Yes, manuals are often good. I recent replaced the side-view mirrors on my car (don't ask -- it has to do the kids), and I found very good instruction online. I can't imagine how I would have been able to do it without the online help.
I agree, the forums are great for very specific problems that you want to know other users' experience with, like that new chip. They're especially good for electronics hardware and software. But for basic mechanical stuff, I prefer to find a manual.
Good point, Ann. Yet sometimes the forums come in handy. I bought a memory upgrade chip for my Toshiba laptop. As soon as I inserted it, the laptop started to crash. Of course, I thought I'd done something wrong. I went to the forums and found that everyone with this particular laptop was having the same problem with this particular memory upgrade. Who knows why they keep selling the upgrade. At any rate, it was the forums that validated my problem.
Last weekend I installed a new storm door. The instructions and diagrams made the process straightforward except for the step to mount the glass in the door frame. The diagram looked like one of M.C. Escher art prints where the crazy perspective makes you wonder which set of stairs goes in what direction. A video on the company's site let me see how to position a mounting rail on each side. Worked like a charm.
There is something way more frustrating than no access provided:
You look and look, finally spend hours to dissassemble something, only then to find out how it was supposed to come apart (making it worse, is that it's usually a no-tools-required push-tab).
The best things on-line are usually the video's that people post as they repair the same object (I've done a few repairs lately where I was saved a lot of hassle by on-line videos).
That's a really good point about what happens to the noise damping when an access hole is cut. Maybe the 12-in square cut out should be saved for a door.
Rob, I've also found lots of info in the user forums, but it can take a long time of searching to find it. Usually, I'd much rather have the manual. William, thanks for that info on service people. Now it makes sense, although doesn't really ratchet down the annoyance value. I am boggled that people actually throw away papers they don't understand, or any papers that come with an appliance. I was taught to save and file everything.
Cutting a 12" square hole in the sheet metal is bound to have changed the noise damping. While we've all slammed appliance manufacturers here (myself included), they DO put some attention to noise attenuation. Such a change as described must have caused more noise than before?
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