Bunch Of Roses

How To Get Your Tumble Dryer Heating Up

October 4, 2010 | Laundry Appliance Repair, Help & Advice | 1 comment

As we edge closer to winter, the tumble dryer becomes an invaluable tool. But what happens if, after lying dormant for months, you discover it’s not heating up? The most common cause is a damaged element or thermostat. If you find yourself in this position, you may think it’s going to be a mammoth task to get your dryer drying again.

But guess what… it isn’t. Like many fix-it tasks, replacing an element and/or a thermostat in a tumble dryer is a lot easier than you might think. Check out this video, where I replace both.

If you need to get your dryer ready for winter, fear not; we sell thousands of tumble dryer spares for over a hundred different brands.

Christmas Decorations And Pudding

Brita Filters

September 30, 2010 | Foodie Tips | 3 comments

We recently came across a video which shows what a cup of tea looks like when made from water of varying states of filtration. My personal view is that this may need investigating by an independent source, snopes.com springs to mind.

However it did get me wondering what a cup of tea would look like when brewed with bottled water. I did think of conducting the experiment myself, a pound on a bottle of water is alright, but buying a brand new kettle just to make two cups of tea is a bit excessive, so I shall have to stick to guesswork.

So here is my guess: there would be so little difference you wouldn’t be able to notice.

What I can ascertain for sure though, is that if you want drinking water that is purer than the stuff coming out of your taps, Brita filters are your best bet – at about 20 quid for a jug, and then maybe a fiver every few months or so for a new filter. Compared to even 40p per bottle of water, there’s no argument.

What do you think? Do you think using bottled water will yield a better cup of tea? Have you got a Brita filter, a bottle of water, some tea bags and a couple of spare kettles? If you’ve got answers, get in touch.

Dubious?

Easy Fix It Yourself

The Digital Switchover…

September 29, 2010 | DIY & Home Improvement  |  General Appliance Care & Advice | No comments

The digital switchover is well under way. Have you switched over yet? If you’re not sure, Digital UK have a location checker on their website, which tell you if you’ve switched over, or if you haven’t, the year in which it’s scheduled. The switchover has been rolling out to various parts of the country since 2007; we’re currently about 60% through the process – it finishes in 2012.

This means that by the time the London Olympics roll round, wherever you live in the country, there’ll only be a digital TV signal. Make sure you’re all set for the digital switchover…

  • If you’ve got a really old, non-digital TV, you’ve got two options. The first is to upgrade to a digital model.
  • The second option, if you’re really attached to your non-digital telly, and don’t want to pay a monthly subscription, is a Freeview box. Just make sure you’ve got a SCART lead to connect it!
  • If you receive your TV signal in another way, for instance via satellite if you have Sky, or via cable if you are with Virgin Media or BT, then the switchover won’t affect you, and you’re good to go.
  • If you want a cool set-up to match, and like impressing your friends when they come to your house, a TV bracket is a perfect way to do that.

We also stock thousands of remote controls for hundreds of brands of TV.

Washing Machine Drum

Detergent Dispensers – All You Need to Know

September 23, 2010 | Kitchen Appliances Repair, Help & Advice | No comments

Detergent dispensers are a vital part of a dishwasher, without it you’re just pumping regular old water round the washer, and that ain’t no good if you want crockery and cutlery that’s meal worthy once the cycle’s finished. Like the cutlery basket, it’s a part of the dishwasher that’s getting used constantly. Constant use can lead to wear and tear, and sometimes wear and tear will lead to damage.

You’d have thought that replacing a dishwasher detergent dispenser is one of those pop in-pop out FIY jobs, but actually, it’s a little more involved than that. Luckily, you have the knowledgeable Helen on hand to guide you through fitting it. Enjoy.

Who Contributes to the eSpares Blog?

September 14, 2010 | eSpares Updates | No comments

Today I realised that ever since we started the blog, we’ve never formally introduced ourselves. That’s more than six months and almost 80 blog posts, and you could say that’s just bad manners. So let me put things right for you, reader. I know you can see who contributed what with those natty little photos at the bottom of the post, and there’s an About Us page too, but let me do this properly.

Since we started this blog, we’ve had several contributors. Samara used to post, but she has since decided, probably quite sensibly, to live in California. I’ll certainly be quite envious as the days shorten as we get closer to Christmas.

But let me give you a quick rundown on the current contributors. There are six of us – all five members of the Marketing team, and an IT brain as well…

Matt is our Marketing Director, you may remember him from such films as How a tumble dryer works. He’s the boss of the Marketing team, and also stars in loads of How To videos. He tends to blog about technical spare part stuff as well as sharing great money saving tips.

Next there’s our Web Analytics Manager Mike. He’s the guy who goes over our site’s visitor stats with a fine tooth comb – which is why you’ll see him blogging about stuff like eSpares supplying spare parts to 122 different countries.

We’ve got over 140 videos, and Gabe is the guy responsible for shooting and editing them, deciding which videos people want to see and all the logistics that go along with it. He also manages all our video channels – so with Gabe, posts are gonna be pretty video-centric.

Esmé is our Designer – every page on the whole of our website has been designed by her with a whole lot of talent and a good amount of patience too. We constantly try to improve the look and feel of the website, and you’ll see her periodically blog about site updates and improvements. It’s our IT department who make these improvements come to life, with their endless coding, testing and all the technical stuff (a complete mystery to me). David is our IT Director and although he’s not posted yet, we’ll let him off – they’re pretty darned busy in the IT department.

Last of all there’s me, Rory. I’ll be the most regular poster and will post about anything at all, from our new office stereo system to cool videos of mini water cannons.

You’ll be hearing from us soon…

(Left to right) Matt, Esmé, David, Mike and I – the eSpares bloggers. Gabe’s not in it because he’s off today!

Appliance Reviews

September 10, 2010 | General Appliance Care & Advice | 3 comments

User submitted reviews are such a vital part of the online buying process that we no longer simply hope we’ll find them; we expect them to be there. Reviews add objective opinion and harness the most powerful marketing tool in the world: word of mouth. And it’s not just about finding products that only have great reviews.

On that note, we love this new website www.appliance-reviews.co.uk. The site is for reviews of appliances themselves, rather than their spare parts, but there’s tonnes and tonnes of useful content. There are thousands of comprehensive reviews on all manner of kitchen appliances, and you can even see what appliances people who are similar to you are buying and reviewing. There are also video reviews, as well as a price comparison tool for each model. We reckon it’s a great tool, and recommend it when the time comes that one of your appliances is no longer fixable.

The Tail End of Lawnmower Season

September 6, 2010 | Gardening Tips | No comments

We’re getting towards last cut of the year kind of time, and after a hard summer of keeping the grass in check, does your lawn mower need a bit of love? Even if all seems well, it’s always worth giving it a quick MOT to make sure everything’s running smoothly.

Parts worth checking are the lawnmower blades (safely of course!), which do blunt over time. Check the drive belt too, this can slacken and cause inefficiency. Another obvious one is the grass box – empty to prevent build up, which can lead to grass being deposited on your carefully cultivated lawn. If anything needs replacing, we’ve got thousands of lawnmower spares at our website, as well as a bunch of videos helping you fit them too – in this one Helen gives a Flymo a whole new motor. Impressive.

Chicken Salad Peppers

Bank Holiday Call Centre Opening Times

August 27, 2010 | eSpares Updates | No comments

Our Call Centre is closing at 6pm today, Friday 27th August, and will remain closed for the duration of the Bank Holiday weekend. It will reopen on Tuesday 31st August at 8am. In the meantime, enjoy your long weekend, and let’s hope the weather holds out.

How to How To – A Brief Guide

August 23, 2010 | General Appliance Care & Advice | No comments

Over the last year or so we have been making an effort to provide a more helpful ‘fix it yourself’ (FIY for short) web experience by creating our own ‘How To’ videos. At the time of writing we’ve got over 130 videos, with 750,000 total views, across 12 video sites. The vast majority of these are viewed on our Advice Centre and YouTube channel.

However, we are just a small drop in the web’s ‘How To’ ocean. Here’s a look at some of the best FIY the web has to offer:

The biggest of the bunch is eHow.com, formerly known as Expert Village. Their eHow Home and eHow Home Appliances sections have a load of FIY gold. Its user-submitted content varies wildly in quality and usefulness but the sheer amount of articles and videos make it a great resource. It’s also very US-centric, so you’ll have to sift through a lot of propane burner and termite infestation stuff to get to anything relevant for repairs or appliances in the UK.

5min.com is a personal favourite. Its home appliances section has a lot to look at, and (unlike eHow) all the ‘fix its’ are in video format.

wonderhowto.com is a great little site with over 400 home and garden appliance videos. The range of videos is great however the video player is a little odd in that it doesn’t have any controls. You can’t forward, rewind or seek to any point the the video – essential for playing and replaying parts of a ‘how to’ video.

Lastly, for a broader insight into how appliances work on either a practical or scientific level howstuffworks.com is brilliant. It has an appliances section with great interactive articles like how refrigerators or microwaves work. Fantastic brain food, and great for getting a wider understanding of how and why appliances are put together.

Happy FIYing.