Hi Neil,

[my rants about electronics in appliances]

I have to agree with you! Our range has moved with us simply because
there are no new ones with the features this one has, PLUS I can fix

My attitude towards my automobile! :

this one. So far it has had one rebuilt clock [$35 18 years ago] amd
one bottom oven element [$25 5 years ago]. The refrigierator came new

Yes, even the "elements" (used to be called calrods?) are now
magical and mysterious! "Induction heating"? Can you spell
"more expensive to fix"? :-/

with this house [10 years ago] and the processor board failed 3 years
ago so there is your 7 year life.

frown I was sort of hoping the salesman was exagerating
on that! :

New board $85, but I fixed the old
one as a 'spare' since it was a $0.35 electrolytic that had failed. On

So, hopefully "problems" are obvious? I would assume all
of the processors, etc. are custom and/or masked parts so
there is no easy way of figuring out *why* it is refusing
to work, etc.?

Was your repair (replacement) something you could/did yourself?
Or, did someone have to diagnose it for you (for a fee, above the $85
replacement cost, of course!)?

[i.e., labor costs are the killer]

all the other stuff, one simply hopes tnat the electronics are well
made. One wonders how a washer and lead free solder on the PCB will
work out with that level of vibration.

Exactly.

Its annoying because you know that there isn't any real
"rocket science" in these things. The electronics are just
glorified relays and timers (to a first order approxmation).
Yet, with relays and timers, you can *see* what's not working.
With electronics, you have to wonder *why* the processor isn't
turning on the pump, etc.