As the saying goes, "Some days you get the bear and others the bear gets you." This week I feel like I got the bear.
I've already reported about my successful repair of my Stihl chainsaw. What I didn't tell was that I used my HF chainsaw sharpener for the first time and also filed the rakers a bit on my chain and that saw goes through wood like nobody's business. It is such a pleasure to use tools that perform better than expected.
Also this week, our washing machine gave up. You might think that's the bear getting me, but secretly I've been hoping this would happen. We've had this Amana washer that will intermittently leak a few ounces of water on the floor about once every couple of months. It also has been squeaking as it operates and I've been considering another washer for a long time. I've already had the seal replaced once under warranty and after 8 years, I'm tired of fooling with it. This week the washer dropped a quart or more of water on the floor and started squawking loudly. There's no danger of water damage because my laundry room is in the back of my garage and on a concrete floor.
We've talked about frontload washers for a long time and this seemed the time to make our move. However, my wife really likes our Amana dryer with it's stainless steel tumbler. She doesn't want to get rid of it. I tried to talk her into getting a new matching set and selling the old ones, but she didn't want to spend the money with Christmas coming up. I could hardly argue with that. She even suggested that we look at used washers. Her idea was that we could buy a used frontload and see how we like it before spending the big bucks on a new full set. Again, I couldn't argue with that logic.
I started looking on Craigslist and almost immediately found a used appliance dealer near where her mom and dad live about 40 miles south of us. We took our pickup and drove down to this shop with cash in hand. The shop is in the small town of Haslet, Tx and you have to really search to find it. It's called Taylor Appliances. They have a two-bay garage area full of washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, and freezers. The guy employs three full-time guys who repair and test used appliances. He buys used appliances in lots of 50 from box stores who take them on trade-in on new ones. After any needed repairs, he tests each appliance thoroughly before putting it up for sale. Most washers and dryers he has go for less than $200 each and he delivers free to the local area. He had two frontload washers, one of which was a Bosch Nexxt machine. It had a new doorseal installed and a broken door window replaced with locally fabricated plexiglass. It's operation had been tested 7 times. He said the price on it was $200 and my wife asked him if he would take $150 since we were there with cash and a truck. At that point, he said his wife set that price and he'd have to call her and discuss the discount.
While he went into the office to call his wife, we noticed he had several GE refrigerators like ours. We've had trouble with our icemaker door working properly and frost is a severe problem with the icemaker. When the owner came out of his office, he told us he could not contact his wife and he'd have to hold the price on the washer at $200. My wife asked him if he knew what caused GE icemaker doors to stay open and he smiled and said he did. He reached into a parts bin and brought out a brand new solenoid. He said they sold for $35 and he would show us how to install it. My wife, being the bargain hunter, asked him if he could throw in the solenoid for free with our purchase. I was shocked when the guy said, "Sure! Why not?"
So for $200, we got a frontload washer and a repair part for our refrigerator. The washer even has a 1-yr warranty. When he figured the price, he caculated what the sales tax would be on the washer and back off some more on the price so that our out-of-pocket was exactly $200.
So off to home we drive with our goodies. Oops! What's that red light I see in my truck's dash? Oh my! It's that GEN light again. My alternator has been intermittent for the last year and it finally died. I guess I should be happy with a alternator that lasted 385,000 miles.Since it's a diesel, I just drove it home with the idea that I'd take off the alternator and have it when I went to get a new one so I would not have to leave a core deposit.
The new washer fits perfectly into our laundry room. It's big and heavy. Getting it unloaded, in the room, and levelled is a job, but not all that bad really. When we started it up, something made noise inside the tub and I found it was a screw rolling around. After removal, it's quiet and seems to run perfectly. This thing spins out clothes at 1000 rpm and uses only 10 gallons of water per load instead of 50 like our old washer. My wife is very happy so far.
The solenoid went in just as easy on our refrigerator icemaker too. Now, our door works perfectly and our icemaker will quit frosting up.
Yesterday morning our phone rang early and I answered it to find it was my Stihl dealer (also my tractor dealer). He said I had left my debit card there when I purchased my chainsaw repair parts. He was calling to reassure me it would be safe and I could pick it up anytime. Holy smokes!
So, before going to get my debit card, I took my alternator off my truck and carried it with me. I stopped by a bakery on the way to the Stihl dealer and took them a couple dozen cookies as thanks for taking care of my card. After that, I stopped at the autoparts store. I got a reman'd alternator for $139 from Autozone and returned home. After installing the alternator, everything is good and working normally. I'm sure the brushes were just worn out on the old one.
Did I mention that I also signed a sales contract on my property I had for sale and received an earnest money check this week? Woohoo!
It's been a good week. I think I'm way ahead of that bear.
Glad someone is having a good week. Hopefully in 10-20 years I'll get a week like that again.
