The spare parts, do you hoard them?

[eco-mick]

Well - some time last year my Tefal Steamer basket decided to give up the ghost due to over use - the second tier of the 3 stack broken in half..

Anyhow, I thought I try my luck in getting a replacment part from Tefal themselves... bad move - replacement basket came in at £26 + postage considering I paid about £35 for the full jobby 2-3 years earlier - so out came the drill and some cable ties.. did the job for another few more months until basket 1 went the same route (main basket), dammit I thought, I really didn't want to chuck it out as it works okay without a hitch... just the baskets were its weak points (dunno if it could be the dishwasher doing it or not...)- anyhow this is the steamer type of model in question:


Now.. my luck was in, spotted another one at the local bootsale here in Lincolnshire, but a lesser model (mine is the digi one with vitamin boost?) with a turn dial on it, but the top half (the baskets and lid are the same items). Briliant, baskets are all in brand new condition, but dusty - old lad wanted shot of it.. £5 he says snapped it stright off him lol Bargain!

So, my old one has new baskets and new lease of life, the lesser model lived in the loft for a year before it came back down after clearing out it out ready for the solar install in the coming weeks/months... so I decided I might as well recycle the plastics of the steamer and strip out the parts inside as the main unit will be no use to me as it stands.

The main steamer hot plate/element is the same in both so that will be kept aside to keep my digital one going for as long as I can, same goes for the temp sensor. Plastics will be sent to the local recycling centre as they now accept hard plastics. Same for the wires will be processed in the WEEE section too.

But one item I can't find a use for and looking for some ideas for it. is the turn dial timer from the front from the bootsale find (same one as the photo above). Its a 240v 60min timer or switch looks like a handy thing. Any ideas what it can be used for in a ish way for my ish lifestyle in the future?

Now do you members here hoard parts from electrical items hoping to replace broken down parts say from friends and relatives? (yes I do as I've done this to mums hotpoint tumble dryer too a few months ago. As the bearing went on parents old one and basically it will cost more to repair than to replace the tumble drier - so I ended up taking out the motor (with a lump hammer ), heater element from hers and its the same model as mine - yippee, a few bob saved when mine fails in the future )

Note: it really gets on my **** that companies charge replacement parts more than what the machine or item is worth. so we keep having to replace and update items way before they are commended for the scrapheap

[Thomzo]

Ha, do I?? Have a garage full of bits and pieces that'll never get used but I keep 'em just in case. Well, they might come in useful later.

I currently have the remains of an old gas boiler and hot water cylinder. Getting rid of the boiler itself was a doddle, just put it outside the front door and someone took it.

I freecycled the insulation jacket of the cylinder, meaning to keep the cylinder itself for a home made solar water system. Only the freecycler asked if I still had it, so she ended up with the cylinder and a whole load of pipes as well as the jacket.

Wire is always useful in the garden or for craft projects and the odd bits of copper pipe came in handy when I was doing my water feature for the new patio.

So now just left with the timer (sound familiar?) and a pump which didn't work when it was fitted to the boiler so I'm not quite sure why I'm keeping it.

The plumber was just going to put the lot in a skip!!!! These guys need educating.

Zoe

[StripyPixieSocks]

Oh blimey... do we ever!!

When we were having a clear out before moving, my OH threw out so many PC parts that were out of the ark it was unbelievable... he also breaks everything apart to pick out bits for making robots with...

The hoarding here is endless... we might need to move into the bigger cottage next door if we carry on but we can't seem to part with things that might come in useful... I think I have inherited my families make-do-and-mend mentality and most things can be fixed with a little tinkering / knowledge or just plain old brute force, ignorance and stubbornness lol

[Treelover]

drawer full of odd screws, nails, bits and pieces [and stray lego that needs to go back in the proper place when i get around to it] things-that-i'm-not-sure-what-they-are which are bound to come in useful some day, wire, bits of old computer, cardboard, bubble wrap, plastic net veggie bags - which work just as well as expensive fleece on tender plants - and yoghurt pots with holes burned in the bottom for starting size flowerpots, nah, mate, i don't hoard a thing......

[oldfella]

Spare parts , bits of timber, lots of "that may come in handy" bits, lots of tubes, hose pipes of all sizes, well you get the picture, and now my Daughter and family have moved in next door my son in law is worse than me, so the Car lives outside and the cellar is full. So yes I supose you could say I hoard things I will never use, but you never know when that bit will come in handy, as I say to the OH when she bangs her shins on the old mower I keep in the shed where the animal feed is kept.

[Millymollymandy]

Sod's law dictates that if you keep those bits you will never need them, but if you don't you will.

It's a bit like keeping old clothes in case they come back into fashion again - they never do. But all those clothes I chucked have been fashionable again and again over the decades.

[Minnesota]

I have been told, I have a Hoarder Disorder.
here is a classic...
About 10 years ago, I owned a Honda Civic CRX. I bought it with 194,000 miles on it, it was rusty but ran like new. I checked online for replacement parts...the parts for these hondas are expensive ! So, I started scrounging the auto junkyards for body parts to fix up the little car. I continued by pulling other parts off of these junkers...then I upped the ante, and bought a whole junk car for parts. Three years later, when the odometer hit 245,000 I sold the car and all the parts to a 18 yr old kid. Last I heard, he started a business selling auto parts through online auctions :)