Jan. 5. Cornelius resident Tommy Walker had more than 50 years experience in appliance repair and operated Tommy’s Appliance Service until retiring a few years ago. Tommy will offers his advice for various appliances monthly.

Most all appliances have more than one electronic control.

They have very limited ability to maintain commands and communications. Sometimes they fail to work properly, and they show a confused failure code on the display.

When convenient, it’s good to interrupt power to that appliance for 24 hours to allow it to reboot like a computer would.

Refrigerators, however, cannot be unplugged for 24 hours, but a one hour power interruption may resolve the problem.

When cleaning your displays and panels, be sure to spray the cleaner on the cloth and wipe the appliance. Spraying a cleaner directly on the control or appliance will likely damage the control.

If interrupting the power to the appliance does not resolve the problem, then it’s time to call a repairman.

Happy New Year.

Tommy