The kitchen appliance that will not die.

[Nicholas Carey]

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.

A little googling will reveal that the service manuals for Kitchen-Aid mixers are pretty readily available as a PDF.

IIRC, they do require a lube job now and again.

I'm told the big difference between older US-made mixers and the newer Chinese-made is that the gearing in the new ones is die-cast pot metal instead of machined steel.

[Hugh MacD]

No gearing at all in this old guy. We inherited this old coffee grinder from Murn's Dad who bought it from an old grocery store. It lives in the "kitchenette" in the shop/studio with Murn's Mom's old microwave.
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[Boatbum]

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.

About 10 years ago I bought a top of the line refrigerator with and Ice/water dispenser. About 2 years ago it stopped making crushed ice. I called the repair man who confirmed the Ice Maker needed a new part but he explained that fridges only have a 7 year life span and that the parts were no longer available. I tried to find the needed part myself online but the few remaining had all been scooped up. Talk about planned obsolescence!

[leikec]

Mine is a GE that my mom bought in the late 1980’s—still works great!

Jeff C

[Katherine]

A little googling will reveal that the service manuals for Kitchen-Aid mixers are pretty readily available as a PDF.

IIRC, they do require a lube job now and again.

I'm told the big difference between older US-made mixers and the newer Chinese-made is that the gearing in the new ones is die-cast pot metal instead of machined steel.

I'm not sure about all models of the Kitchen-aid mixers, but mine ha a sacrificial gear in it. If the beater gets hung up on something, the gear strips and protects the rest of the mechanical parts. This is what I had to replace on mine. I took the time to clean out the old food safe grease and put fresh on everything. The mixer works like it is brand new.

[mike9199]

We have an old LG fridge which seem to work just fine for many and many years now.
We moved it to the garage already cause it doesn't look as good anymore, but works excellent.
Here there are other reviews about them and the services they provide, in case someone is curious.

[robm]

Hey, Elf: I had to replace the belt on my Maytag washer about 4 years ago. They are all the same, they come as a kit of 2 belts for about $50 CDN. The online price was the same as buying local, only there were no shipping charges from the local appliance repair shop. It was a pretty straight-forward process to get it apart and back together. Just wait until it fails, and then go for it. Chances are good the parts will be in stock.

[Ed Harrow]

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Well, it rightside up in my file. Patent date: 1894