If Appliances Were Like Cars In Cuba

[Chetlaham]

Considering that the market for used major appliances is greater than that for new appliances, does anyone else think that appliances should be built to be overhauled vs scrapped?

I think that appliances should be built to last 20-30 years without repair, then restored with ample OEM and after market parts for another 20-30 years of service.

It would like if stores had both a new and used appliance section along with plenty of low cost replacement parts.

 

[goatfarmer]

Can't save them all.

 

[turquoisedude]

My laundry room has been described like "Cuba but with washing machines" by friends  LOL 

 

[bradross]

I agree wholeheartedly! If for no other reason than to save natural resources and reduce landfill waste at the same time. Big business, being as short-sighted as it usually is, dictates otherwise.

 

[maytag85]

Appliances and cars could be built like they were many years ago IF government intervention was nonexistent but sadly the government has it’s nose in everyone’s business along with people being too cheap to pay for quality and companies caring more about profits more than anything. If those 3 things weren’t such a problem, wouldn’t be a issue with building the ways we want but sadly those 3 stooges decide otherwise..

 

[combo52]

If appliances were treated like cars in Cuba

Thank goodness we don’t live in such abject poverty, the cars in Cuba are kept running because they are so poor few of them have the original engines or parts or even the original brand engines in them anymore.

Talk about and environmental disaster the pollution the cars are making, the number of people that are hurt working on them and driving them to say nothing of how many people are killed in these dangerous vehicles every year.

Consumers can buy the most durable major appliances ever built today if they’re willing to spend the money a new speed queen washer and dryer or is as good or better than any washer and dryer ever built.

Yesterday I had a customer replace a tired DE 312 Maytag electric dryer, because the basement had been remodeled the machine would not come out of the house without disassembling it.

They bought a new Speed Queen electric dryer which had to be completely disassembled to get it into the basement a helper and I did the job yesterday.

It was a fun project but it was very nice to see that in every single respect that speed queen dryer was as good or better than the Maytag dryer much higher quality better fit and finish etc. many aspects of the Speed Queen dryer were better designed and built in the Maytag, the only thing I saw better about the Maytag was it did have a porcelain top.

The speed queen dryer had a better blower that was properly attached to the motor shaft, it had a better motor cooling fan, it didn’t have as much plastic in it as the Maytag dryer the door etc. is steel.

John L

 

[ryner1988]

Reply #5

John, I'm afraid you've hit the nail on the head of why so many people have subpar appliances in their homes, and that's cost. However, I don't think it's an issue of folks just not being willing to afford higher quality. I believe most people can't. High-end appliances are out of reach for many because inflation has sent prices through the roof and incomes haven't even remotely caught up. I bought a used DD washer because of price concerns and being on a limited income, not an attachment to the past. If I could have afforded it, I likely would have gone for the LG 4000 series or a Speed Queen FF7.

 

[maytag85]

“Talk about environmental disaster the pollution the cars are making, the number that are hurt working on them and driving them to say nothing of many people are killed in these dangerous vehicles every year”

Since Cuba is a island, I imagine the air is much cleaner since it’s near the ocean vs being in somewhere like Los Angeles where the pollution just settles since it’s in a valley. As long as you obey the law and use common sense, you will be fine and all cars are dangerous even if you put all kinds of safety systems in.

“Consumers can buy the most durable major appliances ever built today if they’re willing to spend the money on a new Speed Queen washer and dryer or is as good or better than any washer ever built”

That’s completely false, appliances are NOT durable these days, take forever to complete the task, and will have major issues after a few years of use. Don’t buy that Speed Queen is the most durable washer and dryer ever built, Lorain Furniture and Appliance debunked this in a live stream awhile back since it had a failing tub seal and bearing even though it wasn’t used much. In fact, a Maytag set from many years ago could run circles around a new Speed Queen set since they literally could run for many years without needing any major repairs done. It seems that reliable=unreliable and unreliable=reliable in your book.

 

[Chetlaham]

When one considers that appliances are deliberately built to break, buying cost becomes irrelevant.

 

[combo52]

Reply number eight

Hi Chet thanks for the morning laugh, when you start making up stuff you’ve lost the argument, that’s an absolutely unfounded remark that things are built to break why don’t you back that up, lol

John L

 

[Chetlaham]

Well for beginners you had an engineer on this forum whose work team was scolded by an infuriated CEO over customer emails thanking them their washers lasted 10 years.

Besides the obvious, I can understand your denial.

 

[Chetlaham]

Source

Can be found in reply #52:

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?77492

This is literally the reality of the appliance industry, and the reality the industry is paying you to publicly deny.

In the late 80s GE made a grave mistake in exposing us to something that we were not meant to see. They demonstrated that built in obsolesce can be removed from a machine without increasing any capitol cost. On the contrary, that you can indeed get everything out of nothing.

There is simply no business incentive in selling a $300 washer, dryer or dishwasher that can last 60 years without a single repair times 50 million.

 

[combo52]

Chet, Check your sources, have you seen his engineering degree, you can not believe everything you read on the internet.

 

It would be nice if you listed any qualifications that you have to make the many claims you constantly make.

 

John L.

 

[goatfarmer]

Every brand has issues, vintage, or not.

 

I've always said the 1-18 Frigidaire's were some of the worst washers and dryers built. Those are some of the ones everybody wants, everybody looks for. "They're so wonderful, if I only could find one"..... If you could go back to the mid 70's, I could show you my dad's small shop, where there were always 2-3 of them being rebuilt UNDER WARRANTY! Cheaply made, they sold millions of 'em. If someone got 6-7 years of use from one, they were lucky.

 

"Deliberately built to break"? I kinda doubt that. It's all about profits these days, and manufacturers are naturally going to use the cheapest parts available to do the job.

 

[Chetlaham]

Bigger question is why must you cast doubt with such a broad brush?

Everything I've seen about Thomas Indicates he designs, tests, and overseas the engineering of a variety of washers at Laundry Alternative. You can even see him in company videos.

Given his reputation I doubt that he would fib about his past employment experience.

 

[Chetlaham]

@goatfarmer: They know their re-designs will fail in 5 years vs 25 years. When I was taking the pump seals out of Potscrubbers the ones from the 80s had a ceramic seat ring and a lot of remaining graphite- probably upwards of 3 millimeters- on the wear seal after being 30 years in service. The ones from the late 90s, even those that had little use, had little graphite -probably 0.25 millimeters when new- on the wear seal and varying amounts of corrosion on the metal seat ring was common.

In other words they wittingly placed less graphite knowing less graphite = fewer rotations until all the graphite is gone. And it showed- nearly every single one of the 90s/late 2000s Potscrubbers had extensive corrosion and white build up on the motor shaft, pump body and heat shield from what can only be described as a occasional dripping which only became more frequent and with greater amounts of water released. I'm not talking about one or two drops that GE claims to be normal, Im talking the machine got to the point it had to replaced because the kitchen floor was getting noticeably wet. Or the ceiling was dripping on the down stairs tenant. That is if the timer hadn't failed first. 1996-2000 made Potscrubbers were dropping like flies by 2006, which might be a good thing since the rinse aid dispenser leaking was so common it triggered a recall.

I can't imagine less graphite saving any money, but GE certainly saw value in having the pump leak in 5-10 years vs 30-40+ years.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #13

Reason why Frigidaire 1-18 washers were breaking is they were made by General Motors. The 1970’s wasn’t the finest hour for GM, many of their cars had quality control issues in terms of fit and finish since the stamping of the body panels wasn’t the best, the interiors had cheap plastic, and last but not least is GM cars had extra bracing in the engine bay since GM car bodies had a tendency of flexing quite a bit.

Come to think of it and this might be cliché, but Maytag was the Ford of the appliance world in the 60’s and 70’s along with the 80’s since they would literally just run and run forever. Some repairs would be needed every now and again, but usually were something like belts or a pump.

 

[qsd-dan]

Maytag was the Ford of the appliance world

I'd say that Maytag was the Chrysler Slant 6/Ford Truck Six of the appliance world with the quiet, smooth elegance of a 70's Lincoln Continental.

 

[combo52]

Ford was that General Electric of laundry appliances

GM and whirlpool would be most comparable.

And Maytag and AMC would be good buddies.

John L