JR North wrote:

The Direct Drive vac power heads I have seen are cheap plasicky
lightweight air turbine design. Poor torque to the brushes and the
loss of suction due to energy absorbed by the turbine make these
inefficient and, of course, failure prone due to cheap plastic
components. The replacement belt for my power head was $2.35 retail
at the local vac shop. 10 for $12.00 including shipping on Ebay. Try
and find replacement air turbine parts for that new vac-anywhere. The
original belt lasted 20 years and only failed because my GF sucked a
sash cord up and stalled the head.

My 40 year old vac has no belts at all, and I never bother with power heads
etc. Its as good as it ever was except for the switch replacement. Even they
they had sealed the contacts at the back of the switch with silastic etc, it still
ended up sucking enough dust into the switch that it wasnt reliable anymore.
While the switch was trivially dismountable by pushing the axle out, a quick
clean didnt see it very reliable and a new one cost peanuts so I replaced it.

Pity about all the washing machines, driers, dishwashers, VCRs etc etc
etc that have binned belts now and are much better because they have.

The only belts I have anymore are in the car.

Rod Speed wrote:
JR North wrote:

Unfortunately, you have to plan for Planned Obsolescence several
years behind.
For instance: my Kenmore washer/dryer set is 16 years old. Still
going strong. No repairs. Lots of posts in S.E.R (and here) on
current W/D models puking after 2 or so years.
My JC Penney (Eureka) canister vac is 22 years old. Only thing
replaced was power head belt a couple years ago. New vacs are
garbage. I could go on and on....


Lousy design is nothing like planned obsolescence.

Most obviously with the modern approach of beltless direct drive
systems which dont even have a belt that will ever need replacing.



Too_Many_Tools wrote:


In my opinon...no.

I intentionally try to have older appliances, vehicles, machines to
lower repair costs and keep overall ownership cost to a minimum.

Your thoughts?

TMT

Irreparable damageBy Bryce Baschuk
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 9, 2007
Bill Jones, after 42 years, is finally closing the Procter
Appliance Service shop in Silver Spring.
"You can't make a good salary to survive on the way you could
years ago," said the 61-year-old owner of the oven, refrigerator
and washer-dryer repair shop. "Everything has changed in the appliance
business."
Mr. Jones recently sold his home in Laurel and is in the process
of moving to Bluffton, S.C., with his wife, Jeannette.
Mr. Jones is one of the many Washington-area repairmen who have
struggled to stay afloat as residents replace, not repair, old
appliances.
"It's a dying trade," said Scott Brown, Webmaster of
www.fixitnow.com and self-proclaimed "Samurai Appliance Repairman."
The reason for this is twofold, Mr. Brown said: The cost of
appliances is coming down because of cheap overseas labor and
improved manufacturing techniques, and repairmen are literally
dying off. The average age of appliance technicians is 42, and
there are few young repairmen to take their place, said Mr. Brown, 47. He
has been repairing appliances in New Hampshire for the past 13
years. In the next seven years, the number of veteran appliance
repairmen will decrease nationwide as current workers retire or
transfer to other occupations, the Department of Labor said in its
2007 Occupational Outlook Handbook.
The federal agency said many prospective repairmen prefer work
that is less strenuous and want more comfortable working
conditions. Local repairmen said it is simply a question of
economics. "Nowadays appliances are cheap, so people are just
getting new ones," said Paul Singh, a manager at the Appliance Service Depot, a
repair shop in Northwest. "As a result, business has slowed down a
lot."
"The average repair cost for a household appliance is $50 to
$350," said Shahid Rana, a service technician at Rana
Refrigeration, a repair shop in Capitol Heights. "If the repair is going to cost
more than that, we usually tell the customer to go out and buy a
new one." It's not uncommon for today's repairmen to condemn an
appliance instead of fixing it for the sake of their customers'
wallets. If they decide to repair an appliance that is likely to
break down again, repairmen are criticized by their customers and
often lose business because of a damaged reputation.
Mr. Jones said he based his repair decisions on the 50 percent
rule: "If the cost of service costs more than 50 percent of the
price of a new machine, I'll tell my customers to get a new one."
"A lot of customers want me to be honest with them, so I'll tell
them my opinion and leave the decision making up to them," he said.
In recent years, consumers have tended to buy new appliances
when existing warranties expire rather than repair old appliances, the
Department of Labor said.
Mr. Brown acknowledged this trend. "Lower-end appliances which
you can buy for $200 to $300 are basically throwaway appliances,"
he said. "They are so inexpensive that you shouldn't pay to get them
repaired." "The quality of the materials that are being made
aren't lasting," Mr. Jones said. "Nowadays you're seeing more
plastic and more circuit boards, and they aren't holding up."
Many home appliances sold in the United States are made in
Taiwan, Singapore, China and Mexico.
"Nothing is made [in the United States] anymore," Mr. Jones
said. "But then again, American parts are only better to a point,
a lot of U.S. companies are all about the dollar."
Fortunately for the next generation of repairmen, some of
today's high-end appliances make service repairs the most cost-effective
option.
The Department of Labor concurred. "Over the next decade, as
more consumers purchase higher-priced appliances designed to have much
longer lives, they will be more likely to use repair services than
to purchase new appliances," said the 2007 Occupational Outlook
Handbook. Modern, energy-efficient refrigerators can cost as
much as $5,000 to $10,000, and with such a hefty price tag,
throwing one away is not an option.
In some cases, repairmen can help consumers reduce the amount of
aggravation that a broken appliance will cause.
Consider the time and effort it takes to shop for a new
appliance, wait for its delivery, remove the old one and get the
new one installed.
In addition, certain appliances such as ovens and washing
machines can be a bigger hassle to replace because they are
connected to gas and water lines.
"It takes your time, it takes your effort, and if you don't
install the new appliance, you'll have to hire a service technician
to install it anyways," Mr. Brown said.
Some consumers bond with their appliances like old pets, and for
loyalty or sentimental reasons, refuse to let them go.
Mr. Rana said some of his clients have appliances that are more
than 30 years old. It makes sense, he said. "A lot of old
refrigerators are worth fixing because they give people good
service. They just don't make things like they used to."