TIL a $12 gasket saved me from buying a new dishwasher

I was ready to drop $500 on a new machine because my dishwasher was leaking all over the floor. Turned out it was just the door gasket that had a small crack in it. I found a replacement online for $12 and swapped it out in 20 minutes. The leak stopped completely and now it runs like new. Has anyone else fixed a major problem with a cheap part like this?

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the_faith3mo ago

$12 is wild. I had the same thing happen with a washing machine once, thought I was gonna have to drop $600 on a new one because it was making this crazy loud banging noise. Turned out the belt was just loose, got a replacement for $8 at a hardware store and it fixed it in 10 minutes. It's crazy how such a cheap little rubber piece can save you from a huge expense.

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the_jason3mo ago

The "cheap little rubber piece" thing really hits home. I just read an article that said something like 80% of appliance repairs come down to a faulty belt or a loose wire or something simple like that. It's wild because people just assume it's dead and drop a grand on a new fridge or dryer when it's probably something you can fix in under an hour. That washing machine story is a perfect example. I feel like we've been trained by manufacturers and repair guys to think everything is too complicated to touch these days. But belts and seals and little rubber parts are usually the first thing to go, and they're dirt cheap to swap out.

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