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Comment by epiccoleman | Hacker News Reader

There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as being able to fix appliances. I've fixed a few issues with my dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer with just a little gumption and willingness to fuck around. In 2 of the last 3 cases I can think of, I didn't even need a new part - just had to mess around a bit to discover the issue. I fixed a non-functional agitator on my washing machine by just finding a stuck actuator, fixed a broken pump on my dishwasher by disassembling it and removing a stuck bit of plastic. My last dryer repair needed parts, but those only cost $30, and a dryer is a very simple machine.

If I'd had to call a repairman or buy a new unit every time one of these problems happened, I'd have spent thousands of dollars.

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That last line is the reason everything is disposable, things got too cheap to be worth hiring someone to fix them.

A $30k car? You'll pay a mechanic to fix that, it's too valuable an asset to just throw away (and even then, you see people selling cars with "something broken" that is not economical _for them_ to fix, but if you know how to fix it you can get a car cheap).

A $500-1k wash machine? Unlikely to be worth the $100-200 to bring out a repairman (because now you're looking at a $200 "discount" on a new one, which is probably much more "advanced" (if that's good) than the existing), so it gets tossed.

> A $30k car? You'll pay a mechanic to fix that

As long as the vehicle is reasonably dependable. Sometimes an older undependable vehicle might not be worth it. (think of stranding a loved one, or dying in winter, etc)

That said, brand new cars without spares are a disturbing trend.

There's always a tipping point, but the line for "literally drag the vehicle to the scrapper" is much lower than it is for most appliances, and mainly because of residual value - even a completely dead car will have companies willing to take it off your hands for you, or even give you a few hundred for.

I knew a retired guy years ago whose speciality was fixing microwaves; any dead microwave you could find he'd get working again. They still exist, but they're nearly impossible to find unless you hear about it.

I know I'd love to find someone to offload these old SpeedQueens on (even there, a burnt out motor was $350 to replace, a brand new one was $700 or so).

Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. Some fool like me would be happy for a used speed queen to fix and keep forever. It's 20 items down my household Todo list but will never get done since my 20 year old top loader just keeps working.

If you're talking about old washing machines or refrigerators, you might want to consider they might not be economically viable. New versions might pay for themselves quickly in water or electricity use.

I had a friend who (years ago) bought a version 1 humvee, but it turned out to be impractical, struggling to achieve highway speeds while guzzling gas like a toilet.

It depends how old the washer is though - a lot of times the older ones are just plain better than newer models with their planned obsolescence and weird software junk that frequently is the first component to break.

I've noticed that, (and found certain models that have "almost feels unauthorized" fill-and-soak modes).

Almost any modern refrigerator is quite reliable and energy efficient compared to ancient ones - but wash machines seem to be retrogressing in quality (and only partially can the blame be laid on the energy/water saving requirements).

Even non-mechanical fixes can be satisfying. My partner's backpack strap tore off while we were on a trip to Japan and really needed it. I'm not good at sewing, but I grabbed the hotel sewing kit and did a quick and ugly repair, telling him not to wear it on one shoulder anymore since it might only last a few days.

Months later my quick ugly repair is still holding and I still see him wearing it on one shoulder. It's a nice backpack and I'm glad we didn't throw it away.

> There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as being able to fix appliances.

I get that. But I also like new shiny things. So it's with a bit of disappointment as well that I keep these appliances limping along. I want the time left in the load projected on the floor dammit!

If you want that time left in load to actually be accurate, stick with an old washing machine. In my experience the newer ones' wash time changes frequently throughout the wash and is basically useless.

> There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as being able to fix appliances.

On the other hand, a broken appliance is a real let-down. I have this thing that was working, and now I have (laundry/vacuuming/dishes/food) piling up and I have to fix this immediately.

Totally - this is one of the reasons I had to learn to fix them. When you've got 3 kids, the washing machine or dryer being broken is an emergency, God forbid a couple of days of backlog laundry pile up!

At least with the dishwasher you can just switch to hand washing, doing the same with clothes is a much bigger pain.

Or you can let your kids be dirty for few days :|

My experience with oven screen repair was that even if I order all parts that could be the reason for wierd behaviour, it would still be cheaper than call technician to come and tell me for sure which part to change. I gotas lucky on first try, but case still stand that sometimes it's just cheaper replace all suspicious parts instead of calling expert to say what's wrong (and call second time for replacement)

I fixed our central AC during a 100f weekend and never felt like more of a hero for the family. YouTube has been extremely helpful with things like that. Also, shoutout to the AC repair dude who let me buy a capacitor off his truck during his lunch break.

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