Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Bad appliance karma

Last Thursday night, my dishwasher died. In retrospect, the timing was good because
I was able to stop by Lowes and order a new one Friday morning on my way to the Powwow.
It will be delivered this afternoon. The timing also allowed me to use the weekend 
to figure out how to uninstall the dead dishwasher.

With YouTube, all things are possible.



The uninstalling was relatively straightforward: turn off the water supply, 
disconnect the water line, disconnect the drain tube, disconnect the power cord, 
wipe some water off the floor. No big deal.

But what YouTube and the user's manual failed to tell me was that until I connect 
a new dishwasher to the water supply, I cannot use the hot water in my kitchen sink.
That is, not unless I want to mop up a lot more water off the floor.
Of course I learned that the hard way, but at least my kitchen floor is very clean now.


The dishwasher lived to be 10, a relatively long life as far as dishwashers go. 
Still, I am sad to see it go, mainly because all the other appliances in the house
are also 10. I expect this is the first of many appliance burials in my near future.


What I didn't expect was that the damned crockpot would be the next to go.
It was barely two months old when I heard a gunshot in the kitchen
the lid exploded yesterday afternoon.
There went my balsamic chicken dinner.
I called the manufacturer and a new crockpot is on its way.
At least I didn't have to consult YouTube on this one.


30 comments:

  1. I hate it when appliances die. Unexpected expense and it is hard to get excited about a new one that does the same thing.

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  2. Appliances always seem to fail in groups!

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  3. When we moved in our tiny cabin all appliances were 12 years old, very antiquated and not energy efficient, so we gradually replaced them all. Gave me a huge headache making decisions, but the right ones were made and we're pleased. Now the crockpot ... that blows my mind, no pun intended. How??? Why??? That is downright weird, but glad it's being replaced ... Guess it was pbj for dinner that day.

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  4. Holy mackeral on the crockpot! Good thing you weren't standing next to it. Appliances, sigh. I'm on my third dishwasher in 12 years, boo. Replaced all the others, including HVAC, at least once. I guess it's better than living in a tent, but sometimes I wonder....

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  5. Our dishwasher just died too. You should have a separate cut off switch to your dishwasher from your sink hot water. Hope the installation goes well.

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  6. Well done! And love your green cake stand.

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  7. Holy Cow. I've never seen or heard of a crock pot doing that. I hate when appliances go, my Keurig died Sunday morning 20 minutes before I was having 14 people over for coffee. Thank goodness Dunkin' makes a Box of Joe to go.

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  8. In the "old days" appliances lasted 30 years or more. Now, not so much. Amazing as technology was supposed to take us to another level. I guess I'm missing the point buy another and keep the economy marching on.

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  9. i was about to buy a crock pot since i don't have one, now i am thinking twice about it. glad you get a new one. still giggling over the clean floor... i love youtube, i don't think there is anything we can't find on there. my brother repaired his washer with youtube..

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  10. Hmmmm, I need to go look for that Master Protection Agreement renewal form. Thanks for the reminder!
    You are so darn handy! I love how you just dig in!!
    What would cause the lid of your crockpot to explode? I wasn't aware something like that could happen!

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    1. I'm thinking it had to be a manufacturing defect. It was 3 hours in to a 4-hour session on high when it happened.

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  11. Yikes! Why would the crockpot lid explode? I have never heard of that happening. Did they give a reason why that would have happened? Glad they are sending you a new one!

    Sydney
    NE Okla

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  12. Makes me glad that my dishwasher is attached to the ends of my arms. Haven't had an electronic one in over 30 years. When mine goes, I go. Now I am worried. I'm at work and my crockpot is at home making spaghetti sauce. Hope I don't have a mess tonight.

    Emily in NC

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  13. Oh how I laughed that your first thought OF COURSE would be a gun shot in the kitchen! Ha!

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  14. Sorry about the exploding crock pot. Yikes. Being the lazy bones that I am, I would have waited for the Lowe's person to disconnect dead dishwasher and install the new one.

    I was studying for the bar exam when my refrigerator died in 2002. Bought the house in 2000. Probably installed in late 80's. The Sears people could not believe how happy I was to go refrigerator shopping that day. Can you say escape??!!!

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  15. Oh and when it rains it pours - seems to go that way here too. You did good on the removal!

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  16. I've had those glass lids explode on my pots too. Scares the $#!+ out of you when they blow, then makes you angry because dinner is ruined.

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  17. mmm! Balsamic chicken! Would love to see that recipe!

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    1. http://damndelicious.net/2015/08/14/slow-cooker-balsamic-chicken/

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  18. I'm surprised you chose to have a dishwasher, living alone. You prefer that?

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    1. Definitely. I only run it once or twice a week, but it sure seems worth it to me.

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  19. Did you watch Big Tony videos on the dishwasher? Big Tony with the New Jersey accent? Big Tony rocks. He helped me uninstall and install a dishwasher the other day.

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    1. Ha! Just checked him out. He does rock. I'll use his video for the installation later today. Thanks!

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    2. And when you are done profiting from his excellent instruction, you can imitate his accent. I crack myself up going around the house doing "Big Tony says..." And I like the way he has a tiny cousin to do all the work while he instructs, because he's too (1) big and (2) important to get in there and do all the fiddling. Nice man.

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  20. Holy cow, I have that exact same slow cooker with the glass lid. I've had it for seven years. Granted, I don't use it all that often, but I'm wondering if I should put it out in the garage when I use it just in case the lid blows next time?!!! Glad no one (you or Smooch) was harmed when it blew!

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  21. What on earth did we do before the Internets? =o)

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  22. Oh, no! ALL of our kitchen appliances and washer and dryer are 16 years old! Our dishwasher is in its death throes and I'm going to have to start looking for a new one.

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  23. Wow, heckuva lot going on down there...gunshot in the kitchen would scare the day lights outta me (you're funny!!). Stupid crockpot - we were with you when you chose it. Seems the manufacturer needs to send flowers and an apology, in addition to a replacement.
    You and Tall Paul and your YouTube videos! There is seriously nothing you guys can't do after watching those. :-)

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  24. Wow! Seriously scary with the crock pot lid exploding. I will have to go back and see if I can find any pictures of the lid intact. Presumably the handle/knob was a separate piece (metal/plastic), anchored with a screw? Our ancient crock pot has the heavy molded glass lid with the glass knob. We do have some lids we use with our cookware that have a separate knob. Makes me wonder about them, though they don't get used for long projects like a slow cooker.

    As for the appliances, in the past 15+ months Disposal(batch feed)(?twenty-ish?), hot water heater(15yrs), Dishwasher(10yrs), washing machine(7.5 yrs, I killed it), dryer (> 8 yrs , on last legs but running). There are still some other appliances limping along, but we will be OK for now. They do seem to fail in batches. My mother calls it the sympathy-syndrome, or what's next!

    We had the new dishwasher installed (kitchen is upstairs). Even though we had the same brand installed, it required a different electrical box and plumbing was routed a little differently. I wouldn't want to tackle it myself.

    My Hat's Off to you!

    M in NC

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  25. An American in Tokyo5/16/16, 6:14 PM

    You are so awesome!
    My appliances are hitting the 15 year mark and my washing machine is getting weaker and weaker.
    I need to get a new one soon.

    The crockpot scared me! I hope that doesn't happen to me! I love my little crockpot...

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