I too if I think it's repairable for less and have the time to troubleshoot will repair instead of replace. My home office computer recently died. I "troubleshooted" it down to the mother board, found one same model later revision MB for $35 on fleaBay and bought it. I could probably troubleshoot the MB down the the circuit that is at fault but I figured why bother. Another MB is the fastest way to cure the problem.
Amen! I've been a software dev for about 30 years and they've become throwaway items. Yet, my 30 year old air compressor stopped working, they wanted more to fix it than a replacement motor. I made a momentum switch from old points using my tig welder and it's been working for over a year now.
... some things are worth fixing, some are throw away.
About 15 years ago, I used to manage an electronics store and we would also repair most electronics. Customers would bring in non-working TV's or VCR's and want them repaired. When I would explain our shop rate and that it would be cheaper to go out and buy a brand new one instead of spending money on fixing an old unit that is still going to have other old parts inside it, a lot of customers didn't understand and would leave angry.
With the way electronics have gotten so cheap, it's more economical to buy a new one than try to repair, unless it's something cheap and simple that can be fixed.
About 15 years ago, I used to manage an electronics store and we would also repair most electronics. Customers would bring in non-working TV's or VCR's and want them repaired. When I would explain our shop rate and that it would be cheaper to go out and buy a brand new one instead of spending money on fixing an old unit that is still going to have other old parts inside it, a lot of customers didn't understand and would leave angry.
With the way electronics have gotten so cheap, it's more economical to buy a new one than try to repair, unless it's something cheap and simple that can be fixed.
Was in a similar business - repairing vacuums, floor machines, steam cleaners, and Mattel Power Wheels. At one time we had a 30 x 90' cellar filled with abandoned machines - we charged a 1/2hr minimum for cleaning & diagnosis - once we told them how much it would cost to fix and how much they had in it so far they just left them. Our delivery trucks were 22' box trucks with 8' ceilings and we took 2 full loads from floor to ceiling and front to back to the landfill when we moved locations.
I brought my home theater unit in for repair, it had several modes but wouldn't stay in the mode I wanted (surround). After about a month and about 1/2 what I paid for it, I got the 'fixed' system back in place and it didn't work, it would leave surround and go to regular after a short time.
I gave up on it, now it's an expensive amp that I use for my iPod
It's hard to sell quality with all the sub-par junk being sold, people just look at the price and shinny stuff.
Location: Vero Beach, FL but currently live in Korea
Posts: 1,338
I wasn't in the business but I've been building my own computers since the early 90s. I was a cheaper way at the time to get what I wanted in a machine. I found out the hard way that you don't touch the heat sink inside a computer power supply when it it plugged in. Shocking experience. I was the ground.
2 years ago I bought a 60" LED/LCD Sony TV for $2200 with a 2 year extended warranty. It started showing shadows when a white screen was displayed. Only I could see it out of everyone in the family. I guess being a TV Broadcast Engineer has something to do with my TV vision.
I started the warranty process and got a call telling me a replacement display was $4000. Two weeks later I got a new TV via the warranty and immediately purchased another extended warranty! Oh, and they let me keep the old TV that I sold for $500
__________________
1995 GT convertible - Laser Red
1995 GT convertible - Black (Son's ride)
1966 GT Fastback under restoration- Code T Red
with White LeMans stripes.
I went through two accel coils on my jeep before i found one that was good. Get it tested with a good volt meter.
I tried to return electrical parts before, they told me "we don't sell test equipment" accusing me of buying it and testing to see if it fixed the problem.
Quality control is EASY to save money on, just don't do quality control.
First of all Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
I wanted to give an update on my car. I have temporarily held off on replacing the distributor because I was wanting some opinions on buying a points eliminator or buying one of those conversions to switch to electronic ignition. What are some of you guys using or how many of y'all are using stock distributor and points?
Lastly, I replaced my vacuum advance and now when I start the engine, it idles very rough and almost sounds like it's missing. It will do this for about 10 minutes until the car gets warmed up and then it idles fine. Anyone have an idea What would cause that? If I disconnect the vacuum advance it will idle fine.
I'm thinking that maybe I need to adjust the timing again?
Unfortunately this didn't resolve my stalling problem but I did make it not stall as much by adjusting the idle mixture screw on the carburetor. It is set at 2 1/2 turns out.
Speaking of the carburetor.. I'm getting horrible gas mileage. I put 5 gallons of gas in it and drove 70 miles (all highway miles) and the gas gage is on empty.
Last edited by Chris31419; 11-22-2012 at 06:29 PM.
First of all Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
I wanted to give an update on my car. I have temporarily held off on replacing the distributor because I was wanting some opinions on buying a points eliminator or buying one of those conversions to switch to electronic ignition. What are some of you guys using or how many of y'all are using stock distributor and points?
Lastly, I replaced my vacuum advance and now when I start the engine, it idles very rough and almost sounds like it's missing. It will do this for about 10 minutes until the car gets warmed up and then it idles fine. Anyone have an idea What would cause that? If I disconnect the vacuum advance it will idle fine.
I'm thinking that maybe I need to adjust the timing again?
Unfortunately this didn't resolve my stalling problem but I did make it not stall as much by adjusting the idle mixture screw on the carburetor. It is set at 2 1/2 turns out.
Speaking of the carburetor.. I'm getting horrible gas mileage. I put 5 gallons of gas in it and drove 70 miles (all highway miles) and the gas gage is on empty.
The poor running when cold is most likely a choke that's indexed too rich. The bad vacuum advance was probably producing a vacuum leak that masked this a bit but now it's not there........
BTW, I have an OE dual-point with Pertronix I. No problems here.
Well now I have a new problem. My Uncle wanted me to show him how the vacuum advance was causing rough idle when cold so while he was looking at it, I was inside the house. I walked outside and saw where he had taken out my points and was looking at them. I asked what he was doing and he said, he wanted to see what kind of condition they were in.
Anyways, he put them back in and now the car won't start.
Neither him or myself can figure out why just by taking them out and putting them back in would cause the car not to start? I've checked them and they are bolted in correctly. Everything in the distributor is connected. It's very odd.
I guess I'm going to buy a new set of points tomorrow but I'm just curious as to what the hell caused that?
Well now I have a new problem. My Uncle wanted me to show him how the vacuum advance was causing rough idle when cold so while he was looking at it, I was inside the house. I walked outside and saw where he had taken out my points and was looking at them. I asked what he was doing and he said, he wanted to see what kind of condition they were in.
Anyways, he put them back in and now the car won't start.
Neither him or myself can figure out why just by taking them out and putting them back in would cause the car not to start? I've checked them and they are bolted in correctly. Everything in the distributor is connected. It's very odd.
I guess I'm going to buy a new set of points tomorrow but I'm just curious as to what the hell caused that?
Did he reset the point gap correctly? Is the lead wire touching a ground?
No, he didn't change the gap. All he did was take the points out and look at them and then screwed them back into the distributor. My points are the type where you loosen an allen screw to gap them. I didn't think they had to be re-gapped if the allen screw was never touched??
No, he didn't change the gap. All he did was take the points out and look at them and then screwed them back into the distributor. My points are the type where you loosen an allen screw to gap them. I didn't think they had to be re-gapped if the allen screw was never touched??
All depends on whether the mounting holes are slotted or not. If they aren't then look at the lead wire to make sure he put it on the correct side of the insulator block (Then make sure somebody put the rotor back on).
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