For context, I have a bread maker that’s been serving us well over the last two years.
It’s a basic Hamilton Beach unit.
A few weeks back, I had leaks through the bottom of the bread pan. At it turns out, the seals wear out and eventually need to be replaced. In my case, the pin that holds the paddle (which kneeds the dough) came right out, so one of the clips must be busted.
Anyway, seeing that this machine is still under warranty, and these “seal kits” seem to be available for quite a few brands and models, I figure it would be an easy resolution.
Well, not really.
The company said they don’t have replacement parts, but they’d be happy to send an entirely new bread machine (different model) if I paid the shipping.
Yeah, no. Shipping costs way more than the part I need (almost half what I paid for the machine!). And it’s environmentally wasteful to replace a machine for such a stupid issue (they wanted me to cut the cord on the old unit before disposing of it).
To make a long story short, I insisted that they only replace the bread basket, which was a much lower cost to ship anyway, and I can keep using my perfectly working machine.
Side quest: I could look for replacement seals for this machine, but apparently, they are pretty model-specific and may not fit if it’s off by even a single mm.
In late stage capitalism an entire unit is “cheaper” than one single part. Right to repair laws would fix this enshittification but oligarchs can’t infinitely make line go up from common sense repairs costing pennies. Welcome to the end game.
This is because the company doesnt make anything anymore. They buy the machines whole from china. No parts are available unless you are a factory worker in china and have sticky fingers.
I hate it but thats why.
That and there’s no supply chain for parts, just the machines. They don’t want to pay to warehouse parts that may or may not be used.
Aliexpress tends to have stuff like this. There’s a particular switch in the joysticks of valve index controllers that wears out pretty easily. Once the warranty is over you can either buy a new controller for 150 bucks, or buy the switch for a literal dollar from China and cannibalize the tiny pieces that wear out.
I once bought a 12V, Dremel like drill kit. One of the thin (1mm) drills was broken. They send me a new set.
Side quest: I could look for replacement seals for this machine, but apparently, they are pretty model-specific and may not fit if it’s off by even a single mm.
This is actually part of planned obsolescence, where it is difficult and costly to repair things even when parts are available by constant minor cosmetic tweaks dueing production.
Cars reusing parts between models is both cost savings to develop and to meet regulations for making parts available for a set number of years. If appliances were required to follow the same regulations then home repair would be feasible again.
This is actually part of planned obsolescence, where it is difficult and costly to repair things even when parts are available by constant minor cosmetic tweaks dueing production.
For sure! We need stronger laws that prevent this. Lump it into some environmental protection mandate, and expedite it!
Individually, mildly infuriating incident. But this happens so frequently for so many unnecessary things, it just pisses me off now
Yeah, I’ve been far more conscious of whether the stuff I buy can be easily repaired or not, and it often makes or breaks my purchase decision.
I wish consumers had more resources into what parts might break on which product, so they can actively make better purchasing decisions.
Had I known this part could be treated like a consumable, I may have spent more on a better model that supports easier repairs.
Which reminds me, my expensive blender has a jar with a built-in blade. Eventually, the blade will need to be replaced (actually, it’s the bearings), but since you can’t disassemble it, you have to purchase an entirely new jar with the blade! So, I sourced out compatible jars that have removable blades that can be more easily serviced!
I had to replace my RTic insulated travel cup because the lid broke. There are no replacements that I could find for it. They have a redesigned version with a screw on lid. All around better, but still nothing wrong with the cup I have, only the lid.
I finally gave in and bought a new cup. After a month and a half the lid broke (the previous lasted about 6 years). I contacted Rtic and they happily sent me an entire new cup… now I have multiple cups with broken lids.
This has all the makings of a romcom. One day you’ll meet a woman who has multiple cracked cups, but the lids are fine.
Is it something that can be 3D printed?
To be honest, I’ve 3d printed parts for other things before, but I don’t think it would work here. Great idea, though!
This is a high-heat part that needs to be some kind of silicone/rubber. The seal itself is shaped (not just a round washer), but there are other metal parts that appear to have broken/deteriorated. I don’t actually think my seals are broken, but the “seal kits” you usually find have all the parts I’d want to replace.
You could print a mold and cast it out of food grade silicone.
At what point would the effort and expense be “too much”? LOL These parts are normally available for under $10 for the seal, bearing, clips, and metal post.
On the other hand, we have a shower faucet knob where this internal piece would always crack. We replaced that part many times with the official component, but I ended up 3d printing it, and it hasn’t broken once in at least the last 6 years!
That depends… I watched a video where a guy spent hours casting and machining a small part out of aluminum in his garage to avoid paying the manufacturer $30.
The satisfaction in doing that would have been more than enough to justify the work! LOL
We have printed seals before and it seems to work great.
(I don’t remember the name of the material)
Probably TPU (thermo polyurethane), at least that’s what I’ve used.
A rubber gasket might have to be fabricated, but I bet it’s still doable
I’ll bet you could use some type of modern sealant to make a “rubber” gasket. Spooge it out onto a glass or stainless surface, shape it and let it dry. Trim to fit and viola. Bob’s your auntie.
In light of the hard times coming down the pike, we’ll all need to be more resourceful with mending and maintaining all the products that were planned to be scrap after one year (or warranty expiration).
Edit: I would also add that if this gasket touches food or food surfaces, do not use just anything that might transfer toxic elements. Also, I hang on to all sorts of stuff and have a stash of rubber bits I toss into a bin. Something could be made from that as well. My pack-rat ways are going to finally pay off. ;(
Maybe food safe tpu printed gasket?
One option is 3D printing a mold to fill with silicone sealant. If this is a part that fails regularly, the mold may be worth it. You then have a pretty broad array of food safe sealants you could use and don’t have to worry about your 3d printed part harboring bacteria.
Not sure about TPU, but can any FDM printed material be food safe? I thought the layers (even with sanding) harboured bacteria.
Based on this research paper, washing with soap and warm water is enough to remove harmful bacteria.
Been an while since I looked it up, but I thought it was depended on the material. PLA IIRC is somewhat porous and will harbor bacteria, for example.
I think tpu does come in food safe formulations. For a gasket that isn’t coming into contact with food, and wouldn’t regularly be washed anyway, I wouldn’t really have concerns. Especially if you can design the gasket thin enough to reduce the number of layer lines.
I’d have more concerns if the printed part came into direct contact with the food. Anything you’d want to put into a dishwasher is completely out of the question; thermoplastics don’t handle the high temps gracefully
Take seal to ace hardware and rummage through bins. Ive fixed a few planned obsolete items this way. Its worth gambling 15 cents pr whatever.
Recently dropped a Le Creuset kettle and snapped the plastic whistle. Emailed them asking if this could be fixed, they said, nah, and processed a replacement kettle of my choice without asking if I was still within their 5 year warranty.
I wasn’t.
Gifted it to a friend who recently got her own place to live.
The fact that companies don’t even care bothers me more than not being able to fix these items myself! 😱
Had the same issue with two vacuums in a row. Both broke within a couple months and couldn’t be reasonably serviced. Ended up with a 10-year-old used Kirby that feels like it should have a pull cord starter. Absolute beast of a unit and almost every (if not every) piece can be replaced.
Don’t even get me started with vacuums! We have a Shark vacuum that was gifted to us. It works great, and I have no complaints… except for this one thing:
The hose had split one day, and having looked at a few videos on how to fix this common problem, I got to work.
Shark, with their engineers, made it so that the hose has a wire running through it, making it impossible to fix this very simple problem.
I call up their service, because the machine was still under warranty. They wanted me to VIDEO CALL showing the issue with the hose, then claimed that the hose was a consumable item and not covered under warranty! Like, WTF?? I argued with them, and they finally agreed to replace the hose with shipping at my expense.
Infuriating.
I do remember older vacuums being way more serviceable. My only real complaint about older vacs is that they tend to use disposable bags, which I hate (another consumable!). But when it comes time to replace this, I will be shopping around for the most repairable models.
older vacs is that they tend to use disposable bags
Yes. I have emptied many disposable bags and kept on using them. Takes five or ten minutes and is a filthy job (don’t rip it!), but quicker than chasing down more bags.
LOL. We have a robot vacuum that self-empties into a larger bag, and we do empty that one many times over 😂
Get some bread pans and some elbow grease.
A stand mixer would be ideal but it’s really not so bad to knead bread by hand.
As much as I love baking and making bread by hand, we use the bread maker (two, actually) so often that the convenience factor alone saves us many, many hours a week and has a much lower energy cost compared to our oven.
That’s fair. Thing I didn’t like about bread makers is you can’t really get a good loaf out of them. It’s good for getting a hunk of bread to put some butter on and that’s great, but not so great for sandwiches. Top doesn’t brown as well
We’ve had excellent results with ours. Admittedly, I also add a lot of homemade “trail mix” to our recipes, so they are more than plain bread loafs! But we also use it to make pizza dough at least once a week.
