Appliance repair

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Dec 4, 2005
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Where Jackie Jr got whacked
So who repairs their own appliances? Drier snagged the string on some of my daughter’s scrubs. Pulled it apart and front drum wear bearings (strips?) are essentially gone. Ordered from the big river for delivery tomorrow.
Can’t see spending $$$ for less than $20 in parts and some time versus having someone else do what I figured out myself.
 
I repair as much as I can but it's starting to get difficult. Some parts can't be serviced after decades of use. Eg the tub seal on our 30 year old washer is leaking but the tub bearing is so corroded that I doubt I can remove it. A replacement bearing is also $500 which kills economic feasibility. Another issue I've ran into is that replacement parts are NLA or the current version is incompatible in some way. Eg the new fan belt/tube for our 50 year old dryer is made from urethane instead of rubber and slips on the old pulleys, which presumably were not designed for this material. The drum belt is NLA and I have to find new-old-stock off eBay which presents its own issues.

I can't complain given the age of the appliances, but it sucks because modern appliances are just not built to last.
 
I have repaired our dryer 3 times in the last 10 years or so. Heating element twice - once shorted by a penny, once by a paperclip, and once I replaced the wheels the drum rides in. Dryers are super easy to get apart generally.

Repaired the dishwasher drain float a couple times. Replaced the Fridge ice / water door pump once but it failed again so forgot about it.

The Washer pump started leaking and was more money than a new washer, so I just bought the new washer. It was starting to rust out anyway.

Depends on what breaks and what appliance if it makes sense.
 
I’ve done a temperature sensor or our refrigerator which gave it two extra years before the compressor died. I also replaced the transmission on my top loading washer from 1995, the boot on our front loader, and a heating element in the dryer.

Our built-in oven stopped working this year due to the main power relay on a circuit board and the part is NLA. I’ve found a service that claims to repair the board for $200 but that seems a bit of a gamble. Still, it feels like a better option than $2K for a new one.

It’s a shame there aren’t pick and pull yards for appliances.
 
I have repaired our dryer 3 times in the last 10 years or so. Heating element twice - once shorted by a penny, once by a paperclip, and once I replaced the wheels the drum rides in. Dryers are super easy to get apart generally.

Repaired the dishwasher drain float a couple times. Replaced the Fridge ice / water door pump once but it failed again so forgot about it.

The Washer pump started leaking and was more money than a new washer, so I just bought the new washer. It was starting to rust out anyway.

Depends on what breaks and what appliance if it makes sense.
Our washer just had the tub rust out so it was non repairable.

Most of our appliances break in a way that isn’t repairable or lacks parts
 
Ours was sounding terrible. I was kind of thinking like Pablo and actually bought another one old one off a guy who just gets "broken" or old ones for free, checks them over and fixes with some cheap parts and sells them again for $150.
So I watched some youtube, and found dryers are pretty simple really, took my "broken" one apart, as it somehow got some change and a few screws down into the fan, cleaned out the debris and sold it for $100...
I always seem to spend more hours a week than I would like looking at a screen, so a couple hours of learning and fixing is always better time spent better than that.
 
Wow, this post is timely. In the past 3 months I have replaced on my Cabrio washer a lid lock switch and tub suspension rod kit (4 rods). This weekend worked on my Cabrio dryer to correct an "AF" air flow error which entailed a $23 dryer vent cleaning kit from HD. Earlier my KitchenAid DW needed the parts cannon fired off (less than $75) to eventually fix a faulty water inlet valve. In all these cases internet sleuthing and multiple YT vids eventually got me home. I am not opposed to making a service call but my Scotch-Irish ancestry does not let me part with a dollar that easy.
 
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Most things are fixable on large appliances unless you get into electronics or large components. Cost of having someone do it might make it not worth it but if you do it yourself parts are usually cheap.
 
I fix them, normally it's a plug and play a new circuit board. Usually find the parts on ebay.

The worst was a microwave. You had to nearly take the whole thing apart to swap the control circuit board.
 
I’ve done a temperature sensor or our refrigerator which gave it two extra years before the compressor died. I also replaced the transmission on my top loading washer from 1995, the boot on our front loader, and a heating element in the dryer.

Our built-in oven stopped working this year due to the main power relay on a circuit board and the part is NLA. I’ve found a service that claims to repair the board for $200 but that seems a bit of a gamble. Still, it feels like a better option than $2K for a new one.

It’s a shame there aren’t pick and pull yards for appliances.
Ebay is a good place. Just start searching the part number on the board.

Your issue with the relay. You can probably just solder a new one onto the board yourself.
 
So who repairs their own appliances? Drier snagged the string on some of my daughter’s scrubs. Pulled it apart and front drum wear bearings (strips?) are essentially gone. Ordered from the big river for delivery tomorrow.
Can’t see spending $$$ for less than $20 in parts and some time versus having someone else do what I figured out myself.
I have in 21 years in my house replaced a Kitchen Aid gas stove main oven burner ignitor/fridge compressor starter relay/GE dishwasher door gasket/a few tub drain valves/basket parts/repaired door balance spring, a chest freezer thermostat 2 times(in 32years), Lennox A/C compressor start/run capacitor/ Ancient E-Z lift garage door opener motor run cap/new idler chain pully/service relay and still have my 30 year old Weber 1000 BBQ cooking like new( few parts over the years)

I refuse to replace a working appliance if I can get an OEM part that will last similar to the original part. Over the years have saved a fortune. It is nice to have dependable, well engineered things.
 
Usually repair my own.

I've recently been trying to come up with a semi off-the-shelf replacement for the abysmal tub dampers that my Samsung front loader has. Been through a few things with no success. About to try some mountain bike shocks.

Just bought a brand new LG heat pump dryer as well. Not sure there's going to be much I can fix on that one when it breaks.
 
I usually try to do my own if my health will let me. We have a gas dryer that the coils on the gas valve fail pretty regularly. I have got that repair down pat.
 
I work on ours. I always buy appliances that run off timers not electronics. Dryer needs heating element, thermal fuses, and high and low temp thermostats every couple of years. The parts are cheap. Dishwasher I've replaced motor, door lock switch, and timer. Gas oven needs an igniter every few years. I also replaced the ignitor on our gas furnace last year. Lots of easy stuff to do as long as electronics aren't involved.
 
Just ordered from Appliance Parts 4 All a Whirlpool dishwasher door gasket and OEM detergent dispenser for $40 and $100, respectively. I was surprised almost all parts were still available though getting pricey, I thought. Bought new in Jan-2007 from H.H Gregg.
 
i ifx everything that can be fixed unless the part is crazy priced. fixed many washer and dryers ,stoves refrig. most of the time the parts are pretty inexpensive , but the labor to fix is expensive if paying someone .

the most interesting thing i helped fix was a fisher and paykel top loading dryer . never seen one before that one. top loading dryer not washer . parts were a littel more than usual , but freinds wife loved that dryer and hope it could be fixed instead of buying a new one
 
When our 9+ yr old Whirlpool Cabrio washer, which we inherited when we bought our house in 2017, started to make a metallic noise during agitation, I took one look underneath the washer, saw the grease splatter on the floor, and decided it wasn't worth it to replace the $175 gearbox, so we bought a new Maytag Top Load washer w/matching electric dryer for $1,500 (BF sale) delivered from maytag.com. I had already went through a couple of $30 wash plates that had stripped-out their splines prior to the gearbox making noise. On the dryer, I already replaced the drive belt, idler pulleys, and tensioner pulley as it developed a squeak a couple years ago.
 
I fix what I can.

I repaired the circuit board and replaced the wax motor on a Maytag Neptune washing machine. Cost me about $25 and took a Saturday morning. I've repaired several dishwashers (located in different houses). One dishwasher was quite old (likely from the '70s) and had several easily repaired problems. I've replaced various heating elements in kitchen stoves. And I recently got a very nice, very expensive range hood working again - fingers crossed.

And I've given up on junk and replaced it with better stuff.
 
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