So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Trenchfriend]

Washing machine is dead. Now, that's a new experience for me. But, I got luck. I don't need it in the next days, puuuh!
So, it's an emergency, but not an urgend emergency. Long-known family company from next bigger town is adviced by phone and service men will come in the next minutes.

With a little luck, they will maybe repair the electric without replacing the whole modul, like they kindly did on my parents machines, years ago.

 

[ChrisB]

Washing machine is dead. Now, that's a new experience for me. But, I got luck. I don't need it in the next days, puuuh!
So, it's an emergency, but not an urgend emergency. Long-known family company from next bigger town is adviced by phone and service men will come in the next minutes.

With a little luck, they will maybe repair the electric without replacing the whole modul, like they kindly did on my parents machines, years ago.

I don’t know if this is the situation in Germany, but over here, in my experience, it is cheaper to buy a new appliance than to repair one. Last year, my refrigerator went belly up, and I had it repaired. It ended up costing nearly as much as a new one, and a year later broke down again.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Enjoy Planned Obsolescence. A gift to the future from the Boys of the 1950s.

Many modern refrigerators, especially smaller ones -- even expensive commercial models -- are made so you can't repair them even if you want to. The compressors are deliberately undersized for the size of the cabinet, guaranteeing that they'll fail after a specific amount of use, and they can't be repaired without completely replacing the compressor, which is, as you say, as expensive as buying a whole new unit. Got to keep those wheels of consumption grinding away, no matter what.

 

[crawlinkingsnake]

Our street has what an abandoned mini-van parked near the corner. Although it's not really abandoned in the purest form; the owner knows exactly where it is as his mother lives in the house where it's parked. It's now been there going on 3 months, is truly an eyesore, and a complete pain in the ass. For some reason the city, county, district, etc claims they can't do anything about it. And now with winter coming should I or one of our neighbors slide on ice/snow into it, no doubt we'd be liable.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I don’t know if this is the situation in Germany, but over here, in my experience, it is cheaper to buy a new appliance than to repair one. Last year, my refrigerator went belly up, and I had it repaired. It ended up costing nearly as much as a new one, and a year later broke down again.

Situation in Germany is very easy explained.

90s washing machines were fine. Experts say, they were the best/peak. 2000s were still okay. But like on nearly all products, 2010s went shortliving crap.

So, I'm happy, that I got one from year 2010. The sticker under the cover panel says May 2010. It was brand-new, when I bought it, just two months. So, this machine is probably like mid 2000s quality. Absolute reliable, solid mechanics as long as the electronic runs. Typical 2000s...

So, I had of course to ponder between the two options:
1. Get a new machine on the same price level from basic middle class (399 Euro), which is todays shortliving crap. These machines will die after six years, in general, and get often problems after the second year.
2. Get the electronic modul repaired/replaced (ca. 150-200 Euro) and have nice further six, or with a little luck, again over eight years, until the machine is finally raddled!

Second option was best for me. Repair will be done middle of next week.

Hold on your 90s and 2000s devices as long as possible!!

 

[LizzieMaine]

My 1934 washing machine is still chunking along just fine.

 

[EngProf]

My 1934 washing machine is still chunking along just fine.

One reason for that is that engineers in 1934 didn't have the tools (i.e. computers) to design machines to tighter tolerances and smaller sizes (less factor of safety). They had to rely on slide rules for calculations.
Your 1934 washing machine was very much over-designed, compared to what it would need just to function.
In grad school I took two semesters of courses directly intended to teach techniques to make things "smaller" and "lighter".
My professor for that course was also a friend, so whenever he referred to it as "optimum design", I would correct him by saying, "You mean barely-adequate design."

It's what some people call "progress". (As an FL member I certainly don't call it that.)

 

[3fingers]

Our old Kenmores are still going. My wife has mentioned upgrading but there is not a single piece on them that I can't easily repair at reasonable cost, so I doubt they will be leaving soon. The less I can have to do with printed circuit boards and control modules the better. I deal with that garbage at work all the time.

 

[ChrisB]

In grad school I took two semesters of courses directly intended to teach techniques to make things "smaller" and "lighter".
My professor for that course was also a friend, so whenever he referred to it as "optimum design", I would correct him by saying, "You mean barely-adequate design."

When buying shelves , they are always rated to hold some specific weight. In the past, the ones I bought would hold considerably more than their rated load without any signs of strain. The most recent ones sag noticeably at less than their rated load, and will likely fail at 1 ounce over.

 

[tonyb]

Our street has what an abandoned mini-van parked near the corner. Although it's not really abandoned in the purest form; the owner knows exactly where it is as his mother lives in the house where it's parked. It's now been there going on 3 months, is truly an eyesore, and a complete pain in the ass. For some reason the city, county, district, etc claims they can't do anything about it. And now with winter coming should I or one of our neighbors slide on ice/snow into it, no doubt we'd be liable.

Every jurisdiction in which I have resided over the past few decades has ordinances restricting the length of time motor vehicles can be parked on the public rights of way. It was 72 hours in one such place, as I verified when I had occasion to inquire. Parking inoperable vehicles on the street is flat prohibited, as is performing mechanical repairs on the street, although reasonable enforcement personnel would abide a person performing a quick and simple repair for the sake of getting the vehicle moving under its own power again.

If not for active parking enforcement there would be no available street parking at all in many places. Much as I feel for some poor shmuck who gets his car impounded for ongoing parking violations, sometimes that’s what it takes to get his attention.

 

[tonyb]

I don’t know if this is the situation in Germany, but over here, in my experience, it is cheaper to buy a new appliance than to repair one. Last year, my refrigerator went belly up, and I had it repaired. It ended up costing nearly as much as a new one, and a year later broke down again.

Perfectly serviceable appliances are scrapped by the thousands every single day.

A couple years ago I got an electric stove, a refrigerator and a dishwasher for a rental unit absolutely free, and the donor delivered them to me. He just wanted rid of the things and it was easier to give them to me than to take them to the dump.

I frequently see ads for used appliances on local online exchanges. The sellers often start at, say, a hundred bucks, and eventually drop the price to nothing or next to it.

A friend who has led a hand-to-mouth existence for most of his life recently came into an unexpected windfall, which he and his lovely missus used to get themselves into homeownership for the first time in their no longer young lives. That was smart of them. Less smart of them was shortly thereafter buying a gee-whiz washer and dryer combo at the big box home improvement store. It cost them a couple-three grand. Reports are that the setup works quite well. I should hope so.

 

[2jakes]

First morning after Sweden changed from driving on the left side to driving on the right, 1967

 

[LizzieMaine]

As far as big-box store appliances go, better you should throw away the machine and keep the carton it comes in. Our local Lowes always has a row of scratch-n-dent washers, dryers and refrigerators lined up out front like the honor guard at a state funeral, all with big signs stuck to the front saying "DOESN'T WORK. $150 CASH AND CARRY." And they sell a lot of 'em.

 

[GHT]

Our street has what an abandoned mini-van parked near the corner. Although it's not really abandoned in the purest form; the owner knows exactly where it is as his mother lives in the house where it's parked. It's now been there going on 3 months, is truly an eyesore, and a complete pain in the ass. For some reason the city, county, district, etc claims they can't do anything about it. And now with winter coming should I or one of our neighbors slide on ice/snow into it, no doubt we'd be liable.

Couldn't you knock up a spoof: Notice of Removal. You might even find a real one somewhere on the internet. Make sure that the licence plate is quoted, give something plausible like 21 days, then suggest that after that, it will be towed away to a car breaker's premises where it will be crushed. Costs for removal & crushing will be invoiced to the last address of the owner. Stick it inside a sealed plastic bag and then leave it stuck to the windscreen. See if that gets a reaction.

 

[scottyrocks]

I don’t know if this is the situation in Germany, but over here, in my experience, it is cheaper to buy a new appliance than to repair one.

Only if you don't do it yourself.

Our washing machine stopped working properly. I took it apart and replaced what was broken. Learned a lot, and I only had to do it once, which is unusual for me, haha.

 

[tonyb]

Only if you don't do it yourself.

Our washing machine stopped working properly. I took it apart and replaced what was broken. Learned a lot, and I only had to do it once, which is unusual for me, haha.

I wish my old uncle Ray a long, long, life, because he deserves it, and because he's my go-to guy for fixing most anything. He had been an appliance repairman in his early adulthood, and later the physical plant manager for a small semi-rural school district, and has owned and managed his own apartment buildings and other rental properties for a good 60 years or so now. He's more than a thousand miles away from me, but he has walked me through certain repairs over the phone. At the very least, he leaves me better equipped to deal with the people I might hire to carry out the work. Flooring to furnaces, refrigerators to roofing, he knows his stuff.

 

[Zombie_61]

I wish my old uncle Ray a long, long, life, because he deserves it, and because he's my go-to guy for fixing most anything...

This was my father-in-law. His "regular" job was working at a steel mill in Chicago, but on the side he painted houses and did "handy man" odd jobs. He had a few mentors along the way, but was mostly self-taught through the hands-on experience of digging in, figuring it out, and getting it done.

This wasn't foolproof though. For example, when they moved to California and Ma told him they needed another electrical outlet in a specific location in the kitchen he simply tapped into the nearest outlet, ran wires through the wall, installed the new outlet where Ma wanted it, and that was that. And when he was done you couldn't tell the new outlet wasn't original. The trouble was that he hadn't taken into account the maximum amperage/voltage limits on that specific circuit. It didn't cause any actual problems, but you could tell when the coffee was done brewing because the lights in the living room would suddenly come back up to full power.

One of his favorite stories involved an old refrigerator they kept in the garage in Chicago. When it stopped working he determined the thermostat had failed, so he bypassed it. The end result was, of course, a refrigerator that never stopped running. Not long after he sold it to a co-worker, and every once in a while would ask if it was still running. When the response was, "Yes Sir, it's still running," he'd say, "Well, that's why I sold it." Apparently the poor buyer never caught on.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My 1945 Kelvinator had a dud thermostat when I bought it. It cost me $15 for a replacement and I installed it myself in about fifteen minutes. That was thirty years ago this month, and it's still working just fine. Pretty good investment, I think.

 

[tonyb]

My old Monitor top GE was chugging along fine when I sold it, and I’d bet it still does. It’s something in the neighborhood of 90 years old now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of GE's big selling points during the heyday of the Monitor Top was that the mechanism had been subjected to the equivalent of something like 400 years of testing without failure. Imagine how many half-used jars of mayonnaise shoved in the far back that would be.