Can I vent while we sit around the campfire ?

[NanciL]

I have built two houses from the ground up and repaired just about every home appliance that exists, but lost on this last repair on our electric cloths dryer.
It had a rubbing/schritcing sound, so I Opened it up to try and trouble shoot it. It has two drum roller wheels in the rear and the cheapest drum roller glides in the front that I have ever seen. They consist of a strip of thin Teflon with a piece felt under it and for some reason which only the designer of the machine knows the left side is slightly different then the right side.
Right away it was obvious that the right side was my problem since the felt had slipped out from under the Teflon and the drum was rubbing on the support. I figured that as long as I had to replace those parts, I might as well get a new belt and rear rollers along with the left side glides.
I called the supply house and gave the make and model number of the machine and they called me back with the price of each item which came to a total of ninty eight dollars.. The two front Teflon roller glides are nothing more than a flat strip a half inch wide and about six inches long that I bend to fit when I install them and the felt is nothing more than a flat half inch strip about three inches long by an 1/8 inch thick with a peel of sticky back. The price of each one of the Teflon strips was fourteen dollars and the price of each piece of felt was $4.50 which I questioned. The counter man called the supplier and double checked and said that it was the proper price.
Needless to say I had to have them so I bit the bullit and said Ok. He called me the next morning and said the parts were in.
When I picked them up and checked to make sure I had everything I noticed the felt pads were only about an inch long and pointed that out to him. He doubled checked and said that they were the proper ones, ($4.50 for a sticky back piece of felt 1" x 1/2" x 1/8)
I got everything home and when I was installing them I found that one of the Teflon strips was shorter then the originals plus both had little notches in each side that didn't match the originals. I was able to modify them and make them fit anyway.
Then after much anguish of getting the new belt on over it's tension wheel and motor wheel and getting the whole thing back together. I end up with the same rubbing/scratching noise.
Back to the "drawing board" ! I figure the only thing left is the motor and fan wheel which is attached to the motor.
I took off the fan wheel and that seemed sloppy on its shaft so figured that might be what it was, but before running out and paying an arm and a leg for a new one I would try the motor with all the other parts and pieces not connected.
Turned it on and sure enough I still have the noise!
Looked on line and it said that if the motor has a screetching noise it is bad and cannot be fixed and a new motor at $150 is requied.
Today we are heading out to buy a new dryer at it's cost plus the cost of my $98 parts !!!

Jack L

[naturist]

They don't build any appliances like they used to. Today, every one of them is subject to "planned obsolescence" and cannot be repaired economically so must be replaced. Welcome to the 21st century.

[2milesup]

Every time I read this thread's title I'm reminded of that scene in Blazing Saddles...

[PA12DRVR]

msmith1199 said: " If you ever bought parts for a small plane you'd notice they are super expensive".....

....really? :h :E 🙂

Been there, done that. Lost a comma in the bank account proving it to be absolutely 100% correct.

[msmith1199]

Tyler0215 wrote:
When I got married in 1970 my parents gave us a 5 year old Kenmore washer and dryer. We still use it I have probably replace every part except the cabinet on both. As long as I can still get parts I'll keep them both going. BTW I have a 1950 fridge that still works also. Gotta love the old stuff!

You could probably pay for new appliances with the savings on your electrical bill alone over a year or two. Those old things are probably sucking up the power.

[Tyler0215]

When I got married in 1970 my parents gave us a 5 year old Kenmore washer and dryer. We still use it I have probably replace every part except the cabinet on both. As long as I can still get parts I'll keep them both going. BTW I have a 1950 fridge that still works also. Gotta love the old stuff!

[msmith1199]

Costs money to stock parts in a warehouse and have sales people and a distribution system. When you sell a million of one part you can sell it for a cheap price. When you only sell a few dozen of one part, you have to charge to cover your expenses. If you ever bought parts for a small plane you'd notice they are super expensive. Part of the reason is because it's an airplane, but most of the reason is because they may only be making a few hundred copies of each part.

[covered_wagon]

Your water heater will last longer if you flush the sediment out about once a year. Some of the hose bibs on the bottom are plastic and can snap. I changed over to a brass hose bib.

The second thing is when you flush it each year, making it last longer, the plastic dip tube can go bad so you have to be ready with an extra one handy. The dip tube holder is simply a plumbing nipple on top of the water heater, on the inlet side, just sleeved inside. Some have water inhibitors that are in the way of the new dip tube so you have to buy the same sized threaded nipple is all to sleeve the new dip tube into. Pretty simple really.

[Pawz4me]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
As long as washer /dryer are still working I don't care what noise they make. That's why I just close the laundry door.

That's pretty much my opinion, too.

I called the repairman because the last set we had were both making noise. He must have been an honest guy, because he told me it was the pump on the washer and he could replace it but it was working fine and he couldn't guarantee a new one wouldn't make as much noise after a month or so. I forgot what he said was causing the dryer to squeak, but he said it wouldn't hurt it at all, and that if he fixed it it might start squeaking again pretty soon.

So I just shut the door, and both of them kept working for several more years.

[atreis]

I've generally found that if I buy the models at or near the top of the Consumer Reports list for function, and also at or near the top for reliability, that repairs are rare.

I've only ever had to have one major appliance repaired - a dishwasher that needed a new door gasket.

I've also only ever done my own repair of one other - re-seated the electrical connectors on my clothes washer's circuit board (Kenmore branded Whirlpool) due to intermittent errors. The electrical connectors had come loose from it shaking.

[Jagtech]

Betcha that noise was just the idler\tensioner bearing was dry.
Anyhow, last time I bought a new fridge, it came with only one year warranty. Remember when they used to be 5 years? The salespeson told me to expect about 5 years out of a $1K fridge. Appliances used to last up to 25 years!

[down_home]

In 1971 we bought a Whirlpool washer and a dryer, from KMart, for somewhere around 225.00, I think.
They lasted, even though I had to pull and lube the bearing on the dryer, until sometime in early 2000s.
I broke the washer by trying to unscrew the little tub that dispensed softener or bleach from the agitator.
We bought this current set of Neptunes at a ridiculous 2,000.00 or soand have had to renew the service contracts, for more than 150% of the total price of our original Whirlpools several times. Haven't done that for a few years now. They had to replace the board and other things several times. If I stumble across a good condition old American made set, it's going into the basement to replace these things in the Laundry room when they quit.
They conserve water supposedly but the clothes sometimes have to be washed twice and it takes all day to do two or three loads. The dryer runs forever to get clothes dry. It wears out cotton clothes, from running so long, at lower temps to dry them. Beats the clothes to death over a half day.
Our old dishwasher was powered by surplus mini gun motor and was loud but dishes were cleaner and done quicker. Newer fancier one takes forever,takes a few minutes which cycles etc to use, and doesn't get them as clean sometimes but it "saves water." Like I care, I need to put in a well here.

[wnjj]

If you grow tired of repairing appliances, you can always do this to them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6T5BojXc8

[happybooker1]

My mom bought a Whirlpool W/D set from Sears back in 1984. My brother's still using it @ 30 years old. Nope, the set doesn't have "push buttons" or 15 different washing/drying cycles, only 3 different water levels to select, and a boring white -- but still doing what it's meant to do!

[NanciL]

wa8yxm wrote:
One suggestions if fan is loose can it be tightened (Set screw)

Second suggestion: Felt pads

Weather stripping (one type) is stick backed felt strips many feet long, cut to size.

Yup, I found that out on the felt pads, but on this fan it won't work.

Jack L