What's your oldest domestic electrical appliance in regular use?

[raleighnut]

A few old bits here but top of my list is my two old QUAD* poweramps........................Released in 1967 mine date from the early 70's and I've owned one of em since 1988, every now and then they need to go 'home' (Huntingdon) to have a capacitor or two replaced but come back reinvigorated ready to do battle again.

* QUAD have recently started making the 33/303 combination again, sadly they are 'knocked up' in China now as Peter Walker's son sold the company.......................You only need one poweramp as they are 2 channel but using 2 brings a lot of sonic benefits

 

[Drago]

Doesn't reallly count as an applicance as such but I still have one of these working that I bought in 1978.

https://www.calculator.org/calculators/Casio_fx-140.html

Ooh, good point. I still have one of these. Mid 70s vintage is my guess.

 

[presta]

I have one of these from October 1975:

 

[Punkawallah]

Not really domestic appliances

Your reality obviously diverged from mine at some point. Try not to let the disappointment rankle.

 

[briantrumpet]

Perhaps I should read more closely. Though it does have a 13 amp connection.

That'll be for the flame effect. Cheaper than actually using it to heat, and it'll impress the neighbours and audaxers you feed, without the outlay for real fuel. It also has the safety benefit that you can't burn your feet if you accidentally leave them in the oven overnight.

 

[briantrumpet]

I have one of these from October 1975:

View attachment 793763

Ha, I remember my first Casio LED calculator,, the same year. I think it ran on a 9-volt battery.

 

[Mike Ayling]

We retired our fridge last year which we bought in 1975. It was still running but required defrosting monthly which I did but SWMBO decided we needed a new one, so about 49 years.

 

[briantrumpet]

We retired our fridge last year which we bought in 1975. It was still running but required defrosting monthly which I did but SWMBO decided we needed a new one, so about 49 years.

Top effort. I was rather disappointed with the 25-year lifespan of my last fridge, but the thermostat went haywire, and with it all being tatty, it was time for a new one.

 

[Reynard]

Sewing machine #1 - 1941 Singer 99k with a Hillman electric motor
Sewing machine #2 - a late 1960s Pfaff Gritzner
Deep fat fryer - 1970s Tower mini fryer, still producing most excellent beef dripping chips
Hob & oven - early 1980s Zanussi
Assorted power tools (drills, angle grinder, jigsaw, sander etc) - mid 1980s purchases
Soldering iron - 1960s, I'd guess
Altec Lansing PC speakers - came with my first PC (Dell desktop with 2GB HDD) in 1996, still used when streaming via laptop

If they still work and do the job, why replace them.

 

[katiewlx]

My Sharp microwave is at least 20 Years old and used daily. Mr brother worked at Allders HO and got it with his staff discount and they went into administration in 2005!

mines 25 though it is beginning to show its age abit you sometimes have to coax it abit into life to get it going.

 

[katiewlx]

Top effort. I was rather disappointed with the 25-year lifespan of my last fridge, but the thermostat went haywire, and with it all being tatty, it was time for a new one.

I was pretty ok with my fridge/freezers near 20 odd year lifespan all things considered, I mean I wasnt happy it decided to give up the day before I flew to America for a two week holiday, fortunately Id allowed the stocks of things to naturally run down a bit in advance, so I didnt lose a whole load of food, but still enough to be very annoying to deal with at that stage.

and my parents had a fridge that lasted 50 years, and would still be going except it wasnt very energy efficient. But did its job well for that time.

modern fridge freezers have a lot less room inside for the acreage though I find. and Im not convinced this one will last 20 years.

 

[Reynard]

modern fridge freezers have a lot less room inside for the acreage though I find. and Im not convinced this one will last 20 years.

Ah yeah, tell me about that one...

Last year, my 30 year old hotpoint upright freezer went t*ts up, taking the equally venerable fridge it was stacked on along with it - water pouring out of the freezer did nothing for the electricals of the fridge.

Replaced it with a fridge-freezer of equivalent volume. Fridge space is bigger, as no freezer compartment, but the freezer, which is nominally the same volume (100 litres) realistically only has about 70 litres capacity due to the air gap at the back, and the way the drawers are made. A bit irritating, but have learned to live with it, as the next size up was just way too big for a) the space and b) for two people plus one cat.

I just wish they'd make a 30:70 fridge-freezer split, as that would've been more use.

 

[Punkawallah]

Ah yeah, tell me about that one...

Last year, my 30 year old hotpoint upright freezer went t*ts up, taking the equally venerable fridge it was stacked on along with it - water pouring out of the freezer did nothing for the electricals of the fridge.

Replaced it with a fridge-freezer of equivalent volume. Fridge space is bigger, as no freezer compartment, but the freezer, which is nominally the same volume (100 litres) realistically only has about 70 litres capacity due to the air gap at the back, and the way the drawers are made. A bit irritating, but have learned to live with it, as the next size up was just way too big for a) the space and b) for two people plus one cat.

I just wish they'd make a 30:70 fridge-freezer split, as that would've been more use.

Aaand now I want to know why it’s important to be able to fit two people & a cat in the freezer. Or maybe I don’t . . .

 

[Drago]

My daily hifi is a mix of Technics and Kenwood/Trio from 83-85. Other than a periodic stylus replacement its never missed a beat. With Alexa routed through a spare channel on the amp its still getting 8 or 10 hours daily use. Mediocre black box gear really, but I cant fault its staying power as it performs today exactly as it did when I started to buy the bits over 4 decades ago.

I still have my 60s Leak gear boxed up carefully. It works, but its finniky and needs periodic attention from someone who is able to wield a hammer with greater delicacy than I can manage. Every time we move house I vow to get it serviced and back into use, and even went as far as finding someone local who can do the job, but I never seem to get round to it

 

[Alex321]

A Kenwood Chef mixer/food processor that we were given as a wedding present, January 1981, and which is still in very regular use. So just a few weeks short of 45 years old.