4 ms·

You may not have looked inside a modern dryer recently but the level of chincy-ness is unreal. The wires just hang off the parts held by the flimsiest of littl

You may not have looked inside a modern dryer recently but the level of chincy-ness is unreal. The wires just hang off the parts held by the flimsiest of little twist ties. I just fixed a blower fan in mine. The plastic fan was held onto the motor shaft with tape. The fact that this crap doesn't instantly fly apart and catch fire is an admirable engineering feat in itself (in a twisted sort of way).

maxxxxx 7y ago
I love it when you look at something that clearly works and you think "How did this ever work?". Happens to my code often.
deng 7y ago
Well, I indeed haven't looked inside a dryer, but I am aware that dryers can burn while running. Indeed, as I just learned, they are #1 cause for house fires in Germany, and insurers will usually not pay if you let them run unsupervised. But burning while being turned off, powering some 5V circuit board... yes, it happens, but 75 times a year? But maybe that 'being turned off' was an outlier and most others were actually running.
tunap 7y ago
If it was an apartment sized stacked unit, did you happen to notice the shaft not mounted in a bearing assembly, but instead turning inside a vinyl cup? Only took mine 2-3 years to fail to metal-on-metal... single male, bi-weekly usage equals <100 loads to fail. $10 part, took ~45 min to tear down, install & reassemble. Will be doing it again sometime this year. I think I can do it in 20 min next time... or I can buy the latest, cheaper built model for $600+... Hmmmm, decisions, decisions.
- subculture 7y ago
  Yup, this is what major appliances have come to: Scheduled repair expectancy of 2-3 years or several hundred to replace. My dishwasher started leaking one night - luckily I was nearby when it began. Upon researching I learned that it was caused by a failed grommet that's installed with its garter spring facing towards the water-filled tub, which causes premature failure after 2-3 years. Of course Whirlpool stopped selling the grommet as a replacement part, instead requiring people buy an entire $150 sump assembly. So I bought a few $5 grommets off a grommets-r-us site and have scheduled a triennial dishwasher disassembly song and dance. Threw a simple leak detector under the washer just in case. At least now I'm pretty knowledgable of the secret life of the dishwasher.
- noonespecial 7y ago
  All "bearings" in the machine were plastic sleeves. The drum is moved by a belt so thin I thought it was a piece of string to tie it in place. The tensioner on said belt was literally nothing more than a bent coat hanger with a little plastic pulley. This part of the design was important because the "emergency stop" in the even of the belt breaking was that the coat hanger would go flying off into the machine and stop pressing against a little micro-switch glued to the side of the motor mount.
agumonkey 7y ago
Tape as structural coupling is sad indeed, but from my little experience, most electrical appliances look flimsy somehow (not industrial or construction grade).
tfandango 7y ago
I recently fixed the heating element in mine. I was amazed at the incredibly poor design of the thing. It was also full of lint despite clearing the filter every run. So the heating element is sitting there right next to a pile of nice dry lint. It's amazing these don't catch fire every day.

maxxxxx 7y ago

I love it when you look at something that clearly works and you think "How did this ever work?". Happens to my code often.

deng 7y ago

Well, I indeed haven't looked inside a dryer, but I am aware that dryers can burn while running. Indeed, as I just learned, they are #1 cause for house fires in Germany, and insurers will usually not pay if you let them run unsupervised. But burning while being turned off, powering some 5V circuit board... yes, it happens, but 75 times a year? But maybe that 'being turned off' was an outlier and most others were actually running.

tunap 7y ago

If it was an apartment sized stacked unit, did you happen to notice the shaft not mounted in a bearing assembly, but instead turning inside a vinyl cup? Only took mine 2-3 years to fail to metal-on-metal... single male, bi-weekly usage equals <100 loads to fail. $10 part, took ~45 min to tear down, install & reassemble. Will be doing it again sometime this year. I think I can do it in 20 min next time... or I can buy the latest, cheaper built model for $600+... Hmmmm, decisions, decisions.

subculture 7y ago
Yup, this is what major appliances have come to: Scheduled repair expectancy of 2-3 years or several hundred to replace. My dishwasher started leaking one night - luckily I was nearby when it began. Upon researching I learned that it was caused by a failed grommet that's installed with its garter spring facing towards the water-filled tub, which causes premature failure after 2-3 years. Of course Whirlpool stopped selling the grommet as a replacement part, instead requiring people buy an entire $150 sump assembly. So I bought a few $5 grommets off a grommets-r-us site and have scheduled a triennial dishwasher disassembly song and dance. Threw a simple leak detector under the washer just in case. At least now I'm pretty knowledgable of the secret life of the dishwasher.
noonespecial 7y ago
All "bearings" in the machine were plastic sleeves. The drum is moved by a belt so thin I thought it was a piece of string to tie it in place. The tensioner on said belt was literally nothing more than a bent coat hanger with a little plastic pulley. This part of the design was important because the "emergency stop" in the even of the belt breaking was that the coat hanger would go flying off into the machine and stop pressing against a little micro-switch glued to the side of the motor mount.

agumonkey 7y ago

Tape as structural coupling is sad indeed, but from my little experience, most electrical appliances look flimsy somehow (not industrial or construction grade).

tfandango 7y ago

I recently fixed the heating element in mine. I was amazed at the incredibly poor design of the thing. It was also full of lint despite clearing the filter every run. So the heating element is sitting there right next to a pile of nice dry lint. It's amazing these don't catch fire every day.