Nothing works

[DrStrangelove]

I sympathise with Catweasle more every day.

AF11x transistors with tin whiskers.

Valves going to air because they don't like being cold and damp.

And don't get me started on capacitors: 'orrible 'Unts, waxed paper (I remember stuff eating those down in the shed).

And the smell as the latest paper capacitor in clear resin (you know the ones) fails creating A Great Stink.

(Of these last there were a shedload in some bargain pack or other: I burned the lot in a bonfire).

Nothing works or lasts.

[PerdioPal]

I get the feeling that all things newer things fail sooner so that the fail curve will limit at one day after the guarantee period eventually.

[boater sam]

You forgot the failing lock-fits and the resistors (usually a power of 22) going high on their own.

[DrStrangelove]

Ah yes, I have some 0.5% tolerance H8 resistors: after 45 years they're all over the place despite residing unused in a box.

Purchased for a magnetic tape uniformity detector that never worked properly, mostly because I didn't know much about anything when designing it in 1977.

Even more curiously, some of the pink banded histab carbon comp resistors out of some bargain pack or other still read correctly.

Which isn't surprising considering how much they probably cost the country back in the 1950s, each in an individual plastic pack. :D

I seem to have a remarkable stock of lockfits, though I've never designed one into anything, sticking with nice hermetic BC108 etc.

[BusyBee]

Being a little more optomistic, I have to say that I find many more things that do still work as they were designed than don't.

I do have some sympathy with the future classic car owner though who attempts to get their latest find, which they realise has intermittant sensor / control issues, up to top running. I have come across people with current models whose main dealers have had serious problems getting to the root of a problem. These days even finding a particular transistor on surface mount is difficult enough let alone replacing it without causing more damage. Can you see the future in which enthusiasts use robotic repair tools?

As for consumer electronics I'm not sure vintage even means the same thing.  Still that was maybe always the case

Tracy

[ppppenguin]

Twas ever thus. But do you want to go back to the days when you had to change the oil in your car every 3000 miles, when the TV mending man was a regular visitor etc.

I'll sign off by citing The Master: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSA5C8mQcLQ

[Kalee20]

Let's not forget even the rustless brass, going brittle and fracturing (switch contacts? McMurdo valveholder contacts? Screening cans?).

Nothing lasts for ever, though as Tracy points out, some things do surprise us, and pleasantly!

[CambridgeWorks]

I suppose back in the day the tv repair man might have a nice little earner on the side.
Today, most is not worth repairing for "customers "assuming the parts are available easily and cheap.
50  years ago it was worth replacing a compressor on a freezer, rather than buy new. Part of my job then. Assuming the rest was ok.
Starting my RAE course age 14, then getting licensed age 15, I was already building psu, tx, atu, amplifiers erptc. I then cut my "mechanics teeth" on first my Lambretta age 16, then my 1959 mini 850.  Including engine swaps , fitting electric fan , making intermittent wiper and finaly transisorised capacitor discharge unit. The last being in what was a ww2 RAF intercom unit case. All before the age of 20.
These days, all this electronic work is now done by one of several computers in modern cars.
I wonder if before long they will go the way of some smart electronics, wherby obsolescence is guaranteed by no further software updates being issued. Or, vulnerable, un-repairable modules no longer available, new or used. 

I occasionally ponder just what might happen if due to deliberate act or natural event, a few dozen or more  satellites were put out of action without warning,  together with the internet. Drivers could ask for directions or try and find a paper map. But what about aircraft and ship navigation?
So much relies on complex technology, life would be extremely difficult, if not impossible for many.

So, those tin whiskers,  leaky waxies, bulging electrolytics and high value resistors don't seem so bad after all.
At least a lot of us have the expertise and can substitute parts to overcome such problems. Or make modifications. Even if not in a very original looking manner.
I have enough here to tackle almost anything radio or electronic, as long as processors and software are not involved.
Rob

[PerdioPal]

I treat the internet as a hobby and not necessary, works do tend to rely on it, just look at the panic when Microsoft "Cloud" went down but for a few hours a while ago. I still keep my lab/day book at work (good old Red & Black A4, much to the surprise of others) filled in with a fountain pen*. I love new tech. and indeed it is my money earner, however I have my backups, a library of over 3000 books at home, amateur radio, I walk to work, have at least £100 in cash in my wallet etc..
I do wonder when (not if) the "internet" goes down for a day or two what would happen, so much relies on it, and I mean relies, no alternative.

*I use the disposable ones, they work out at at least half the price of ink cartridges and don't dry out, always ready for use and surprisingly good pens.

[peter scott]

https://youtu.be/yZwvWhDr_jg?si=eqXWXk2XK-NnXnCa