Kelly's Korner - Appliance Parts Buying 101

Hey, All,

In this day and age of instant gratification, we here at W L May do like to provide information to you as fast as humanly possible.  But we are only human and we will need some information from you to get you your parts:

1)  Brand (Whirlpool, Amana, GE, Sears, etc.)
     This helps us to be in the correct program to enter the model number
2)  Model number (we need the complete model number - sometimes part of the model number may be off to the side of the central number)
     Manufacturer's will make design changes within a model and will differentiate which part goes to which by the "engineering" number (LSR5233EQ0 may have some different parts than the LSR5233EQ2)
3)  Serial number or Manufacturer's numbers (this may be referred to as a "P" number as it will start with that letter.
     Same description as model number - changes made within the model may be reflected by the serial number.
4)  Description of part needed.
     We've heard it all!  You don't need to know the "official" name of the part.  An accurate description of what the part does will help us narrow it down.  We more than likely will ask you a few more questions just so we get you the correct part needed.

The staff at W L May is here to help you with your appliance parts needs - just give us a call or stop on in!

Have a great week!

Thoughtful Thursday: GE Numbering Systems

GE is an unusual company-but not in a bad way. Founded by Thomas Edison, GE has a long tradition of doing things their own way. I remember once being told by an old-timer in the industry: "There is the right way, the wrong way, and the GE way." The system they use for numbering parts is unique to them as well, but it is quite rational. That would be another part of the Edison legacy.

GE is consistent with the style of part number they use. Their numbers use a combination of letters and numbers with the letters being more prevalent than most other brands. For example, all GE appliance parts will start with the letter "W", unless those parts are packaged for display as a retail item. Those retail items start with the letters "PM" for Parts Master, their retail product program. The second letter used indicates the type of appliance the part is used on. So, on a GE model:

• WB is used for cooking equipment such as ranges, microwaves and range hoods. B for baking.
• WR is used for refrigerators and freezers. R for refrigeration.
• WD is used for dishwashers. D for dishwashers.
• WC is used for Trash Compacters. C for compacter.
• WH is used for washers. H is for home laundry.
• WE is used for dryers. E for electric dryer. This prefix is used on gas dryers as well.

As you can see, it is pretty easy to determine what type of machine a part is for just by seeing the first few letters in the part number. But GE didn't stop there. The numbers that come after the letters often hold meanings as well, although there are some exceptions found as you get past the letters.

Here are some common numbering standards:
For ranges:

• WB21 is used for switches.
• WB27 is used for controls
• WB30 is used for surface elements.
• WB31 Is used for drip pans and rings and burner grates.
• WB44 is used for bake and broil elements

For refrigerators:

• WR9 is used for controls, both temperature and defrost 
• WR30 is used for ice makers and related pieces (such as the ice bin).
• WR50 and WR51 are used for defrost heaters and thermostats. 
• WR55 is used for electronics such as boards, touchpads and sensors. 
• WR60 is used for motors.
• WR87 is used for compressors.

For dishwashers:

• WD26 is used for motors and pumps.

For washing machines:

• WH1 is used for belts.
• WH13 is used for valves.
• WH23 is used for pumps.
• WH38 is used for transmissions.

For dryers:

• WE11 is used for elements.
• WE18 is used for lint screens.

As you can see there is a certain elegance to their numbering system. I am probably overlooking a few of their common prefixes, so please let me know in the comments what I missed.

There are also a few tricks that seem to come up regularly to people who are researching GE parts.

1. The first has to do with the model number. There are a fair number of GE models that end with the sequence letter-zero (or sometimes astersisk)-letter-number-letter-letter. These can be particularly tricky as GE has an unwritten rule that the zero or asterisk is dropped in this type of model number, To complicate matter further, they will sometimes drop the last 2 letters off as well. A good way to deal with this, if you are using the Illustrated Parts Lookup is to key in the 1st half of the number. You will get a list of all models that start with what you typed. Knowing what I just told you about GE model numbers, it should at that point be fairly easy to pick your model off of the list.
2. The second has to do with part numbers and another unwritten GE rule. Older models of GE used a strict format of 2 letters-2 numbers-the letter x-4 numbers, When the the number was shorter they would insert zeroes to stick to their format. For example, WR9x489 would likely be listed as WR09x0489. The researcher is just expected to "know" to drop those zeroes out of the number. That was confusing but consistent until a few years ago, when GE decided to NOT have the zeros drop out of the part number. How can you tell? The rule of thumb to use is if there are 5 numbers after the connecting letter (Ususally "X" but sometimes "T","M"or another letter) then you leave all zeroes intact. If there are not 5 numbers after the connecting letter, then it is an older number and the zeroes drop as mentioned about.

That's all there is to it! Clear as mud, I know. The great thing is that if you need a hand, we've got you covered. There is a lot of experience working with GE's among our staff, so do not hesitate to give us a call if you have difficulties.

Web Tools Wednesday-Five Ways to Use a Smart Phone on Service Calls

More and more companies are using smart phones to make their technicians more efficient and productive. In case you didn't know or need some convincing as to why you might want to upgrade your old cell phone here are 5 ways appliance service people can use a smart phone to help run their service calls.

1. Use your camera. Take a picture of the model number label. There are some techs who do this for every service call and save themselves a lot of writing. Even if you are in the habit of writing down the model number this is good insurance against damage to your notes. That camera can also come in handy for some of those hard to describe parts, just take the picture and let your part researcher see it for reference.
   
2. Research parts on the fly. W.L. May Company has full illustrated part breakdowns optimized for mobile phone available to our account holders. You can see a breakdown of the machine, get the part number, share a quote with your customer, and place the order all from the field saving you office time at the end of the day. And if you are in a really sticky situation, you can always use the phone to contact the factory tech line.

   

   Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

3. Help with scheduling, There are several apps that can help you with scheduling and/or to-do lists. Also, an appreciated courtesy would be to let the consumer know you are on  the way shortly before you arrive at the home. If you will be late or early for your appointment that would also likely merit a call of warning. You may not be able to control surprises that can throw off your schedule, but you can minimize the effect by respecting your clients time and communicating with your clients if you will not be there at the time you said you would.

   

   Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

4. Maps and navigation. Years ago, when you didn't know where you were going, you could call the customer for directions or find it in the grid of  a Thomas Brothers map. These days life is so much easier when it comes to maps. You can even have a voice to guide you to your destination. Granted, dedicated GPS units have more features and may prove to be more useful depending on your needs, but the navigation included in most smart phones will do the job for you pretty well for many situations.

   

   Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

5. Financial tools. There are a lot of financial tools available for smart phones. I know of several companies that are already using credit card processing apps to bill their service calls from the field. Also several banks offer check deposit options using the phones camera features. If you are going to use your phone for location based finances, make sure you are dealing with a reputable company with secured access and other means of security.  

KELLY'S KORNER - GE PART NUMBERS

Hey, All,

Search back in the deep recesses of your mind to your school days and them darn spelling lists.  So many rules to remember like " 'i' before 'e', except after 'c', or when used in 'neighbor' or 'weigh' " - and there are exceptions to this!  Well, many people have questioned me on GE model and part numbers so I am going to try to help everyone out.

GE likes to put in "0's" in both the model number and the part numbers, but sometimes you have to drop them in order for them to come up. Example:

This is what's on the model number tag: JBS02004WH
This is what shows up on your research program: JBS02*04

Why? I don't know, but if you are having difficulties, start backing off the numbers/letters - JBS02 - this should bring up a list of all model numbers that start like this - go down the list until you find the model number that works. The WH is just the color code for a white model and they just drop this off alot of times.

So now you've found the correct model and you need a surface unit knob -WB03X0464 - but this doesn't come up as a good part number. Drop the leading zeros - WB3X464 - and then it should come up.

The exception for this is like WB03K10218 - you would not drop any zeros on this. It is confusing, I know but, as always, we here at W L May are here to help you clear the confusion!

The first two letters of the part number will tell you what kind of appliance the part goes to (there are exceptions:  some knobs are used on both washers and dryers, etc)

WD - dishwashers
WB - any kind of cooking appliance; ovens, ranges, microwaves, microhoods, vent hoods, etc.  I remind myself that the "B" is for baking.
WH - washers
WE - dryers (gas and electric)
WR - refrigerators
(there are others but these are the basics)

Hope this clears a bit of the confusion!

Have a great week!