Fix-it-Yourself: Juicer or any Appliance (with a case of a blown fuse blues)

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Danila is pointing to the blown fuse, the small glass tube with its filament no longer in one piece

On a blustery early spring day, I was juicing carrots, oranges and parsley, when my juicer suddenly stopped working. I love this juicer and did not want to throw it away, so heart-broken I asked for advice. Joe and Danila said, let’s take it apart and see what’s wrong. After a few minutes of fiddling with a Philips head, we found a blown fuse on the circuit board. You know a blown fuse when you see won, because the filament inside the glass tube is broken, and no longer continuous.

We promptly replaced the fuse with one we had lying around (.25 cents at the hardware store), and in just ten minutes my old but sturdy juicer is back in action!

Joe says: Today, many appliances are made in such a cheap fashion that they don’t even have a fuse. Still, checking the fuse, or for the fuse is always a great idea. In this case, it saved us 80 dollars.

Danila says: Tips to remember- Label your wires and keep track of your screws.

I say: Fuses come in different gages. Look forĀ  the gage number written on the fuse or on your appliance, and replace it with one of equal value. Fuses are easy to replace, you can pop one out with your finger, or a butter knife, and they pop back in easily as well.