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Video on planned obsolescence.
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SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: tom66 on April 19, 2021, 09:10:47 am ---[...]
If anything, the commoditisation of these components makes them *more* repairable, not less.

--- End quote ---

There is still a difference between a product engineered for a 10 year life, and one engineered for a 25 year one.

According to a service technician that came to look at our fridge:

1) A fridge compressor used to come with a 10 year or more warranty.  Now they come with a 1 year warranty, so are they worth the effort to replace compared with just buying another fridge?

2) It used to be possible to change evaporators, condensers, etc., if they leaked.  Now they are so integrated ('potted') in the design that if they go, the amount of labour to change them can be crazy high -  again, is it worth it compared to just buying another fridge?


james_s:
Technically it was possible to replace an evaporator or condenser, but I have never heard of somebody doing that with a domestic fridge. The vast majority of refrigerator problems have nothing to do with the hermetic system.
BrokenYugo:
Yeah, they started embedding the condenser under the outer skin of consumer fridges and frezers decades ago. Seems problems in the electrical system (defrost or the thermostat) are usually what kills them anyway, or just general wear tear and filth triggers replacement.

I find techs in general are often the last people you want to ask about opinions on the design history of stuff, their main interest is making their job easier. That's not necessarily a consumer friendly bias. They often figure the older model as better, because they already knew all the common faults and procedural shortcuts for the old model.
SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: BrokenYugo on April 19, 2021, 06:11:58 pm ---Yeah, they started embedding the condenser under the outer skin of consumer fridges and frezers decades ago. Seems problems in the electrical system (defrost or the thermostat) are usually what kills them anyway, or just general wear tear and filth triggers replacement.

I find techs in general are often the last people you want to ask about opinions on the design history of stuff, their main interest is making their job easier. That's not necessarily a consumer friendly bias. They often figure the older model as better, because they already knew all the common faults and procedural shortcuts for the old model.

--- End quote ---

They also know which models cause problems, and which are reliable...

E.g. the technicians that service the 40 year old furnace in this house, all unanimously say "Don't change it...  it will outlast anything new you put in its place"....  This is something like five different men, over the years, all with the same opinion about this brand of furnace.  You'd kind of have to take their views into account, it seems to me.  Certainly, I do.

SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: james_s on April 19, 2021, 05:54:25 pm ---Technically it was possible to replace an evaporator or condenser, but I have never heard of somebody doing that with a domestic fridge. The vast majority of refrigerator problems have nothing to do with the hermetic system.

--- End quote ---

I think the issue in this case, was that he was worried that a bad compressor had spewed metal particles all over the place.

With the fridge declared uneconomical to repair, I had a go myself and changed the SSR that powers the compressor...   - the fridge is still working fine today!

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