The kitchen appliance that will not die.

[Tom Montgomery]

e.
This is my sister's Panasonic microwave oven. She purchased this beast before she was married (circa 1982). It is still being used daily. The only drawback is that it occupies considerable acreage. How many other modern appliances will experience a 40-odd year lifespan? None?

Last weekend my niece remarked that it was sounding like a dying orca. My brother-in-law responded by speaking out loud about replacing it. My sister reports that the beast must have been listening because it is now working just fine.

[Paul Pless]

kat just rebuilt the pto on her vintage kitchen aid stand mixer

[hawkeye54]

We bought a similar microwave in Philadelphia in 1975, passed it on to my mother when we moved her from Chicago to Minnesota, and finally scrapped it in 2005, after she had passed away, and no one wanted a (seeming) 3 ton microwave . It was still working flawlessly.



Rick

[Canoeyawl]

22DC7262-1F5D-4816-8547-1A9D191F8EF5.jpg

[Stiletto]

I have a Philips microwave that was bought in 1988. It worked well but started emitting a rumbling noise which I diagnosed as a noisy motor bearing. A brief search and I found a replacement motor on Wish.com for around $20 delivered. I wonder if I can get another 33 years out of it. The problem is that they wont get another 33 years out of me!

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I inherited my parents’ Moulinex coffee grinder, bought c. 1965, in 1986. In 2009 one of the arms of the rotating coffee bean smasher broke, but it continued working just as well up to 2014 when the plastic lidX weakened by half a century’s UV light, disintegrated.

[Canoez]

e.
This is my sister's Panasonic microwave oven. She purchased this beast before she was married (circa 1982). It is still being used daily. The only drawback is that it occupies considerable acreage. How many other modern appliances will experience a 40-odd year lifespan? None?

Last weekend my niece remarked that it was sounding like a dying orca. My brother-in-law responded by speaking out loud about replacing it. My sister reports that the beast must have been listening because it is now working just fine.

If the appliance is autumn gold or avocado green, it will likely outlast Keith Richards.

[hawkeye54]

We were 'gifted' a Whirlpool washing machine and gas clothes dryer by my in-laws when we bought our first house in 1978, I replaced dryer belt and rollers 4 times, replaced the drum seal twice , and re jetted it (natural gas to LP / then back again ) - it was still running fine when we gifted it to our son and daughter-in-law in 2008 ( and probably still is. ... )


Rick

[bluedog225]

They make microwave leak detection meters.

[Canoeyawl]

Doesn't anyone remember the Radar Range?

[elf]

I"m pretty sure i bought my Maytag washer in 1985 or 6. It's still chugging along, although I wish I knew someone who could look at its drive belt and tell me it's not all frayed around the edges, or hanging together by a thread. Sometimes I think the spin cycle could be faster and extract more water.

The deceased microwave out on the back porch, waiting for an electronics collection, is somewhat younger - 1994 or '95. I vastly prefer the one I replaced it with a few months ago. But neither of them is easy to lift up, and I'm getting older...

[Nicholas Carey]

If the appliance is autumn gold or avocado green, it will likely outlast Keith Richards.

'Strewth!

[AndyG]

e.
This is my sister's Panasonic microwave oven. She purchased this beast before she was married (circa 1982).

I love the 80s style 'dashboard', there. It absolutely barks "I've seen the inside of a snow-speeder". But I also wonder what happens when it cooks at 88mph?

Andy

[Spin_Drift]

6765221[/URL]]kat just rebuilt the pto on her vintage kitchen aid stand mixer

Kat is an amazing woman!

[wizbang 13]

what is a micro wave oven?

[MushCreek]

We still have, and heavily use our Kitchenaid mixer and Cuisinart food processor, which were both wedding gifts. That makes them rolling up on 40 years next month. Both the marriage and appliances have held up well! I've heard that the older Kitchenaids were more durable than the late models. I need to go through ours for preventative maintenance.

[Garret]

what is a micro wave oven?

Check Dire Straits. They're somehow connected to money for nothing & chicks for free.

[skuthorp]

I have mentioned before the 'Electrice' kerosene refrigerator that my parents bought when I was a small child……..second hand. By it's style I'd say 1930's, and similar to this one by Frigidaire.


May have been an Australian brand…………..and it's still running

[bob winter]

e.
This is my sister's Panasonic microwave oven. She purchased this beast before she was married (circa 1982). It is still being used daily. The only drawback is that it occupies considerable acreage. How many other modern appliances will experience a 40-odd year lifespan? None?

Last weekend my niece remarked that it was sounding like a dying orca. My brother-in-law responded by speaking out loud about replacing it. My sister reports that the beast must have been listening because it is now working just fine.

We have one of those at the cottage. Still working fine.

[Todd D]

The drive belt in my 1985 Kenmore clothes dryer broke a few weeks ago. We thought about buying a new dryer, but were stunned by the prices. So, I took the old belt out and used the part number to order a new one from Amazon. The dryer is now working better than it has for years. Hopefully the new belt will last 37 years or I will feel that I wasted $9. Of course I will have to live to 110 to see if that happens. We also have a 1999 vintage GE microwave that works flawlessly.

[Garret]

At my old place I had a 1940's vintage Servel gas fridge. I put a new burner with thermocouple in it (for safety - the old one still worked) but the new owners are still using it. Amazing how little propane it uses: a barbecue tank (20 lb) would last 5-6 months.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Coffee Grinder -> 1982

Salter.jpg

[Dave Hadfield]

We have a fridge at the cottage that was one of the ones that Ontario Hydro rewired for free when the grid was changed from 25 CPS to 60 CPS. Pre-1951.

ONTARIO SCRAPS ITS HORSE-AND-BUGGY LIGHTS | Maclean's | AUGUST 15 1951 (macleans.ca)

Still working fine.

[Decourcy]

At my old place I had a 1940's vintage Servel gas fridge. I put a new burner with thermocouple in it (for safety - the old one still worked) but the new owners are still using it. Amazing how little propane it uses: a barbecue tank (20 lb) would last 5-6 months.

Thats impressive. My newer model at my cabin uses 1/2 pound per day average

[Garret]

Thats impressive. My newer model at my cabin uses 1/2 pound per day average

My brother had a Consul propane fridge - would be 15 YO now. Probably had 1/3 the insulation the old Serval has: the sides on the Servel are 3" thick & even thicker around the (manual defrost) freezer section.

[Decourcy]

My brother had a Consul propane fridge - would be 15 YO now. Probably had 1/3 the insulation the old Serval has: the sides on the Servel are 3" thick & even thicker around the (manual defrost) freezer section.

Yup. Newer ones go for style and interior volume. I’m going electric as soon as the damn thing dies

[Breakaway]

My fridge is a 1981 GE. I had to replace a thermostat or some fitting to do with defrost. I cant remember now as that was eight years ago. I do remember I had to empty the whole fridge, unplug it, let it completely defrost, and then remove the ice maker and back panel inside the fridge.

I also own a manual can and bottle opener, stamped, Rheingold. Probably from the 60s.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Bobcat]

For years we used the toaster my father received as a wedding present in 1939. We replaced it with a modern toaster that who toast bagels. We hauled the 1939 toaster out of storage when the modern toaster died. The '39 toaster finally stopped working sometime in the 21st century.

The freezer in the garage I got in a swap in 1991 dates from before 1975; it is still working fine

[Canoeyawl]

We have a fridge at the cottage that was one of the ones that Ontario Hydro rewired for free when the grid was changed from 25 CPS to 60 CPS. Pre-1951.

ONTARIO SCRAPS ITS HORSE-AND-BUGGY LIGHTS | Maclean's | AUGUST 15 1951 (macleans.ca)

Still working fine.

Amtrack is still 25Hz... !

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtr...n_power_system

edit to add:
a note from Dave's article

"When oil-well machinery was converted at Petrolia, a few miles east of the St. Clair River, engineers faced the problem of keeping oil pumps working at a certain speedcarefully calculated to compensate for water seepage in the oil bed. If the pumps are stopped for any length of time, the water is likely to ruin production for months; if they pump too quickly, the bed may run dry. In converting the motor for a pump it was necessary to adjust it to the correct speed. While the motor was being converted and adjusted engineers had crews working each pump in turn by hand, with a “coxswain” beating the proper time for them. The job was completed without the loss of a drop of oil."

[Joe (SoCal)]

[rbgarr]

My godparents gave us a Maytag washer and dryer for our wedding in 1975. We still have them. Bulletproof and an appliance guy told us ones that from era can last forever.

[epoxyboy]

At my old place I had a 1940's vintage Servel gas fridge. I put a new burner with thermocouple in it (for safety - the old one still worked) but the new owners are still using it. Amazing how little propane it uses: a barbecue tank (20 lb) would last 5-6 months.

I'm sensing some rose tinted nostalgia there
The little 3 cubic foot gas fridge in our old caravan would chomp through a 9kg (20lb) bottle in 16 days give or take, mid summer. That's why I went solar/12v compressor fridge on our bus build, I was a bit over feeding the beast.

Pete

[Garret]

I'm sensing some rose tinted nostalgia there
The little 3 cubic foot gas fridge in our old caravan would chomp through a 9kg (20lb) bottle in 16 days give or take, mid summer. That's why I went solar/12v compressor fridge on our bus build, I was a bit over feeding the beast.

Pete

Nope. Was probably closer to 5 months & just me living there.

The burner is about 1/2" diameter & burns low - so not much heat output. I will say that putting in a load of groceries would raise the interior temp for over a day - unlike an electric fridge that drops it in an hour or 2.

[epoxyboy]

Nope. Was probably closer to 5 months & just me living there.

The burner is about 1/2" diameter & burns low - so not much heat output. I will say that putting in a load of groceries would raise the interior temp for over a day - unlike an electric fridge that drops it in an hour or 2.

Wow, that's really impressive.
The caravan fridge did have a tiny freezer compartment, probably wasn't as well insulated as a domestic unit, and the burner ran 24/7 once lit, but it was a single jet/flame that would barely rate as the pilot light in most appliances. I actually thought two weeks+ was pretty good!
Like yours, it was really slow to cool down - we'd turn it on the day before we went away, it was that slow.

Pete

[Garret]

Wow, that's really impressive.
The caravan fridge did have a tiny freezer compartment, probably wasn't as well insulated as a domestic unit, and the burner ran 24/7 once lit, but it was a single jet/flame that would barely rate as the pilot light in most appliances. I actually thought two weeks+ was pretty good!
Like yours, it was really slow to cool down - we'd turn it on the day before we went away, it was that slow.

Pete

Maybe different tank sizes? This one is a 5 gallon propane. 5 gallon if filled by folks you know - 4.something low if picked up at a tank exchange.