Care & Measuring

Most appliance returns are one of two things: it did not fit, or it was never broken. Ten minutes here prevents both.

Measure first. Twice.

Every listing states the manufacturer's cabinet width, and refrigeration listings state it in inches. The opening in your kitchen or laundry room is the number that matters, and it is almost never the number on the old machine.

• Measure the opening, not the appliance you are replacing. Counters sag and cabinet runs are rarely square. A 36-inch opening is often 35½ by the time it is built, and a refrigerator sold as 36 inches is 36 inches.
• Add clearance. A freestanding refrigerator needs air behind and beside it — check the manufacturer's figure, but an inch at the back and a quarter-inch each side is a sensible planning minimum. Built-in columns are the exception: they are designed to sit flush, and the rough opening in the installation sheet is the only number that matters.
• Check the door swing, not just the width. A french door needs less room to open than a single door of the same width, and a bottom-freezer drawer needs clear floor in front of it. Neither is visible in the cabinet width.
• Measure the route in. Doorways, the turn at the bottom of the stairs, and the gap between the counter and the island. A 36-inch refrigerator does not go through a 32-inch doorway on its side. A refrigerator that fits its alcove but not your hallway is still a return.
• Washers: check the floor as well as the gap. A front loader on a spring floor walks. Level it on all four feet and use the shipping-bolt removal step in the manual — leaving the bolts in is the single most common cause of a brand-new washer sounding broken.

What is not included

Stated here rather than left to be discovered on delivery day.

• Water lines and hoses. A refrigerator with an ice maker or a water dispenser needs a supply line, and a washer needs fill hoses. Neither is in the box on most models. Where a listing does include them, its specification says so.
• Gas connection. A gas laundry center needs a gas hookup and a licensed fitter. That is not a job for a delivery driver.
• Installation and haul-away. Delivery is kerbside. Removal of the old machine is arranged separately and depends on the carrier serving your address — call us before you order and we will tell you what is available where you are.
• Custom panels. A panel-ready cabinet takes a door panel made to the manufacturer's template. The panel is not included.

Before you decide something is faulty

A large share of "dead on arrival" appliances are working correctly. Run through this first — it takes five minutes and it is the same list we would send you.

Symptom	Check first
New washer bangs, walks or shakes violently on spin	The shipping bolts. Every front loader travels with two to four bolts locking the drum, and they must come out before the first wash. After that, check the machine is level on all four feet and that the load is not one heavy item on its own.
Washer will not fill, or fills very slowly	Both supply taps fully open, and the inlet screens in the hose ends. Those screens catch debris from the plumbing on a first connection and are the usual cause.
Washer will not drain, or stops with water in the drum	The drain hose kinked behind the machine, and the drain pump filter, which unscrews from a flap at the bottom front. Both are the usual cause on a first run.
Refrigerator or freezer not getting cold	How long it has been standing upright. If it travelled on its side or at an angle, leave it upright and switched off for at least four hours — longer is better — before powering it on. Then give it 24 hours to reach temperature before judging it.
Ice maker producing nothing	Whether the water line is connected and the ice maker switched on — most ship in the off position. A new ice maker then takes up to 24 hours to make its first batch, and the first two or three batches should be thrown away.
Refrigerator running constantly, or icing up	The door seal. Close the door on a sheet of paper; if it pulls out easily the seal is not making contact. Also check nothing on a shelf is holding the door fractionally open.
Water pooling under the crisper drawers	A blocked defrost drain, which is a maintenance item rather than a fault. The manual gives the location; clearing it takes a minute.

If it is still wrong after that, email us with a photograph of the fault and of the rating plate — the sticker with the model and serial number. We will sort it, and we will not send you to the manufacturer.

Keeping them working

Anything with a filter

Washers have a drain pump filter and refrigerators with a dispenser have a water filter. A blocked filter is the single most common cause of an appliance losing performance and being assumed broken. Rinse or replace on the schedule in the manual, which is usually far more often than people expect — a fridge water filter is typically every six months.

Front load washers

Leave the door ajar between washes and wipe the door gasket dry. A sealed drum that never dries out is why a front loader starts to smell, and it is not a fault. Most machines here have a tub-clean or sanitize cycle; run it monthly.

Refrigerators and freezers

Leave the ventilation gaps clear, defrost manual units before the ice reaches about half an inch, and vacuum the condenser coils once or twice a year where the model has them accessible. A failing door seal is why a freezer ices up and why the bill climbs.

Energy and running cost

Where a manufacturer states an ENERGY STAR certification or an annual consumption figure, it is in the specification on the listing. Where they do not, we leave it blank rather than estimating — a made-up running cost is worse than none.

Still stuck?

Email support@outdoorsupply.com with your order number. You will hear back within one business day, and there is no script.