Talked to a neighbor who repairs everything with zip ties and it made me rethink my whole approach

He fixed his washing machine drum with three heavy duty zip ties and it's been running fine for 6 months. I spent $40 on a replacement part that didn't even fit. Makes me wonder how many things I'm overcomplicating - has anyone else had a simple fix work better than the official solution?

2 comments

2 Comments

richard_wells591mo ago

Has that woman in the UK who fixed her 1980s tumble dryer with a coat hanger and it lasted another 15 years ever been fully explained? I mean, I get the point about things failing cataclysmically, but sometimes a cheap fix really does work. My own father used to keep old screen door springs and baling wire on his truck for a reason. He ran a 1970s C10 for 20 years with the tailgate held on by a twisted piece of baling wire. I suppose the trick is knowing when you're dealing with a simple repair and when you're just hiding a bigger problem.

thea2461mo ago

My uncle did the zip tie thing on a washing machine, and the whole drum fell off on spin cycle 3 months later. Water everywhere, had to buy a new machine. Then my coworker used a paperclip to fix his car's fuse box and it shorted out the whole electrical system. Cost him $900 at the shop. Those cheap fixes can hide the real problem. You might get away with it for a while, but when it fails it usually makes things way worse than if you'd just done it right the first time.

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