Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

[Curious.George]

Re: Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

maybe they didnt plan for what happens 10 or even 20 or 30 years later.

This brings up an interesting question: how long should things plan on lasting? Note that designing for a longer lifespan adds to cost -- will most folks be willing to pay that additional cost?

[Of course, this depends on the market: designing a cell phone to last 10 years would probably be overkill. OTOH, designing a kilowatthour meter to only last 10 would be totally impractical from a business standpoint.]

TV? Microwave oven? ECU? <shrug>

[stj]

Re: Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

This brings up an interesting question: how long should things plan on lasting?

that's an end-product question.

components should be made from stuff that doesnt age if possible.
you dont know if they will end up in a ships radio, or a childs toy.

and this is not an intentional problem, they probably didnt know the resin would crack - it doesnt crack in other electronics applications.
it may be a side-effect of it being translucent.

[redwire]

Re: Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

I sent an email to Vishay asking why they still sell these crap Rifa PME271 series.

OP's fridge should be OK as there are no X-caps on the ice-maker?
It's 50/60Hz transformer-powered (no SMPS) and I think the caps are just to snubber the triacs. So a short would just leave the water solenoid on...

[Curious.George]

Re: Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

that's an end-product question.

Components are designed with end products in mind. You don't expect every component to be "top shelf" -- even if used in a piece of disposable kit?! Hence 1000hr and 5000hr caps, e.g.

components should be made from stuff that doesnt age if possible.
you dont know if they will end up in a ships radio, or a childs toy.

No, that's the engineer's job -- to SELECT (specify) components that are appropriate to the design at hand.

In many decades of design, I've only once been tasked with a design specification that clearly specified a "30 year lifespan". Virtually everything else was left to my discretion as to the quality of components I'd choose to meet the performance and price targets (longevity not being mentioned).

[I've only recently been tasked with designing consumer kit; most prior was industrial, commercial or medical]

[stj]

Re: Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

these specific caps used to be considered "the best", the type of part you choose for your space program or sound studio - they wherent cheap!

[redwire]

Re: Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

... No, that's the engineer's job -- to SELECT (specify) components that are appropriate to the design at hand.

Nah- Product management gives a design cost-target to engineering. No point in building something that costs more than your competitors.

Look at PC power supplies. Designed to the penny and every electrolytic chosen to weigh overall cost verses lifetime.

GE, Crosley, Frigidaire, Maytag, Kenmore, Whirlpool etc. are no different. These appliances are designed to the penny but don't go far past their warranty date.
GE warranty seems to be 2-5 years on select parts.

[petehall347]

Re: Anyone repair appliances? GE ice maker issue

i blame the bean counters ..