jeff2258 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 @wordirgeorgie you might want to the efficiency of some of your goods. New fridges for example are far more efficient than those made 20 years ago Sent from my SM-G900F using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile Totally agreed with you. New model now does save energy compare to old models. More efficient is what everyone looking at now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carerra Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 How long things last depends a lot on the use. My oldest stuff is a Electrolux kitchen assistant from 1970. I use it for making bread and the blender for milkshake. My Bosch drill is from the same year. I opened it and cleaned it when I came to Thailand last year and still works perfect. Then I have a Philips mixer (small) for cakes and such things from 1980, also work perfect. Maybe the most impressing is my old Nokia 6310 that still works fine as a backup-phone. Even the battery still operates for 3-5 days. Think I bought it more than 12 years ago. Of purely mechanic things my old ABU Record 3000 flyer from about 1952 still works perfect and have been catching a lot of fish through the years. Only used in fresh water the last 40 years. Careful when using and good maintenance is the key to long and healthy life ( also goes for our body). Carerra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banagan Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Mira fan, bought in Central in Kad Sun Kaew about 8 months ago, just broke. Smells like melting plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banagan Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Mira fan, bought in Central in Kad Sun Kaew about 8 months ago, just broke. Smells like melting plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banagan Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Mira fan, bought in Central in Kad Sun Kaew about 8 months ago, just broke. Smells like melting plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banagan Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Mira fan, bought in Central in Kad Sun Kaew about 8 months ago, just broke. Smells like melting plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignis Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Laptops, about 5 minutes. Had about half dozen of those Ipad is going strong after 2 years though still Yet another vote for "buy made-in-China". I'm not sure it matters where it was made. I think that in general you get, if not exactly what you pay for, what you shop around for. A 3,000 baht DVD player that is actually worth 3,000 baht will almost certainly last longer than a 400-baht one that is worth 400 baht. The main point is you get a choice - cheap in price and quality, or NOT cheap in price and quality. If you pay high and get cheap, it's pretty well always your own fault for shopping like a man instead of taking some care. . Problem is how to tell 'or NOT cheap in price and quality.' pay 36,000 baht for a Samsung fridge that constantly breaks down, myself do not call that cheap... Electrolux because they are made in Thailand and so say easy and cheap to fix ? wrong..2nd repair within 2 years the control panel would have cost almost the same as a new machine.. could have bought something costing less then 1/2 the price to last 2 years. Another Post a few months back guy bought a brand new BMW 100% not cheap yet it needed a new gearbox with a week .... Appears pot luck how things last here.... same in many places [the old saying - Ha guess it was made on a Friday afternoon] Edited June 9, 2014 by ignis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realenglish1 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I bought an table top oven IT had a warranty of 1 year It expired in 10 moths and the company that makes it here did not have any spare parts. I am going to sent it back to the mfg with all the dirt in it with a nasty letter and tell them to shove it where the sun does not shine Terrible Thai Company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thurien Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 any electrical product in Thailand is prone to fail unexpectedly early - it is a matter of the plastic housing, often about moving plastic things (anything with physical functions of turning wheels, open/close things, switches), plugs etc. Reason is the local or Chinese production process: the plasticizer chemicals in all these plastics are of lowest quality and constantly evaporate at a given speed until gone - and then the plastic CRACKS! high- quality European or Japanese plastics have expensive plasticizers incorporated which show a long- time functionality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xen Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Bought an OTTO rice cooker in Tesco and took it back to Oz so my gf could cook her rice. Plugged it in , a few sparks and the smell of burning plastic. Shortest life span of any item i had seen . Wasn't worth taking it back . Oh well !! i have a spare rice cooker bowl now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandtee Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I bought a Kenwood mixer in 1973 in the UK and am still using it. OK, I had to repair the blender after it exploded when trying to liquidize rock hard Parmesan cheese. I bought a liquidizer here and it gave up the ghost after six months.I still have my Sony record turntable which is 42 years old and it still works. It plays Micheal Jackson and the Jackson Five from when he looked like a human being! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandi Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 It still buffles me every time again: How can a DVD player break down after a few months? How can it even break down at all? I mean, there's not much going on there apart from spinning the DVD and do some internal processing, that's it. How can these things suddenly fail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jingjoke Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I've found that refrigerators last well if the rear motor compartment is cleaned of accumulated dust every 6 months or so; and if kept where air can circulate about them, not in a wooden cabinet case which 'smothers' them. As for: Mira fan, bought in Central in Kad Sun Kaew about 8 months ago, just broke. Smells like melting plastic. We heard you the first time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbamboo Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Do "electric" golf clubs conform to R&A golf regs......... Not sure about that but I know my 'smart' golf balls don't. They can hit a target only a few inches wide from 250 yards away and so now I play golf like Kim Jong Il. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatOilWorker Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Some things just seem to last forever and I have a few: Toaster - 16 years Water heater (tea pot) - 16 years Rice cooker - 12 years (maybe more) Washing Machine - 12 years Fridge - 10 years Clock on the wall - 10 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatOilWorker Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 How long things last depends a lot on the use. My oldest stuff is a Electrolux kitchen assistant from 1970. I use it for making bread and the blender for milkshake. My Bosch drill is from the same year. I opened it and cleaned it when I came to Thailand last year and still works perfect. Then I have a Philips mixer (small) for cakes and such things from 1980, also work perfect. Maybe the most impressing is my old Nokia 6310 that still works fine as a backup-phone. Even the battery still operates for 3-5 days. Think I bought it more than 12 years ago. Of purely mechanic things my old ABU Record 3000 flyer from about 1952 still works perfect and have been catching a lot of fish through the years. Only used in fresh water the last 40 years. Careful when using and good maintenance is the key to long and healthy life ( also goes for our body). Carerra Let me guess, NONE of the stuff you mentione above is Made in China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunPer Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I had computer motherboard with "platinum warranty" of 3 years. Take it in, wait (no call, of course). Go back to shop, they say "Corroded. No cover." Of course it is corroded. This is Pattaya....." "Lifetime warranty" means lifetime of product: when it break, it's life is over. Next!" Yes, that’s what lifetime warranty is all about… Bought a havy quality German machine with “Lifetime Warranty” once, paid the extra for the German quality for professional use. A big steel spring broke after short time, asked the supplier to have it renewed under “Lifetime warranty”. The spring was sent to the manufacturer in Germany; some weeks later the reply arrived: “Sorry, but the spring has broken and that’s the lifetime of the spring…” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunPer Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) »It would be great to hear other posters information on what they have, as I'm sure there are many 'older' items still in use.« Just looking around at some electronics here in my study: Vox guitar amp 1968… Hammond organ + Leslie, 1972… JVC amp 1977, excellent “musically” sound and working perfect… (+ a couple more, more than 25 yo amps, working perfect) etc. etc. Philips cinema surround amp, “fairly cheap, 12k”, bought in Thailand, used less than 10 times: kaput; repaired on guarantee (waited 3 month), then worked 2 more times: kaput… (Reminds me to throw it out in garbage, don’t want to be depressed from looking at it.) Cheap CD/DVD player(s) – tried a lot cheap “Thai-stuff” (probably Made in China), none had a long life span… LED bulbs – not really cheap, but “cheap” Chinese stuff – some did last for 3, no not years, but days; complained (those trying that in Thailand knows what it’s like), shop unhappy (loose face) but complained to BKK-importer, waited a month, got replacement promised to be better, yes indeed, they lasted 3 weeks; gave up… (Today lots of well working affordable LEDs, just got little sad when building my house 4 years ago and bought about 100 LEDs of 450 baht each – smart guy following the trend and saving money in the looonng run… ) I’ve been running electronics off UPS’ as advised due to voltage deviation and short power cuts, but that seems not like the major problem. Weather conditions like raining season or living close to sea (corrosion) may perhaps be a problem – or just that today’s cheap electronics are cheap electronics; like LG and Samsung plasma TV’s seems to burn off the power supply after a few years due to cheap under dimensioned condensers (my 7yo LG 42” cheaper to buy new 40” LED than repair the old one)… Either buy fairly cheap stuff and not expecting a long life time – or buy expensive brand name stuff and sit back with some still well working but completely outdated electronics; like my “expensive” old Nokia 3200-series still do the job I need, phone & occasionally SMS, but unless it become retro-fashion I’m due for a laugh… (Happy that Hammond, Leslie and Vox did get retro…) Some of more “not extremely cheap electric stuff” bought here seems to have a fairly Okay life span of at least several years (so far)… And of non-electronics: Thai GF – not cheap, but did neither cost a fortune even a genuine original Thai-brand – has worked well so far 10½ year, seems still in perfect and mint condition… However, perhaps I should consider having a small back up, just to be on the safe side…? Edit: typo Edited June 9, 2014 by khunPer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CMCMANGOMAN Posted June 9, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted June 9, 2014 Who didn't get the interoffice memo? Re: Anything Thai, if it has tits or tires --you're gonna have trouble with it. Also, being a retired mechanical engineer I can attest to a thing we like to call, Built-in Obsolescence. I have sat in high level meetings with other corporate engineers back in the 1980's while having lengthy discussions about ways to design products cheaper to build and yet only last until the after the manufactures warranty expires. We finally solved this equation by testing, testing and trial testing the target part that was designed to fail after 12 or 24 months warranty time. Actual design changes were very expensive and a single die change started at 5000 dollars each. There was not much room for error. Corporate was always breathing down the engineering departments necks to finally create a problem that they could profit from. We modeled everything, top to bottom and finally gave them their get out of jail free card. In the final analysis, it came down to removing a brass bushing pressed in a soft steel housing. Instead, we allowed a hardened pin to remain in the soft steel housing without the brass bushing. 24+ months later, depending on use, bingo, the hardened steel pins would elongate the holes and eventually damage the housing beyond further use. Of course, new housings were available from the factory for $xxx, not covered under the warranty. This is the new corporate mind set and us true engineers hated it. Now, across the board, this goes on in every industry and in every country in the world. It's one of the reasons I retired early and came to Thailand to recieve my just deserts. Remember gents, Tits or tires = Trouble. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justanotherpassword Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I have tried to use "current straighteners" on each appliance to try and deal with the pieces heating up. I am one for "feeling the plug" (get your mind out of the gutter boys! ) when an article is running a period to see if it heats up. The electrical fire it prevents could be in your home after all. I brought nothing that plugs in as I came from the USA but have a house full of 12 year old electrical objects slowly getting replaced. Many refuse to wear out and I also fuss with lubricants and clean at them to keep them humming. A new fridge will pay for itself in a year in electrical savings. Take that to the bank. Check out "inverter technology" I gave my old one (from a company that no longer imports into Thailand) to my building tech people to have in their break room for they, building cleaners and gardeners. New flat screen TV's use so much less energy and don't heat up a room either. I had to give away a 12 year old "Sharp" color TV with perfect picture and do not regret it at all. Tube TV's get hot and use more electricity which requires more air conditioning. The only thing I had to replace was a washing machine that was 12 years old because the hinge failed. The motor still worked fine. Repair it? 3000 baht as no one stocks the hinge which had cracked in two. Replace it with new 10,000 baht and for the first time I have instructions in English and it is worth it for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignis Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I bought an table top oven IT had a warranty of 1 year It expired in 10 moths and the company that makes it here did not have any spare parts. I am going to sent it back to the mfg with all the dirt in it with a nasty letter and tell them to shove it where the sun does not shine Terrible Thai Company What I was saying is pot Luck, also have a cheap table top oven, never had a problem is over 7 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robroona Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Normal warranty times for electrical goods in Australia go anything from 3 months to a year. Sometimes 2 years with the name brands. An American Zippo lighter. Lifetime guarantee. I've tested that and it works. How do you know that? Are you dead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Aleman Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I have been here 10 years and learned after the second year to never, ever, buy "made in Thailand" if there is any other alternative. Even the local craftsmen do not use Thai parts when making repairs, ( air con, compressor from Japan ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandasloan Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I have been here 10 years and learned after the second year to never, ever, buy "made in Thailand" if there is any other alternative. Even the local craftsmen do not use Thai parts when making repairs, ( air con, compressor from Japan ). No Arrow shirts or Thai food then. And for sure no Victoria's Secret, too bad for your lady if you have one. It's rather a silly view, although perhaps just uninformed. Thailand makes more auto parts for the world than almost any country, including for cars made in Thailand. You probably can't buy a car without some. Thailand makes more computer chips, including for smartphones and the like, than almost any country. You almost certainly can't buy any PC or smartphone without something from Thailand. Thailand makes massive numbers of air conditioner compressors, especially - but not exclusively - for export. They make air conditioner compressors for air conditioners assembled in Thailand from Thai parts. And so on. All that stuff and one heck of a lot more seems to work okay. Around the world, Arrow seems to be doing all right. Of course, unlike all the other countries, Thailand ALSO has lots of rubbish for sale. More seriously, it has more than its world share of counterfeits. But to never buy "made in Thailand" is both pretty difficult and also amazingly uninformed. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherOneAmerican Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Just bought a Samsung Microwave, 10 year warranty. Same for the Samsung Inverter fridge, 10 year warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherOneAmerican Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Mira fan, bought in Central in Kad Sun Kaew about 8 months ago, just broke. Smells like melting plastic. There are shops in Thailand that repair fans for 100bht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignis Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Just bought a Samsung Microwave, 10 year warranty. Same for the Samsung Inverter fridge, 10 year warranty.ํ Yes that is on the motor only.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggusoil Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Normal warranty times for electrical goods in Australia go anything from 3 months to a year. Sometimes 2 years with the name brands. An American Zippo lighter. Lifetime guarantee. I've tested that and it works. How do you know that? Are you dead? Not quite. I mean I have tested the validity of the company's willingness to repair the lighter after 13 years after it was bought. . . My ex-wife is still using it, the lighter, after 17 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherOneAmerican Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Normal warranty times for electrical goods in Australia go anything from 3 months to a year. Sometimes 2 years with the name brands. An American Zippo lighter. Lifetime guarantee. I've tested that and it works. How do you know that? Are you dead? Not quite. I mean I have tested the validity of the company's willingness to repair the lighter after 13 years after it was bought. . . My ex-wife is still using it, the lighter, after 17 years. I didn't know Zippo lighters were electrical goods. You learn something every day! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BV70 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Same stuff, different country. My Apple iPod ceased working a while ago. I took it back to the store where I made the initial purchase. It cost around 250 Euro and had lasted a week over a year and was out of warranty. The sales staff guy looked at me as though I was stupid and said, without blushing, they're only built to last a year, for 250E what do you expect? Well I have a bit of plastic made in Hong Kong from 1982 that is still in good working condition and cost less than 1% the cost of a new iPod. Welcome to the disposable society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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