[homeclinic] Re: Monthly posting. Repair or replace?
- From: Susiea1000@xxxxxxx
- To: homeclinic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 10:44:44 EST
It depends on the appliance, part, ease of repair.....there could be more
than one thing wrong at once so fixing one part will expose the other failure.
Almost anything that is exposed to rusting conditions or heat will have more
wear and tear than something that is used infrequently....Sometimes all that is
needed is an adjustment or a lube job, a new wire or a patch here or there...
It is worth it to learn how these things work so that you will have a clue
when parts begin to fail....I fixed my very expensive microwave/convection oven
once, I could see that I could program the time to cook, hit start, and
nothing would happen... Because it was accepting instructions except for start
I
reallized it had to be the next component, the part that recognized that the
door was closed, a safety keeps the microwaves from circulating with the door
open... sure enough, took the cover off and using a wooden chopstick to poke
around, found a little smokey looking discoloration on a module just above the
door latch inside, I ordered it up from an electronics store and installed it
and
got another year or so, part was maybe $30?
Some motors just need a new set of brushes, a cheap and easy replacement you
could teach a 10 year old to do...
Sometimes a switch goes bad or a cord gets a failure....home appliances with
two wires? It rarely even matters which way the wires go...stripping wires is
good eye exercise as well!!!!
SOLDERING is a test of manual dexterity I cannot pass!!! You really need 3
hands..... good ones at that!~!!
I figure its my Scottish blood that makes me try to save or repair anything
that could be remotely useful, I feel wealthy when I have a lot of 'resources',
that looks like junk and rubble to others, but I know I have a part of an
extension cord for a 220 appliance that I cut off an old water heater that was
obviously cashed..... etc..... I have a lot of tools that you would only use
once...waiting to see if I maybe will need it again someday..... It would be
the next day after I throw it out..
Almost anything can be repaired if you can consider it is worth the time.
To me a bigger factor is if I discard it it will take me a lot of time and
effort to research what new replacement I would want, do I have the money for
the quality, where do I get the best price? Will it be cheaper next week?
And the running around, dealing with salesmen, gas and time consumed,
delivery, setup, blah blah blah, sometimes it is worth it not to have to leave
the
house or drop by a parts place to pick up the repair and get advice...
The best question is how much am I will in to pay myself to solve this
problem? set an hourly wage, what your time is worth.....
Sometimes the lessons learned in repair are worth the price spent...
Regards,
Susie
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