Built to Last, not Surpassed: Your old ELECTRICAL Appliances still on the go

[brunel]

The BBC are looking for pictures of your old white goods.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27266923

Scroll down for details of how to submit.

[Nickthedentist]

Thanks for that.

But they must be short of submissions if they're accepting brown goods (late 70s receiver) too!

N.

[hansomcommon]

I read this piece, very disappointed with what they showed, most people on this website probably have much older & more interesting equipment! (I certainly do)

[Phil G4SPZ]

I was also amazed by the writer's surprise that any appliance has lasted beyond its warranty period! The public has been successfully brainwashed to accept that appliances need replacing every few years. We, of course, know different. Sadly, we are in a minority.

[terrybull]

My mother has only 3 years ago scrapped her servis twin tub washing machine that was purchased in 1964. It had plywood lid for the washer side I made as the original had rotted away.
The only reason it went was she is too frail to do her own washing. I doubt my automatic will be going in 40+ years

[G6Tanuki]

I saw that too: it was interesting, but in a way quite understandable. Just as with TVs and radios, 'white goods' half a century ago cost a goodly slice of a typical worker's yearly pay (or required a significant deposit if you bought them on the never-never). Labour to fix them when they went wrong was cheap. People expected to keep a washing-machine/dishwasher/oven for years and years and pay a little man round the corner to fix it if it went wrong.

Today - such kit is extremely cheap to buy (how many people would consider spending two month's salary on a TV or washing-machine like in the early 1950s?) and the little man round the corner - if he hasn't retired - will charge you £75 an hour labour plus travel-costs before you even think about parts.

While some of us are fond of tinkering with obsolescent radio/electreonics/appliances, and even cars, the ordinary person is more likely to throw out their 5-year-old-but-still-working washing machine when they have their kitchen redecorated - and replace it with a more-efficient one which will probably save its cost in lower energy-bills if it lasts five years.

Old stuff can be fun to tinker with but I'd really not like to have to depend on a 1963 Ford Anglia for my daily commute, a manual washing-machine, or a 1950s solid-fuel boiler to heat my house.

[JohnBHanson]

I still use a manual washing machine - at least it is manual fill and empty. Attaches by a hose to the tap, turn on tap to fill - let machine do the wash cycle, then manually empty it and then put water through to rinse.

[GrimJosef]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

... While some of us are fond of tinkering with obsolescent radio/electreonics/appliances, and even cars, the ordinary person is more likely to throw out their 5-year-old-but-still-working washing machine when they have their kitchen redecorated ...

I think that's been true for a while. In 1985 a senior colleague of mine (I was still a PhD student) was having his kitchen redecorated and he got rid of his fridge-freezer since it wouldn't fit into the range of fitted units he and his wife had chosen. To be fair it was more than 5 years old and he had had to fix a drip from an internal drain moulding using a blob of silicone rubber. But otherwise it was still working fine and my girlfriend and I, who were living on one wage (hers) were pleased to give him fifteen quid for it as I recall. It hasn't needed any further servicing whatsoever though, and it's run perfectly well 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year in all the kitchens we've had ever since.

Cheers,

GJ

[kirstyd]

Although I have an automatic, I still use the 22 year old Hoovermatic. On a nice day you can have a weeks washing out on the line while the auto is still on its first load. The twin tub has had the odd belt, and a new fill hose over the years, but it's still in good condition and works perfectly.

Having said that, this was Hoovers' last twin tub, and you can see the quality was beginning to slip. The lids are plastic [they used to be metal], and the steel case is much thinner than its predecessor.

[john116]

I have a number of old appliances that I use every day. A Kelvinator fridge made in 1979, and a Frigidaire Flair range, made in 1963. Also a 1963 Hoover vacuum, and my daily commute car is a 1959 Chevrolet. The will all outlive me, no doubt (based on another 40 years for me).

[PaulR]

We still use our 1980 Creda Cavalier cooker bought when we got married. Like HMS Victory it is still original except it has had numerous elements, clocks and thermostats. If it wasn't for generous members of this forum who have supplied the clocks it would have been scrapped 10 years ago.

[Junk Box Nick]

I inherited a Hoover Dustette 100 from my parents. It has done sterling work over the years (I used it regularly way back when I still lived at home) cleaning out the interior of the car and has very powerful suction. It could even be pre WW2 - it's the version first made in the 1930s up until 1949.

[greenstar]

I have a very nice 1953 ish New World Radiation cooker. It's gas though, so possibly not appropriate here - wonderfully simple, nothing to go wrong. I have to admit to installing it myself when i moved 15 yrs ago, as I didn't trust an installer not to condemn it. I am aware one needs great care with gas, as unlike the electric, it leaks! It seems absolutely bizarre to me that even a gas cooker is only expected to last a year or two.

[Zelandeth]

Nothing too much here at the moment, though we do have a 33 year old Thorn Apollo boiler that's still on the go and the associated Satchwell Sunvic control system for it and the solar heating system. Strangely this all works properly - unlike all of the newer plumbing system bits installed in 2005 which we've mostly had to re-do. If I never see any plastic pipework and a speedfit connector ever again it will be too soon.

The last house we rented however featured an early 80s Servis dishwasher that was still going strong, along with a fantastic Carron cooker that we reckon was original to the house (1973) despite being absolutely immaculate, I do have a photo of it somewhere which I'll see if I can dig it out. It rather surprised the gas engineer who did a safety check by passing with flying colours - even if it did cause him a headache trying to input the results into his computer system as it wasn't on any of the dropdown lists.

A friend at work before I moved down from Aberdeen though did have a very old GE made fridge which we reckon dated from the 40s. Sadly I don't have any photos of that, but it was a very well put together (and incredibly heavy!) piece of technology.

[WreckTangle]

The matching, full-height (not built-in) fridge and freezer in my kitchen are both Electrolux and date from 1989. Better still is the Seeboard half-height fridge in my garage which was inherited from a relative in 1972. None have ever needed any maintenance and are in continuous use. I've got a fridge thermometer in the Seeboard fridge and it is always in the correct temperature range.

I regularly listen to a 1969 Roberts R600 radio and 1963 Philips EL3541 tape recorder. The only non-routine maintenance having been new rubber components inside the Philips.

The 1960s Black and Decker D520 power drill inherited from my father still works flawlessly and has out-lived a couple of its newer cousins.

I have several Belling Champion electric heaters for background heating which have only ever needed new orange bulbs and in some cases flexes. These are effective and very economical.

I keep meaning to re-instate my Ferguson radiogram, bought new by my parents in the 1950s. However, this has been out of regular use for so long it will need careful recommissioning when my box-room archaeology recovers it.

[Okto1984]

We still use a lot of old things regularly. We use our swan electric kettle from 1979 every day, as well as a kenwood mixer from the early 70s. The vacuum cleaner is an electrolux cylinder from the late 70s (chocolate brown and orange plastic) with some kind of air powered brush roller in the head - which I've never seen on any other vacuum cleaner. It works well though, and I'm sure many other people are still using theirs as the paper bags and filters are still widely sold.

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by Okto1984

...some kind of air powered brush roller in the head - which I've never seen on any other vacuum cleaner.

Dyson and Numatic (Henry) have these as optional extras. I have the latter and they do indeed work superbly at removing pet hairs etc., but need good suction (i.e. a fairly empty bag) to work optimally.

http://www.spares-and-repairs.co.uk/....php?xProd=110

Nick

[PaulR]

I think you cannot beat an early '60s Hoover Senior. Rather like the Creda Cavalier I mentioned earlier ours is partly original as I bought a new armature for it a couple of years ago and since then it has worked like new.

I also treated it to a new LCD headlamp bulb yesterday in the hope it will last longer than the tungsten ones.

[Peter.N.]

We have a 1950s Morphy Richards hair dryer which still works perfectly, it has an induction motor which makes it very quiet - it also makes it rather heavy so my wife uses a modern one which is about 3 times the power.

Peter

[Okto1984]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

Dyson and Numatic (Henry) have these as optional extras. I have the latter and they do indeed work superbly at removing pet hairs etc., but need good suction (i.e. a fairly empty bag) to work optimally.

Yes, that's a modern version of the same thing I have. I've found that it does need a little maintenance. Every couple of years I open it up and spray the bearings with dry silicone lubricant - this has turned out to be the best stuff as it lasts a long time, dust doesn't stick to it, and it makes it spin really fast. It spins well until the bag is quite full when I do this, so it may be worth trying to improve other similar ones this way.