) to reliably fi x this problem. Viability here depends largely on the age and value of the TV or whatever.

All these spares, kits etc. are quite easily found on line via a search engine, and may be original manufacturers’ parts or third-party ‘pattern’ ones, most of which we fi nd reasonably reliable and cheaper than the real McCoy: perfectly suitable for their application in equipment which has already served some time. They usually carry a one-year guarantee.

Sometimes it’s not easy to diagnose the fault with certainty, and where the manufacturer’s technical helpline is not available (e.g. no agency, non-existent, not interested) again the internet may come to the rescue. Type the make and model number into a search engine – that might bring up a forum about the specifi c model including common and known faults along with likely culprits and repair tips, also perhaps sources of replacement parts. I’m not advocating here repairs and service by inexpert people! Anything done for the public must conform to safety standards, be competently carried out and the gear PAT tested where appropriate.

SALES RECOMMENDATIONS

A roving repair/installation technician can be a useful asset to the sales force. Many people trust a technician – perhaps because they see him as more expert and knowledgeable – more than a shop-fl oor sales person. That, and being on the spot in customers’ homes may give an amenable serviceman an advantage in terms of sales of replacement products, every type of accessory and services.

These days service and repair can be more profi table than sales in many cases – go to it!