Part of my job involves answering queries that customers submit through the Q&A section featured on every single product page. These queries can range from the basic (‘what colour is this part?‘) to the rather more involved (‘Does the NTC sensor serve as a thermostat? With electrical test meter, the unit shows open circuit across terminals when at room temperature and in boiling water, whereas heater elements show good continuity and appear good with no limescale build up.‘)

I always try my best to get as many of these questions answered. Unfortunately my humble brain doesn’t even contain all of the technical knowledge required to do this unaided. And that’s before trying to wrap your head around knowing the minutaie differences between tumble dryers that are made by Bosch, and those that are made by Electrolux, for instance.

So like all good workmen, I use the best tools at my disposal. And while I may have access to more tools than you at home, I find one of the best tools I have is YouTube. Specifically, the public resource films made by the American government during the 40s and 50s.

They may look and sound dated (the electricity video below speaks of the 92 known elements), but the clear and simple way things are explained has stood up to the test of time admirably.

I find that if I am trying to solve a problem that sounds complicated like the NTC sensor one above, the best thing to do is just to step back, and look at the things you learnt in school (and have probably since forgotten). And I think these videos are a great way of doing that.

You can find tons more videos like this one on YouTube. Pretty much just search ‘principles of [thing]’ and you’ll turn up videos like this one. They can be a real help when you’re trying to diagnose what’s going wrong with your appliance.

Tags: Electrolux