Rant: That 30 minute dumbwaiter fix took me 4 hours

I had a dumbwaiter stuck between floors in my 1920s house in Portland. Thought it would be a quick fix, maybe a half hour job to check the cables or the motor. Ended up spending 4 hours on it because the original wiring was all cloth covered and crumbling. Every time I touched something, another piece fell off. Had to track down old parts at a salvage yard across town. Finally got it working by bypassing the ancient safety switch with a modern one. Has anyone else dealt with a old house gadget that turned into a whole day project?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.tessa10d ago

Wait, did you also find a weird old switch that looked like it belonged in a haunted house rather than a working machine? lol. I had a similar nightmare with my 1930s kitchen exhaust fan, the thing was held together with hope and asbestos tape. I spent a whole Saturday digging through a salvage yard for a motor that matched, only to realize the replacement part I wired in was the wrong voltage and blew a fuse on the first test. My husband just stood there laughing while I was covered in dust and yelling at a fan that's older than both of us combined.

calebc4010d ago

Oh man, @murphy.tessa that switch thing is too real. My wife found an old rotary dial on the side of a barn sale and thought it'd be "vintage cool" for our basement light. Ended up spending three hours trying to figure out why the fixture kept flickering, only to realize the thing was wired for 220 volts and our house is standard 120. Blew a fuse so bad the neighbors' lights dimmed for a second. She just shrugged and said "at least it looks authentic" while I'm standing there holding a smoking screwdriver. Now I just tell her to stick to buying old furniture, not electrical stuff from the 1920s.

the_drew10d ago

Yeah I gotta admit @murphy.tessa, I used to roll my eyes at people who swore off vintage electrical stuff. Thought they were being dramatic. Then I tried to restore a 1950s standing lamp from my grandma's house. Found a toggle switch that looked like it belonged in a submarine. Wired it up, flipped it on, and watched the bulb explode in slow motion. Glass everywhere, smell of burnt plastic, and the switch was welded shut. Now I'm team "just buy a modern replica and call it a day.