Building Crap

GeeBee

GeeBee

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The Norcold refrigerator in my SeaRay went out. Bad power supply. It had a good run. 25 years. No parts availability...duh! So I bought a new refrigerator from Defender. Best price. It is a Webasco Isotherm. Supposedly a top of the line unit. I unpack it and I am inspecting it. I notice they attach the condenser fan with ty-wraps. No screws! Here is a picture. I cannot believe they could not run a screw with a nylon lock nut but nope...they use a ty-wrap. Which I corrected.

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I just dumped a U-line under counter fridge in the dumpster… the circuit board was mounted on the bottom of the chassis, about 1” above the deck. Guess what happens where you rinse the deck? Yep… and they advertise it as an outdoor fridge.

And they cost around $2200 !!! The replacement board is $600…

I found another brand I had never heard of, HCK, for $800 including a 3 years warranty. Worth a try

I am done with U-Line, all they re ice makers and fridges are overpriced and built like crap. F0C40A71-1E3B-44B0-90F9-BB51E5698C8F.jpeg
 
Never been a big fan of U-lines. They look like gussied up bar refrigerators.
 
U-lines suck. When we had one in the boat, the ice-maker failed by dumping the coating in the tray. U-line told me I used antifreeze to Winterize it. Having used air to get that done foreever, since we were on speaker I turned to the S.O. and said how about if we throw this over the side? They capitulated and sent a new ice maker. Next failure it was gone.
As to the fan, looks like a not so elaborate "engineering change" reacting to an issue with cooling. Given product quality these days the zip ties would probably last longer than everything else.
 
That circuit board on that U-Line is not even conformal coated.
 
Well at least the zip ties aren’t going to get rusted in place ! :)

What’s insane is how expensive that crap has become
 
Everything seems to be "crap" these days. Admiral bought new washer and dryer 5 years back, washer is already giving problems and a new one is ordered. I use a 1987 washer at the farm and my stepson is using the dryer bought at the same time. As we speak the admiral is out buying a new frig to replace the GE Profile that we bought 10 years back. Guess where our food is right now. Yep, it is in the basement frig that I bought in 1989.
 
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I blame the "Energy Star" standards and so does a guy I know that used to work at Whirlpool. For instance you notice your dishwasher takes 4 hours now to run a load? That is because they use a low voltage pump with less capacity. The water spray is not as forceful. The idea is to let soap and time work and not water pressure. The dishwasher pumps now are basically recirculation pumps. As I am informed, more robust equipment requires larger motors to run it and that means more power. Also there is a requirement to use less water. Time was, a KitchenAid Superba was built like a brick SH, you could not break a Maytag and a Kelvinator could freeze a polar bear. No more, thanks to environmentalists.
 
True. And now the administration wants to eliminate gas stove and everything. Even if it doesn’t pass the mere fact they are considering it is crazy

Same goes with plumbing fixtures. Last week I has to replace the tub/shower fixtures on my boat. They were only 6 years old…

Worst, I got a delta shower head, cheap crap that will probably not even last 5 years. First shower, I had little flow and pressure. Took me forever to rinse. I was removed it to dump it in the trash and get another one but decided to take a look. Removed the little mesh screen at the inlet and found a plastic retractor hiding underneath. Ripped it out with an ice pick and problem fixed. Plenty of flow and pressure

The sheer stupidity of this is that with lower pressure, it takes 2 times as long to rinse so you end up using as much water.
 
GeeBee said:
I blame the "Energy Star" standards and so does a guy I know that used to work at Whirlpool. For instance you notice your dishwasher takes 4 hours now to run a load? That is because they use a low voltage pump with less capacity. The water spray is not as forceful. The idea is to let soap and time work and not water pressure. The dishwasher pumps now are basically recirculation pumps. As I am informed, more robust equipment requires larger motors to run it and that means more power. Also there is a requirement to use less water. Time was, a KitchenAid Superba was built like a brick SH, you could not break a Maytag and a Kelvinator could freeze a polar bear. No more, thanks to environmentalists.
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I'm not so sure the pump is less forceful in modern dishwashers. Our Bosch washer cleaned like magic. They do use much less water which dooes not mean less force and most (all?) eliminated the heater for drying. Most do however heat the water above your water heater temp. This step conumes the most electricity
 
This planned obsolescence thing started when Mr Ford used to examine discarded cars in the junk yards to see what had lasted "beyond requirements" and thus built less sturdily...
 
Radioactive said:
This planned obsolescence thing started when Mr Ford used to examine discarded cars in the junk yards to see what had lasted "beyond requirements" and thus built less sturdily...
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I think the planned obsolescence started even earlier than that. Near the turn of the 19th/20th century, light bulb companies decided that their bulbs were lasting too long. There is one made by the Shelby Electric Company that has been burning since 1901 in a firehouse in Livermore, CA.
 
PascalG said:
True. And now the administration wants to eliminate gas stove and everything. Even if it doesn’t pass the mere fact they are considering it is crazy

Same goes with plumbing fixtures. Last week I has to replace the tub/shower fixtures on my boat. They were only 6 years old…

Worst, I got a delta shower head, cheap crap that will probably not even last 5 years. First shower, I had little flow and pressure. Took me forever to rinse. I was removed it to dump it in the trash and get another one but decided to take a look. Removed the little mesh screen at the inlet and found a plastic retractor hiding underneath. Ripped it out with an ice pick and problem fixed. Plenty of flow and pressure

The sheer stupidity of this is that with lower pressure, it takes 2 times as long to rinse so you end up using as much water.
Click to expand...
My mechanics when I flew corporate would bring their tools with them to remove shower heads and pull out the restrictors in their hotel rooms. (Channel Lock pliers are a real anathema to an aircraft mechanic) Before 9-11 I knew a few pilots who did the same thing but after 9-11 we could no longer carry the necessary tools.
 
I remove flow restrictors from my home shower heads. I have not yet done it to hotel showers heads while traveling, but have been tempted to do it!. For the ones I've done at home, "Speakman" brand of shower heads seem to be the easiest to "modify". ;) From what I understand, it is legal to do this to your own shower heads. .... Just not legal to sell them without the restrictors.
 
I tried to buy a non-restricted showerhead and Amazon wouldn't allow it to ship to CA.
 
speedo said:
I tried to buy a non-restricted showerhead and Amazon wouldn't allow it to ship to CA.
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I don't think they can _sell_ them to anyone in the USA. Thought it was a Federal Eco Whacko rule? But, you can modify your own legally.
 
LOL! When I lived in San Jose during a bad drought they sent the Gestapo out to look at your bathrooms to install water restrictors and toilet dams. So this guy comes onto my porch and wants to come in. I tell him to get lost. I return back to my office when I hear the screen door. He's in my house. So I flush (no pun intended) him out at gun point. He calls the police. The police arrive, gave him a quick lesson on the 4th Amendment and gave him a ride back to county offices.
 
GeeBee said:
LOL! When I lived in San Jose during a bad drought they sent the Gestapo out to look at your bathrooms to install water restrictors and toilet dams. So this guy comes onto my porch and wants to come in. I tell him to get lost. I return back to my office when I hear the screen door. He's in my house. So I flush (no pun intended) him out at gun point. He calls the police. The police arrive, gave him a quick lesson on the 4th Amendment and gave him a ride back to county offices.
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That's crazy! They take the title "green police" too seriously. Actually even true Blue police would not be allowed in under those circumstances. Good for you!

I have the local (small village) code enforcement inspector send me a letter each year looking to inspect my home since it is one of the very few 3-family homes in the village. I looked into it, I am not obliged to let them in so I just discard the letter and he doesn't push it.
 
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