Repair deficit: washing machines began to be repaired with weapons parts

The shortage of spare parts for household appliances is both a myth and a reality. As we already wrote in relation to refrigerators, the vast majority of components for the repair of modern products can be purchased – however, many of them will have to be bought on order and, accordingly, wait about two months. The situation is similar with washing machines – for them, the masters, in order to make an order quickly, also have to find spare parts. Very exotic options are possible…

Remember how everyone laughed a few months ago at Ukrainian stories about “washing machine chips” that are supposedly used to create Russian weapons? We don’t know how it is with the military-industrial complex, and we won’t speculate, but on the contrary, it turns out that sometimes it happens: broken automatic washing machines (expensive, branded, old – the traditional “repairman’s nightmare”) are repaired using military spare parts, moreover, Soviet-made.

“Recently, I bought 50 running size bearings from storage on an ad,” says Igor Babich, a master with 20 years of experience. – I drew attention to the label: 1989, military acceptance. I don’t know where the seller got it from, it’s not customary to ask, but there an elderly uncle, maybe he himself once dragged it from the factory. Excellent condition, will use. This is definitely not worse than China, which can now be obtained without problems. And the “native” SKF (the largest bearing manufacturer from Sweden – Auth.) is no longer there, they are selling off the remnants, not all sizes are already available.

Bearings are one of the standard spare parts for washing machines (this means that they are taken from the finished range when designing machines, and are not developed for a specific model). The second same spare part is the drive belts leading from the engine to the drum. They are also standard, but the range of global manufacturers is wide.

So, belts of most dimensions are available in Moscow, so the repair of a car with a broken belt will not drag on for a long time, the MK interlocutor is sure. But those same chips, more precisely, electronic control units – just the case when “everything is complicated.” And a lot depends on the specific brand of equipment.

– Most manufacturers have all the “brains” under the order, – says Babich. – Electrolux, Candy (this brand is generally all made to order), Bosch, Koreans … The only one who more or less has electronics in stock is the “bush” of Whirlpool / Ariston / Indesit brands. They either quickly organized a scheme, or good stock balances: they were going to be here with us seriously and for a long time …

Prices for “brains” are solid, from 8,500 to 25,000 rubles. And, again, expensive options are usually taken to order (read – two months to use the laundry). So if the master “sentences” this very electronics to be replaced, everything is sad. You can “re-solder” something with your own hands only with very old machines (30 years old or older): there microcircuits lend themselves to “amateur” desoldering and are easy to buy.

Another difficult category is “body” parts: for example, tanks (from 5,000 to 30,000), hatches (from 2,500 to 10,000). In Moscow online stores of spare parts “in stock” there is nothing at all from these categories – only on order (we will also take into account the delivery price of a bulky item). A similar situation with plastic trays for washing powder.

But for some reason, there are a lot of manhole locks in stock (and the prices are quite humane – from 900 to 2200 rubles). “It’s simple, we carry common items to the reserve,” the manager of one of the Moscow spare parts stores for household appliances told MK. – And we simply do not have such a warehouse to keep tanks, drums, hatches or facade panels there. Plus, the cost also affects: what costs modest money, we stock up, and we don’t have the opportunity to do expensive things.

Dealer inventory is not relevant when it comes to parts that vary greatly from model to model. For example, an inexpensive thing is a thermostat (a device that turns off the heating when the desired water temperature is reached) – they cost up to 1,500 rubles. But the range is so large that about 80% of thermostats have to be ordered. Or shock absorbers: they cost up to 3,000 rubles, and many of them (since the thing is typical) are in stock, but about 50% are available only on order.

“We have not yet reached the point of rewinding the engines, as was done under the Soviet regime,” says Philip, a repairman for household appliances. – But sometimes it’s exotic, where it’s probably easier to rewind than to wait and pay.

Of the engines for washing machines, only about 10% are available on Internet sites in Moscow, the rest is on order. And the price – in fact, matches the “heart of the car”: from 8000 to 25000. Accordingly, if an “engine plus something else” is being replaced, the repair becomes a dubious undertaking: isn’t it easier to buy a machine cheaper, but new?

– Here you need to understand that a new one, perhaps, will be enough not for twenty years, but for five, – Philip adds. – For example, many modern models have plastic drums: do you think they will last as long as metal drums, or less? And if they are metal, there is such a thing as the thickness and grade of the metal …

But there are also such spare parts with which there are no problems at all: these are simple things, for example, engine brushes (they cost hundreds of rubles, most are available) and heating elements (they cost about 1500 – 2000 rubles, almost everything is available). In general, the maintainability of washing machines in our time depends primarily on luck. There are no rules, act like pirates – and you can even put “combat” Soviet bearings in your car.