Planned Obsolescence

P

PVF1799

501 Club
Ok, so in 2001 I purchased a Sears 2400 PSI Craftsman Pressure Washer with a 6HP Briggs and Stratton Intek engine. This was mfg. by Briggs for Sears. This past weekend, went to use it to find out one of the valves in the pump had failed. Disassembled the pump, found the broken valve and that is where this odyssey begins.

Sears Parts Direct - Parts No Longer Available
B&S - Yup we've got - oopppssss now we don't - when Sears discontinues a model, they make just so many spare parts then they are gone.
PartsNationwide.com - No Longer Available
eBay Nothing
Equipatron.com - No Longer Available.

Briggs, told me - that must be a very old pressure washer - Good God it's only 12 years old. It's a good thing they didn't manufacturer F-Cubs, else we'd have sent to China for the steel 45 years ago..... I told the CSR, I can find parts for a 65 year-old tractor than I can for this pressure washer. She found that hard to believe.....

Suffice it to say, I WILl Not Purchase a product like this from Sears.

Disgusted in Altamont.
Ken
 
Way brand pump is it?
Your experience is not exclusive to Sears or Briggs&Stratton, all the brands have moved to a throw away business model, and have for a number of years.
 
Yup. My experience also. Equipment breaks down. Find part number to fix equipment. Call for price quote and find out the part costs almost as much as the same item new off the shelf. And new item has a warranty.

Just don't seem right.

Pressure sprayer. The pump will cost you more than the entire unit new. Experience.
 
Horizontal or vertical shaft engine? Can the engine be easily used on other equipment that you own? DIY pump from Northern? Buy new washer, save old machine and look for good used pump on blown/worn out engine. Just thinking out loud.
 
PVF1799":hkflhkc1 said:
I WILl Not Purchase a product like this from Sears.
Click to expand...
Ken don't plan to buy a product like that from Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Lowe's, etc, etc. Why???? Because none of them will be able to supply parts when the vendor quits making them. You are blaming Sear's when it is actually the manufacturer of the pump who is not supplying the part. Sears does not make the part so Sear's can only offer the parts when their vendor has them. Using your theory you don't want to buy any product made by the company who made your pump.
 
I had a part fail on a Bosch orbital sander. Bosch said part was not available. Warranty? Yep. Return at my expense. Nope, since the sander was less than 30 days old it could be returned to the store. Menards was not enthusatic about returning my money and would make an adjustment only if I bought a new sander. I explained of course it was well used I didn't buy it to look at and I didn't want another #*#*# Bosch if they didn't have parts for what was a new sander. By now I was talking with the department manager and he explained that most manfactures operate that way. I left with a new Porter-Cable. Last month my multi tool purchased last July failed in the on/off switch. Nearest repair station less than 10 miles. Brand? Porter-Cable. Switch was not in stock but 8 days later I picked up the tool repaired under warranty. Guess which brand I prefer. The multi tool was made in Chinia. A lot of P-C stuff is made in Mexico and I think is better. Two things I don't like of Chineese manfacture is electricial and steel that needs to hold a sharp edge. Sometimes it is hard to avoid. Vern
 
Barnyard":2l1goo2u said:
PVF1799":2l1goo2u said:
I WILl Not Purchase a product like this from Sears.
Click to expand...
Ken don't plan to buy a product like that from Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Lowe's, etc, etc. Why???? Because none of them will be able to supply parts when the vendor quits making them. You are blaming Sear's when it is actually the manufacturer of the pump who is not supplying the part. Sears does not make the part so Sear's can only offer the parts when their vendor has them. Using your theory you don't want to buy any product made by the company who made your pump.
Click to expand...

Good morning - From what I understand from B&S - Sears Provided the Craftsman specifications to Briggs & Stratton for mfg. specifying how many extra parts to make for each kit. When Sears pulled the plug on this model they did not analyze number of units sold and stock accordingly. I understand what your saying about being PO'd at Sears etc, etc....but was just mad in general.

For a luagh they still have the replacement pump for $281 - I laughed at that.
 
This morning I found a replacement pump, with adapter plate for 4 hole pumps to this 3 hole replacement for $79. Waiting for final word from the supplier if the pump will in fact bolt on. The shaft size is the same. Some smart guy saw this issue across all mfg's, like Barnyard noted and made a business of it.

I'm over my mad :)

Ken
 
Glad you found a way Ken. I hate planned obsolescence/cheap junk. Wife just doesn't understand why I like old rather than new.
 
Years ago when I worked in the office appliance repair shop at the IRS I had a strapping machine come in for repair. Several of these machines had been bought about three years earlier through one of the government purchasing programs. I found a local vendor who sold the same brand equipment so I called them for the parts I needed. The sales guy said parts were no longer available for the model I was working on. I told him we just bought them new about three years earlier. He said that model had been discontinued a good two years before we bought them.

The guy said, evidently, some vendor had three of these sitting in their inventory for a long time and couldn't unload them. When the government put out a contract to buy similar machines he probably offered these at a lower price than newer models and got them out of his building and never mentioned they were outdated.
 
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