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
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.
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.
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.
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).
Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. Some fool like me would be happy for a used speed queen to fix and keep forever. It's 20 items down my household Todo list but will never get done since my 20 year old top loader just keeps working.
If you're talking about old washing machines or refrigerators, you might want to consider they might not be economically viable. New versions might pay for themselves quickly in water or electricity use.
I had a friend who (years ago) bought a version 1 humvee, but it turned out to be impractical, struggling to achieve highway speeds while guzzling gas like a toilet.
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.
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).
Even non-mechanical fixes can be satisfying. My partner's backpack strap tore off while we were on a trip to Japan and really needed it. I'm not good at sewing, but I grabbed the hotel sewing kit and did a quick and ugly repair, telling him not to wear it on one shoulder anymore since it might only last a few days.
Months later my quick ugly repair is still holding and I still see him wearing it on one shoulder. It's a nice backpack and I'm glad we didn't throw it away.
> There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as being able to fix appliances.
I get that. But I also like new shiny things. So it's with a bit of disappointment as well that I keep these appliances limping along. I want the time left in the load projected on the floor dammit!
If you want that time left in load to actually be accurate, stick with an old washing machine. In my experience the newer ones' wash time changes frequently throughout the wash and is basically useless.
> There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as being able to fix appliances.
On the other hand, a broken appliance is a real let-down. I have this thing that was working, and now I have (laundry/vacuuming/dishes/food) piling up and I have to fix this immediately.
Totally - this is one of the reasons I had to learn to fix them. When you've got 3 kids, the washing machine or dryer being broken is an emergency, God forbid a couple of days of backlog laundry pile up!
At least with the dishwasher you can just switch to hand washing, doing the same with clothes is a much bigger pain.
My experience with oven screen repair was that even if I order all parts that could be the reason for wierd behaviour, it would still be cheaper than call technician to come and tell me for sure which part to change. I gotas lucky on first try, but case still stand that sometimes it's just cheaper replace all suspicious parts instead of calling expert to say what's wrong (and call second time for replacement)
I fixed our central AC during a 100f weekend and never felt like more of a hero for the family. YouTube has been extremely helpful with things like that. Also, shoutout to the AC repair dude who let me buy a capacitor off his truck during his lunch break.
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.
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.
I think I have watched every video on how to fix my ice maker from freezing on my Samsung refrigerator and still can’t resolve the issue. I haven’t replaced any parts yet but I am dubious that it will solve it long term. It turns out that putting an ice maker inside the door/refrigerator compartment is a fundamentally flawed design.
Honestly, all upgrades and additional functions in a fridge/freezer are fundamentally flawed. Large partitioned box that gets cold, compressor system to make that so, some seals and a defrost circuit. That's all a fridge should be. No ice maker, no water dispenser, no french doors, no drawers.
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.
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).
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.)
These PCBs (and I suppose more specifically whatever parts are on them) seem to be made of literal garbage — and yet they cost a mint. Had a wall oven with an “error code” - diagnosis: replace board, part cost $400, internet says there has been no revision of the board so the new board will likely fail the same way, and only the part would be warranted so the other $500 in labor cost to fix it could be incurred again next month or next year. Ended up throwing away the whole double oven.
Meanwhile I know a PCB and a few boring ICs and resistors actually cost like $30 max so I know that we are being scammed.
It was interesting seeing this from the other side as well. I have what I thought was an obsolete motorized awning with an obscure failure. I couldn't find anything about it so when I managed to fix it, I decided on a lark to grab my phone and record a short video. I didn't expect it would be of much use to anyone.
Now it has 80k views and dozens of comments thanking me for helping them fix their awning. (https://youtu.be/qae0XM4Dn4U)
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.
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.
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