After two years, the Roomba started breaking down. First, the Roomba would not charge even when seated in its dock. The orange light would not pulse. The other behavior was that it would approach the dock, when the dock button was depressed, but it would twist, turn and collide with the dock as if it could not detect it. I finally called tech support, and we went through all the typical steps: resetting the Roomba, making sure the contacts touched the dock, etc. The odd trick that got the Roomba working again was to spray compressed air into the battery charging outlet.

So, the Roomba was charging again, but it would not return to its base. It would run out of juice before the cleaning cycle ended, which tells me that cleaning cycles are timed, instead of based on the remaining charge in the battery. After a few more weeks of delay, I finally ordered a new battery.

Installing the new battery was easy. Just remove a few screws. I also cleaned the Roomba at the time. With the bottom panel removed, I could see dust everywhere. So, the Roomba has been working like new again. On one hand, I’m disappointed that the battery only lasted two years. However, it was working every single day during that stretch, which is more work than all the other vacuum cleaners I have owned have put in to date.

After six years of service, our Franke Little Butler hot water dispenser started to leak–from the bottom of the heating tank itself. I should have placed the rimmed baking sheet under the hot water tank a lot earlier.

When the hot water dispenser worked, it was convenient. But, I guess this is no different from a regular hot water heater. It has a set life span and when it fails, it leaks. Except the water heater leaks on the concrete floor of the garage and the hot water tank of the dispenser leaks on the kitchen cabinet. Big difference!

If you look at the reviews on Amazon, many people got less than six years of use from their Franke Little Butler hot water dispenser.

I am not sure if I will replace the Franke Little Butler hot water tank with another one. However, looking around at customer reviews of other brands, I see a lot of similar complaints. When searching for a new hot water dispenser, the keyword is “leak,” as in “[brand x] hot water dispenser leak.” Google that! Nothing stands out at this point.

I’ve had an HDTV television since 2008. I could pull in most channels, but I’ve always had problems with NBC and ABC. Since I don’t watch TV all that often, missing two major stations has not been a big problem.

But, after three years of spotty reception, I finally tried to solve the issue. First, I removed the existing coaxial cable, and installed a right angle (90°) coaxial connector. The coaxial outlet was located right behind the HDTV, and I suspected that the sharp bend in the cable was somehow affecting the reception. Actually, this was all guess work since I discovered that moving around the cable affected the reception, at least on the two channels that did not come in clearly. I still do not understand why the same cable that can carry all the other channels crisply could not do the same for ABC and NBC.

Next, I installed a new coaxial cable. I was at Orchard Supply Hardware for other reasons, and picked up a new GE RG6 Quad Shield Coax Cable, that supposedly offered “maximum signal quality.” I was skeptical a coaxial cable, even one branded “Ultra Pro® Digital – HD” could make a difference, but for $10.99, it was worth a shot. Much to my amazement, it worked! ABC and NBC now works, probably much to the delight of those who will be visiting during Thanksgiving.

When I shop at Costco, I expect to receive a quality product at a competitive price. Usually, I am extremely happy with my purchases, but that garage door I purchased from them has turned out to be quite a doozy. Mind you, the garage door itself is fine. The problem is with everything else attached to that garage door.

So, three years in, one of the torsion springs broke. Only three years? So, I found another contractor to replace both of the torsion springs and I didn’t think much about the garage again until a few months ago when the garage door opener started failing intermittently. Sometimes the door would not open all the way. Other times it would not close all the way. I had not problem with the opening, because I could always click on the garage door opener a second time. However, the closing was a serious issue because unless you monitored the garage door every time to make sure that it closed completely, there was always a chance that the garage door was not securely shut.

Long story short, I replaced the Chamberlain Whisper Drive 1/2 HP Belt Drive garage door opener, which was not all that quiet, with a LiftMaster 3850 DC Motor Belt with EverCharge Standby Power System. After I changed the garage door opener, the problem completely disappeared and the new opener is amazingly quiet. No more rattle and shake when the door is opening or closing. Just solid and quiet.

Consumer Reports reports that certain Kenmore/LG washing machines have a “software problem.” Too bad the washing machine doesn’t have a USB port. 🙂 Would make the software upgrade a lot easier.

Paul Kedrosky complains that Google fails at appliance reviews. I use Google a lot. A LOT. And I would have never thought of using Google to look for appliance reviews, at least in the sense one a reliable list of 5 or so options to select from. Instead, I have always turned to Consumer Reports. That’s not to say that Consumer Reports has never steered me wrong. But, I think the review standards will be more consistent when you have one organization reviewing multiple dishwashers instead of the crowd-sourcing model where each person reviews their own individual dishwasher. However, there is a place for crowd-sourced reviews. Once your shopping list has been narrowed to a few choices, I would use Google at this point to vet the options by looking at user reviews for particular makes and models. I would also run the obligatory “sucks” search to look for disgruntled user reviews.

The hardwood floor brush to the Hoover WindTunnel Canister Cleaner broke recently. So, how exactly does a brush with no moving parts break? Well, Hoover floor brushes have a plastic tab that locks it in place. And, if the tab breaks off, the brush does not stay in place. I’m not sure how that tab exactly got decapitated. I only found out when I discovered that someone had taped the brush to the hose. Ugh.

Now, finding replacement parts is not straightforward. I couldn’t find replacement parts at Target, Costco or any other places that I regularly frequent. I ended up finding a replacement brush at a local vacuum cleaner repair shop. Not a Hoover brush, but one that fits with a metal tab instead of a plastic one.

You can find replacement parts at the Hoover website, but you have to visit the Replacement Parts page. When I was looking on the main website, it kept taking me to blank pages.

I’ve had problems with my LG Front Load Washer since it first arrived. Six months ago, I finally purchased the GVI Anti-Vibration Pads, which really reduced the noise and vibration issue. However, the washing machine would still inch around sometimes during the spin cycle. And, depending on the nature of the load, the washing machine may shift more than an inch or two.

About two weeks ago, I discovered the Steam Wash option when re-reading the owner’s manual. I’ve always thought that SteamWasher referred to the Steam Fresh cycle, which I had used before. However, if you press the steam button during certain cycles, the machine will steam clean your clothes. So, how does this reduce the vibrations? The owner’s manual notes that the Steam Wash option features low water consumption. Less water means that the wet laundry will be lighter in weight, which should theoretically mean a decreased likelihood of an unbalanced load. I have not had to push back the washing machine since I switched to the Steam Wash cycle.

TV Outlets. I failed to future proof the house. Had I known a few years ago that I will now be watching TV programs on my computer instead of the television in the living room, I would have installed a TV coaxial cable outlet in the office, where the computer spends most of its time.

Bath Screen. Every time I take a bath, the bath screen reminds me that I should have installed a sliding glass shower door instead. If I set the shower head to champagne spray, water exits the small seam between the bath screen and the wall. If I set the shower head to normal spray, the floor outside the foot of the tub gets wet.

Extra Sink. Rarely use that extra sink and faucet on the kitchen island.

Cellular Blinds. Cellular blinds work great throughout the house, except for the bedrooms. If your bedroom windows are facing any source of outside light, unless you have selected a suitable fabric that blocks light, your blinds may light up quite brightly at night. Additionally, the Top Down Bottom Up option was totally unnecessary and more trouble than it was worth. Now each blind has two cords for you to keep away from young children.

Indoor Laundry Room. Mildly convenient. However, you cannot run the washer or dryer at certain hours. Additionally, if the laundry room does not have a concrete floor (such as when it sits above the crawl space), certain front loading washers may exhibit stability issues.