6 ms·

My Hoover carpet cleaner stopped working sometime in the past few months (between uses). The suction would start up, but the "motor" part of it would not turn o

My Hoover carpet cleaner stopped working sometime in the past few months (between uses). The suction would start up, but the "motor" part of it would not turn on when I went to use it. I disassembled it (as much as it's designed to be disassembled – no unscrewing things) looking for jams or clogs. Nothing. I called Hoover, but gave up after ~45 minutes on hold waiting to talk to a real person. On a lark, I searched for my issue "Hoover Carpet Cleaner Won't Spin". I found this[0] video. Apparently, the spinning bit can get stuck if moisture get trapped somewhere inside (who would've thought with it being all about moisture?), which causes the main rotary portion to stop working. A simple hex-bit force-turn sorted it out in 20 seconds. I don't know what I would've done had I not stumbled on this issue, but the way things are today, I suspect most people would've thought "I guess it's broken", taken it to a landfill, and simply gone out to buy a new one. It's a real shame that there's so much focus on "every person who owns an ICE needs to immediately drop $30,000+ on an electric vehicle", when there's so much opportunity in the "let's try to fix our stuff instead of dumping it" category. #righttorepair [0] - https://youtu.be/q9UAEwPM91M https://youtu.be/q9UAEwPM91M

tanseydavid 3y ago
^^^ THIS ^^^ It is true, "Durable-Goods" are very difficult to come by.
epiccoleman 3y ago
There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as being able to fix appliances. I've fixed a few issues with my dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer with just a little gumption and willingness to fuck around. In 2 of the last 3 cases I can think of, I didn't even need a new part - just had to mess around a bit to discover the issue. I fixed a non-functional agitator on my washing machine by just finding a stuck actuator, fixed a broken pump on my dishwasher by disassembling it and removing a stuck bit of plastic. My last dryer repair needed parts, but those only cost $30, and a dryer is a very simple machine. If I'd had to call a repairman or buy a new unit every time one of these problems happened, I'd have spent thousands of dollars.
- bombcar 3y ago
  That last line is the reason everything is disposable, things got too cheap to be worth hiring someone to fix them. A $30k car? You'll pay a mechanic to fix that, it's too valuable an asset to just throw away (and even then, you see people selling cars with "something broken" that is not economical _for them_ to fix, but if you know how to fix it you can get a car cheap). A $500-1k wash machine? Unlikely to be worth the $100-200 to bring out a repairman (because now you're looking at a $200 "discount" on a new one, which is probably much more "advanced" (if that's good) than the existing), so it gets tossed.
  - munk-a 3y ago
    It depends how old the washer is though - a lot of times the older ones are just plain better than newer models with their planned obsolescence and weird software junk that frequently is the first component to break.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      I've noticed that, (and found certain models that have "almost feels unauthorized" fill-and-soak modes). Almost any modern refrigerator is quite reliable and energy efficient compared to ancient ones - but wash machines seem to be retrogressing in quality (and only partially can the blame be laid on the energy/water saving requirements).
  - m463 3y ago
    > A $30k car? You'll pay a mechanic to fix that As long as the vehicle is reasonably dependable. Sometimes an older undependable vehicle might not be worth it. (think of stranding a loved one, or dying in winter, etc) That said, brand new cars without spares are a disturbing trend.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      There's always a tipping point, but the line for "literally drag the vehicle to the scrapper" is much lower than it is for most appliances, and mainly because of residual value - even a completely dead car will have companies willing to take it off your hands for you, or even give you a few hundred for. I knew a retired guy years ago whose speciality was fixing microwaves; any dead microwave you could find he'd get working again. They still exist, but they're nearly impossible to find unless you hear about it. I know I'd love to find someone to offload these old SpeedQueens on (even there, a burnt out motor was $350 to replace, a brand new one was $700 or so).
cfeduke 3y ago
I have fixed numerous home appliances over the past two decades almost entirely thanks to YouTube and eBay, and a willingness to apply myself. If the YouTube video has no intro and its subject is about your problem, you can be almost certain you're about to find out how to fix the problem.
- wintogreen74 3y ago
  YT is a great resource for fixing things like appliances, but the devices themselves have gotten (1) shittier, (2) harder to repair and (3) more expensive custom parts - that are themselves less durable. Example: the slide-out for the top rack of my dishwasher exploded, sending ball-bearings everywhere. The replacement part (mostly plastic) cost > $50 and to replace required I disconnect the water & power, uninstall the unit and access the 2 screws on the outside. Great for speeding up assembly in a factory, but ridiculous for any other purpose.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    This is the saddest part, a friend has two wash machines, one is an old top loader and one is a newer front loader; the front loader has been replaced three times whereas the top loader keeps running. It had a control knob burn out and it was $50 or so to get a new one, one of the front loaders had a control board fail and it was $450 for a whole new front panel, which of course means nope.
    - nsajko 3y ago
      To play the Devil's advocate, this might just be survival bias manifesting. The old top loader might have accidentally had top 0.0001 quality (tighter-than-average tolerances, etc).
      - bombcar 3y ago
        Nah, it broke "about" as often as the others (making allowances for complications and design differences), it's just that when it broke, it was fixable for a reasonable amount because there was no computer board in it. A similar but later top loader that I had died almost the same way, but required an entire control board replacement similar to the front loader; too expensive to bother with. (Now an enterprising person could likely have repaired the control board itself, but that's beyond my "remove and swap" competencies.)
Bluecobra 3y ago
I had a similar issue my out of warranty Sunjoe grass dethather for my lawn, where it stopped spinning. I opened it up and 10 screws later it turns out that the rubber belt that snapped was readily available on Amazon for $9. I glad I ignored the manual, it said there was no user serviceable parts inside. I won’t be buying anything from them again.
ridgeguy 3y ago
Moisture in machines can be a very expensive issue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Andersen_Air_Force_Base_B-2_accident#Investigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Andersen_Air_Force_Base_B...
northernman 3y ago
Fixed a Hayward salt generator by replacing a burnt out thermistor. Cost was $1.00 for two of them, so I now have a spare. Replacing the entire PCB would have been ~$400+ CAD.
beAbU 3y ago
In my home country there is a reasonably healthy culture of repairing appliances, especially white goods. We have dedicated shops that stock every conceivable part you might need, for example [1] for dishwasher spares. This particular place is open 7 days a week and they are usually very busy. It's amazing how long you can extend the life of certain appliances if you can replace some of the common failing parts on the regular. [1] - https://www.lvb.co.za/pages/search-results-page?collection=dishwashers https://www.lvb.co.za/pages/search-results-page?collection=d...

tanseydavid 3y ago

^^^ THIS ^^^ It is true, "Durable-Goods" are very difficult to come by.

epiccoleman 3y ago

There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as being able to fix appliances. I've fixed a few issues with my dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer with just a little gumption and willingness to fuck around. In 2 of the last 3 cases I can think of, I didn't even need a new part - just had to mess around a bit to discover the issue. I fixed a non-functional agitator on my washing machine by just finding a stuck actuator, fixed a broken pump on my dishwasher by disassembling it and removing a stuck bit of plastic. My last dryer repair needed parts, but those only cost $30, and a dryer is a very simple machine. If I'd had to call a repairman or buy a new unit every time one of these problems happened, I'd have spent thousands of dollars.

bombcar 3y ago
That last line is the reason everything is disposable, things got too cheap to be worth hiring someone to fix them. A $30k car? You'll pay a mechanic to fix that, it's too valuable an asset to just throw away (and even then, you see people selling cars with "something broken" that is not economical _for them_ to fix, but if you know how to fix it you can get a car cheap). A $500-1k wash machine? Unlikely to be worth the $100-200 to bring out a repairman (because now you're looking at a $200 "discount" on a new one, which is probably much more "advanced" (if that's good) than the existing), so it gets tossed.
- munk-a 3y ago
  It depends how old the washer is though - a lot of times the older ones are just plain better than newer models with their planned obsolescence and weird software junk that frequently is the first component to break.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    I've noticed that, (and found certain models that have "almost feels unauthorized" fill-and-soak modes). Almost any modern refrigerator is quite reliable and energy efficient compared to ancient ones - but wash machines seem to be retrogressing in quality (and only partially can the blame be laid on the energy/water saving requirements).
- m463 3y ago
  > A $30k car? You'll pay a mechanic to fix that As long as the vehicle is reasonably dependable. Sometimes an older undependable vehicle might not be worth it. (think of stranding a loved one, or dying in winter, etc) That said, brand new cars without spares are a disturbing trend.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    There's always a tipping point, but the line for "literally drag the vehicle to the scrapper" is much lower than it is for most appliances, and mainly because of residual value - even a completely dead car will have companies willing to take it off your hands for you, or even give you a few hundred for. I knew a retired guy years ago whose speciality was fixing microwaves; any dead microwave you could find he'd get working again. They still exist, but they're nearly impossible to find unless you hear about it. I know I'd love to find someone to offload these old SpeedQueens on (even there, a burnt out motor was $350 to replace, a brand new one was $700 or so).

cfeduke 3y ago

I have fixed numerous home appliances over the past two decades almost entirely thanks to YouTube and eBay, and a willingness to apply myself. If the YouTube video has no intro and its subject is about your problem, you can be almost certain you're about to find out how to fix the problem.

wintogreen74 3y ago
YT is a great resource for fixing things like appliances, but the devices themselves have gotten (1) shittier, (2) harder to repair and (3) more expensive custom parts - that are themselves less durable. Example: the slide-out for the top rack of my dishwasher exploded, sending ball-bearings everywhere. The replacement part (mostly plastic) cost > $50 and to replace required I disconnect the water & power, uninstall the unit and access the 2 screws on the outside. Great for speeding up assembly in a factory, but ridiculous for any other purpose.
- bombcar 3y ago
  This is the saddest part, a friend has two wash machines, one is an old top loader and one is a newer front loader; the front loader has been replaced three times whereas the top loader keeps running. It had a control knob burn out and it was $50 or so to get a new one, one of the front loaders had a control board fail and it was $450 for a whole new front panel, which of course means nope.
  - nsajko 3y ago
    To play the Devil's advocate, this might just be survival bias manifesting. The old top loader might have accidentally had top 0.0001 quality (tighter-than-average tolerances, etc).
    - bombcar 3y ago
      Nah, it broke "about" as often as the others (making allowances for complications and design differences), it's just that when it broke, it was fixable for a reasonable amount because there was no computer board in it. A similar but later top loader that I had died almost the same way, but required an entire control board replacement similar to the front loader; too expensive to bother with. (Now an enterprising person could likely have repaired the control board itself, but that's beyond my "remove and swap" competencies.)

Bluecobra 3y ago

I had a similar issue my out of warranty Sunjoe grass dethather for my lawn, where it stopped spinning. I opened it up and 10 screws later it turns out that the rubber belt that snapped was readily available on Amazon for $9. I glad I ignored the manual, it said there was no user serviceable parts inside. I won’t be buying anything from them again.

ridgeguy 3y ago

Moisture in machines can be a very expensive issue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Andersen_Air_Force_Base_B-2_accident#Investigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Andersen_Air_Force_Base_B...

northernman 3y ago

Fixed a Hayward salt generator by replacing a burnt out thermistor. Cost was $1.00 for two of them, so I now have a spare. Replacing the entire PCB would have been ~$400+ CAD.

beAbU 3y ago

In my home country there is a reasonably healthy culture of repairing appliances, especially white goods. We have dedicated shops that stock every conceivable part you might need, for example [1] for dishwasher spares. This particular place is open 7 days a week and they are usually very busy. It's amazing how long you can extend the life of certain appliances if you can replace some of the common failing parts on the regular. [1] - https://www.lvb.co.za/pages/search-results-page?collection=dishwashers https://www.lvb.co.za/pages/search-results-page?collection=d...