This page explains how FixDecoded guides are researched, written, checked and kept up to date, and what we will and will not do to earn your trust.
Our standard
A FixDecoded guide should let a careful, non-expert reader identify the most likely cause of a fault, rule out the cheap and safe possibilities first, and recognise the point at which continuing is unsafe or uneconomic. If a guide cannot do that for a particular problem, we say so rather than padding it out.
Sources and research
Guides are researched from, in order of preference:
- Manufacturer owner’s manuals, service manuals and technical bulletins for the specific model.
- Official manufacturer support articles, error-code lists and maintenance guidance.
- Documentation from component and drive-system suppliers where it applies to the machine.
- Reputable technical references and repair-industry material, cross-checked against manufacturer guidance.
- First-hand testing and reader reports, clearly identified as such.
Every guide lists the sources it relies on. Where a value or procedure applies only to a specific model, we say which model. Where manufacturers disagree, or where the safe answer is to check your own manual, we say that instead of presenting a single number as universal.
Safety
Safety information is not a legal formality at the top of the page; it is part of the diagnostic order. Guides begin with checks that require no covers removed and no power applied. Steps that involve mains voltage, moving parts under power, stored energy or gas are labelled as technician work. Guides state clearly when a symptom means the equipment should not be used until it is inspected.
We do not publish instructions for bypassing safety keys, thermal protection, breakers, interlocks or controller protection.
Accuracy, updates and corrections
Guides show their publication date and, when the content has changed, the date of the last update. When a guide has been specifically re-verified against current manufacturer documentation, it carries a “Reviewed” date and the name of the reviewer. We only show that line when a review has actually taken place.
If you find an error, contact us with the guide URL and what you found. Substantive corrections are made in the guide itself and the update date changes; we do not silently rewrite conclusions.
Independence
Our recommendations are based on the diagnostic evidence, not on what pays. Specifically:
- We do not accept payment, free products or other consideration in exchange for featuring, recommending or ranking a product, part, brand or repair service.
- Manufacturers and retailers have no editorial input into our guides and do not see them before publication.
- Advertising: to keep the guides free, the site may in future show advertising served by Google AdSense (see the Privacy Policy) or any other ads platform. Ads are labelled as ads, advertisers do not choose the guides their ads appear on, and they have no influence on what we write or recommend. Any affiliate link, if we ever use one, is disclosed on the page itself.
- We do not publish reviews, ratings, testimonials or FAQs that are not real.
What we will not do
- Invent expertise. Authors are real people, listed on the About page, and we do not claim certifications or experience they do not have.
- Create thin pages. Equipment, brand and model pages exist only when there are guides behind them.
- Tell you to replace a part to close the question. If the honest answer is “have it tested under load”, the guide says so.
Use of AI tools
We may use software, including AI tools, to help with research organisation, drafting and editing. Every guide is checked by a person against the sources it cites before publication, and responsibility for what is published rests with FixDecoded.