General Category > General Discussion
Some Things Don’t Last (Planned Obsolence)
willowstreetguzziguy:
We are renovating our kitchen and we went looking for a new refrigerator. We bought our Amana side by side in 1995 and it’s still going strong. Thought it might be time to replace it and move it to the garage in favor of an “updated” model. Come to find that hat the salespeople admit that the life expectancy of new ones is about 10 years!
And then when you watch YouTube videos of the unfortunate people with 0 -5 year old models and all the trouble they are having! After 5 years, parts aren’t available and it gets sent to the dump?!
Something needs to be done to help the consumer…
Thankfully my 08. 1200 Sport isn’t a problem but when I have 2 examples of things that dint last….
Bought a corded drill back in 2005 when I started my business of faux finishing where I sometimes have to drill/mix dense and heavy material in a 5 gallon bucket to go to jobs. Well ten years ago I thought it might be wise to have a backup drill just in case my main one dies late in the night when mixing product for the next day. So I go to my local Kmart and buy another Black & Decker corded drill. I decided to use that to mix up the material that evening. Well it wasn’t more than about five minutes of heavy duty mixing that the new drill started smelling and smoking and burning up! I took it back and got my money back and ever since I’ve been using the 2005 corded drill, Black & Decker, amazing!
Another example is a device that I use to clean my paint brushes where I pump it and twirls and spins the wetness from the brush. Once again, I thought it might be good to have a back up just in case my 1975 model gave out. I bought a new one and it lasted a week before it jammed!
nc43bsa:
In my mom's house there are the original Frigidaire fridge/freezer that was installed in 1964, the RCA/Whirlpool freezer that was purchased in ~1960 (and is 6 feet tall!), and the Kelvinator fridge/freezer that was built in 1950. All of them work and are still in use, and I'd bet that the total spent repairing all of them is under $1000.
And the parts are still available, albeit sometimes not locally. For example, I replaced a noisy evaporator fan in the Frigidaire last year; the part was around $85. I replaced the freezer fan in the same fridge 10 years ago; it was the same part number!
I'd much rather pay the electric bill for an "obsolete" appliance that just keeps on working than buy a new energy-efficient one for $2500 that I know I'll need to replace again in less than 10 years.
steven c:
Seems like everything thing is built to a price these days. I had our 35 year old gas furnace check out well because it's 35 years old, my plumber said it's fine and they don't make them like that anymore, a new one would be more efficient but the pay back wouldn't be worth it,plus they are not as reliable.
bad Chad:
A bit like the human condition, you get about 80 years, if all goes well, and then motor goes south.
RinkRat II:
Timely topic, I put up my Christmas lights, hooked up the outdoor timer, set it for on/off operation only to find out at dark 30 nothing happened. Troubleshot to find the timers, kaput. Only ten years old no biggie. Took it all apart and found the clock motor bad. Looked online and found several Intermatic motors only $23.00 free shipping. New timer, exact model $8.99!! What's wrong with this picture??? Planned Obsolescence.
Paul B :boozing:
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