Economic question

[3930dave]

Doesn't happen any more. My first Maytag washer and dryer were 25 years old and still working when I bought new ones.

The Maytag Repairman retired too early..... but there's lots of work for his grandson !

Many corporations want to focus on Brand Management/Marketing exclusively, and just sub the actual production (and some/most of the engineering) out today.

Rgds, D.

 

[95XL883]

Agree there- (most) new appliance control boards are the make break for me, switches sensors motors/pumps not so much. priced the board for our Kenmore (Whirlpool) front load washer, over $300...

but not always, 60" LG HD plasma TV quit, 20 minutes on youtube ordered a board for $17 on ebay and back in business in 5 days.

Glad you could get the board. On my LG HD plasma, one or two boards went out two months shy of the warranty. LG fixed it but the picture wasn't as good as before. The replacement board failed 13 months later. I did an internet search and narrowed and identified the boards. I could find only one of the boards new. It was the only one they had left and I would have had to import it from NZ. (Yes, any local repair shop couldn't have fixed it because they couldn't get the parts.) Pretty frustrating that a $1,700 tv not even three years old. I'll never own another LG product again.

The story has a semi-happy ending. One of my boys has a masters in electrical engineering and was designing airplane components at the time. (In other words, he is very knowledgeable and probably knew more than the engineer who originally designed the tv.) His opinion is it was a design flaw that the tv was overheating and it would continue to fail about once every one or two years. I wound up giving the tv to my boy who pulled the two boards, put them on an oscilloscope, identified the specific failed resistor/capacitor/chip/whatever, disassembled the boards and replaced the failed components. He also modified the back of the tv, improving cooling and added a couple of small fans to get the cooling right. His out of pocket cost for the parts was less than $5. The fans were $15. That tv is still running now 8 years later, but it took an electrical engineer with sophisticated equipment to fix the lousy design and deal with unavailable boards. Of course, for what his education cost, I could probably buy a new tv every year for the rest of my life. :laughing:

 

[oosik]

I've been reading thru all the posts here and trying to figure why I don't have more problems with lightning. Granted, I don't get lightning storms like I've witnessed in Nebraska but in late summer we do have several events.

Then I got to GOEDUCK'S post #26 and the light turned on. My house is surrounded by Ponderosa pine trees - all in the 85' to 105' range. Especially towards the SW where all the "heavy" weather comes from.

Its not totally uncommon for one of those tall pines to get hit during a lightning storm - perhaps saving a strike on my house.

I shall - knock on wood.

 

[ultrarunner]

LG is the old Gold Star if memory serves... this was a very inexpensive entry level that I first saw with things like Dorm Room Refrigerators.

Seems to be a common thread in that the electronics fail and that few are capable of doing anything but swapping parts and hoping for the best.

Dad's life long friend was in the TV business... going back to the first post war sets... he was always replacing tubes, including picture tubes... the quintessential guy on the test bench.

He liked Zenith and that is all the family bought... none have ever went bad... just who watches black and white anymore? The 1980 Color Console just keeps going... and at this stage in life mom needs to have the familiar and not up to learning with her memory problems.

My folks got married in the 50's with a hand me down Philco refrigerator... it is still working... then they got a Kelvinator... after 25 years the compressor went bad so Grandma had a Amana connection and that is what she has now... Mom was always worried about the ice maker line going bad so she doesn't use that feature...

In 1978 I redid all the appliances in her kitchen... GE except for the Amana and they are all working without problems...

Maybe they will be hand me downs because they work?

My friend replaced all his Frigidaire Harvest Gold appliances decades ago... I had a rental and said I can have all of it for $100... all of it is still working in a rental home...

 

[goeduck]

I have a LG clothes washer and microwave, both work fine and have for years. I think all brands have their good and bad.

 

[TnAndy]

Agree there- (most) new appliance control boards are the make break for me, switches sensors motors/pumps not so much. priced the board for our Kenmore (Whirlpool) front load washer, over $300...

The start button on our top loader 7-8yr old Whirlpool washer when out....I tried a work around or two, but not much success....you have to replace the whole control board. Junked the washer. Bought the LAST non-electronic control washer Lowe's had...the old mechanical timer type, and I'll fix it until parts are not available it something goes wrong with it. I've had it with overpriced 'control boards'.

 

[TractorGuy]

I am lucky in that I have underground power from the pole to the house and then the poles are only about 1/3 the height of the adjacent trees.

Most of the lightning damage I have had over the years came from the lightning hitting a tree then following along the ground into the house. Buried phone lines were guaranteed to be a path for damaged phones, modems, or anything connected to them. We tried the invisible fencing one time. Had it two weeks and lightning struck a tree then went to ground where the wire was buried. Blew the controller and the GFI outlet it was plugged into right out of my wall in the garage. We even had two tires ruined by lightning running along the ground and going for the steel cords. Guy at the shop put several patches in and every time he tanked them there was another leak. I guess it entered in one location, ran around the cord in the rubber, and came out somewhere else inside. After the 3rd attempt I stuck a knife in the sidewalls of both and had them replaced.

I don't think having your power lines buried in the ground is going to protect you.

 

[Arky217]

Been in current house 3+ years; here is my solution. It has worked so far.

* Install whole house surge protector in service panel.

* Plug everything electronic into a dedicated surge protector.

* And most important of all, during a thunderstorm,
UNPLUG EVERYTHING !!!

 

[MarkF48]

Been in current house 3+ years; here is my solution. It has worked so far.

* Install whole house surge protector in service panel.

* Plug everything electronic into a dedicated surge protector.

* And most important of all, during a thunderstorm,
UNPLUG EVERYTHING !!!

Not 'during' the thunderstorm, but at sometime before if you know it's coming. Years ago my wife had just started to reach for the plug to the TV to pull it when a storm was upon us. We had a strike just an instant before she had her hand on it. The strike fried the TV and left burn marks on that outlet.

We unplug all the electronic gear including the cable for the TV and internet. My well pump also has plug that gets pulled. I do have lightening rods on the peak of my barn.

 

[ultrarunner]

At the cabin Grandma would insist on unplugging everything whenever there was a thunderstorm and when left empty...