The older lady who taught me to listen to the machine, not the noise

I had a call last week in a 1960s ranch house, a washing machine that was thumping so loud the neighbor knocked. The owner was about 75, and she just stood there watching me poke at it. She finally said, "Young man, that noise ain't the drum, it's the belt slipping because the floor is uneven." I spent ten minutes checking the level and she was dead on. After I fixed it, she told me her husband used to say to listen for the quietest hum, not the loudest bang. Has anyone else had a customer teach them something simple that saved you a lot of time?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason.margaret16d ago

Old ladies always know what they're talking about with appliances. My trick now is to spend the first 30 seconds just standing still and listening hard before I touch anything. Nine times out of ten you can pin down the real problem by where the sound is coming from, not how loud it is. Saves you from chasing a ghost after you've already taken the whole thing apart.

tessa_rivera15d ago

Standing still and listening hard" sounds like the kind of advice that comes from someone who has learned the hard way a dozen times. I'm picturing my grandma doing this with her old vacuum, and now I realize that's probably why she never had to call a repair guy. Guess I'll trade my "just start taking things apart" method for the old lady approach on my next busted blender.