Tuesday, July 07, 2020

They Don't Make Them Like They Use To.




Sunday morning started off with a bang, I turned the cooktop on to make breakfast, turned around to get something out of the refrigerator and things went BANG- BANG.  It wasn't left over 4th of July fireworks, the power control unit in the cooktop shorted out with a bang, and accompany cloud of electrical smoke, and that tripped the breakers (the second bang.) Once Jay and I assured one another we were both still alive, I called maintenance, the main breaker is in a locked control room and the condo maintenance person has to reset it.  I thought about repair or replace, looked at the age on the cooktop and headed out appliance shopping.  

I explained to the appliance salesperson what I was looking for, and why, and the urgency of the situation. He asked how old is the one that just went BANG!  I said, "38 years, it was original to the condo that was new in 1982." He responded, "they don't make them like they use to, don't expect the new one to last that long" we both laughed. When GE built this 38 years ago they didn't expect it to last this long without repairs.  But it did. The oven is the same age, and while the clock quit working decades ago, the oven still works wonderfully, it will hold 450 degrees F, to bake a Pizza like few I have ever seen.  The original garbage disposal lasted 37 years, then the motor stopped, it still hadn't corroded through.  The house in Lexington we had at least three disposals in 23 years, all of them corroded through and started leaking.   

There is a backlog on deliveries and installs, the new cooktop will be installed on the 13th.  I hope that is a good day for appliance installs.  

Have you had any appliances outlive their life expectancy? 

24 comments:

  1. Many things. He's right...buy they also purposely don't make them to last either. My aunt has a new Frigidaire stove flat top and double oven. It's a dream!!!!! I may look into one myself

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do believe in using appliances until they die of old age.

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  2. Anonymous7/07/2020

    I wonder if it is induction cooking or flat glass with elements underneath. No doubt you will show us once it is installed. Our tumbler clothes dryer is 22 years old and while we replaced the drive belt and the plastic door catch ourselves, it is still going. The timer usually seizes at 30 minutes countdown, but occasionally it does the full countdown, which is very annoying as I am used to just closing the door to switch it on.

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    Replies
    1. Glass top, touch controls. I have a stacked Maytag Washer and Dryer of indeterminate age, probably 30 years old, as long as it works, I am keeping it.

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  3. We never stay in one place long enough. My parents bought a microwave oven in the mid-1970s. My mother was still using it the year she died, 2016. We had a gas stove in San Diego when we bought the house in 1996. The house was built in 1924. The stove was replaced in 1949. It was a treasure. Double ovens, clock, light, timer, built-in pancake griddle. A work of art that worked perfectly.

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  4. my sharp microwave was built in 1991 and is still working (it came with the house).

    my GE stove & oven are still working too (came with the house).

    I've replaced the fridge (once), garbage disposal (once), washer (once) & dryer (twice), dishwasher (thrice) since we moved in in 2000.

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    Replies
    1. I hope GE still makes some good stuff, the new cooktop is GE.

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    2. the dishwasher we bought in january is a GE; the previous LG appliance lasted only 5 years. so much for "quality" LG products!

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  5. Our major appliances have lasted quite a while, but coffee makers, microwaves and espresso machines have all been replaced at least once since we moved to Smallville in 2007.

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    Replies
    1. I have lost count on coffee makers

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  6. Yeah, I have a long lived appliance, and it's none of your business which one!

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    Replies
    1. I had no idea the plug in dildos lasted that long! I've only heard the stories of the early models.

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    2. @maddie & @duchess - bwhahahahahahahaha!

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  7. Back in the early 90's I realized that I had replaced my toaster for the 4th time. The odd thing about that was that my parents were still using the one they got for a wedding present 1945.

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    Replies
    1. My mother used the same toaster for 30 years

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  8. My parents had the same toaster for 40+ years. I've probably had six since the early 70s, but I still have and use the same hand mixer I bought in 1972.

    Our built-in oven went off in a brief power outage and never came back on except once when it sparked and then began to heat and heat and heat. We had to pull off the front panel and play with some wires before we got it to stop. It has now been repaired (after two weeks) with a new front panel, and after the repairman spent two hours tweaking things and a $375 charge later, it worked fine at 400 degrees last night to cook salmon.

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  9. I live in a new house, so I haven't had to worry about replacing anything as of yet. My refrigerator's ice maker periodically stops working, then will start up on its own again. Can't figure it out. When it stops working I just make ice the "old fashioned" way.

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  10. this looks just like what we have for a stovetop cooker.

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  11. We bought a microwave oven in 1994 and it worked until the fall of 2019. I don’t like the new one nearly as well, though it does have a lot more power.
    Sarah in California

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