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Comment by jleyank | Hacker News Reader

I am not sure that trying to fix modern appliances is really (or even on paper) cheaper than replacing them. Maybe for the expensive models, but the lower end units seem to be “use 5-10 and replace”. I worry that the fancy/modern car electronics will push cars into this category. Carmaker motivstions don’t align with mine.

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Modern appliances are designed with parts that fail easily and are just slightly too difficult, or dangerous, enough to repair on your own. Usually it's a plastic connector of some sort that will have an easily calculable time-to-disintegration measured in years.

For instance, I just fixed a 2c plastic clip that pretty much made my microwave unusable by virtue of the door being un-openable. In order to do so, I had to have my fingers about 3 inches away from a bare wire transformer which near totally obstructs what should be a very simple fix.

Plenty scary and dangerous enough for me to have to call the manufacturer and find a certified local repairer...

It depends on the appliance, and yeah, the cheaper ones are often NOT worth fixing if a major component breaks, but ARE worth fixing if it is a minor component/known issue. Youtube is great for this - search "model number" "problem" and if there's a video on how to fix it, it's common enough that the part is probably cheap (think ignitor for a dryer/oven, etc).

Friend had an older washer with a giant "timer dial" that was cheap to fix - the new dial cost like $50 and was simple to replace. A similar washer that I had had a single plastic part that held the dial in place break, and the only way to fix it was either bolt some metal strapping around it (which I did) or buy a new faceplate at $350 (+ shipping) - that's half the cost of a SpeedQueen (which I eventually bought when the pump crapped out. The SpeedQueens don't change year to year and they're basically laundromat machines so they're very repairable.

If you do decide to replace an appliance, there are people that will take away the old one for free, because they will repair and resell if possible.

If your appliances are low-tech enough, and you have access to YouTube and don't have hand dexterity issues, you don't need to replace or even pay for a service visit. I've fixed a clothes washing machine when its belt seized. That was $17. My refrigerator was no longer staying cold: a $50 controller board clone from eBay works great.

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