Everyone swears by replacing the entire control board on a Whirlpool washer, but I spent $12 on a single relay at an electronics shop in Columbus and it's been running fine for 6 months. Has anyone else actually tried soldering instead of swapping the whole board?

My old drawer latch broke on a Friday night with no parts open until Monday, so I wedged a folded piece of aluminum foil in there to hold it shut, and that janky fix is still holding up after 3 months without a single leak. Anyone else got a hack that should not work but totally does?

3 comments

3 Comments

thomasgonzalez15d ago

That foil fix is the kind of thing that makes you wonder why we pay for expensive parts. For real though, sometimes a lazy shortcut is more reliable than the real fix because there's less to go wrong. Soldering that relay instead of buying a whole control board sounds like the same mentality. Half the time these appliances are mostly fine, just one little part gives out and people panic. It's like replacing your whole car because a fuse blew or something.

angela_morgan15d ago

Yeah, "panic" is the right word for it. I've seen people throw out perfectly good dryers just because the thermal fuse blew. All it takes is a ten minute look and a five dollar part but nobody wants to bother. That whole "replace it all" mindset is pushed hard by repair guys and manufacturers both. It's honestly kind of sad how much perfectly good stuff gets trashed for nothing.

thea60215d agoTop Commenter

Ngl @thomasgonzalez, replacing a whole car for a blown fuse is literally the wildest thing I've ever heard.