Sometimes with kitchen appliances, especially if there are also recipes included in the booklet that I may want to try. I still use the waffle recipe that came with my electric waffle iron 10 years ago.
Others are more for things that have lots of features that I might only rarely use. Or high ticket items, like a riding lawnmower.
I keep them all in a pile, but always end up googling it first before actual hands on instructional requirements take place. @meh, if you could sell a paper shredder, i’d be one of the first to get rid of this pile!
One of my kitchen drawers is dedicated to holding all instruction/operation related pieces of paperwork to ever accompany a purchased item. Have only had to dig something out of said drawer about half a dozen times in the past 15 or so years, but was really happy each time being able to put my hands on the needed info right away without having to search various places.
When I sold my house I went through all of the user manuals we had saved. When I buy something I just stick all the user manuals in the same filing drawer… well I ended up having to chuck a bunch of them because we no longer owned the thing but still had the manual
That being said I was able to leave manuals for our furnace, whole house humidifer, water heater, washer, dryer, dish washer, fridge, garage door opener, toilet, and info on our shower we installed (which included a transferable warranty).
@mbersiam There’s a good market on eBay for old (& some newer) instruction manuals. (A bunch of websites are happy to charge for a PDF download of some of them.) Some I’ve been interested in on eB (car/mc) have sold for $0.25 to $0.50 per page, which I consider excessive for yellow paper, but …
Get your shipping charges reimbursed and add a $1 or so for your trouble, and make somebody happy, if they need it.
And you can always just GIVE THEM AWAY (through Craig’s list, say, or the NextDoor app/site) instead of just chucking them.
@mbersiam I did the same thing last week, and my house had eight offers in 24 hours. The highest bidder said it was like an “I love you” to open that drawer. I put flattened boxes for the ice maker filter and specialty light bulbs in there too.
They usually come out of the box long enough to take out the stuff in the box. That’s the only light they’ll ever see. Then they go back in the box and eventually thrown away with other packing material.
You can, but it’s just not as satisfying because your opinion is not recorded and thus doesn’t count. You simply aren’t following the rules. If you want to matter, follow the rules…
@chienfou I meant to write “if you want your opinion to matter” and didn’t catch it through the editing and inevitable distractions, but I think it makes it’s own statement as is.
In my dream world of infinite time I would scan everything and give them to a manual website that gives me credits to download manuals I don’t have and/or lost.
@cfg83@Kyeh@mike808
I have used them (successfully and unsuccessfully) in the past but had no idea they ‘outsourced’ the acquisition of the manuals. I figured it was some sort of webcrawler… so TIL
@mike808
keeping (and reading) manuals is something I have always done. It has served me well and I am often amazed at people that have no idea of the capabilities of some of their equipment due to not having read the details.
My typical MO is
read the hard copy and toss it in a box/file cabinet.
download the operation manual, quick start guide and any parts/repair/maintenance manuals I can find.
‘file’ those electronically in a household folder, subdivided into appliance/electronics/tools/pool/vehicles/misc and then further subdivided into major/minor appliances etc; computer/phones/routers/mp3 players/bluetooth speakers etc; big outdoor tools (lawnmowers, tiller, chipper etc. and smaller hand tools (all my ryobi stuff etc).
I am always happy when I can pull the manuals for stuff I need to repair/replace so I have the specs I need. (or how to reset the oil change light on my RAV the first time I did an oil change for instance).
Sometimes with kitchen appliances, especially if there are also recipes included in the booklet that I may want to try. I still use the waffle recipe that came with my electric waffle iron 10 years ago.
Others are more for things that have lots of features that I might only rarely use. Or high ticket items, like a riding lawnmower.
@remo28, you haven’t memorized the recipe after 10 years?
I keep them all in a pile, but always end up googling it first before actual hands on instructional requirements take place. @meh, if you could sell a paper shredder, i’d be one of the first to get rid of this pile!
One of my kitchen drawers is dedicated to holding all instruction/operation related pieces of paperwork to ever accompany a purchased item. Have only had to dig something out of said drawer about half a dozen times in the past 15 or so years, but was really happy each time being able to put my hands on the needed info right away without having to search various places.
I go online and download the PDF and file it in my computer. Then I don’t have to keep any papers for the silverfish to eat.
Sometimes. For the most part, I make sure to have a soft copy (PDF, like @Badger65). Especially if I don’t have the file in DTF.
@PocketBrain
(Dead Tree Format)
Yep. And for larger purchases, attach the sales receipt and proof of purchase for the warranty.
wait! there were instructions???
NOW you tell me
They are the Rosetta Stone of languages.
/image Rosetta Stone
When I sold my house I went through all of the user manuals we had saved. When I buy something I just stick all the user manuals in the same filing drawer… well I ended up having to chuck a bunch of them because we no longer owned the thing but still had the manual
That being said I was able to leave manuals for our furnace, whole house humidifer, water heater, washer, dryer, dish washer, fridge, garage door opener, toilet, and info on our shower we installed (which included a transferable warranty).
@mbersiam, people need instructions for toilets?
@kittykat9180 installation, warranty, and parts information.
@mbersiam There’s a good market on eBay for old (& some newer) instruction manuals. (A bunch of websites are happy to charge for a PDF download of some of them.) Some I’ve been interested in on eB (car/mc) have sold for $0.25 to $0.50 per page, which I consider excessive for yellow paper, but …
Get your shipping charges reimbursed and add a $1 or so for your trouble, and make somebody happy, if they need it.
And you can always just GIVE THEM AWAY (through Craig’s list, say, or the NextDoor app/site) instead of just chucking them.
@kittykat9180 @mbersiam Apparently on airplanes, they do!
@mbersiam I did the same thing last week, and my house had eight offers in 24 hours. The highest bidder said it was like an “I love you” to open that drawer. I put flattened boxes for the ice maker filter and specialty light bulbs in there too.
For a short time and then they go in the trash.
They usually come out of the box long enough to take out the stuff in the box. That’s the only light they’ll ever see. Then they go back in the box and eventually thrown away with other packing material.
How do I click midway between two choices? Some I file in an organized manner, but a lot wind up in a pile in a drawer.
You can, but it’s just not as satisfying because your opinion is not recorded and thus doesn’t count. You simply aren’t following the rules. If you want to matter, follow the rules…
@ybmuG
OUCH!
@chienfou I meant to write “if you want your opinion to matter” and didn’t catch it through the editing and inevitable distractions, but I think it makes it’s own statement as is.
@ybmuG
Actually, I kind of like that ‘in your face’ sentiment! No edit necessary!
In my dream world of infinite time I would scan everything and give them to a manual website that gives me credits to download manuals I don’t have and/or lost.
@cfg83
I didn’t know that was even a thing. I’ll have to file that away for using up time after I retire (someday)!
@cfg83 @chienfou I find it hard to believe that you’re ever going to need to “use up time” even after you retire …
@cfg83 @Kyeh
@cfg83 @chienfou @Kyeh
There is such a site. However, odds are slimmer than snagging an IRK on a mobile that they don’t already have them.
https://www.manualslib.com/
“All your manuals are belong to us.”
@cfg83 @Kyeh @mike808
I have used them (successfully and unsuccessfully) in the past but had no idea they ‘outsourced’ the acquisition of the manuals. I figured it was some sort of webcrawler… so TIL
@chienfou @Kyeh @mike808 Think of all the pre-interweb gizmos that have no one to speak for them. Think of the gizmos.
@cfg83 @chienfou @mike808
I keep instructions for those rare occasions when you put something back together and two things are true:
@mike808
keeping (and reading) manuals is something I have always done. It has served me well and I am often amazed at people that have no idea of the capabilities of some of their equipment due to not having read the details.
My typical MO is
I am always happy when I can pull the manuals for stuff I need to repair/replace so I have the specs I need. (or how to reset the oil change light on my RAV the first time I did an oil change for instance).