Appliance Spares
Quick answer: The most expensive thing about a broken appliance is often not the part — it’s the $100–165 call-out fee just to have a repairer read your model sticker and order the part you could have ordered yourself. Find the sticker, copy the model number, and drop it into the Part Finder. Most common fixes — a valve, belt, seal, latch or element — are a $10–90 part and an afternoon, not a $200-plus repair bill.
Last updated August 2026
Why a $150 call-out is often just someone reading your sticker
Here’s the part nobody tells you: the number one reason people phone a repairer isn’t a scary, complicated fault. It’s simply not knowing which part they need. So they pay a call-out or diagnostic fee — commonly $100–165 just to attend and diagnose, before a cent of parts or labour — and a big slice of the time, that “diagnosis” is a tradie crouching down, peeling back a door seal, and reading the same model sticker you can read yourself.
Many repairers also set a one-hour minimum, so even a ten-minute part swap gets billed as a full hour on top of the call-out. Fees and labour vary by location, brand and job, but the pattern holds: much of a typical bill is the visit and the look-up, not the fix.
None of this means every job is DIY — a dead motor or a control board can be a licensed person’s call. But for the everyday plug-in swaps that fix most complaints, the whole trick is turning your model number into the exact part — a 30-second job once you know where to look.
Where the model sticker hides on each appliance
Every appliance carries a model sticker — the brand, the model number and usually a serial or production code on one small label. Here’s where to find it on each machine, what the code looks like, and the cheap part that fixes the most common complaint.
| Appliance | Where the model sticker is | What the code looks like | Common cheap fix |
|---|---|---|---|
 Washing machine | Front loaders: peel the rubber door seal back and look on the inner door rim, or check the frame around the opening. Top loaders: under the lid, or on the back panel. | Brand plus a letter-and-number model, e.g. a Fisher & Paykel WH8560P2 or a Simpson Esprit/Eziset model, often with a part number like 0136400026. | Won’t fill or slow to fill? A Simpson washing machine inlet valve — typically $11–45. |
 Clothes dryer | On the back panel, around the door opening, or inside the door on the drum rim. Wall-mounted dryers: tilt and look on the base or back. | Brand plus model, e.g. a Simpson Sirocco 550 vented dryer, sometimes with a series number. | Drum won’t turn but the motor hums? A Simpson Sirocco dryer fan belt — typically $8–35. |
 Dishwasher | Open the door and look along the side edge or the top edge of the inner door panel. Sometimes on the door jamb of the tub. | Brand plus model, e.g. a Samsung DW60M6055FS, often with a long part number nearby. | Dead — won’t start at all? Usually a Samsung dishwasher door lock switch — typically $34–77. |
 Oven / upright cooker | Open the door and look on the front frame, behind or under the bottom drawer, or on the side of the door opening. | Brand plus model — many Australian ovens (Chef, Westinghouse, Simpson, Electrolux) share the same parts, so a part number like 0122004506 covers a whole family. | Fan-forced oven won’t heat? Often a fan-forced ring oven element — typically $26–90. (Mains job — read the safety note below.) |
| Fridge | Inside the fridge compartment — on a side wall, on the ceiling near the light, or above/around the crisper drawers. | Brand plus model, plus a serial and production code on the same label. | Trickier to self-diagnose — send us the model number and we’ll point you to the likely part. |
Faded or peeling? A torch held at an angle, or a zoomed-in phone photo, usually makes the embossed digits readable.
How to read the code and turn it into the exact part
Most stickers show more than one number, and only one of them matters for ordering. Here’s how to tell them apart:
- The model number is the one you want. It usually starts with letters and roughly matches the name on the front of the machine — for a Fisher & Paykel washer that’s something like WH8560P2, for a Samsung dishwasher DW60M6055FS. This is what a part is matched to.
- The serial or production code is a long string tied to that one unit (often with a date). Handy for warranty, but you don’t order parts from it — skip it.
- A part number, if it’s printed, is gold. A Fisher & Paykel dual inlet valve H0024000126, for instance, tells you exactly which valve suits WH8560-series machines.
The Australian bonus: brands share hardware. A single Chef fan-forced ring element can suit Chef, Westinghouse, Simpson and Electrolux ovens built on the same platform — so even if your exact model isn’t printed on the part page, matching the family and the part number usually gets you there.
Let the Part Finder do the matching
Once you’ve got the model number written down, you don’t have to guess. Drop it into the Part Finder and it walks you to the parts that suit your machine — the same result a repairer gets when they look up your sticker, minus the call-out fee.
Prefer to browse? You can go straight to the washing machine parts, dryer parts, dishwasher parts or oven and stove parts sections and match your model number against the fitment list on each part.
What’s a safe DIY swap — and what needs a licensed person
Confidence should follow the risk, so be honest with yourself about the job in front of you.
Great first DIY jobs (plug-in, low-risk): water inlet valves, drain pumps, door seals, dryer belts, lint filters, dishwasher door latches and switches, carbon brushes and door catches. These are the swaps behind most complaints, they come apart with a screwdriver and basic care, and the parts sit in the $8–90 range. Confirm the fault the free way first — check for blockages, kinked hoses, a tripped safety and a fully closed door before you order anything.
Isolate power, and know when to call: oven elements, dishwasher and dryer heating elements, and anything hard-wired run on mains voltage. Switch the appliance off at the wall or the switchboard before you go near them, and in some cases the work legally requires a licensed person — so if you’re not fully comfortable, get one in for that step. Never attempt gas work yourself. When you do buy the element to have it fitted, you’re still keeping the parts markup in your pocket.
Run the numbers and the appeal is obvious: against a typical $200–450 washing-machine repair, $180–380 dryer job, $200–420 dishwasher visit or $220–480 oven repair, a sub-$90 part plus your afternoon usually keeps 60–75% of the cost in your pocket. It also beats being talked into a whole new machine over a part the size of your hand.
Not sure you’ve read it right? Send us the model number
If the sticker’s faded, half-peeled, or you simply can’t tell which string is the model number, don’t guess and don’t book a call-out to find out. Send us the model number (and a photo of the sticker if you have one) and we’ll check which part suits it. Matching to the model number on your sticker is the whole game — get that right and the rest is a screwdriver and a coffee.
Need a hand with the symptom too? These walk you through the common ones step by step: washing machine not draining, dishwasher not drying, and how to replace a fan-forced oven element the safe way. Not sure your element even is the problem? Start with which dishwasher heating element fits your model.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Where is the model number on my appliance?
A: On a washing machine, peel back the door seal and check the inner rim, or look under the lid or on the back of a top loader. Dryers carry it on the back, around the door or on the drum rim; dishwashers along the inner door edge; ovens on the door frame or under the bottom drawer; fridges inside the compartment on a side wall or near the light.
Q: What’s the difference between the model number and the serial number?
A: The model number identifies the design (usually letters then numbers, roughly matching the name on the front) and is what parts are matched to. The serial number is unique to your one unit and is mainly for warranty. Order parts from the model number, not the serial.
Q: The sticker is faded or has peeled off — how do I find my model?
A: Shine a torch across it at an angle, or take a zoomed-in phone photo — embossed digits often read better in a picture. If it’s gone entirely, check your original receipt, the manual, or any registration email, then send us what you have and we’ll help work out which part suits.
Q: Is it really cheaper to fix it myself than call a repairer?
A: For the common plug-in parts, usually yes by a wide margin. A repairer’s call-out or diagnostic fee alone is commonly $100–165 before parts or labour, and many charge a one-hour minimum. The same complaints are often a $10–90 part you can fit in an afternoon, keeping roughly 60–75% of a full repair cost.
Q: Can I replace an oven element myself?
A: Some confident DIYers do, but an oven element is a mains-voltage, hard-wired job — always isolate power at the wall or switchboard first, and in some cases it legally requires a licensed person. If in doubt, buy the correct element for your model and have it fitted; you still save the parts markup. Follow a proper step-by-step guide and never work on it live.
Disclaimer: this article is general information only and is provided without warranty of any kind. Appliance designs vary between models and production runs — always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, switch off and unplug the appliance before starting any work, and confirm parts against the model number on your appliance’s model sticker. Any repair is undertaken at your own risk and Oz Appliance Spares accepts no liability for injury, loss or damage arising from work performed after reading this guide, to the maximum extent permitted by law. If in doubt, use a qualified technician.
