--- title: "First checks and setup codes — Appliance Guides" description: "What an owner can check before the order and after the install: the opening and the path in, the first days of a new appliance, and the demo modes and setup…" url: "https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/troubleshooting/" --- Measure first, then read the first week # First checks and setup codes guides. What an owner can check before the order and after the install: the opening and the path in, the first days of a new appliance, and the demo modes and setup messages a display shows at first power-on. ## First checks and setup codes, guide by guide. These guides are the checks a homeowner can make around an installation without tools beyond a tape measure, a thermometer and a phone camera. Some happen before anything is ordered, some on delivery day and some over the week that follows, and together they catch most of what a site visit would otherwise find. [All 18 guides](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/) 5-minute read ### [Measure before you order: the opening, the swing and the hookups](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/measure-before-you-order/) The old unit is the wrong thing to measure. What to record instead, which clearances to subtract, and the three photos that save a second trip. 5-minute read ### [The first week after installation: what to check, and on which day](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/the-first-week-after-installation/) Thermometers on day two, water joints on day three, flame color and feet by day five. A short schedule that catches a connection that was nearly right while help is still easy to reach. 5-minute read ### [Setup codes and demo mode on a new appliance: when the display is the whole story](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/setup-codes-and-demo-mode-on-a-new-appliance/) Showroom settings, Sabbath modes, control locks and a clock that must be set first. How to clear each one, and when demo mode on an electric oven is really a wiring sign. ## Measure first, then read the first week. Before the order, the questions are about space and supply: the real size of the opening, the room each door and drawer needs to swing, the type of receptacle on the wall, where the gas and water shutoffs sit. After the install, they are about behavior: temperatures read on a thermometer rather than a display, the color of a gas flame, a water joint after its first heat cycles, and a screen that lights up while nothing heats or cools. The guides lean on the makers' installation instructions and support pages, since those are the documents that define what correct looks like for a given model. Where the answer changes from model to model, the guide sends you to that model's manual instead of inventing a key combination. They also mark the edge of owner territory clearly. Reading a display, measuring an opening and laying paper towel under a joint are owner jobs. Opening a gas fitting, a refrigerant line, a terminal block or a live panel is not, and every guide in this section stops at that line. [Not sure where to start?](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Measure before you order: the opening, the swing and the hookups To measure for a new appliance, record the opening rather than the old unit, add the maker's clearances to the cabinet size, check the swing of doors and drawers and the depth with the door open, and note every connection by type and position. ### The short answer The first week after installation: what to check, and on which day The first week after installation is when a connection that was nearly right shows itself. ### The short answer Setup codes and demo mode on a new appliance: when the display is the whole story Demo mode on a new appliance powers the display and lights while cooling or heating stays off; stores use it on the sales floor. ## When reading is not enough. If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop. [What installations cost](https://applianceinstallation.center/cost/) 1. 01 The opening and the hookups, checked first 2. 02 Connected the way the instructions say 3. 03 Set in, leveled and secured 4. 04 A first run with you there ## The problems these answer. Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking. [All 17 problems](https://applianceinstallation.center/problems/) Problem ### Unit Too Big for the Opening: Cutout, Depth and the Delivery Path 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Plug Does Not Fit the Outlet: Cords, Receptacles and Circuits 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Door Not Closing Flush After the Install 6 causes, cheapest first Hazard after a hookup ### Water Leak After an Install: Close the Supply Valve First 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about first checks and setup codes. ### What should I have ready before troubleshooting an install? The model number, the installation instructions for that model, a tape measure, an appliance thermometer and your phone for photos. Most checks need nothing else. ### The display works but nothing heats or cools. Is it broken? Often not. A showroom setting, a Sabbath mode, a control lock or a partial power supply can all produce that picture on a new unit. Check the setup states first. ### How long should I watch a new installation? A week covers most of it: cool-down, several heat cycles on the water joints, a few loads on the laundry feet and a full oven session on the gas connection. ### When does troubleshooting become a visit? When the next step means opening a connection, when a symptom returns after the documented fix, or when gas, water or burning smells are involved. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/) Why a brand-new appliance misbehaves in its first days ### [When a new install goes wrong](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Why a new appliance acts up on its first run, and which quirks settle on their own](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/why-a-new-appliance-acts-up-on-its-first-run/) - [Install shortcuts behind early service calls: the steps a rushed hookup skips](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/install-shortcuts-behind-early-service-calls/) - [When a new built-in will not fit its opening: height, width, depth and the fixes](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/when-a-new-built-in-will-not-fit/) Who installs it, which fuel, which front ### [Decisions before the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [Store delivery install or an independent installer: matching the route to the job](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/store-delivery-install-or-an-independent-installer/) - [Gas or electric when the kitchen changes: what each fuel asks of the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/gas-or-electric-when-the-kitchen-changes/) - [Panel-ready or finished front: what each choice asks of the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/panel-ready-or-finished-front-for-an-install/) The first month of a new appliance ### [After the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [Break-in habits for a new appliance: the first bake, the first ice, the first load](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/break-in-habits-for-a-new-appliance/) - [Keeping the install records and manuals: the paperwork a new appliance leaves behind](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/keeping-the-install-records-and-manuals/) - [A one-month check on a new install, once the floor and the fittings have settled](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/a-one-month-check-on-a-new-install/) Connectors, leak tests, brackets and circuits ### [Gas, power and water at the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/safety-and-food/) - [Gas connectors, conversion kits and the leak test: what happens at a gas hookup](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/gas-connectors-conversion-kits-and-the-leak-test/) - [Anti-tip brackets and why they are required, from the cooking line to built-in columns](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/anti-tip-brackets-and-why-they-are-required/) - [The circuit and outlet a new appliance needs, group by group](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/the-circuit-and-outlet-a-new-appliance-needs/) The opening, the path in and the rough-ins ### [Get the space ready](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/installation-and-setup/) - [Cutout dimensions and the spec sheet: reading the numbers before cabinets are built](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/cutout-dimensions-and-the-spec-sheet/) - [The delivery path: doors, stairs and floors between the truck and the opening](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/the-delivery-path-doors-stairs-and-floors/) - [Water, drain and exhaust rough-ins: what must be in the wall before the appliance](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/water-drain-and-exhaust-rough-ins/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: First checks and setup codes — Appliance Guides](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/troubleshooting/)** **[Book a visit with ApplianceInstallation.center](https://applianceinstallation.center/schedule/)**