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Yeah that's game over. I repaired our washing machine when the rear cross piece broke after seven years: took it apart, found the fault (hard to miss of course;

Yeah that's game over. I repaired our washing machine when the rear cross piece broke after seven years: took it apart, found the fault (hard to miss of course; when these parts fail, they literally tear apart), ordered the spare part, bought some suitable stainless bolts, and repaired it. At the ten year mark, the electronics just died. As that consists of one solid resin encased block of electronics (not a part available as spare), repairing it would only make sense if I had: * Space to put it aside for a while and work out how to replace electronics * Electrical engineering skills beyond what I have * A replacement washing machine in the interim (we just had a baby at that point) * Willingness to invest days in this project I think I fall within the 5% (3%? 1%?) of people who can manage the first repair, but the latter is a one in ten thousand (optimistic estimate) kind of issue. Economically, it makes no sense to repair it, which is really unfortunate. It might have been possible to take the electronics from a broken machine of the same type, but these cannot realistically be found here.

cjrp 5y ago
Well done on the first repair at least! That's a good point about needing time/a replacement in the interim. I suppose there are some things which can sit on a bench for a while waiting for time/parts, but appliances tend to be pretty important. You could wait 5 days for a part which _might_ fix the problem, or have a new machine installed tomorrow.
bogomipz 5y ago
So is that basically the economics of modern washer/dryer purchasing then - spend just enough to get 10 years out of it? I feel like modern "smart" stoves are similar - once the logic board goes that it. Seems like also a 10 year lifespan.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  If it has moving parts and/or gets very hot and cools over and over again, I assume it will break within 5 years. I buy my appliances from Costco with a Costco credit card because that means the appliance has a 4 year warranty. The price premium to buy equivalent commercial quality appliances with 5 year warranties is high enough that I would rather just get a new appliance and restart the 4 year clock.

cjrp 5y ago

Well done on the first repair at least! That's a good point about needing time/a replacement in the interim. I suppose there are some things which can sit on a bench for a while waiting for time/parts, but appliances tend to be pretty important. You could wait 5 days for a part which _might_ fix the problem, or have a new machine installed tomorrow.

bogomipz 5y ago

So is that basically the economics of modern washer/dryer purchasing then - spend just enough to get 10 years out of it? I feel like modern "smart" stoves are similar - once the logic board goes that it. Seems like also a 10 year lifespan.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
If it has moving parts and/or gets very hot and cools over and over again, I assume it will break within 5 years. I buy my appliances from Costco with a Costco credit card because that means the appliance has a 4 year warranty. The price premium to buy equivalent commercial quality appliances with 5 year warranties is high enough that I would rather just get a new appliance and restart the 4 year clock.