Appliances designed to last 5 year and then buy new?

[carl1647545492]

The light panel on our Kenmore dishwasher is flashing like a christmas tree and like any red blooded guy I think I can fix it so I replace the thermal fuse check power coming in check the door switch and its fixed right?..........nope! .....looks like the control board is bad...Fu$Ker

 

So $250 for a new board..or throw the shit out and buy a new one.

 

Its bollocks.

[2 Sweet]

Yep. ALL appliances are shit these days. The "tradeoff" is that they are much more energy efficient so they will save you a few bucks on your utility bills, but these days you're lucky to get more than 5-7 years out of a washing machine or dishwasher without paying an arm and a leg to fix them when the electronics go to shit.

[Limitedslip7]

This is pretty much how they are all built now. Best thing to do is go with the cheaper, simpler model. Less to go wrong and easier/cheaper to fix when it does.

 

I can get you discounts on Whirlpool/Maytag/Kenmore stuff if you are planning on going with new, just send me your email.

[carl1647545492]

After reading around It seems the control button panels get corroded with moisture so I peeled back the panel and cleaned out the dirt and it fired up! I hate electronics but I got lucky this time!

Time for a cold one.

[Aaron]

I've fixed our washer, dryer once, and our dishwasher at our old house.

 

We just got all new kitchen appliances, so we'll see how long they last.

[2 Sweet]

After reading around It seems the control button panels get corroded with moisture so I peeled back the panel and cleaned out the dirt and it fired up! I hate electronics but I got lucky this time!

Time for a cold one.

 

[El Karacho1647545492]

After reading around It seems the control button panels get corroded with moisture so I peeled back the panel and cleaned out the dirt and it fired up! I hate electronics but I got lucky this time!

Time for a cold one.

 

I had something similar happen with a 15 year old dryer 2 years ago. Got a soldering kit and resoldered a bunch of blown out connections on the board, hasn't had a hiccup since.

 

most of the problem with fixing this type of stuff is getting over the mental blockades rather than actually acquiring the knowledge and skills

[zeitgeist57]

We had an IKEA inductive cooktop (I think it's a whirlpool brand) just fail on us after just under 3 years. $1000 unit. I looked at it, and checked online - but I couldn't figure out how might've been able to fix it.

 

Thankfully, it had a 5 year warranty. Call them up...will they send someone out to service it? NOPE. Easier and cheaper to simply install another one and return the defective unit.

 

Crazy how cheap we've all gotten.

[mrs.cos]

Crazy how cheap we've all gotten.

Cheap isnt the right term here. We live in a throw away society. Everything is disposable. Nothing is made to last anymore. Its so sad.

[Green Bastard]

Business is better when you build a product not designed to last...

[xlr8tn]

I fix all of our stuff on a fairly regular basis. We bought the house 12 years ago and got all new appliances about that time except for washer/drier. Dishwasher I've replaced just about every part on it over the years including the whole front control panel which wasn't that expensive on ours....think it was $90ish or so. Our washing machine (maytag front loader) is a massive pile of shit. It's 5 years old and I've had to do the bearings in it twice. The design is the issue....all the force is on those bearings in the rear of the tub. I just did the bearings a couple weeks ago and they'll last about 2.5 years. I found the bearings on ebay for $13 which is cheap but it's the mountain of work you have to do in order to get to the bearings. Our next washing machine is going to be a speed queen. Pricey but last forever.

[spankis]

Just bought a house, and all the appliances were replaced in 2013 except the refrigerator. It's a Whirlpool and a 1994 model. First thing that struck me is how amazingly clean it is, second thing is that EVERYTHING works. Ice maker in the door, water in the door, light for the ice maker in the door, lights inside.... thing is just awesome. It really amazed me.

 

We will see how much power it eats after my first bill from South Central lol.

[Dammit Charlie]

In our old house we had an old KitchenAid dishwasher. Loud as hell, but damn if it didn't work every time.

 

While we were remodeling the kitchen we had to let the old girl go. When I pulled her out to install a new one, I found the original owners manual and receipt where the previous owner BOUGHT IT IN 1992. That dishwasher make it 23 years!

[Avenger1647545502]

With dishwashers, look where the hot air vents are on the door...95% of them exhaust steam directly below the control panel full of corrodable contacts.

[acklac7]

The light panel on our Kenmore dishwasher is flashing like a christmas tree and like any red blooded guy I think I can fix it so I replace the thermal fuse check power coming in check the door switch and its fixed right?..........nope! .....looks like the control board is bad...Fu$Ker

 

So $250 for a new board..or throw the shit out and buy a new one.

 

Its bollocks.

 

Wouldn't happen to be a Kenmore Elite, would it? There's a number of recalls out for them burning up boards.

 

Are you sure the LCD panel itself isn't the root cause of your problem?

 

Make/Model # would help.

 

And try calling Sears. They've hooked me up more then once when it came to out-of-warranty related issues. Absolutely A+ Customer Service.

[acklac7]

With dishwashers, look where the hot air vents are on the door...95% of them exhaust steam directly below the control panel full of corrodable contacts.

 

Certain Kenmore (Elites) have this problem like no other...

[acklac7]

Cheap isnt the right term here. We live in a throw away society. Everything is disposable. Nothing is made to last anymore. Its so sad.

 

I dont throw shit away. When my appliances break, I fix them. Its usually not that hard, although washer bearings sound like a bastard.

[acklac7]

After reading around It seems the control button panels get corroded with moisture so I peeled back the panel and cleaned out the dirt and it fired up! I hate electronics but I got lucky this time!

Time for a cold one.

 

Completely Missed this. Congrats.

 

It's going to happen again.

[xlr8tn]

I dont throw shit away. When my appliances break, I fix them. Its usually not that hard, although washer bearings sound like a bastard.

 

as with most appliances none of it is hard......these bearings though are just a pain in the ass to get too. Few more screws and this POS is completely apart.

 

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj37/0rion_album/washer_zpspj1dwxhq.jpg

 

 

another little thing that pisses me off every time I tear that thing down.....notice the back left corner doesn't have a shock? Just put the damn 4th shock in there....why skimp on 1 shock? Instead they move that other shock to the middle.

[Sully]

I certainly hope I don't jinx myself by saying this... but this is the reason I don't want to get a new water heater. My house was built in 1973, and the original water heater is still in place and kicking out hot water and not leaking a single drop. If I bought a new one today, I'd have to replace it in 10 - 15 years.

[Brandon]

What I find amazing is our ability to just search the web for problems on all of our appliances and then we can use our "car skills" and general wizardy to fix most of these issues.

 

I had our bosch washer throw some door latch codes and some other things yadda yadda. I googled up a storm, found my answers, did some work, and fixed no parts necessary, just 2 hours of time. Pretty cool all said and done.

 

Same thing with our double wall oven, threw a common code, easy fix, just a breaker reset, phewww. Would have never known with out the interweb! Thankfully a lot of people post about their repairs, I should do that more often to reciprocate the benefits to others down the line...Oh well.

[Mojoe]

Looking at a new washer and dryer set soon. This thread is full of things I worry about.

[carl1647545492]

Joe we found some good deals at http://www.searsoutlet.com/DUBLIN/d/store.jsp?store=7592#/

[zeitgeist57]

Rhetorical question I find me asking of myself: "If an appliance was 4x more expensive than the norm today, but it would last nearly 20-25 years, is it worth it to me?"

 

I'd have to say no, as the cheaper and more-efficient option tends to last longer than my perceived investment in the product.

[93 RX-7]

Looking at a new washer and dryer set soon. This thread is full of things I worry about.

 

We bought our LG washer and dryer 10 years ago. has worked without a hiccup.