Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples in
the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent fixture
that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:53:38 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples in
the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

I've always had doubts about Rubbermain mailboxes.

For one thing, doesn't the mail get wet when you do the dishes?

In your case, if it's rubber, why didn't the post bend and bounce back
when the snow sat on it or the car hit it?


The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent fixture
that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

It's a puzzlement.

"mm" wrote
I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

I've always had doubts about Rubbermain mailboxes.

For one thing, doesn't the mail get wet when you do the dishes?

In your case, if it's rubber, why didn't the post bend and bounce back
when the snow sat on it or the car hit it?

We don't do dishes until the mail comes first. Sometimes the mailman leaves
his coffee cup too.

I'm not sure how old it is, but over ten years. Until this year's heavy
snow, it has actually held up well against the plow debris. Maybe it just
got brittle over time, but it was cracked at the bottom and I had one hell
of a time breaking the rest of it off. The design is a steel rod pounded
into the dirt, no digging, no cement to mix.

The one feature of this mailbox we really like is the telltale flag. When
the MM opens the door, it pops up a yellow flag on the side and it is
visible from the house so you know if the mail came. We get mail late
(sometimes around 5 PM) so it has save many a false trip to retrieve it.
Not a big thing, but on a very cold or rainy day, we appreciate it. One of
those things, once you've had one you wonder why every mailbox does not have
one. Even all the Rubbermaid don't.

I had a similiar moment with Schlage B-162 deadbolts. The
inner cylinder cost more than the entire lock.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had
two examples in
the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the
snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a
fluorescent fixture
that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

mm wrote:

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:53:38 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples in
the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

I've always had doubts about Rubbermain mailboxes.

For one thing, doesn't the mail get wet when you do the dishes?

In your case, if it's rubber, why didn't the post bend and bounce back
when the snow sat on it or the car hit it?

[I caught the humor-- just had to say. . . .] Last summer I just
happened to look out as a truck hit my Rubbermaid mailbox and sent it
50 feet up the road. Mine is on a 4x4 post mounted on a round post
so it can swing when the plow hits it.

The post was fine. The little lever that tells me when the mailman
has opened the box was missing. But otherwise, the mailbox was fine.
It was just 'unsnapped' from the mount. Snapped it back in-- and saw
the little lever thing in the grass, which also snapped back into
place.

By the time I got around to putting it back together, my wife was
already out buying a new box-- so now I've got a spare in the garage
for when a tank runs over the one that is out there now.

They are sturdy little buggers.

Jim

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples
in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

I bought four four foot fluorescent fixtures, and a dozen bulbs, and with
the power company rebate, the cost was zero. I'm like you, how do they
figure this stuff.

Steve

Heart surgery pending?
www.cabgbypasssurgery.com

On 3/27/2011 12:13 PM, Steve B wrote:
"Ed wrote in message
...
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples
in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

I bought four four foot fluorescent fixtures, and a dozen bulbs, and with
the power company rebate, the cost was zero. I'm like you, how do they
figure this stuff.

Steve

Heart surgery pending?
www.cabgbypasssurgery.com



It's called the Gillette business model. Give away the device, and you
have them by the short and curlies forever on the consumables. Inkjet
printers are famous for that. In the case of the shop lights, the power
company rebate is because of reduced demand (in theory), but because
THEY get a tax credit for promoting 'efficient' lights.

--
aem sends...

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:27:21 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:


The one feature of this mailbox we really like is the telltale flag. When
the MM

Are you talkin' about me? Are YOU talkin' about me?

opens the door, it pops up a yellow flag on the side and it is
visible from the house so you know if the mail came. We get mail late
(sometimes around 5 PM) so it has save many a false trip to retrieve it.
Not a big thing, but on a very cold or rainy day, we appreciate it.

Absolutely. It was more than 100 feet from our door to the mailbox,
sometimes in the snow or rain or cold.

One of
those things, once you've had one you wonder why every mailbox does not have
one. Even all the Rubbermaid don't.

I don't know why these aren't more popular either. My mother bought
one, that screwed on to our metal mailbox, in 1958! You'd think
everyone would have one by now. But in 7 years in the suburbs then, I
only saw 4 or 5 others, and here it is 50 years later and still they
are so uncommon.

Hers had a weight on one end, with a thin metal piece that got clipped
between the mailbox door and the side, and a yellow metal flag on the
other end. I saw one or two with a parallelogram shaped set of metal
parts that caused the flag to go up.

But those are long gone afaict. They do, however, sell electronic
transmitters that are supposed to know when you get mail and beep in
your house. Far less reliable, needs batteries, what a project, when
the yellow flag is 100% reliable and should last for 50 years.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:57:01 -0400, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

mm wrote:

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:53:38 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples in
the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

I've always had doubts about Rubbermain mailboxes.

For one thing, doesn't the mail get wet when you do the dishes?

In your case, if it's rubber, why didn't the post bend and bounce back
when the snow sat on it or the car hit it?

[I caught the humor-- just had to say. . . .] Last summer I just
happened to look out as a truck hit my Rubbermaid mailbox and sent it
50 feet up the road. Mine is on a 4x4 post mounted on a round post
so it can swing when the plow hits it.

The post was fine. The little lever that tells me when the mailman
has opened the box was missing. But otherwise, the mailbox was fine.
It was just 'unsnapped' from the mount. Snapped it back in-- and saw
the little lever thing in the grass, which also snapped back into
place.

That is pretty good.

By the time I got around to putting it back together, my wife was
already out buying a new box-- so now I've got a spare in the garage
for when a tank runs over the one that is out there now.

They are sturdy little buggers.

Rubbermaild boxes or wives.

Jim

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:34:09 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I had a similiar moment with Schlage B-162 deadbolts. The
inner cylinder cost more than the entire lock.


Just like an inkjet printer.
Once you have that fixture, you are "stuck" buying bulbs. Unless you
want to remove/re-install the complete fixture every time - which MOST
people do not want to do.

mm wrote:

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:57:01 -0400, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

-snip-
By the time I got around to putting it back together, my wife was
already out buying a new box-- so now I've got a spare in the garage
for when a tank runs over the one that is out there now.

They are sturdy little buggers.

Rubbermaild boxes or wives.


In my case, both.g I've seen 'less-than-sturdy' wives. I chose
the lifetime model this time.

Jim

wrote:
On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:34:09 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I had a similiar moment with Schlage B-162 deadbolts. The
inner cylinder cost more than the entire lock.


Just like an inkjet printer.
Once you have that fixture, you are "stuck" buying bulbs. Unless you
want to remove/re-install the complete fixture every time - which MOST
people do not want to do.

Interesting case of clipping the previous post. Remove everything relating to
your reply.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two
examples in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.
Hi,
My rule of thumb, buy best you can afford, keep it long.
Stay above prosumer level quality.

Pricing- manufacturing and parts is a small fraction of the total
cost, so the difference between the bulb and the housing plus bulb is
minimal.

They sell the whole unit cheaper than the (most expensive) part
because they move a lot of whole units. If they don't sell very many
replacement bulbs (and at this price they probably don't) then the
cost of inventory's much higher- they stock something that takes two
years to sell, that costs them something.

And if they didn't stock the replacement bulb people would complain-
What do you mean I can't buy a bulb, I have to buy a new one, throw
away the whole thing and reinstall it?

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:49:14 -0700 (PDT), Shaun Eli
wrote:

Pricing- manufacturing and parts is a small fraction of the total
cost, so the difference between the bulb and the housing plus bulb is
minimal.

They sell the whole unit cheaper than the (most expensive) part
because they move a lot of whole units. If they don't sell very many
replacement bulbs (and at this price they probably don't) then the
cost of inventory's much higher- they stock something that takes two
years to sell, that costs them something.

And if they didn't stock the replacement bulb people would complain-
What do you mean I can't buy a bulb, I have to buy a new one, throw
away the whole thing and reinstall it?

Why not take the bulb out of the new one and throw it (the new one) away?

On 3/27/2011 6:08 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:49:14 -0700 (PDT), Shaun Eli
wrote:

Pricing- manufacturing and parts is a small fraction of the total
cost, so the difference between the bulb and the housing plus bulb is
minimal.

They sell the whole unit cheaper than the (most expensive) part
because they move a lot of whole units. If they don't sell very many
replacement bulbs (and at this price they probably don't) then the
cost of inventory's much higher- they stock something that takes two
years to sell, that costs them something.

And if they didn't stock the replacement bulb people would complain-
What do you mean I can't buy a bulb, I have to buy a new one, throw
away the whole thing and reinstall it?

Why not take the bulb out of the new one and throw it (the new one) away?

'Cuz that just ain't NATURAL. I'm sure people on this group have whole
piles off stuff out back that is just missing one part. Too expensive to
fix, but too good to throw out, etc. And every few years, you get to
look like a hero to family or friends, because you had that
now-hard-to-find spare whatever in stock.

Are there any tinkerers and DIY's that don't have a touch of OCD?

--
aem sends...

What? Man, that's some text trim.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Bob F"
wrote in message ...


Interesting case of clipping the previous post. Remove
everything rela

Prosumer? Huh?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Tony Hwang"
wrote in message ...

Hi,
My rule of thumb, buy best you can afford, keep it long.
Stay above prosumer level quality.

On 3/27/2011 7:34 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
Prosumer? Huh?


That's between a professional and a consumer.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:35:01 -0400, aemeijers wrote:

On 3/27/2011 6:08 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:49:14 -0700 (PDT), Shaun Eli
wrote:

Pricing- manufacturing and parts is a small fraction of the total
cost, so the difference between the bulb and the housing plus bulb is
minimal.

They sell the whole unit cheaper than the (most expensive) part
because they move a lot of whole units. If they don't sell very many
replacement bulbs (and at this price they probably don't) then the
cost of inventory's much higher- they stock something that takes two
years to sell, that costs them something.

And if they didn't stock the replacement bulb people would complain-
What do you mean I can't buy a bulb, I have to buy a new one, throw
away the whole thing and reinstall it?

Why not take the bulb out of the new one and throw it (the new one) away?

'Cuz that just ain't NATURAL. I'm sure people on this group have whole
piles off stuff out back that is just missing one part. Too expensive to
fix, but too good to throw out, etc. And every few years, you get to
look like a hero to family or friends, because you had that
now-hard-to-find spare whatever in stock.

Are there any tinkerers and DIY's that don't have a touch of OCD?

After the last three moves, and probably at least one more sometime in the
future, I don't keep much that isn't used regularly.

On 3/26/2011 11:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples
in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

the one i love is the ink for my inkjet printer.

printer complete with 4 inks and 2 printheads on amazon.com $98

pkg of 4 inks alone (no print heads) $125.

Yes, twice i've bought new printers, pulled the ink out of the top of
the box and put the rest in the dumpster.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

On 3/26/2011 11:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples
in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

What kind of ballast did either light have? I'll make a SWAG
that the heavy copper wire ballast will now be more costly than
an electronic switching ballast with small light transformers.
At one time electronic ballasts were more expensive than boat
anchor ballasts.

TDD

Steve Barker wrote:
On 3/26/2011 11:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two
examples in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the
snowstorms. Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

the one i love is the ink for my inkjet printer.

printer complete with 4 inks and 2 printheads on amazon.com $98

pkg of 4 inks alone (no print heads) $125.

Yes, twice i've bought new printers, pulled the ink out of the top of
the box and put the rest in the dumpster.

It's the Gillette business model: Give away the razor and sell the blades.

In your case, I recommend refilling the cartridges. We just bought a set of
refillable cartridges (six) for $13 from an Ebay seller. Even if you DON'T
refill them, the initial charge of ink (included) is still way cheaper than
OEM replacement cartridges.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:53:38 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two examples in
the past week.


was thinking about getting a new head for my electric razor. new head
is $28. new razor is $32

On Mar 28, 6:59*am, bob wrote:
On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:53:38 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"

wrote:
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. *I had two examples in
the past week.

was thinking about getting a new head for my electric razor. new head
is $28. new razor is $32

I service roll laminators for a living around pittsburgh. They put
plastic on paper think menus.

I try to buy junk GBC ultimate 65 laminators to use for parts.
The machines retail street price is 1500 bucks

Rollers at 500 bucks each, for 4 and other parts like main board make
repairing them expensive. GBCs profit center must be parts a 6 bucks
circuit breaker from digi key is sold by GBC for about 30 bucks.

Of course their labor rate just went up again to $250 to $300 bucks
for the first hour

Some companies dont want people to fix stuff there must be tremendous
big bucks in importing china and korean made products

On 3/28/2011 5:48 AM, HeyBub wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:
On 3/26/2011 11:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two
examples in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the
snowstorms. Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96
The fixture is "assembled in USA" too.

Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

the one i love is the ink for my inkjet printer.

printer complete with 4 inks and 2 printheads on amazon.com $98

pkg of 4 inks alone (no print heads) $125.

Yes, twice i've bought new printers, pulled the ink out of the top of
the box and put the rest in the dumpster.

It's the Gillette business model: Give away the razor and sell the blades.

In your case, I recommend refilling the cartridges. We just bought a set of
refillable cartridges (six) for $13 from an Ebay seller. Even if you DON'T
refill them, the initial charge of ink (included) is still way cheaper than
OEM replacement cartridges.



I prefer to use the genuine HP ink. Its why i use an HP printer. On
the occasions i print color, i don't need any cheap assed wanna be ink
in my printer. I refilled back in the day, and all i can say is "BTDT".
no thanks.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

On 3/26/2011 21:53, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
Repair or replace. That question often comes up here. I had two
examples in the past week.

I have a Rubbermaid mailbox and post that wad damaged in the snowstorms.
Replacement post, delivered $54
New mailbox and post $52

Rubbermaid uses economy of scale by packaging complete mailbox
assemblies and shipping them to retailers through an established
distribution network. Replacement parts are a deviation from the norm,
and prices reflect the increased cost of maintaining a supply of
replacement parts and specially delivering them to the consumer.

The light under the kitchen cabinet burned out. It is a fluorescent
fixture that takes an F15 bulb
Replacement bulb $6.88
New fixture including bulb $6.96

The difference between this example and that of the mailbox is that the
bulb is a consumable item. Otherwise the same pricing principles apply.
--

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:27:21 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
I'm not sure how old it is, but over ten years. Until this year's heavy
snow, it has actually held up well against the plow debris. Maybe it
just got brittle over time, but it was cracked at the bottom and I had
one hell of a time breaking the rest of it off. The design is a steel
rod pounded into the dirt, no digging, no cement to mix.

The previous owners of our place mounted the box on a spring-loaded arm -
it's been clipped by passing plows a few times and so far hasn't broken.
I'm surprised there isn't a commercial kit to do that - seems to work
well, and I see many destroyed boxes up here in the winter.

The one feature of this mailbox we really like is the telltale flag.
When the MM opens the door, it pops up a yellow flag on the side and it
is visible from the house so you know if the mail came.

That's a nice feature. Shame it can't tell between good mail and junk ;-)

cheers

Jules

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:53:38 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
Makes one wonder how they do the pricing of this stuff.

The stuff is crap and cheap to make - the cost is all in maintaining the
inventory, and it costs about as much to hold the parts as it does the
complete item.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:39:51 -0400, Tony Miklos wrote:
On 3/27/2011 7:34 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
Prosumer? Huh?

That's between a professional and a consumer.

Oh... professional. Not prostitute.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:44:31 -0600, Tony Hwang wrote:
My rule of thumb, buy best you can afford, keep it long.

I'm not sure that works so well these days - I see a lot of expensive
stuff on the market that still isn't built to last or be repairable when
it does break... for the higher-end items, companies are often relying on
the good reputation that they once had more than anything.

It can be amusing looking at big shiny stuff like TVs in the store, then
asking the salesfolk if you can take it apart to see if it's actually any
good or not. They're usually rather reluctant. ;-)

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:35:01 -0400, aemeijers wrote:
Are there any tinkerers and DIY's that don't have a touch of OCD?

I have stuff spread over three continents :-)

cheers

Jules

If a prosumer is a customer for prostitutes, what is an
assumer? Or a consumer?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Jules Richardson" wrote
in message ...
On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:39:51 -0400, Tony Miklos wrote:
On 3/27/2011 7:34 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
Prosumer? Huh?

That's between a professional and a consumer.

Oh... professional. Not prostitute.