Posted on 02/27/2024 8:18:00 AM PST by Red Badger
Edited on 02/28/2024 7:58:14 PM PST by Chris Robinson. [history]
I have made machined parts for 1950s and 60s era reel to reel tape decks for a friend of mine. Not because there is any money in it but because it is enjoyable. Sure it still works and can be repaired. But some things just aren’t worth the headache.
However, things like refrigerators, washer / dryers, dishwashers, and things like that. The new ones are JUNK. My old ammonia “Beer Fridge” in the shop is 70 years old and has never broken down. A friend of mine bought a brand new fridge and it has been replaced three times and still doesn’t work and they sent another control board. The new washers have no durability in the transmission. And the dryers have too many sensors that break. I will agree with that. Give me the old school heavy appliances any time.
Appliances in general have become to electronic/circuit board based.
It used to be a washing machine lasted 20 years. Now, you are really lucky to get more than 5-7 years.
My current machine is a Speed Queen. Same with the dryer.
The washer has had the board replaced once and the lid lock twice. All under warranty. Fortunately, we bought it from a local dealer that ONLY services machines they sell.
The lid lock stopped working again. After watching several different YouTube videos I finally found a “hack” that worked. You take off the front panel. Remove the lid lock module from under the topside and put a ZIP TIE around the locking mechanism. The duct tape the mechanism to the right interior side of the machine. This way the mechanism thinks the lid is locked and the machine goes through all the cycles.
Now, Speed Queen makes a washing machine without the lid lock or closed lid indicator. It also has a dial on the right top to change the cycles. Analog technology just like the machines from the 1960s.
We have somehting like an in the wall ac from around ‘78 also. We have been using it every summer for 30 years and it was used nearly 20 years before that. Probably sucks up the megawatts like a hose monster.but it works.
As for radio...ah...I love radios but they go bad after a zillion years...capacitors start to leak, diodes fail...you know...elecronics and age..
So for radio I use one of my ham radios for that big booming nice sound of yesteryear...
And there are times when I have to find the Warriors game for my wife on the radio versus television.
Meh, that radio is labeled solid state, so it’s not that ancient. About 35 years ago, when I was a 30-something grad student, people moving out of offices would leave unwanted items such as old coffeemakers on a table in the lounge area. One day an old tabletop radio showed up there, and when I happened by later, it was playing rather loudly. It was a nice-looking radio and it sounded OK, so I took it home. I realized later that some youngster had plugged it in and turned it on, then decided it didn’t work and left, not realizing that it was a vacuum-tube radio that took a minute to warm up, just like most of the radios and TV sets when I was a kid.
I still have that radio and it still works, though I don’t have any spare tubes for it, so when one blows it’ll be done for. Can’t just use the tube tester down at the Piggly-Wiggly and pick up a new tube nowadays.
I saw an article recently regarding technology, cars, car repairs and car insurance. I forget the make and model of the car that was discussed, but the gist of the report was that about a decade ago the number of parts in the fron end of the car totalled 78. Today, with computer chips and computerized senors ubiquitous all over a car, that same make and model car today has over 25o parts in the front end. The main point of the report was as much as the car makers are touting all their new technolgy, it comes at a cost at repair time and what that repair cost means to insurance premimums.
Yes, there are some advances in technology that are not always advances in every way.
There are radio clubs that sponsor swap meets where you can test and find replacement tunes. There’s probably one in your area.
Tubes are still available online..............
Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind if the thing ever quits.
I’m going on a two week business trip to Texas, leaving Saturday. On occasion, I like to camp once in a while instead of hotels. I was just thinking a few minutes ago if we have an old portable radio I can take along or if I can get one on Amazon.
If you are so inclined you could try your hand at making replacement tubes. There are online videos - it’s not as expensive (and complex) to try as it would be if you got into chip/transistor making.
“We’d sing and dance for ever and a day
We lived the life we’d chose, we’d fight and never lose
those were the day, oh yes those were the days...’’
Let’s just say I’m not so inclined and leave it at that.
“I don’t have any spare tubes for it, “
If you ever want to fix it check pro audio/musician websites. They all have pre and power amp tubes like it’s 1950. New old stock as well as new manufactured.
I have several Bluetooth speakers but the one below in particular has lasted at least 8 years, been to the bottom of the pool a few times, used abused and still works great and holds charge for 6+ hours with volume cranked to the max
https://www.bose.com/p/speakers/bose-soundlink-micro-bluetooth-speaker/SLMC-SPEAKERWIRELESS.html
1. A demographic decline.
2. An affluent society that has pretty much everything it needs — and many, many things it doesn’t really need.
3. Refined manufacturing processes that make things cheaper to produce than ever before.
4. Relentless competition that puts product sellers into an endless “race to the bottom” in pricing.
The end result of all this is that under the conditions we had in prior generations, it’s no longer a worthwhile investment to produce consumer products and durable goods anymore.
Just think about that for a moment: A company can’t make money producing most of the things you use in your everyday life anymore.
The only way around this dilemma is a three-pronged business model: (A) planned obsolescence of your products, (B) employing fascist/crony capitalism tactics to outlaw competition, and (C) use those same tactics to force people to buy the things you produce (think of the whole business model for defense contractors and pharmaceutical firms, for example).
It’s really that simple.
Also tubes galore on eBay, lots of them new old stock.
As a young couple in the mid 1950s, my BIL and his wife bought a new Philco refridgerator.
About 20 years later, they moved to the country, got a new fridge and the Philco went into the basement where it ran continuously.
They had to replace the kitchen fridge a few times, but the Philco never failed.
One day, about 5 years ago, BIL complained that the light bulb in it had burnt out, he muttered “piece of crap”.
He had a great sense of humor.
They had to sell their place a couple of years ago, downsize and move into town.
The purchasers said to just leave what they couldn’t take, including the Philco fridge, in the house.
BIL and his wife passed away last year. Bet that Philco is still running.
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