Various appliances failing at the same time

[Mickymoody]

My parents got onto me recently about their vacuum cleaner, a Dyson, cutting in and out recently, so posted about it, and was given a guide on how to repair it, unfortunately stuck at the first hurdle, fashioning a tool to prise the power button off, cutting off due to a twisted lead, as they do, the the hairdryer had a similar fate, wrapped wire, causing stress on the internal wire, and cuts off. Hair straignteners, same story, same old, of no concern.

But then the kettle acted weirdly, it's on a freestanding base, so can be put on the base at any angle, and when the switch is turned on, the light on the base lights up. But recently, the base light was illuminated continuosly, even if the kettle wasn't attached? Then the Microwave died, in the middle of the night, I could understand that dying, if in use at the time of failure? But for a microwave oven to die when it's not in use?? And no powercut?

In the village where I live, we get powercuts, and outages/surges almost daily, but where my parents live, they don't, so is there a way of monitoring the mains, without sticking my meter up the plugsocket? (My meter that had a hold function was stolen by a plumber that visited to fix my boiler, and broke it more), or is it coincidence that 4 electricals die at the same time (OK can forgive 2), the microwave was 8 days from running out of warranty, but was a cheapo supermarket special.

They have also had 2 touch lamps die, you touch the lamp to adjust the brightness from off to 4 settings?

Is it bad manufacturing, or bad mains? I'd suggest the former, as an engineer to component level, nothing is replaceable, you need a PCB from China to repair it. But the recent poor weather, maybe spikes on the mains caused the failures? Poor Micro and Kettle sat there doing nothing, and die! Mains fuses OK. Poor quality leads in hairdryer, hair straighteners, and vacuum cleaner. When I was a lad...

I've got a pong machine, labelled as repaired in 1979, that works fine, and a B&O TV from shortly afterwards, that produces an excellent picture, better than any LCD that I've seen. My '80's fruit machine is suffering sticking buttons, but thats just a service issue. My N64 controllers are worn, and my Megadrive has connection issues, to the cart, but I have all the games on the PC emulator. My Philips CDi I had to rebuy, as mine died a death, but a better computer than any available today.

Phew, a lot to digest.

 

[jj4091]

I don't think manufacturers can be held responsible for people failing to take proper care of cables, but the rest is a sign of the times, I think.But on the other hand with the speed of improvements these days (not necassarily reliability) do we really want products to last for donkey's years anymore?

 

[Mickymoody]

I don't think manufacturers can be held responsible for people failing to take proper care of cables, but the rest is a sign of the times, I think.But on the other hand with the speed of improvements these days (not necassarily reliability) do we really want products to last for donkey's years anymore?

I think they do, they invented a baseplate for a kettle to be attached to, thus eliminating the cable attachment, but introduced another failure method. I think a sturdy product that is repairable, that will last for years, is better than a product that is throw away.

Really would you pay more for a product that lasts, and is repairable, or a cheap product that lasts a year, and always needs to be replaced? That can't be repaired?

I've a 1970's colour B&O TV, that gives a better picture than a current LCD screen.

Pay more for quality. Rather than buy, then buy again, as the origional failed, less trust in the product brand.

Would you prefer to pay £30 for a microwave that fails just out of warranty, so buy another £30 microwave?

Or buy a £100 microwave, that lasts 20 years+ Consumerism I suppose. That can be repaired, if it fails, but is doubtful to fail.

 

[jj4091]

Don't wish to get into an argument, but as far as things like microwaves & tv's are concerned then yes buying a cheaper one is preferable. Microwaves & TVs used to be enormous compared to current ones & personally I would question whether their performance is noticably poorer than they used to be. At the end of the day the old saying that you get what you pay for still prevails, the more expensive brands still appear more reliable than the cheapos.

 

[Mickymoody]

Don't wish to get into an argument, but as far as things like microwaves & tv's are concerned then yes buying a cheaper one is preferable. Microwaves & TVs used to be enormous compared to current ones & personally I would question whether their performance is noticably poorer than they used to be. At the end of the day the old saying that you get what you pay for still prevails, the more expensive brands still appear more reliable than the cheapos.

You seem to be arguing against yourself there? You say cheap is better, then dear is better?

I don't understand the comment microwaves and TV's used to be enormous? Microwaves are microwaved sized for the last 30 years that they became popular in the house, and an average screen sized TV in the 80's/90's is a lightweight compared to lugging a 40" plasma about to install it, they weigh a ton!
Can you clarify?

Personally, I prefer an established brand, that costs more, rather than a generic named, low cost item.

I wouldn't argue with anyone, this is a forum, a place to discuss.

 

[jj4091]

Yes I'm sorry you are correct, I did not explain myself very well. I used to have the same view as yourself, I preferred to buy more expensive top of the range products that lasted for years. Our first microwave was expensive, took up half the kitchen worktop & weighed half a ton ( please allow for a little exageration ), it also had a far bigger capacity than we needed, but it was all that was available at the time. It lasted for years & we put up with it's drawbacks because of the initial outlay. Our next one was far smaller , lighter & big enough for our needs, but was a third of the price at a supermarket. Similarly with TVs, the old CRT models that, we paid a wad of cash for, were enormous compared to similarly sized plasma or led models, but they went on for years & again because of the initial outlay we were reluctant to update until recently when again we chose the cheaper supermarket versions. For our needs they are perfectly adequate & as yet trouble free, but I accept they are unlikely to last very long & we will be able to update to a more modern model in the future without worrying about our initial outlay. I'm not sure how you can think a 32" (never handled anything bigger )CRT TV was lighter than a similar sized plasma. As for my statement about getting what you pay for, I was refering solely to long life, which as you can hopefully understand more now, is no longer my priority. At the end of the day others will have a different view, but I suppose manufacturers have to consider everybodies opinion at the same time as developing new products.