I pride myself in being able to make many repairs inexpensively. Recently I have run into a few cases where it may not be worth it.
The moulded armrest for my office chair recently broke... I tried 5 minute epoxy and not only didn't that work, but the same armrest broke in another place causing me to end up flat on my back. :
I found a replacement armrest for $25 and figured it was worth that to make the chair whole, but decided to bite the bullet and buy a better (more expensive ) chair at the same time. After sitting in the better chair I recognized how flaky the old chair is. There are clucks coming from the undercarriage that suggests more future drama to come. :
The same vendor that sold the replacement arm rest (that fit perfectly), also sells replacement tilt mechanisms ($27), and a replacement air lift cylinder ($24). A brand new (cheap) office chair can be found as low as $50.... so for $75 in parts I could get the chair (only worth $50) functional but with already worn vinyl covering.
Too good to throw away, but not worth the repair parts cost to fix... I'm sure those parts don't cost the OEM chair manufacturer that much. I bet selling the repair parts is higher profit margin than selling the chairs. 8)
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In another situation the tact switches inside a cheap kitchen scale were faulty (dirty),,, a new scale was <$10
JR
The moulded armrest for my office chair recently broke... I tried 5 minute epoxy and not only didn't that work, but the same armrest broke in another place causing me to end up flat on my back. :
I found a replacement armrest for $25 and figured it was worth that to make the chair whole, but decided to bite the bullet and buy a better (more expensive ) chair at the same time. After sitting in the better chair I recognized how flaky the old chair is. There are clucks coming from the undercarriage that suggests more future drama to come. :
The same vendor that sold the replacement arm rest (that fit perfectly), also sells replacement tilt mechanisms ($27), and a replacement air lift cylinder ($24). A brand new (cheap) office chair can be found as low as $50.... so for $75 in parts I could get the chair (only worth $50) functional but with already worn vinyl covering.
Too good to throw away, but not worth the repair parts cost to fix... I'm sure those parts don't cost the OEM chair manufacturer that much. I bet selling the repair parts is higher profit margin than selling the chairs. 8)
=====
In another situation the tact switches inside a cheap kitchen scale were faulty (dirty),,, a new scale was <$10
JR
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