Repair or replace major appliance??

[Cindabella's Mom]

Want some opinions here. First, the dryer is almost 13 years old, got it when we got married. A few months ago, the dryer stopped in mid cycle a couple of different times. Didn't think too much about it and simply restarted. Last night it cut off twice in the middle of a load, clothes seemed a little hot, but again didn't think too much about it. Today, drying a small load of laundry on medium and it cut off again. Opened the door and it just had a "hot" smell, know what I mean? The sheets were scorching hot and the top of the dryer extremely hot. I'm thinking it's probably the thermostat and hubby does too.

Does anyone know at what point it is more practical to replace rather than repair an appliance?

Thanks for the input.

 

[chell]

DO NOT USE IT AGAIN!!! We had one do that years ago and it actually caught on fire. But we didn't know there had been problems with it before because we had just moved into the place.

Sorry I don't have any info for you otherwise.

 

[Kermit]

I think that the life expectancy of a dryer is supposed to be about 10-15 years, so I'd probably replace it. The new ones are so much more energy efficient that you won't lose much money anyway.

 

[ValerieK]

We had one do the same thing and it caught on fire. Thankfully we were in the laundry room when it happened. Go buy a new one.

 

[jfulcer]

I think it's certainly worth trying to repair an old appliance, especially if your DH (or you for that matter) are even a little bit inclined to attempt a repair yourself.

Our dryer stopped working a few months ago and it was going to cost $60 just to have someone come out and look at it - that's not including the repair cost. I spent some time on The Do It Yourself Forums and ended up replacing the motor - a rather serious endeavour - in the dryer for $55.

I think for the cost of a new thermostat (which shouldn't be too hard to replace, I had to take mine off to get to get to the motor) it's worth a try.

The thermostat is (on my dryer) behind the lower front panel. 4 screws loosened and a flashlight is all I needed to be able to get to the thermostat. Of course my repair went a little further than that....

 

[Cindabella's Mom]

Aaackk! That confirms, off to buy a new one tomorrow. This is the first major appliance that has went so wasn't sure exactly what the life expectancy is.

Knowing our luck, all the appliances are going to conk out at the same time as we bought them all when we got married.

 

[ZachnElli]

Yup, buy a new one. Dryers are the number 1 fire starter in homes, don't mess with it. My mom's caught on fire too, luckily it put itself out somehow (the repairman was quite surprised and he said replace it and didn't charge her a thing!).

 

[Beastlover]

My lesson: appliances are not built as they once were. I remember parents getting appliances, and them lasting for 15-20 years. Today, you are lucky if they last 6-8. We had a fridge last 6 yrs....stove just replaced after 10.
I would replace the dryer and prepare for the others...

 

[CamColt]

We just bought a new dryer last weekend, to be delivered tomorrow. Mine seems to work fine, but the clothes werent drying. It would take 3-4 cycles to get a load dried. Finally I gave up and bought a new. Ours was one my DH got when he bought his mothers house 9 years ago...it was already old then so we got our use out of it for sure.
On a funny note, when we first got married I was drying a delicate sweater and put it on "fluff air". After that none of my clothes would dry very well. I had forgotten I switched that and told DH it wasnt working. He took the whole thing apart trying to figure out why. After hours of him working on it, I realized what I had done. He hasnt let me live that one down.