The Right to Repair Is Important

Yesterday, I took apart my GE Profile dishwasher for the first time ever to replace a worn and damaged control panel. This panel serves as the touch interface to control the dish washer. Here’s what it looked like. The entire outer trim was gone. While functional, the plastic laminate was badly bent, twisted and coming apart. It was an eye sore. 

I watched several YouTube videos to better understand the installation process. To replace the control board, I had to first remove the dish washer door from the unit, and then separate the inner door from the outer door. (More on that in a bit.) Feeling somewhat confident, I ordered a replacement OEM part from iFixit, for about $200US.  

The part arrived within a week, and was an exact replacement.

I have never taken apart my dish washer before, but I’ve tinkered with all manner of tech, so I felt up to the challenge.

The most difficult part was removing the inner door from the outer door. Not because it was difficult, but because each video i watched failed to mention that two screws on either side of the inner door had to be removed. 

The whole process took me about six hours – and two of those hours were spent trying to separate the inner door from the outer door. Having gone through the process once, I feel that I can easily perform the entire task in under an hour. While I had the dishwasher apart, I addressed a pair of rusty hinges that connect the door to the dishwasher frame. 

I learned a lot by performing this repair. There were some easy wins, some difficult struggles, and moments where I wanted to give up and call a repairman. But ultimately, I persevered and completed the install. Looking at a new dishwasher panel that I installed felt immensely satisfying.

Being able to purchase a part to fix things is important. If I bought it, I want to be able to fix it. This is the crux of “the right to repair” movement. All manufacturers should take notice.

-Krishna