Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 122 posts

Re: Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

#21

Post by voisin »

Moto7451 wrote: post #7
max_ wrote: post #2

Furniture

This especially. Glue ups are poorly done on a lot of Wayfare and similar tier furniture and the fascia falls off. The MDF fails when the legs support the weight at an angle. I just repaired a dresser that had both of these issues with wood glue and finish nails for the fascia and bondo and a drill for the failed MDF foot mounts. Cheap furniture will not stand up to many moves but you can definitely repair a lot of i…

I always find lower cost couches quickly (3-4 years) get “saggy” wherever people sit the most. I wonder how difficult it would be to source higher quality after market springs and replace them. I always feel like it’s a waste to buy a new couch when the old one looks fine but has just lost support.

Re: Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

#23

Post by thinkmcfly »

candiddevmike wrote: post #18

I had an appliance repair person come out to fix our dishwasher ($$$), he told me this would happen again if I repaired it, and I should just buy a new one. Instead, I bought the component online and DIY'd the fix instead of paying him another $200. The component failed a month later, just like he predicted. I bought a new dishwasher, after spending hundreds to repair my existing one. Moral of the story: hubris is ex…

Alternate moral of the story: design flaws do not often correct themselves

Re: Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

#24

Post by gottebp »

Breville coffee grinders. The company does not sell parts, and so 3D printing was necessary to bridge the gap when mine broke a few years back. It ended up being one of the small victories over entropy for me, and I wrote it all up on iFixit here[0]

[0] https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/BCG800XL+Grinder+Jamming+due+to...

Re: Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

#25

Post by cuu508 »

jackmott wrote: post #5
h2odragon wrote: post #4

I've seen two people replace dishwashers because the power cord wasn't connected well and failed. They don't include a power cord with the appliance, here; you buy your own and wire it up yourself, or the installers do it for most people I guess. So when this hurried connection made in an awkward place turns out to have been poor and breaks after a few years; "the dishwasher is broken" and a repair shop charges half…

It is tough calculus to choose a repair even if you do it all yourself. Say a 400 appliance. Its old so worth say 200 now. You need a 75 dollar part. There is some large chance the part you buy isnt quite the right variant you need or you screw up then install and then you just lost another 75 dollars and still no working appliance!

We recently had a dishwasher repairman fix our ~15 year old dishwasher. We chatted about buy vs repair and he noted our fixed-and-woking-again dishwasher could potentially still last longer than a new replacement, because of worse quality of the new ones.

Re: Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

#28

Post by NotYourLawyer »

jackmott wrote: post #5
h2odragon wrote: post #4

I've seen two people replace dishwashers because the power cord wasn't connected well and failed. They don't include a power cord with the appliance, here; you buy your own and wire it up yourself, or the installers do it for most people I guess. So when this hurried connection made in an awkward place turns out to have been poor and breaks after a few years; "the dishwasher is broken" and a repair shop charges half…

It is tough calculus to choose a repair even if you do it all yourself. Say a 400 appliance. Its old so worth say 200 now. You need a 75 dollar part. There is some large chance the part you buy isnt quite the right variant you need or you screw up then install and then you just lost another 75 dollars and still no working appliance!

And that’s assuming your time is worth $0 too. Unless it’s a clear win, or just something I feel like taking apart and learning about, I’ll usually use it as an excuse for an upgrade.

Re: Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

#29

Post by MontyCarloHall »

candiddevmike wrote: post #18

I had an appliance repair person come out to fix our dishwasher ($$$), he told me this would happen again if I repaired it, and I should just buy a new one. Instead, I bought the component online and DIY'd the fix instead of paying him another $200. The component failed a month later, just like he predicted. I bought a new dishwasher, after spending hundreds to repair my existing one. Moral of the story: hubris is ex…

That means there was a higher level problem in the dishwasher that caused that part to repeatedly break. Why couldn’t the higher level problem be solved?

Re: Ask HN: What are household items that can be repaired but people often replace?

#30

Post by keiferski »

Instead of disposable plastic razors (Schick, Gilette, etc.) I recommend getting a safety razor and a big pack of blades (I use Merkur). You will save yourself thousands of dollars over the course of a lifetime - and avoid generating a ton of waste. Maintenance is pretty much just cleaning the razor with vinegar every few weeks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_razor

If you have the time/desire for it, a straight razor is also an option. It takes much more expertise and time, though, so I would start with the safety razor first.

Post reply on HN