Just realized a simple spoon can stump an appliance pro

I once spent two hours trying to figure out why an oven door wouldn't close. I checked the hinges, the latch, even the control board. Turns out, someone had placed a spoon in the hinge as a prank. The homeowner's teenager thought it would be funny to see my reaction. I felt so silly for not spotting it immediately. Now, I always start with a visual check for odd objects. What's the most ridiculous thing you've come across while working on appliances?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendy_perry1mo ago

Hearing that a spoon caused all that trouble blows my mind! A simple spoon just sitting in the hinge is so hard to spot when you're looking at gears and wires. That teenager playing a prank is both funny and annoying at the same time! It really shows how a tiny, dumb object can totally stop a repair in its tracks. I get so focused on the hard stuff that I miss the easy answer right in front of me. Now I always take a extra minute to scan for odd items before I dig in deep.

flores.robin1mo ago

Two hours on a spoon check doesn't seem that extreme to me. I mean, weird stuff gets stuck in appliances all the time. Maybe it's just me, but I've watched a tech take forever because a penny rolled under a washing machine and messed with the leveling. Sometimes you just overlook the obvious.

abby6751mo ago

But two hours for a spoon? That feels like overkill, even for weird appliance issues. Surely there's a faster way to spot something like that.