Donald Lehman

Well-known Member
Steve's post below got me to thinking about the new clothes washer we bought a year ago. Takes three times as long to go through the cycle as the old washer did. Drives my wife nuts!


Put a new shower in and the shower head is one of these new-fangled "water saver" heads. I should say so! You could duct tape a dog to the ceiling and get more water on you than that thing. Gonna have to take the thing apart one of these days and see if it can be modified. Maybe I'll build my own shower head..........
 
Not to worry, if you bought a whirlpool washer and there are other models built the exacty way, they won't last long. Mine didn't last 2 years before a bearing in transmission went out, common problem. Extended warranty gave us a full refund. I found that GE makes an old school washer, a mechanical timer, no locking lid, you set water level. Takes a fraction of the time to wash clothes and my dirty bibs come out clean.
 
I've replaced a bearing in the pump of my GE dishwasher twice now. Last time I replaced it, I told SWMBO it'd be the last time as corrosion was getting pretty bad. Still, 10 years out of a "modern" dishwasher is pretty good I guess.

First time it went, I talked to the place I bought it from. They wouldn't sell me a bearing, but they'd be happy to sell me the whole pump for something like $150.

I went to Fastenal and bought a 5 pack of the bearings for about $10 and did it myself in about an hour. Second time was even faster as I knew exactly what had to come out to do the job.
 
I installed my kitchen aid dishwasher in 92. After my wife passed in 2000, I don't use it much. Do a load when I run out of plates or forks. I rinse off plates after I use them. May do a load every 2 weeks or when the kids are over for the hollidays..
 
(quoted from post at 14:06:51 06/23/15) Steve's post below got me to thinking about the new clothes washer we bought a year ago. Takes three times as long to go through the cycle as the old washer did. Drives my wife nuts!


Put a new shower in and the shower head is one of these new-fangled "water saver" heads. I should say so! You could duct tape a dog to the ceiling and get more water on you than that thing. Gonna have to take the thing apart one of these days and see if it can be modified. Maybe I'll build my own shower head..........

Unscrew the shower head from the pipe. There is probably a restrictor orifice in there. It will look just like a small disc. Pull it out and toss it in the trash.
 
My wife hates the way her new washer works too ! Takes forever for a load of clothes and then doesn't clean the dirty work clothes of mine, but it does play pretty music or sounds. We went and bought a used washer with a agitator just for my work clothes.
 
On the recommendation of some fellow on YT I bought a Speed Queen washer last summer. It is the old fashion type with just knobs to set everything with. There are NO electronics on this washer. It is fast and washes the cloths twice as well as the High efficiency model it replaced.
 

Those little $Hit$ are the cause of mysterious water hammer events as well . Rip it out and throw it at your enemies . :twisted:
 
Take the shower head off and remove the restrictor plug from the water inlet. It's only there to meet the "water saver law", so the maker made it easy to just pry out the restrictor and have a shower that workes as intended.
 
I have seen many references to the short lifetime of "modern" appliances. Seems to me that if I have to continue to replace each of my major appliances every 5 to 10 years, I will go broke just buying appliances.
Water heater: 5 to 10 years...
Furnace : 10 years or so
Washing machine: 5 years or less
Dryer: 8 to 10 years
Dishwasher: 2 to 5 year.

My appliances in my home:
Furnace: was here when I bought the house - 26 years ago
Water heater: same as the furnace.
Washing machine: brought it here from my old house
Dryer: same as washing machine
Dishwasher: bought at Lowes 10 years ago. Still has an open recall on it. Only does a fair job, should have kept the old one.

Expenses: Furnace - a decent furnace will run from $1000 up to infinity PLUS installation.
Washer and dryer: A decent pair will put you back around $800 to $1200 around here.
Water heater: in the $300 to 500 range PLUS installation
Dishwasher: $500 and up for anything decent - and even at that, some are not worth bringing home.

As it stands, every appliance in my home is YEARS OVERDUE for replacement. Should I be worried??
 

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