Chuck Away Society?

[haxisfan]

Hi everyone, a recent event made me realise how consumeristic our society has become: I just rescued an Indesit WIB101 washing machine from the tip which had been discarded because of worn carbon brushes. The machine is only a few years of age and beside the new pair of carbon brushes required, it's in perfect working order, clean and well kept (see picture below).

The motor was sparking, making frying noises and not spinning fast enough, I took the brushes out and noticed that they're were barely touching the rotor... aren't they supposed to have a few sprung loaded inches of length after removing them from the armature? Oddly enough, the machine worked fine after I put them back in, it even went through a cycle with flying colours... but I guess, my best bet is to buy a new set of brushes.

Thank you in advance to anyone of you who could give me a rough idea of how long the carbon brushes should be. Thanks again

 

[aegokocarat]

you all know my oppinion of indesit: PFFT! Crap machines!

 

[69oyu812]

we do...

yet still you feel the need to put in two cents of negativity. They found one in the tip, and brought back a rather nice looking machine back to life. Well done..hope that you get a lot of use from the machine

 

[ozzie908]

Carbon length

Before you buy new ones as I seriously doubt they would have worn down that much in a couple of years, Take them off the motor and if you can get the holder apart do so and then rub fine sandpaper over each side of the carbons then when you reassemble them make sure they spring back out when pressed in if they do then put them back in the motor and I am sure it will go for a few more years.
To see if they are too short when pushed into the holder against the spring they should protrude from it by half a inch maybe less but should not go all the way inside hope this helps?

Austin

 

[optima]

carbon brushes

The new carbon brushes should be about 1 & 1/2 inches in length & well done for saving this machine. I would of done exactly the same as you.

 

[whirlcool]

Since this is about a throw away society I'd like to comment.

Has anyone noticed that there are not as many repair facilities around as there used to be? Try finding a place that will come out and repair your television! We used to have a large store that carried replacement parts for tons of different brands of home appliances. They are now gone too. What a travesty.

A friend recently brought in his Dell laptop to me to look at. He had it to THREE different repair places (Office Depot computer repair, Frye's, and Best Buy). The laptop was about two years old, still a good performer. This are the answers he got.

The symptom was the computer wouldn't boot all the way. The screen gave a message:
"Hard Disk 0 not found".

These are the answers he got.

Office Depot: Well we took your laptop apart and found water inside of it! Did you
drop it in the bathtub or something? We must have dumped a quart of
water on it. It can't be fixed, you need to buy a new laptop.

Frye's: That's going to be a VERY EXPENSIVE repair, probably more than a new
laptop would cost you. You'd be better off buying a new one.

Best Buy: You have a virus. Buy Norton 360 and install it and it will fix
itself. (How do you install it if the system won't boot up?)

I ran the BIOS diagnostics and sure enough, the 120GB hard disk wasn't spinning up. I bought a WD 500GB hard disk for $60.00 through my supplier and fortunately my friend had all his system & driver disks, so I popped in the new hard disk and reloaded Windows Vista and in 90 minutes the machine was running fine.

What is wrong with these idiots? I thought a retailer would want competent people working in their repair centers. Then I got a thought. Notice all these places were retail stores? Are their repair departments really just sales departments?
Could they have known what the problem was but since it would have been a "small job" they didn't want to mess with it?

My question is, how many people would have thrown the system away and just bought a new one? It's a ripoff!

When my agitator dogs in my Whirlpool agitator went out, two repair companies told me to go out and buy a new machine, another place quoted me $375.00 for the repair! I did it myself for $25.00 in 20 minutes!

 

[haxisfan]

Thanks 4 your feedback so far!

I'm not an 'Indesit' fan but I couldn't resist not rescuing this one... it looked so new and I couldn't believe it'd been thrown away just like that! I didn't really need a washer, but you never know, my daily driver is getting long in the tooth!

Special thanks to ozzie908 and optima for addressing my question direct... I seem to have spotted the numbers '08' in the serial code so it's probably 3 years old. The carbon brushes and the holder are one piece and they come out together (I haven't tried to take them apart, maybe that would be my next move), they stick out of the holder just by half an inch which is enough to barely reach the rotating bit in the motor... I was expecting it to stick out much more once it was taken out of the motor. I will take them out again and make a video so you can see what I mean.

Thanx again guys... speak you later.

 

[paulc]

As you all know

My sister has that model of machine and I must say for a BOL machine it has lasted very well. My Sister has 3 girls who generate a huge amount of laundry. The only trouble she has had in 5 years or so was a blocked pump and a door catch that was damaged when she moved house ( both fixed by me ). If I had to buy a machine on a budget I would get one in a heart beat.

 

[ultimafan]

yeah, its tragic...

I remember our first Hotpoint, numerous brush changes, and even replaced the bearings with my dad once, back when repairing was the norm. Now, it seems that everyone is quick to chuck out machines when they break down. The only machine we replaced was the Hotpoint when the interlock failed and the door got stuck, and broke when we tried to prise it open. All of out past machines have either been sold or left in the house when we move.

The rise of budget machines or Vestel machines to be exact, won't help the situation. Personally I'd much rather repair than replace a machine should it fail, so I'd get a good Miele and have that repaired as much as I can.

You got a good machine there, the worst offender for machines on the scrapheap are due to failed bearings as many manufacturers (Indesit, Hotpoint) have sealed tubs, making the past experience replacing the bearings history. Perhaps the owner was upgrading and couldn't be bothered to get a repair.

 

[pierreandreply4]

you should see here in canada today repair tech don't even repair washers anymore most repair tech say to the person calling for service on there washer even if its a minor repair to clearly buy a new washer dryer set today. and don't say i don't see realty i am clearly seeing realty here.

 

[69oyu812]

whaaaaaaaaat?

Where do you come up with this theory?? in the last year, 14 of the washers in the complex I manage were repaired, not once did the tech suggest that we should just go purchase a new machine. Not once for any of the service calls to the complex did that ever suggest anything that even resembled that remark you have put out there.
Simply put, your wrong, totally off base, and making a generalization of things for the entire country from a very misguided opinion, because it certainly is NOT the case, as washers and other appliances seem to be getting repaired in BC, and pretty sure the same holds true in other parts of the this same country.

a visit to the optician is in order.

 

[arbilab]

Don't be too judgemental, 69oy. I've worked in repair and counseled customers to replace rather than repair. Not because I profited from it, which I didn't, but because it was the most practical solution.

Obviously, that counsel is subject to abuse, like "throw your $1200 computer away because a $60 part failed". But in an age when you can't trust anyone, I spoze paranoia is the safest route.

 

[nrones]

The easiest possible money

for people with brain!

I mean, you invest 20pounds for new brushes, and since the condition is perfect, sell it on ebay for 100pounds.. 5 times like that, and BANG you got Candy EVO you wanted, or Laptop, or just 400pounds on your account!

However, I think it is only available in UK, Germany, Netherlands..where ebay and online stuff is going well, and people dont feel guilty to throw away good machines
In Serbia, there is no possible way of doing such things, because habits are all the way around... so use that opportunity when you can!

cheers,
Dex

 

[haxisfan]

New Thread with Video

Thanks again folks. I've now made a new thread about this washer... no more talk about throw away habits ;-)
It's a bit of a tricky suject I know... frankly I get the impression that companies in many areas of the globe try to push the consumer to take an even more consumeristic stance... but in some instances there is no evidence to support this... I guess we just have to go with flow... and do our best when we can... keeping ourself informed when it comes to carry out a repair.

Nrones, I would like to adopt the Indesit, but unfortunately I don't have much space, so, selling it as you suggested might be an option, or giving it to charity, or keeping it in the spare room for a laundry emergency... but not before having made sure that's everything is ship-shape! I like Candy Evo but I don't wish my Hoover to break down... and I won't get rid of it before it does: you once said that you expect 10 years out of your Candy... so do I... out of my Hoover ;-)

 

[nrones]

the video...

might be pointing at circuit board.. which can be very complicated, and turn the whole story upside down.. specially those wired spins are starting so sudden, without any balancing, that can easily cause a so huge imbalance it could smash the whole machine when it speed up..

Anyway, I was just kidding about EVO, just telling how much money you could get xD I wish your Hoover lasts at least 10years, and as things are right now, it will!

Dex

P.S
I didn't expect from my GrandOPlus to last 10 years at first, but since whole affair with Aqualtis, my parents got mad on me a part too (because I choosen it), and they said ''enough is enough - first time you can ask as for new washing machine will be on the 1st of January 2021, till then just dont mention new washers''. But from the other side, I dont feel like I am in trouble, because it is under the full parts and labor guarantee till 2015, and I just belive it will last 10 years with eventual minor, cheap repairs

 

[haxisfan]

Smash Risk:

Yes Dex, you're right there, when these unscheduled stops happen the machine does not attempt to balance, it just carries on spinning no matter what, in fact it went through an unbalanced burst in one occasion.

Thank you for your trust in my Hoover ;-)