Just a week or so ago, my wife and I were talking about how older equipment was so well built and seemed to last forever. We were chatting about our Maytag washer and dryer that are now almost 35 years old. They have no bells or whistles snd are just workhorses. Over the life of ownership, we have never had to call a repair person and on the washer, I replaced one hose about 5 years ago. Then last week my wife says there’s water on the floor in the basement. I went to check and go figure, old faithful has sprung a leak. Like most things, I tear into right away and see the source of the water, but can’t figure out why it’s happening.
Turns out, even back then, engineers were concerned about contamination of fresh water supply so they put in an anti back flow device to make sure dirty laundry water doesn’t get sucked back into the water supply. What they did was shoot the water into an open air basket which in turn travelled via a hose to fill the wash drum. For some reason, water was backing up and running out of the basket.
Further investigation found there’s a restrictor device inside the supply hose. This gizmo had become bloated and deformed over years of use and was the culprit for the water leak. I searched parts listings and hard to believe but you can still buy most parts for the machine directly from Maytag! I kept searching and wouldn’t you know it - the piece I was looking for is available from the Chinese on Amazon! Several days later the part is installed and all is well. I’ve attached a photo of the original and replacement.
Reason for posting - a testament to good old equipment, made when quality meant something. I cringe to think about his short the life cycle will be on all the new, fancy Kitchenaid appliances we bought when we renovated the house 5 years ago. Heck, the dishwasher required a new circuit board after trying to start it the first time! The service tech suggested we buy an extended warranty as the brain for our induction range was upwards of $1,000 for the part plus labour.
Turns out, even back then, engineers were concerned about contamination of fresh water supply so they put in an anti back flow device to make sure dirty laundry water doesn’t get sucked back into the water supply. What they did was shoot the water into an open air basket which in turn travelled via a hose to fill the wash drum. For some reason, water was backing up and running out of the basket.
Further investigation found there’s a restrictor device inside the supply hose. This gizmo had become bloated and deformed over years of use and was the culprit for the water leak. I searched parts listings and hard to believe but you can still buy most parts for the machine directly from Maytag! I kept searching and wouldn’t you know it - the piece I was looking for is available from the Chinese on Amazon! Several days later the part is installed and all is well. I’ve attached a photo of the original and replacement.
Reason for posting - a testament to good old equipment, made when quality meant something. I cringe to think about his short the life cycle will be on all the new, fancy Kitchenaid appliances we bought when we renovated the house 5 years ago. Heck, the dishwasher required a new circuit board after trying to start it the first time! The service tech suggested we buy an extended warranty as the brain for our induction range was upwards of $1,000 for the part plus labour.
) and parts are still available
No matter the device I always figure it's worth it to disassemble and take a look to see if there's a fixable problem before replacing it. If nothing else some of the components can then be put in the recycle bin. A dead breadmaker Allison really liked, got a new (chinese) drive belt last winter and I get yummy warm bread again. 
