Debate: Do you still replace old control boards or repair them component by component?

I used to swap out entire control boards on washing machines without even thinking. It was faster and I didn't want to mess with soldering. But about two years ago, a customer in Denver showed me her 12-year-old board with just a burnt relay. I fixed it for $3 instead of charging her $200 for a new board. Now I repair about half the boards I see if the damage is small. It saves people money but takes way more time on site. Which side do you lean on for older machines?

2 comments

2 Comments

ward.mason1mo ago

You mentioned "just a burnt relay" like it's always that simple, but what about boards where the problem is a failed microcontroller or a blown power supply chip with no visible damage? I've run into plenty of those where the part costs pocket change but tracking down the failure takes an hour of probing with a multimeter and still might not work. How do you decide when a board is worth that kind of time sink versus just swapping it and moving on to the next call?

benwilliams1mo ago

Drew out the multimeter myself on a few of those invisible failures and honestly it comes down to what the board is worth to me. @ward.mason I had an HVAC control board once where the power supply chip was dead with zero visible damage, spent 45 minutes tracing voltages before I found it. After that I started asking myself if I can get a replacement board for under $50 and in stock nearby, because my time is worth something too. If the board is obsolete or costs more than $100 to swap, I'll spend the hour probing every time since it's basically free to fix if I find it. Otherwise I just swap it and move on, not worth stressing over a 50 cent part when a new board is sitting on the shelf.