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Throw Away Products

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Singer sawing machine?
 
tr6bill, not only crummy spelin but just to make it even more interestin i spilt a glass of orangr juice onna keyboard. talk about "sticky keys" :cry:
 
Talking of Sears, I jus did my annual Pilgrimage there with my broken tools. Dropped them on the counter, walked with the salesman through the isle and picked the "comprable" tools, and left. I do it every year. Never any trouble,
 
Gave me some; said I had to get a refurbished tool instead of new. (Flexhead ratchet.)
 
TOC said:
. They claimed I'd gotten my monies worth out of it.
Click to expand...

Shoulda said, "No, not yet" and thrown it through the window.

(Just kidding guys, just kidding.) :jester:
 
A few years ago the horizontal output transformer blew on my fathers TV. Called the parts house for a new one; $80 for just the transformer. $15 for the entire circuit board with the transformer attached. Thats the way the factory shipped them to the parts dealer. Go figure.
 
Darwin said:
A few years ago the horizontal output transformer blew on my fathers TV. Called the parts house for a new one; $80 for just the transformer. $15 for the entire circuit board with the transformer attached. Thats the way the factory shipped them to the parts dealer. Go figure.
Click to expand...

BTW what continues to amaze me is that in the last house we lived in the element in the oven burned out - the new element came with a circuit board to install as well - for an element! :wall:
 
JPSmit said:
BTW what continues to amaze me is that in the last house we lived in the element in the oven burned out - the new element came with a circuit board to install as well - for an element! :wall:
Click to expand...

And so we have the element of surprise :whistle:
 
Gliderman8 said:
JPSmit said:
BTW what continues to amaze me is that in the last house we lived in the element in the oven burned out - the new element came with a circuit board to install as well - for an element! :wall:
Click to expand...

And so we have the element of surprise :whistle:
Click to expand...

well that really burns me! :madder:
grin.gif
 
My neighbor over the back fence installed an electrostatic precipitator filter in his furnace intake.
It quit.
They wanted $300+ for the circuit board.
I pulled the board, checked the components, one part was bad, ordered two, less than $5 for the silly parts, fixed it, and handed him the spare part in a bag with a note.
Not a good parts supply idea.
 
Wow I suddenly consider myself lucky, I have a guy right by me who rebuilds the circuit boards from the overly complicated refrigerator, rebuilds the mechanical timers from washing machines and the like.. there is even a "TV repairman" just down the street from me, but he is willing to try almost anything electronic.
Probably because import taxes are so high on these bits he can still make a reasonable profit.
 
Bought a Black & Decker toaster oven to replace the last B&D that worked fine but finally quit after about 3 yrs. No problem - $59.95, 3 yrs, thousands of slices of toast, many reheats and fries cooked at 450F. Don't mind replacing that. The "new" one won't make toast in under 30 minutes. Threw away the bill when I bought it so I'm stuck with it, til I pitch it out in the garden. When I inquired at Canadian Tire about the problem and/or a replacement without the bill they said sorry - no receipt, my problem. Then asked me if I read the directions for making toast! Geez - is it that difficult? Junk, junk, junk!
Bob
 
It occurred to me the other day that we may very well be the last generation in this country that remembers things that were built to last, and when they wore out, you could replace their separate components. Our children and grandchildren, sadly, won't recall those not-so-distant days, and to the extent they know of them at all, it will be in those "crazy stories" that our generations talk about.
 
Just came to the conclusion this topic cannot be commented on without tossing it into the "political" category... We're being pidgeon-holed into "mass consumerism without consent"!

Sealed electric power supplies for most gizmos preclude replacing a $2 diode bridge, "Just buy a new one!" (be it a cell 'phone, cordless drill, cheezy router, et al).

Electric window for the car? All it needs is $2 for new brushes in the motor or those $0.50 "buggy bumper" bearings in the wheelbox... "Sorry sir, that only comes as an assembly, complete regulator. It'll be $200".

"Quick-release" chuck on a hammer drill, bearing/seal, $10 part (I'm being generous here, it's German). "You have to send it to our authorized service center. $90, plus S&H both directions".

Steve_S has it right. DON'T spend money on stuff that can't be repaired at component level.

Tho even that can be a bite: decades old 1.5 ton Sears floor jack, seal "kit" $80!!! Couldn't be more than $5 worth of bits in there.

I don't bemoan being a dinosaur. I'm HAPPY to be able to disassemble and reassemble stuff... but rather P.O'd at not being given the choice of repairing something instead of replacing it.

...and I must refrain from bringing up clothes washing/drying machines... :madder: :wall:
 
You got it right doc... I will never, EVER buy anything with a battery that I can't replace.
I learned the hard way... bought my son a sonic-care toothbrush when he was in college. Paid $90 for it and one year later the battery will not hold a charge. They say "send it back and it will be replaced for $65".
The entire unit was sealed.... I carefully sliced open replaced the Ni-Cads, then resealed and vowed to never buy anything without an access door or a case that you can get into.
 
Don't get me going on this one! :madder: If you like stuff that you can fix yourself - vintagemachinery.org
 
not defending throw away machinery at all, but, it is important to note that most people can't repair things anymore. This plus planned obsolescence, plus consuming driving the economy (remember we were told the patriotic thing to do after 9-11 was to shop.)

We no longer know how to tinker anymore, most people don't even own tools. I even find it interesting to compare Popular Science and such magazines to 50 years ago - then it was projects to build, now it is product reviews. sad really.
 
My point, JP. We're being consumed by consumerism. So busy texting we can't LEARN anything, so consumed by distractions we lose the ability to DO things that make us wiser or more capable to deal with actually LIVING.

*sigh*
 
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