Mr. Fixit Strikes Again. For Real!

[LunarRock]

Random one: the guy whom led the Nest team, Tony Fadell, has a book: Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

He has a chapter on people going from specialists to managers that should be required reading for new managers, explains potential human behaviour to a T

 

[aamefford]

Random one: the guy whom led the Nest team, Tony Fadell, has a book: Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

He has a chapter on people going from specialists to managers that should be required reading for new managers, explains potential human behaviour to a T

Before I retired, I should have read it. I suspect would have saved me the unpleasant though somewhat lucrative trip into management, and then back to specialist. In truth, it woulda just said “I told you so.” I’m one of those “people management wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the people” guys.

 

[Wyzard]

Lesson - don’t rely on a stupid box of gizmos to run your heating.

So true. Mine's all manual settings ATM, and even so (zero-ish on the UK) it's a bit flakey.

Moral of this story: don't mechanize anything that'll f*** you six ways to Sunday if a mouse sneezes two blocks away*- especially if your family's comfort depends on it





[*unless you're so wealthy that you can afford to call people out while they're on holiday in Barbados]

 

[bodia]

That's a rough one, Les. Glad to hear you got it sorted out without blowing your stack. I'll bet the Mrs marveled at your ingenuity!

 

[Wyzard]

Before I retired, I should have read it. I suspect would have saved me the unpleasant though somewhat lucrative trip into management, and then back to specialist. In truth, it woulda just said “I told you so.” I’m one of those “people management wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the people” guys.

All true IME.

I stayed a specialist, and IMO saved myself a s***-ton of grief. Saw the salary uplift, looked at the workload and the teams involved, and said: "FU."

 

[JasonE]

All true IME.

I stayed a specialist, and IMO saved myself a s***-ton of grief. Saw the salary uplift, looked at the workload and the teams involved, and said: "FU."

I have been a manager for a couple of decades. It really isn't worth the little bit extra you make. I have an employee that only makes about 3k a year less than me and he doesn't have nearly the responsibility or headaches I have.

 

[László]

Do you have a 'music' accountant?

Income, expenses and equipment outlays are handled the same as in any other business.

Retirement strategy?

Find an extremely desperate woman with more money than sense.

 

[JasonE]

I forgot to mention in my post that mentioned replacing my whole AC / heating unit in October that I paid the extra money to get an extended warrantee that covers labor for the full 10 year parts warrantee that the manufacturer gives you on these units. I am not covered for parts and labor for the full 10 years. You can bet that I will be calling someone even if it is the middle of the night to come and fix it if it stops working. That is why I bought the warrantee and it really wasn't all that much in the grand scheme of things. Even though I got good at troubleshooting my old system, and this one isn't really built any different, I still had to pay labor fees for them to fix things when parts were covered. Those costs add up fast.

 

[László]

Lesson - don’t rely on a stupid box of gizmos to run your heating.

What, and spoil all the fun?

 

[deathworlder]

I forgot to mention in my post that mentioned replacing my whole AC / heating unit in October that I paid the extra money to get an extended warrantee that covers labor for the full 10 year parts warrantee that the manufacturer gives you on these units. I am not covered for parts and labor for the full 10 years. You can bet that I will be calling someone even if it is the middle of the night to come and fix it if it stops working. That is why I bought the warrantee and it really wasn't all that much in the grand scheme of things. Even though I got good at troubleshooting my old system, and this one isn't really built any different, I still had to pay labor fees for them to fix things when parts were covered. Those costs add up fast.

Good timing on the replacement...

 

[László]

You can bet that I will be calling someone even if it is the middle of the night to come and fix it if it stops working.

I hate to say it, but good luck getting someone to come out to fix it at 4 AM.

 

[deathworlder]

I hate to say it, but good luck getting someone to come out to fix it at 4 AM.

I'm an electrician...my friends are hvac and plumbers.
My brother is in hvac and plumbing supply.
I'm feeling lucky.

 

[László]

We put a new furnace in our house 18 years ago so I'm just waiting for that day to come.

I had the original 42 year old furnace rebuilt last year. They used to build them better. I'm sure, however, that it could go at an inopportune time.

The AC condenser and innards were replaced 2 years ago. But they lasted for 40 years!

My refrigerator that's pretty new (made in China, despite the American label) is already starting to rust in back. It's OK for now per the repair person, but it'll rust through and I'll have to replace it by summer.

The made-here previous refrigerator lasted 30 years instead of five.

And people wonder why I won't by a made-in-China amplifier...

"You'd be lucky to have 5 years of life left, dude!"

"When I go, you go, so STFU."

 

[JasonE]

I hate to say it, but good luck getting someone to come out to fix it at 4 AM.

The company I use actually has guys on call. They normally charge extra if they have to come out outside of normal business hours. However, I have the extended warrantee with them that covers things like that as well as I get priority placement if I have to call them to come out. That warrantee was worth every penny for stuff like that.

 

[RC Mike]

I’m fine with gizmos on the HVAC stuff. I’ve got a smart thermostat on a zoned system. Being able to monitor and change things without standing right in front of the stat has value to me.

Of course, I also have a spare stat in a box and a can also just connect two of the wires together to get things going in a pinch.

 

[deathworlder]

The prudent thing to do is;
-identify the type of system you have
-identify common points of failure of your type of system
-learn how to identify/test for the common failures
-aquire and learn how to replace the common failure type parts(capacitors, thermocouplers, flame sensor etc...ymmv)

 

[gush]

I had the original 42 year old furnace rebuilt last year. They used to build them better. I'm sure, however, that it could go at an inopportune time.

The AC condenser and innards were replaced 2 years ago. But they lasted for 40 years!

My refrigerator that's pretty new (made in China, despite the American label) is already starting to rust in back. It's OK for now per the repair person, but it'll rust through and I'll have to replace it by summer.

The made-here previous refrigerator lasted 30 years instead of five.

And people wonder why I won't by a made-in-China amplifier...

"You'd be lucky to have 5 years of life left, dude!"

"When I go, you go, so STFU."

Oh man don't get me started on household appliances. It's a topic that really frustrates me.

We will be buying new washer and dryer this year and I'm not looking forward to buying new junk.

 

[JasonE]

Oh man don't get me started on household appliances. It's a topic that really frustrates me.

We will be buying new washer and dryer this year and I'm not looking forward to buying new junk.

DO NOT BUY SAMSUNG! I can't say that enough or loud enough. I put all new Samsung appliances in my kitchen almost 10 years ago. I will never buy their junk again. I am about to tear into the stove to fix it. It needs at least one new infinity switches and possibly a whole new main board if I can get one. The ice machine in the refrigerator is total junk and has been turned off since about year 2. It has a huge ice chunk in it that I am not even sure I can get out without turning the whole thing off and letting it warm up. There are many documented cases of issues with these things.

Do some research and look for trends in different brands and models. I trusted too much in a brand name and paid for it.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Read about The Phoebus Cartel! They started (more or less) this planned obsolescence BS, and during the great depression, many other manufacturers/industries jumped on the bandwagon under the guise that it would create jobs for people! It is now a science and a part of doing business ;~(( Build something that lasts forever and you are going to run out of customers.

**********************************
The Phoebus cartel was an international cartel that controlled the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs in much of Europe and North America between 1925 and 1939. The cartel took over market territories and lowered the useful life of such bulbs, which is commonly cited as an example of planned obsolescence.
**********************************

California recently passed a law that forces manufacturers to allow consumers to access repair parts and schematics rather than forcing people to throw stuff into the landfill or take to an overpriced "factory certified technician" for repairs.

 

[JasonE]

Read about The Phoebus Cartel! They started (more or less) this planned obsolescence BS, and during the great depression, many other manufacturers/industries jumped on the bandwagon under the guise that it would create jobs for people! It is now a science and a part of doing business ;~(( Build something that lasts forever and you are going to run out of customers.

**********************************
The Phoebus cartel was an international cartel that controlled the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs in much of Europe and North America between 1925 and 1939. The cartel took over market territories and lowered the useful life of such bulbs, which is commonly cited as an example of planned obsolescence.
**********************************

California recently passed a law that forces manufacturers to allow consumers to access repair parts and schematics rather than forcing people to throw stuff into the landfill or take to an overpriced "factory certified technician" for repairs.

I grew up in a poor household. We had to learn how to fix things because we couldn't afford to replace them or pay someone to fix them for us. This was all way before the internet and YouTube. Those skills have been something I have been very grateful for in my life, even though it sucked in the moment of when you broke something and had to figure out how it worked to figure out what broke. With the internet and YouTube it is a lot easier now.

One example is the battery in my wife's car. I took one look at it and knew it was going to take some time to figure out how to get it out of where it was when I needed to replace it. I decided to look on YouTube to see if someone had posted a video. They did! I watched the video and I am not sure that it even took 5 minutes to get it out after that. I guarantee that if I had not watched that video I would have spent an hour figuring it out and would have swore like a sailor.

Thankfully I have found some information on these appliances online. That is one and only one bonus of them having so many issues, they are well documented. One thing that gets me on this stove thing is that one of the infinity switches is going to cost me at least $100 just for the part. If I didn't have the ability to change this out myself I would have a service call and labor on top of that.

I really hate planned obsolescence. They make stuff hard to fix to try to deter us from fixing it ourselves. They also make it hard to get the parts. It definitely is frustrating.