Caryn Huberman
— Nelly worked for us for almost fifty years. She was a member of the family, but we had to let her go. My husband tossed her into the recycle bin. Nelly, you see, is what we call our tea kettle.
We’d repaired Nelly dozens of times. When her “stop boiling” mechanism refused to work and a cloud of steam fogged the kitchen we adjusted her. We replaced her cord, fixed her leak
We repaired Nelly because loyal servants should be cherished. We were grateful for the many comforting pots of tea, thermoses of coffee she gave us. So, we fixed her.
Fifty years was a mighty good run.
Fifty years ago appliances, from humble tea kettles to refrigerators, were built to last. They were constructed with fixable mechanical parts. Appliances made in the 1970’s often served 30 to 50 years. Now, most appliances can’t be repaired. They last just 8 to 10 years.
Today even simple features, like water pressure sensors, are soldered onto the machine’s circuit board or central control unit. Those units cost about $200. Replacing one inexpensive part on a refrigerator means having to replace the entire board.
In addition, manufactures make replacement parts for only 3 to 5 years for each new model. Then they alter the internal design, making repair impossible.
Manufacturers claim their appliances are “environmentally friendly”. But is it friendly to be forced to replace appliances 3 to 5 times more often because they can’t be fixed?
Half the world’s electronic waste is comprised of appliances.
It’s about time for us to be able to repair our own stuff.
There’s hope: California’s State Senate recently passed the Right to Repair Act. This Act expands consumers’ and independent repair shops’ access to the necessary parts, tools and service information needed to repair appliances and electronic devices.
Like our Nelly, all appliances should be fixable members of our households.
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My youngest son put off college for a few years to go exploring in NYC. We called him after a week, thinking he’d blown through his savings, but he surprised us, having added several hundred dollars to his stash, before finding his first job. In the big city people tossed broken appliances to the curb, where he picked them up and took them home. Coffeemakers and espresso machines were a specialty (most only needed new fuses), but he also repaired discarded X-Boxes and computer gear.
He might not be able to fix as many things as Emmet did in Mayberry, but some repair options are still out there for the clever and the curious. (RIP, Nelly.)