A customer in Denver said his old fridge was 'too simple to break' and it made me think

He was talking about his 1980s model with just a dial and a light, saying new ones with digital boards are junk. I get the appeal, but I've pulled enough of those old beasts apart to know their compressors fail and the seals go bad, costing a fortune to fix. The idea that simple always means better doesn't hold up when the parts are 40 years old and not made anymore. What's a repair you've done on a 'simple' appliance that ended up being a real headache?

3 comments

3 Comments

rose_hart313mo ago

My neighbor's old washing machine had a simple mechanical timer that finally gave out. Finding a replacement part took weeks and cost more than a new machine. Simple design doesn't mean simple to fix when the whole industry has moved on.

nathan_foster603mo ago

Wait, more than a new machine? That's insane.

ninas701mo ago

Oh MAN, @nathan_foster60 you hit on something there but I gotta say your neighbor's story got me thinking. I've actually fixed a few of those old mechanical timers myself, and while they ARE a pain to source, the modern digital boards in new washers fail WAY more often and cost just as much to replace. The real headache I had was with a 1970s fridge where the thermostat dial went bad. Simple part, right? WRONG. That specific model had a weird gas-filled capillary tube that was no longer made by anyone. Ended up having to retrofit a whole different system, which took three days and a bunch of custom work. So yeah, simple CAN be a nightmare when the parts vanish.