Sometimes you luck out

[Hugh R]

Last weekend my trash compactor failed, it was about 20 years old. It was running and not shutting off, so I hauled it out to the backyard and plugged it in and it kept running and wouldn't quit, after a minute or so it started smoking and smelling of electrical fire. Good thing it happened when I cycled it. I can see someone pushing the button and walking away and my house catches on fire! My gardener hauled it away for the scrap metal. New ones runs about $850. I mentioned it to my neighbor, we were discussing his kitchen remodel, and he said I could have his 5 year old one for free. So he brings it over, its the right size for the opening, but it has a white front. My appliances have black fronts, I know you can buy new panels from Whirlpool. I google the model No. and I get Sears, it lists the part as "BL/W. I think humh? I pull the panel off and the reverse is a clean, unscratched black panel. Plug it in and I'm done. Couldn't be happier. Sometimes a blind squirrel finds an acorn.

[Embraer]

sweet!

[A930Rocket]

Good thing it wasn't white/avacado!

[vas930]

Nice work, Hugh.

[porsche4life]

Black aluminum is cheap.... Would have been cheap to put a new panel in there... Cool for you that you didn't have to though...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Awesome and I bet it lasts another 20 years unlike a "new" one from some Chinese sweatshop that'll crap out in five if you're lucky...

I have to find a black stove top but it's naturally NLA. I'm thinking it'll have to be a new one as part of the kitchen remodel. Ugh. "New" to me does not necessarily mean "better". Actually the opposite is true more often than not.

Glad it worked out!

[wdfifteen]

The best part is you got to watch a trash compactor self destruct! That would be major entertainment around here.
Man if that was mine I'd of had a bunch of my drunked-up hillbilly neighbors driving around it in their jacked up 4x4s shootin' and throwin' beer cans at it until it exploded. That there's good old Saturday night entertainment.

[HardDrive]

Score.

[regency]

Nice! Mines not as good but..........our dryer was on it's last leg, While talking to my Mom on the phone, I mentioned that we were going out the next day to buy a dryer. She says, " we just got a new front loading washer & matching dryer, you can have our old dryer, its only about 3 years old".

Sweet, they only live about 45 minutes away.

Steve

73 911 T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

[Tobra]

Nice, sometimes good things happen to good people

[azasadny]

Excellent!!

[Rick Lee]

When I lived in the finished basement of my first house, I often started a load of wash as I was leaving the house because it was kind of noisy. One I started a load and then got tied up on the computer before I could leave. I heard a pop, a hiss and then spraying water. The braided line from the copper pipe to the washer had ruptured. If I had left the house before that happened, it would have been a total flood.

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

The best part is you got to watch a trash compactor self destruct! That would be major entertainment around here.
Man if that was mine I'd of had a bunch of my drunked-up hillbilly neighbors driving around it in their jacked up 4x4s shootin' and throwin' beer cans at it until it exploded. That there's good old Saturday night entertainment.

Pat-quit exaggerating. Everybody knows drunked-up hillbillys are only found in the South.

[vash]

i never understood trash compactors.

why not just a good old garbage can?

[Hugh R]

I wouldn't have bought one if the house didn't come with it. The only reason I would have bought another one would have been to fill the unfinished hole in the cabinet face.

[vash]

do you end up with a dense cube of garbage? is it leaky? say someone throws in a ballooned, contaminated can of chef boy r DEE.. do you have to have special bags.

i admit, i never messed with one..and i think i have seen tiny wine fridges that fit that small opening..i think. hehe.

[Hugh R]

A wine refrigerator would be a good alternative. I use lawn and leaf bags, they're a lot cheaper than compactor bags. Once in a while my wife has stuck a tall kitchen bag in it, and yes they can fail, but rarely in my case. Cans and bottles go in the recycle bin. I was looking at have a door made to match and putting in a wire rack that would hold the regular trash pail and the recycle pail. Would have been about $350 total, but my neighbor giving me the compactor solved the problem. I could see where a compactor would be nice if you lived in an apartment. Take the trash out once or twice a week instead of three or four times a week.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

T a bunch of my drunked-up hillbilly neighbors driving around it in their jacked up 4x4s shootin' and throwin' beer cans at it until it exploded.

Umm, that does sound fun LOL.

[GH85Carrera]

When we moved into our house 15 years ago the original owners left their old trash compactor in the garage. That sucker is HEAVY!. I figured they left it because it was heavy. I soon discovered it did not turn off at the end of a cycle. It was just a limit switch that was out of adjustment. I fixed that and I use it only for aluminum cans. One brick of cans from the unit is worth 5 bucks these days. I just wait until I have 4 bricks and I take them to the scrap yard. It was great for the price!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Don't forget to pay the taxes on your gain Hugh. sorry, just had to.