Frequently Asked
Questions
Here are just a few of the most common questions I
get asked about what I do. I'll
be adding to this page as time permits, but if you have a question you
don't see here,
please feel free to drop me an email. I do this full time, and can
usually get back
to you pretty quickly on any day except Sunday, my day off.
Note: If there's a question you think should be included
here, please let me know.
Q: I bought small parts from you a few years ago and
you just dropped them into a regular envelope and mailed them for the
price of a stamp. Now it looks like even your smallest parts ship in a
USPS "small flat rate" box. Why?
A: Up until a few years ago you could get away with
mailing small parts that way, but now, with high speed automated sorting
machinery running at "warp speed", only the very smallest and thinnest
parts (1/8" or thinner) will safely make the trip in an envelope. I've
had to learn that the hard way, seeing envelopes ripped open and the
parts forever lost. So I've been forced to ship almost everything in an SFRB. It costs more, for sure, but it's been very fast and reliable.
***
Q: A friend
told me I need to replace the grease in my vintage model 12 Mixmaster
with "food grade" grease. Is that true? I've never had a problem with
grease leakage.
A: Vintage
Mixmasters do NOT require food grade grease if Sunbeam's instructions
are followed. To correctly re-grease the gearbox in a model 5 through
12, clean out as much of the old grease as possible, then add just ONE
TABLESPOON of good-grade automotive wheel bearing grease, working it
into the gears (a wooden popsicle stick works well for that). Do NOT
pack the gearbox full of grease or it will cause problems with seepage.
I used to see over-greased Mixmasters often in the shop, and that's
apparently where the idea of a need for food-grade grease came from.
Even food-grade grease will eventually work its way down the spindles if
the gearbox is overfilled.
***
Q: I've
bought appliance parts from you in the past, but I can't
find them on your site any longer. Do you still sell "fast moving"
parts, like washer pumps, dryer elements, etc?
A: First of
all, a huge THANKS to all of you who have purchased "fast moving" common
appliance parts from me in the 26+ years I sold them in my own business, and
also over years I've sold them here on my own website. I can't put into
words how encouraging you've been to me, and I've been blessed to have
made so many new friends this way. So THANK YOU!
With so many parts distributors now selling
common appliance parts at below wholesale prices on Ebay, I've
decided to stop selling common parts, close out my inventory, and think
about retirement (OK, at least "semi-retirement" - whatever that is!)
I've sold the majority of them to another dealer, but
this page lists the few common
closeouts I have left, and when they're gone, they're gone! I've priced
these as low as possible to move them fast. I'm also listing the
remaining quantity of each part, as accurately as I can manually keep up
with the changing numbers. I'm getting really low on all of these, so
don't wait!
I have a few others that I'll be listing as I get time, but the ones on
that page are the most popular, so I'm starting with them.
I have a
friend in the parts business with a huge Ebay store and below wholesale
prices, located
HERE.
I still
sell a few hard-to-find and vintage parts and those I
fabricate myself, as well as vintage, hard to find service manuals, etc. I've just started
working on the closeout list, with the quantity remaining in stock
listed below each part's photo. Quantities on most of them are getting
very low at this point, but there's still a small garage warehouse of them to get through,
so it'll be a while.
You'll find my vintage appliance parts specials
here , with
more to come as I get time to list them.
***
Q: You've
often joked about getting older, enduring your 60's, etc, but in your
website photo
you look so young and dazzlingly handsome. What's up with that?
A: It's an old picture.
'Been
thinking about updating it, but I'd hate to
scare any little kids that might wander by the site. ;-)
***
Q: Do your
products carry any type of guarantee?
A: Yes, I've
always warranted everything I sell for 6 months. I also
promise to personally help
you install them correctly. It may sound "corny" in this age of greed
and deception,
but I see myself as
a solution provider first, parts seller second.
***
Q: You list
Sunbeam Mixmaster and 'T' auto toaster manuals and parts. Do you ever repair
these machines, or do you know of someone who does?
A:
I did for some 45 years, and still love the work, but I'm taking a
break from the Mixmaster and toaster work as of the end of 2018. I was
never prepared for the high demand, and fell so far behind there wasn't
time for much else. So a break is needed.
***
Q: Do you
provide local in-home appliance repair service?
A: I did
for just under 40 years, but shut down that part of my business in late 2010 due
to a rough battle with Lyme disease and its lingering, recurring
nastiness. If you’re located here in
Bradford or Sullivan
Counties of NE PA and need a pro,
contact me and I can refer someone for
you. Having
said that, be aware that most appliance service, even in these more
high-tech days, is NOT
that difficult. In most cases, you can do it yourself if you're just a
little handy with a
screwdriver. Helping handy homeowners with this stuff is my
passion, and I do it full time,
so just ask - or
click here to go to the index of DIY articles I've posted so far.
***
Q: Why
don't you like the new Whirlpool direct-drive washer coupler
#285753A, with the steel inserts? It's Whirlpool's latest version.
A: The first generation of this part had major problems, and I refused to endorse it
until they were fixed (please see
this article.) As I
state in the updated article, Whirlpool has finally fixed the issues
with the insert coupler, and they're doing very well now. It took
a few years, but it's finally a decent product again. Just be sure
and stay with original "FSP" versions. The aftermarket ones are still
having reliability problems (some of them are just awful!)
***
Q: Why does your website
look so, well, dated? It just doesn't have the polish and
interactivity other
sites do.
A: I first published this site in 2000, and back then, most folks
were on dialup, which was agonizingly slow by current standards, depending on where you live. One
of the goals for web pages in that era was to design them to load as
fast as possible on slow connections, so I went mostly with text.
Sometimes I
stress over the outdated home-made look of the site,
but then someone pops up and thanks me for making the information
available. That's when I'm reminded that folks don't care as much about
how fancy a site like this one is, but are desperate for
the information they need right now.
Couple that
with the fact that my time has been at a premium around here for the
last decade, and website whistles and bells just haven't been a top
priority. It's one of the things I'm hoping to address once I get most of the long-postponed jobs around our
old homestead caught back up. Which is starting to look like, um, never! ;-)
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