At Millikin Elementary there is an Dukane Compact 3200 Series Intercom system.  This system has worked well for many years but recently started having trouble switching from Talk to Listen on the control panel.  After looking at the unit it appeared that only the button itself had failed and the the wires connecting this button to the main board needed to be punched down (punch down 110 tool).

A little closer

As you can see from the Photos this is not an entirely new unit,  in fact is quite old.  So old in fact that repairing this unit become a little tricky because finding parts for this unit is hard.

The unit’s failed green button has a serial number and some small text saying “made in France by Interswitch”.   Interswitch no longer exists and Dukane has stopped making, supporting, or even acknowledging the existence of this intercom unit about 12 years ago.  With new Intercom systems running in the multiple thousands of dollars it made since to simply fix the broken switch but to do so in such a way as not to limit the functionality of the machine.  At first I simply installed a generic switch as temp fix while I searched for the original part. At a nearby Radioshack I simply put in a dumb switch that worked somewhat- problem being it was not mounted correctly and I did not want to physically install a bracket since I felt I could eventually locate the correct part.  This replacement switch was also hard to use in terms of switching from talk to listen quickly.

After too much time spent searching online I finally found two leads, an ebay store selling old Dukane equipment that was broken and a part supplier in Oklahoma that used to sell the equipment 10 years ago.  The Ebay option turned out to be a bust since he wanted 1200$ for all the parts – all I really need is a button.  The part supplier in Oklahoma came through having two green buttons left in stock (no red) and that was it.  http://www.coxsystech.com/index_files/Page509.htm (Company Website).  Although their website does not list them having any parts for this unit anymore, after I was transferred to the warehouse manager it turns out he had two buttons and that was it (green).

Broken Button

New Button

I decided to buy both just in case the other button fails on this unit and 26$ later the machine back and working as new (yes 26$ for two buttons that probably cost 1$).  Thanks to the power of the internet it looks like this old unit will have a few more years service left before becoming completely obosolete.

This topic has little to do with Computers but was a fun project I did last weekend.  My wife informed me that our GE-XL44 Range oven was not turning on and therefore it was my responsibility to cook until it was fixed.  After fiddling with the oven for a while I could indeed confirm that only the broiler function worked and that the oven function had no response.  I have zero experience with a gas oven so I decided to take it apart and look for a problem.  With the bottom of the oven exposed (removed 2 screws) you can see that the oven operates very similar to a gas grill with an electric ignition.  Instead of using a spark to light the cause the oven has a glowing stick ignitor that lights up when the oven is turned on.  (Ignition piece is quite fragile)

Here is a picture of the oven with the bottom covering removed along with the heat shield.

Towards the back of the oven along the tube where the gas comes out you can see the ignition system.

I attempted to start the oven with it in this condition to see if the ignition glow stick appears to work.  Sure enough unlike the Broiler ignition stick that immediately glows orange this one stayed a dull grey.  Looking under the oven by removing the bottom drawer you can see that this igntor only has two leads to it and the gas traces back to a central gas valve.  Since the broiler is still working as are the top gas burners I made the guess that this valve is okay.  It appears that if the ignitor goes bad there is a built in safety mechanism stopping the flow of gas coming into the oven (makes sense).
I went to the repairclinic.com and ordered the replacement ignitor for around 70$.  I could not find an exact match for my model number so instead looked for the identical part based on the photograph.  Here is the part I ordered http://www.repairclinic.com/SSPartDetail.aspx?s=b3a13i1990&PartID=1990

Here is the part that arrived from the repair clinic.  Swapping out the ignitor can be a little tricky since there is little to no room to remove the screws.  I removed the hex shaped screws by using the a wrench socket with no handle attached (had a old set of auto sockets).  This took a little finger muscle to remove but did come out okay, there are only two screws that attach the ignitor.

I attached the lead wires to the ignitor after dropping them down the hole in the back of the oven.  It does not appear to matter which way you wire the wires as this device is really quite simple.

Success with the new ignitor the oven immediately fires on and you can hear the gas flowing.  Repair takes about 30 minutes to an hour and is relatively quite easy.

A long story short,   the dishwasher stopped working once again.  The buttons on the touch panel stopped working and thus the dishwasher would not start.  After taking the machine apart again I saw something different.  The circuit board looked to be in tip top shape (replaced earlier for 60$)  but after taking off the front control panel I found a new problem.

Where the ribbon cable connects the front control panel to the circuit board you could clearly see burn marks on the wire.  I was also able to press out a brownish liquid through the opening which confirmed earlier thoughts that the machine has a design flow which allows water to invade the electronics.  From the photo of the back side of the front panel you can see clear burn marks on the cable.  Looks like both the control circuit board and front panel short out on this model simply because of water damage,  I suspect that during the drying cycle steam works it way up through the seam and into the electronics area.  I am thinking about putting a line of silicon around the seams on the front assembly door and near the ribbon cable to the front control panel.

If you happen to have this model and are looking for parts I would recommend heading to the sears part website – searspartsdirect .  Here the front control panel was 68$ compared to other online vendors which averaged around 170$ all the way to 220$. (partsselect.com, applicancepartspros.com all had this part way overpriced.)

Although I am not really familiar with working on household appliances I decided to give it a try when the dishwasher at my residence decided to stop working the other day.  The dishwasher is a Maytag Quiet Series 300 and was just a little over a year old.  The problem began when some of the lights on the front of the unit stopped responding to input.  Strangely the Heavy Wash, the Lock (Dry button) would still respond but unfortunately the start and delay buttons would not respond and thus the machine would not start.

After reading a few forums on the web it turns out this problem is fairly common with this model with either the ribbon cable failing with a short, or the control board itself has a short.

In my case the control board had failed.  This part can be found online for about 70$.  (Control Board)

To gain access to the control board you will need a star shaped screw driver and a socket wrench.  Removing the door is pretty straight forward with about 12 star shaped screws holding it in place.

Here is the control Panel.  Keys for successful removal: Unhook Power (flip breaker) and make sure the ribbon cable is securely attached.  The ribbon cable will fit into the housing and the plastic case can be moved to lock it into place.

Replacement Control Board.

Working Machine.  The good news is that this easy repair was successful, my only concern is that this unit will give out again after another year and a half.  It appears that perhaps there is a design flaw in the device in which steam from the drying process can work itself into the control panel and short it out.  I wonder if perhaps you sealed the control panel box with Silicon if it would increase the longevity of the machine.