Well it’s not an overly inspiring photo, but then what white good is?
Purchased some time before 2000 this fridge survived a move from the outback to the city on the back of a cattle truck, along with cattle, a Simpson top loader and many other household effects.
In March 2022 it decided to stop cooling. I was away so the missus bought an Inalto fridge - quite similar to that red one that drove Technology Connections mental.
When I got back I took the old fridge apart to see if it was the thermostat that was sick. The tip had rusted off, letting out the gas that operates the bellows in the thermostat, so ordered and fitted a new one. Success. Kept it in the shed just in case.
Now the Inalto struggles to get below 11°C, so have dragged the Kelvinator out of storage and it’s back to full time duty again.
As for the Inalto, it’s freezing up at the top corner of the unit and only drawing 30 watts. Will do some research, but suspect it’s not fixable. At under three years old, that’s an exceptionally short life.
I did the same thing kinda with a washer dryer combo. Found it on the side of the road, took my chances on repairm dryer was 100% functional. Washer kept spitting pressure errors. Replaced a $10 water inlet valve. Good as new and been working for 4 years now.
I have a buddy that makes over $100K a year, yet he fixes washers and dryers in his evenings. Get 'em free or near enough, replaces a part or two, sells on FB Marketplace. Dude makes $300-$400 a week.
Most stunning thing to me, there are only 2 versions of most parts, across all domestic manufacturers. He only need 2 widgets to fix widget-issue on any given model.
I can see it. Most people I find throw stuff out because minor issues, but costly repairs to hire someone. If you don’t overly care about your time, and have the space. You can make a bunch of money doing this.