4 ms·

My grand parents live in an old farm-house, 100 years old or more. When that house was built - there was no electricity. That had been added later - and you cou

by hooby 3y ago

My grand parents live in an old farm-house, 100 years old or more. When that house was built - there was no electricity. That had been added later - and you could still see where channels had been hewn into the wall to put in cables and later plastered over again. But everything electrical in that house was repairable to a degree that seems unimaginable today. For example, every single power plug had screws. If you removed those, it would come apart in two halves, to reveal another set of screws that held the cable in. If you undid those screws, you could easily shorten or replace the cable - in case it was broken. There was no glue, no solder, and most of the plugs had even metal inserts for the screws to go into. The appliances on the other end of the cables were just as easy to take apart and put back together. And their insides were (mostly) free of proprietary parts - almost everything was "standard" stuff, that you could get replacements for, from a supplier of your own choice. Many of those appliances still worked perfectly fine, after my grandparents had died, and the house had been torn down. That doesn't mean they never broke - but if they did, my grandpa was able to easily fix them himself. And if he could not fix something, he still was able to salvage it for parts that then could be used to fix other things.

mijamo 3y ago
I do not know where you are from but the description of the plugs basically match the ones still installed in France (although many don't require screws because they have built it fixations that just "click"), and I have never seen one that requires glue or soldering. Appliance life expectancy has also gone way up statistically, just like cars, although people often complain about the complexity of both. Most washing machines are pretty easy to fix for the parts that do break for instance. Of course if you get a dead motherboard it is not easy to fix, but usually wear and tear happens more on the mechanical pieces that are well documented and also now full of tutorials on how to change them on the internet. My parents and grandparents never dared doing anything on their appliances because nobody taught them to. I am not particularly handy but I have been fixing their appliances just following some basic instructions.
- hooby 3y ago
  Not the sockets - I'm talking of the plugs that you put into the sockets. I haven't seen a plug with screws in ages. They all are a single molded piece now, aren't they? See: https://www.kulthifi.de/WebRoot/Store19/Shops/80012341/5E84/25E7/BAC1/9B8E/40BE/0A0C/6D10/9912/1_1.jpg https://www.kulthifi.de/WebRoot/Store19/Shops/80012341/5E84/... for example.
  - CaptainZapp 3y ago
    Yes, they usually are. But you can - if you're so inclined - buy plugs with screws and replace the molded ones by cutting the cable.
    - hooby 3y ago
      And the cut off molded ones still end up in a landfill. And that's my point - in my granddads time, all devices came with plugs that could be repaired and re-used (and my granddad never threw them away) - and today, all devices come with plugs that can only be cut off and thrown away. I fully believe that the molded ones are actually both cheaper AND more durable (will last longer without needing repair). But they are neither repairable nor reusable, and thus still end up in a landfill sooner than the old ones, when those old ones do get repaired and reused. And the same is true for most other components of any device.
      - tonyedgecombe 3y ago
        I cut them off at the other end. I replaced the cable and plug on a mixer fairly recently.
  - denton-scratch 3y ago
    I think there are regulations requiring that new products with mains plugs must have them moulded on. I think it's a safety thing; users tend to fit plugs incorrectly, causing fires. I think it's regrettable; the correct remedy would have been to teach kids how to wire a plug correctly. Oh well.
tonyedgecombe 3y ago
At least in the UK, appliances have to ship with a moulded plug, manufacturers aren't allowed to supply anything else. Personally I've never had one fail but I have had traditional screw together plugs fall apart.
- Ekaros 3y ago
  For Finland I think some CEE 7/16 have failed, but that has been rare and must have been misuse. Like putting weight on the plug. Type F or CEE 7/7 are nigh indestructible. And only failure case I remember is my brother cutting the cable with Chinese cleaver.

by hooby 3y ago

mijamo 3y ago

I do not know where you are from but the description of the plugs basically match the ones still installed in France (although many don't require screws because they have built it fixations that just "click"), and I have never seen one that requires glue or soldering. Appliance life expectancy has also gone way up statistically, just like cars, although people often complain about the complexity of both. Most washing machines are pretty easy to fix for the parts that do break for instance. Of course if you get a dead motherboard it is not easy to fix, but usually wear and tear happens more on the mechanical pieces that are well documented and also now full of tutorials on how to change them on the internet. My parents and grandparents never dared doing anything on their appliances because nobody taught them to. I am not particularly handy but I have been fixing their appliances just following some basic instructions.

hooby 3y ago
Not the sockets - I'm talking of the plugs that you put into the sockets. I haven't seen a plug with screws in ages. They all are a single molded piece now, aren't they? See: https://www.kulthifi.de/WebRoot/Store19/Shops/80012341/5E84/25E7/BAC1/9B8E/40BE/0A0C/6D10/9912/1_1.jpg https://www.kulthifi.de/WebRoot/Store19/Shops/80012341/5E84/... for example.
- CaptainZapp 3y ago
  Yes, they usually are. But you can - if you're so inclined - buy plugs with screws and replace the molded ones by cutting the cable.
  - hooby 3y ago
    And the cut off molded ones still end up in a landfill. And that's my point - in my granddads time, all devices came with plugs that could be repaired and re-used (and my granddad never threw them away) - and today, all devices come with plugs that can only be cut off and thrown away. I fully believe that the molded ones are actually both cheaper AND more durable (will last longer without needing repair). But they are neither repairable nor reusable, and thus still end up in a landfill sooner than the old ones, when those old ones do get repaired and reused. And the same is true for most other components of any device.
    - tonyedgecombe 3y ago
      I cut them off at the other end. I replaced the cable and plug on a mixer fairly recently.
- denton-scratch 3y ago
  I think there are regulations requiring that new products with mains plugs must have them moulded on. I think it's a safety thing; users tend to fit plugs incorrectly, causing fires. I think it's regrettable; the correct remedy would have been to teach kids how to wire a plug correctly. Oh well.

tonyedgecombe 3y ago

At least in the UK, appliances have to ship with a moulded plug, manufacturers aren't allowed to supply anything else. Personally I've never had one fail but I have had traditional screw together plugs fall apart.

Ekaros 3y ago
For Finland I think some CEE 7/16 have failed, but that has been rare and must have been misuse. Like putting weight on the plug. Type F or CEE 7/7 are nigh indestructible. And only failure case I remember is my brother cutting the cable with Chinese cleaver.