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[Cyberpunkd]

Got thinking about it lately due to three things:

1. Toilet light (the thing you put on the toilet bowl if you need to go during the night and don't want to turn on the main light) went out - wife told me to buy a new one, but I emailed the manufacturer (I bought the thing 4 months ago) and within 6 hours they shipped me a replacement unit, works great.
2. My top-end electric razor is more than 10 years old, I was thinking about buying a new one (these go for 150€+ top end model, 250€+ with a cleaning station), but the main problem is the battery - I checked YouTube and you can change the battery yourself in 10 minutes. Original manufacturer battery costs....15€. This also makes me appreciate the razor more since I threw away the charging station, but I can buy it separately. Foil and blades - I can buy them separately. Battery (already mentioned) - separately. Charger, brush if I need to - separately.
3. My Bose QC15 headphones are almost 10 years old, the only use was seen on ear pads - I bought a new ones and replaced them myself in 10 minutes, the headphones look like new.

 

[V1LÆM]

I always try repair. If it's not possible or worth the time/money then I'll sell/donate/recycle it and buy new. I love taking things apart but a lot of electronics are too small and awkard to work on. My old PS4 the wifi/bluetooth antenna was faulty so i bought a new antenna and replaced it myself but doing the same thing for my Switch seemed a lot more troublesome so I put it on eBay and put the money towards a new one. I'm sure someone out there with more patience than me could easily fix it.

I try limit how much stuff I buy/waste so yeah I do my best to fix it but if I can't I'll pass it on to someone else to fix or recycle it.

 

[jason10mm]

These days stuff can be hard, if not impossible, to fix. Everything is glued together and you can't get a parts list to save your life.

I do find that the higher quality the item, the more likely it is to have a repair culture around it.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

These days stuff can be hard, if not impossible, to fix. Everything is glued together and you can't get a parts list to save your life.

Yes, this is what annoys me incredibly. I cannot find another explanation than companies making it hard on purpose to repair since then you need to buy a new product, which then adds to new revenue, etc. Good for capitalism, wasteful for the planet and expensive for you.

 

[AJUMP23]

I try to repair what makes sense. And I buy new what doesn’t.

Had to repair my ckn run from a storm this week.

 

[diffusionx]

100% of the time, but most stuff is not made to repair, which is a shame. This is one of those laws I am fully on board with, especially regarding removable batteries.

 

[CatsGamesWhatever]

I always try to repair or get it repaired if possible as it's often less costly that way. The last major repair was a new heating element for the dryer but it was installed by a repairman which cost $200 after a tip. I've done enough work on dryers and they are a PITA to repair when it's something major so I didn't mind paying more so someone else could do it. The amount of times I had to hear "Did YoU cHEcK the DRYER hOSe??????" from well meaning relatives/friends drove me crazy though. Sometimes the fixes aren't simple!

 

[Mohonky]

Depends on what it is. Can I get it open with a set of drivers / sockets / spanners?

Then I'm at least taking a look at it for the obvious.

I'm perpetually amazed at the amount of work bike stores get for repairs and maintenance; it boggles my mind that people don't do their own servicing. The only servicing I wouldn't do on my own bike is the suspension which needs some specialist tools and components are hard to get / costly if broken, so that I would send to professionals, but everything else I am doing myself.

 

[pesaddict]

I had about 5-6 xbox 360's damn RED RING OF DEATH !

My hoovers been repaired 3 times now Damn kids !

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I always try to repair or get it repaired if possible as it's often less costly that way. The last major repair was a new heating element for the dryer but it was installed by a repairman which cost $200 after a tip. I've done enough work on dryers and they are a PITA to repair when it's something major so I didn't mind paying more so someone else could do it. The amount of times I had to hear "Did YoU cHEcK the DRYER hOSe??????" from well meaning relatives/friends drove me crazy though. Sometimes the fixes aren't simple!

Had a dryer problem, was still on warranty but guy came and it turns out a plastic piece at the back was broken. Bro told me: “it’s plastic, it always breaks. When out of warranty just buy the piece yourself and install it, costs 10€ and takes 10 minutes.”.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Funny update: an hour ago I found Marantz CD-6002 player next to the thrash. Was thinking I might as well see what is wrong. Came to the office, had it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. It turns on, the display is working, the CD tray is stuck. That's like 2-3€ for rubber or plastic gear on AliExpress, might as well TOFTT and try and fix it. If I do - boom, got myself a nice (actually, VERY nice) CD player.

 

[AJUMP23]

This month I installed a new toilet in my house and a faucet for my daughters bathroom.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

This month I installed a new toilet in my house and a faucet for my daughters bathroom.

 

[Lambogenie]

Would love to repair even more but usually lack skills. I'll attempt stuff that looks more straight forward like switch replacement, faucet and cartridge replacement, locks. Locks usually wear down so a straight swap is easier than finding a new spring and figuring out the way it all fit.

Would love to learn more and maybe even take on odd paid jobs, what with AI.

 

[Doczu]

If possible? I always choose to repair. I'm not very good at electronics, plumbing or any craft, but maybe it'll work and i'll learn something new.
If not, then i can search around for some shop or handyman to repair and at the end - buy new.

But some stuff is just not economically viable to repair if you're not doing it yourself. The costs may be higher than buying new. And that pisses me off the most.

 

[-Minsc-]

My last clothes dryer I replaced with another secondhand dryer. The felt gasket on the drum wore out. I looked into buying the felt but wasn't able to find the specific one for my model. Really should look into finding the gasket for my current dryer so I can have it on hand for when it fails.

 

[EverydayBeast]

A good repair man is a big difference, some people pride themselves on fixing things but if a thing is too banged up or out of warranty than it’s gone thrown in the trash and that’s okay, everything is not bulletproof.

 

[kurisu_1974]

My ancient and constantly used Yamaha soundbar that I don't want to replace had some weird power cycling issue and after looking for a possible cause online it was repaired with a 2 euro capacitor. This was like 10 years ago.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

I throw things out the second they cause me problems.

 

[nush]

It's now so convenient to get the information online on how to fix many things yourself. No need to get price gouged by a repair man for s $2 part and a little time to fix it yourself.

 

[Artoris]

I fix whatever I can even have a microscope to fix some things

 

[Trogdor1123]

This month I installed a new toilet in my house and a faucet for my daughters bathroom.

Toilets are way easier than I thought.

Faucets aren’t too bad either I thought but scare the hell out of me as any leak is essentially hidden.

My number one issue with repairing stuff is tools and time. I’m not an overly handy guy but can do most things when I have time, rarely do I have time though. We also lived in a condo for years so I’m behind in the tool game as well. I bet I spent 5 or 6k on tools this year alone so far but it’s been worth it.

I redid our floors, swapped out light fixtures, fixed my eaves, brought down trees (chain saws are so much fun!), redid our laundry, painted the whole house, demoed the kitchen but paid for some one to install a new one, installed an island in the kitchen and altered it to add some outlets, redid bannisters (I really took forever on this as I’d never done it before at all), and a few other things. It’s been great.

I still need to do a back splash for the kitchen but I’m hoping to bring some one for it. It supposed to be easy but I don’t know. I’m using the fact I don’t own a tile saw to avoid it. The wife kindly reminds me that I need to do tiles in 4 bathrooms too and the dog wash… so… I’m losing that battle.

 

[ssringo]

For me it entirely depends on the cost/effort to replace vs the cost/effort it takes to repair. For example, my washing machine/dryer could probably use an upgrade as they're rather old and have had various (mostly minor) issues but I really don't want to drag those fuckers out and down a flight of stairs so I'll spend the time and money repairing them until they completely fail.

 

[AJUMP23]

Toilets are way easier than I thought.

Faucets aren’t too bad either I thought but scare the hell out of me as any leak is essentially hidden.

My number one issue with repairing stuff is tools and time. I’m not an overly handy guy but can do most things when I have time, rarely do I have time though. We also lived in a condo for years so I’m behind in the tool game as well. I bet I spent 5 or 6k on tools this year alone so far but it’s been worth it.

I redid our floors, swapped out light fixtures, fixed my eaves, brought down trees (chain saws are so much fun!), redid our laundry, painted the whole house, demoed the kitchen but paid for some one to install a new one, installed an island in the kitchen and altered it to add some outlets, redid bannisters (I really took forever on this as I’d never done it before at all), and a few other things. It’s been great.

I still need to do a back splash for the kitchen but I’m hoping to bring some one for it. It supposed to be easy but I don’t know. I’m using the fact I don’t own a tile saw to avoid it. The wife kindly reminds me that I need to do tiles in 4 bathrooms too and the dog wash… so… I’m losing that battle.

Looks like we got a plumber over here.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Looks like we got a plumber over here.

lol. God no. Plumbing is terrifying to me. We’ve had 5 floods in 20 years. None were my fault but still , water is a big fear in our house.

I’m also super slow as I need to learn it all, some times multiple times! Not handy, just love the challenge.