By night, I'm a terrible amateur appliance repairman.
11In another thread about donating incomplete items, there was some talk about appliance repair. I just-so-happen to be an unwilling repairman recently. In the last 12 months or so I've fixed the following:
Stove/Range
- Replaced blown heating element on an otherwise perfectly functioning, 1980-something GE stove
- Replaced that stove with a glass-top electric one my mother was getting rid of because "this one is only 5 years old and that 1980's yellow porcelain, exposed coil, 4-burner range looks terrible"
- "Fixed" the new stove's failing digital display by Hulk Smashing the damned thing with a cast iron pan
- Bought new stove that didn't have its glass top Hulk Smashed
The Water Heater
- Pressure relief valve was dripping. Replaced it.
Washer (clothes)
- Replaced a perfectly functioning, almond, 1980-something, top-loading, water wasting washer with a top-loading water-saving one my mother was getting rid of because "this one is only 3 years old and that dirty, noisy, 1980's is probably going to break soon"
- Replaced drain pump on "new" washer, realized it was actually a different part...
- Replaced shift actuator on "new" washer
- Replaced shift actuator again on "new" washer
- Realized the shift actuator wasn't to blame, but rather there was air in water line from when I drained the water heater (to replace the relief valve) the triggered the "smart" automatic shut off valve.
Dishwasher
- Replaced perfectly functioning, yellow, electro-mechanical, 1980-something GE dishwasher with a fancy Kenmore-branded Whirlpool dishwasher with digital soft-touch controls because Mom sent it over with the stove.
- Replaced fancy, digital, soft-touch control pad with new one because some braniac at Whirlpool hasn't figured out that putting a flexible, glued-down PCB keyboard right where the hot steam comes out every day is prone to failure... or maybe she/he has...
HVAC
- Took 3 weeks to replace furnace, condenser, a/c coil, fuse box, and chimney after discovering the condenser wouldn't switch-on one very hot and humid day.
- Flushed & Reused existing wires and line set which were run through the foundation, and then underground beneath the screened-in porch that was added sometime after the house was built
- Turns out the HVAC system was just fine. The problem was that the groundhogs that moved in under the porch burrowed past the wires that ran from the furnace to the condensor.
- Replaced wires in 15 minutes by running them through the groundhog-free garage
- 11 comments, 18 replies
- Comment
If I understood the last sentence correctly, you have at least 2 garages. At least one of which has groundhogs.
@FroodyFrog Ok... through the garage, which for now, is groundhog-free.
@FroodyFrog If I understood your comment correctly, you only read @JerseyFrank's last sentence.
@ACraigL
I read the whole thing. However, I know quite a few people who can repair things, but are horrible at getting rid of animals.
More evidence that they don't make appliances like they used to. Those Harvest Gold and Avocado Green (what we had growing up) last forever and ever.
@PurplePawprints Another theory: they've always made some good ones and some crappy ones. Over time, only the good ones are left. Unfortunately, appliances don't reproduce (yet) so no evolutionary benefits.
It's just coincidence that the good ones happen to be gold, avocado, and almond.
@walarney Maybe so, but I think the ratio of good to crappy has seen a major shift in recent decades.
An atypical repair story: the electronic control panel on my oven died about 4.5 years into it's 5-year warranty. Since it was a warranty thing, I called around and found a professional repair person, gave him the part number, made an appointment. He called back later and said he couldn't get the part from any of his suppliers and suggested I call Jenn-Air directly. They told me there weren't any available in their system either, but they'd turn it over to a department that specializes in finding parts and promised to call back tomorrow. Wasn't surprised to not get a call the next day. But the day after, I came home from work and the part was on my doorstep.
does "perfectly functioning 1980..." take into account the past 30+ years of technological advancements? jw
@Lotsofgoats Like fancy, digital, soft-touch control pads that frequently short out?
KuoH
@kuoh @Lotsofgoats At one of my old jobs, I'd occasionally hear complaints that the new "digital" control units had many more failures than the old analog control units. They didn't take into account that new units were doing 5X the stuff of the old ones. (In this case not just gingerbread, but actual beneficial stuff.)
@Lotsofgoats Depending on exactly what the item is, there's some things that either aren't really better than their 80s counterparts, or have certain qualities that make them worth keeping and/or getting over a modern version.
@dashcloud true but one of the mentioned items was a washing machine, for example, and those do more cleaning with less water nowadays
@Lotsofgoats Do I really need to use less water nowadays? Water is cheap. The difference in my water usage is negligible. I don't care what the cumulative effect is. My bill isn't moving more than a buck or two each month because of that washer.
@JerseyFrank oh so you just burn your clothes at the end of the month
ok that makes sense
For anyone else who wants to play repairman, there's iFixit.
@JerseyFrank Thanks for sharing your story- that's really impressive the number of things you've fixed, but sucks that you've had so many things to work on (@thismyusername deserves a lot of blame for all the things broken around you).
While I endorse your go-get-em nature, your story indicates you should spend more time on diag and less on expensive repairs/replacements.
@givemeyoursoul Absolutely, but I left out some key details. The clothes washer would've been diagnosed just fine if when I turned it on its side to have a looksie it hadn't soaked the service/diagnostic manual that was there. Plus, it was quicker to order the drain pump than it was to diagnose... and it was cheap. The second time? Total bonehead move. I went to do the diagnostics and I hadn't put the manual back where it belonged :)
The groundhog problem was really just icing on the cake. It was the 4th HVAC system breakdown in 2 years. When I was able to recruit the right skilled help (a tin knocker) and source the parts through a pipefitting contractor (my father), it was worth the savings on just the A/C to replace it, regardless of the groundhogs.
I like this one: Bosch dishwasher would run forever, never getting through any cycles really. Turns out, the inline water heater was not working. That sucks, because I just finished replacing the house water heater, which was still under warranty. That "free" water heater was pretty damn expensive (long story).
Anyway, Bosch inline electric heater burned out, probably because it was trying to work extra hard to overcome tepid house supply.
Google gives many hit and hints on how to replace the heater. Parts will be around $160, effort is larger than one would think. Take it fully out, flip it upside-down, remove the 782 parts that are NOT an electric heater, and then you may begin the process of replacing the heater.
Many of the googles agreed.
Except one.
This one said to not be a fool.
"OK, I'm listening."
This one said that it's a design flaw in the control circuit, and that the board-mounted relay is unsoldered. It said to pop off the front panel, and fix the ckt. board.
It was not pleasant removing the front panel, tbh, since you really don't want to muck that up. (I didn't, still looks good.)
Finally, cover off. Blatantly obvious desoldered connection. It took me approx. 3.2 minutes to fix (once I had access). That time includes the amount I spent looking for the rest of the solder that was missing.
(There is no self-preservation shutdown for the heating ckt. It will pull current until the solder evaporates. I suppose that this is an inadvertent safety mechanism...
No safety recalls that I can find.)
I am starting to see more evidence that companies are using circuit boards that fail in high-heat in appliances that produce high-heat.
@radi0j0hn Circuit boards are pretty cheap to manufacture and stuff just has to reasonably outlast the warranty.
@narfcake Plus they can manufacture them for $10 and sell them for $200.
Percussive Maintenance fixes everything.
@DaveInSoCal
I agree with the washer statement. I have a 1983 washer and dryer. Each have had only one repair. The dryer under warranty and the washer about 7 or 8 years ago. Still going strong. I like them better than all the newer ones I have used at other people's houses. Mine washes and drys faster. 30 min each cycle. Hopefully will never have to replace them. Ever.
I have fixed a portable dishwasher, fancy kitchen water faucet, all sorts of camping equipment, a laptop computer (well actually took two broken ones and made them into one working one with only 3 screws left over), kayaks with holes in them from going over waterfalls (that would be on purpose), off a bridge (again on purpose) and down class 5 rapids and assorted crap on the camper part of a 1988 nissan sunrader (that would be 17' class C RV). Probably a few other things I have long since forgotten too.
Oh yeah and "fixed" my then teen daughter's door so it wouldn't shut tight or lock (that would also be on purpose), fixed the current shed I am living in from having a river flow through it and now I just have tiny lakes by two walls and windows that leak.
Duct tape and bailing wire along with liquid nails can jury rig a lot as well (like my vacuum cleaner).
@Kidsandliz Add drywall screws and zip ties for universal repair products.
@narfcake never tried drywall screws for anything. Have to keep some of them around.