Electrical lifetime ?

[michael8554]

The neon on a Crabtree 13A switched outlet in our house has "blown" (the glass is blackened) after about 50 years of use, was always on.

Way back a "budget, unreliable" Curry's Matsui microwave was still going strong after about 30 years, it was too large for the kitchen where we moved to.

Same for the "budget, unreliable" Indesit dishwasher, left it behind still working when we moved.

My dark green Black & Decker hammer drill is about 20 years old and still going strong. Admittedly not daily use, but not even the motor brushes have needed replacing. Perhaps from back in the days when B&D was a good brand ?

 

[Andy™]

thinkgs used to be made to last. now they are made to last just longer than warranty so you'll be a return customer and go buy another

 

[BorisJ]

I don’t think this is true. Take TVs, they are far more reliable than years ago when the TV mender was called out every 3 months or so.

 

[MikeJhn]

Remind me of our Hotpoint tumble dryer, eventually the cord was compromised by mice after twenty years, when I took the back off to replace it, inside it said "Indesit" on a label inside the back plate, I also have two twenty five year old Dewalt battery drills that when bought had Deac cells, the drills still work, but, but with updated cells.

 

[binky]

I don’t think this is true. Take TVs, they are far more reliable than years ago when the TV mender was called out every 3 months or so.

My fil used to have a large box of valves.

 

[binky]

thinkgs used to be made to last. now they are made to last just longer than warranty so you'll be a return customer and go buy another

Let's be honest though, things are also a lot cheaper than they used to be. I remember our first microwave was about £600, nearly 30 years ago.

If you want reliable appliances buy Miele, they claim 20 year design. So worth fixing if they do break. We bought one of thier dishwashers, it's a brilliant piece of kit, very well designed.

 

[johnb2713]

If you want reliable appliances buy Miele, they claim 20 year design. So worth fixing if they do break. We bought one of thier dishwashers, it's a brilliant piece of kit, very well designed.

We have had Meile items in the past and they are well designed and made. The star in our household though is a Bosch washing mahine, 35 years of service with not a single breakdown.

 

[binky]

We have had Meile items in the past and they are well designed and made. The star in our household though is a Bosch washing mahine, 35 years of service with not a single breakdown.

Had many good Bosch appliances, but the dishwasher was crap and kept leaking from the base. Fixed under warranty twice, then I got fed up with it.

 

[johnb2713]

Had many good Bosch appliances, but the dishwasher was crap and kept leaking from the base. Fixed under warranty twice, then I got fed up with it.

Theres always the friday afternoon machine from any manufacturer

 

[binky]

Theres always the friday afternoon machine from any manufacturer

More bad design in this case. Everything else we have is Bosch and been good, the dishwasher, just crap

 

[Phoenix]

My biggest bugbear is equipment with switchmode power supplies which have components run to their limit and fail after about 5 years, especially annoying are the LED floodlights you have to change more often than you did SON lamps in the fittings before or the 1.5k refrigeration monitoring systems which have a 5 and 12v psu board in the bottom (They are based on PC arctitexture) which sometimes doesn't like to come back on after having the power off, do they list the PSU board as a spare which can be bought as a service spare...... nope.

 

[mort2376]

Had this discussion with loads of customers. Do you see your boiler as an appliance ? I've had quite a few customers who's boiler has packed in after 7 years.

I always say nowadays 5 years is a good life for any appliance unless you have bought top end.

I remember my mum and dad's cast iron boiler lasting for 35 years before parts just were not available.

Now 10 years and parts don't have to be kept stocked.

 

[michael8554]

Yes our cast iron wall mounted gas CH boiler never wore out. Only replacement item was the thermocouple heated by the pilot flame, to switch off the gas if it blew out or if the gas flow was interrupted.

 

[MikeJhn]

In days gone by you got what you paid for, this no longer applies to most domestic things, I have a thirty year old oil fired floor standing boiler that has had just one replacement burner installed (Riello),according to my Testo flu gas analyser my old boiler is between 87% and 92% efficient really not worth changing.

 

[UNG]

When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was about how long you had survived in the electrical induustrty