I think it depends on the function of the machines and years of usages, etc. as mentioned by others, there is no fixed answer for that.

I guess it depends, which part is? What function does it have? And how much cost this part.

If the cost of this part is low and easy to find, buy a new one. But if you can repair and pay less than buying a new one, and yet get the same results, do the repair, but remember, sometimes:

The cheap comes out expensive.

That's true, thanks for your contribution.

Please I need a practical result, have u experienced similar issues and how did you go about it.

Our customers face this dilemma fairly often. When answering this question for them I look at several things, similar to what Pablo mentioned. Can you give us more details about the equipment you are thinking about repairing?

The availability of the parts in question, and the time to acquire them, or

have them made locally may be a determining factor. Also look at how often

you need to do repairs on the machine. What is the age of the machine, and

if you are in production, what is the cost of the down time. does the down time on this

machine affect other processes a small amount, or a large amount.

The efficiency of the a machine while repairing may fall down , but purchasing may not be more economical.

I believe in replacing the existing part is better than buying a new one. Being an eco-conscious about what I buy and use. I look from the perspective of having a sustainable world and up-cycling the recyclables.

I too prefer to fix and recycle things rather than buying new ones, but many times the result is very poor and doesn't last long, and you need to keep fixing -and spending- until eventually you find enough money to buy a new one... thus, I think, it depends on the use of the machine and on the budget you have

Thanks a lot you all for your opinions.....more opinions are welcomed

Well,

it seems you should like to have a practical result. You caught it !

... My washing machine begun to make a lot of noise, so i understood that bearings were died. Because me and my wife want a clean future world, without too much trash around the Nature, i decided to substitute them. I discovered that to repair my kind of washing machine i should change the total drum with the plastic container, because the assembly is sealed, not fixed with normal screws as many others. So the cost to repair would be more than a new washing machine.....

Following internet forums, i discovered that these facts are commonly market's laws: after warranty deadline, the object breaks some parts, you are obligated to call technicians paying their work and the cost of spare parts. Some peoples reported that the assistance, by phone, said them they have "not to use every day the washing machine: for this reason it damage some parts". So i realized that the installed bearings are under-dimensioned for their work.

So, with a lot of patience and months of cloths hand-washing by my (happy) wife, finally i fixed the problem, opening with a mini drill the plastic seal, creating a gasket, mounting a new series of top quality high speed bearings (instead of low cost chinese parts, as the original one), closing all with silicone and normal screws..

After more than 6 months we are using washing machine three times for a day, absolutely silent, and first of all with GREAT SATISFACTION !!

I hope it will work for other 25 years.......

Another advantage we got with this operation, is the possibility to clean periodically the internal part of drum..... You can't imagine the dirty accumulated inside..... Now we realize this, never we will use a coin/public washing machine.........

Sorry for the lenght of the answer.......

I think it depends on the function of the machines and years of usages, etc. as mentioned by others, there is no fixed answer for that.

This question is best approached as one would approach a collection of parts (a machine). Life cycle costing should give the best answer. What will a repaired part cost over the lifetime of its use compared to the cost of a new one. e.g. A rebuilt high efficiency squirrel cage stator rarely achieves the efficiency of the original, so one would have to take into account the cost of the added power consumption over the stator lifetime to rightly compare with the cost of a new one.

I agree with the the opinions, that this depend on the situation. E.g. If you should decide to upgrade your PC or to buy new one? Computers are evolving rather fast. You can add the RAM, change video card and etc. You will spend a lot of money, but upgraded PC and new generation PC are not the same. I have some saying - you should dispose old machines just in time, i.e. when you are able to receive some funds which can help you to buy a new one machine at a less price. This you can apply for a PC, a car, some kind of lab equipment and etc.

We only change the instrument if it is obsolete or if the reparation cost is too much elevated. Usually we try to use the exchange with the factory (this uses to be 50% less). the most importan is to find the origin of the problem, If you know which is the problem in tre instrument you can save money...

There are two different approaches to the problem:

1) You speak about a Research Center, or similar, where a particular instrument/machine needs a reparation. If you have a maintenance plan, there is no choice, the instrument will be repaired or substituted. If you haven't, and you have to work with these instrument, after a brief market survey you decide if repair or buy a new one;

2) You speak about a ordinary family where a home-appliance or PC would break. If you don't want to increase the amount of garbage in the environment, you try to adjust it. Because exist billions of similar cases, if everyone want to buy another time a new home-appliance, we will be submerged by waste. THis is the capitalism, carry out to consumerism. That isn't "more economical from a practical perspective", because the living space on our planet Earth is not infinite......

Buying a new one is more economical sometimes . Repairing sometimes lowers down the efficiency and the repairing process goes on and on which might be sometimes more cost involving than straight away purchasing a new part. This in fact at times was my personal experience

In manufacturing, you need to consider the cost of your labor, versus the cost of

another persons labor to either repair a part, or to replace a part Where I live, very

large and expensive parts tend to be rebuilt, while smaller and less expensive parts tend to be replaced. For example, the large wind turbines that produce electricity

have very large transmissions with gears in them. The gears wear out in about 1 year of operation. To replace the transmission takes a 400 ton to 500 ton crane

just to remove the transmission and install a new one. The old trans mission

is sent by truck back to the manufacturer where the gears are built up by welding,

and new teeth are ground to specification. the transmission is reassembled using

some new and some rebuilt parts, and then it is returned to the field to be put back into service. The cost of replacement includes the cost of the part, and the cost of the labor to remove and replace the part, and the potential down time waiting for the part to be either rebuilt, or the time and cost to go and get the part, or the time and cost to call and have the part delivered.. There is also the opportunity cost, or in this case the lost opportunity cost that the machine could have been doing useful work and

producing its owner some money. When the machine does not work, it can not produce useful work, and the owner looses money. Every machine has a useful

period of time when it is making the owner money, and at some later date, the machine begins to need repairs. If it needs few repair, infrequently, then it may stay in service, but when it needs frequent repairs, it is best to replace it., as it is costing more to keep it in service than the amount of money that it can produce.

You must assess all cost associated with repair, or replace, or rebuild to make a proper decision.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I think it depends on the situation just as most of the others said. Here I want to say something new.

Don't forget the environmental cost in the consideration. That is good way to count the weigh for bother advantage and disadvantages for both buying new machine or fixing it. One point in this consideration is buy a new one means the old one becomes crappy which would be a problem to depose it environmentally friendly. But fixing one you don't have this problem or at least not now and increased the lifetime of the machine, which is better for the environment. Sometimes this factor is already included in the price of the new machine, meaning when you pay the money for the machine, you automatically pay for this consideration. So the other one's argument is still right, it has dependence on the cost.

It is always better to buy new machine part instead of repairing old one from productive point of view.Difficult to achive original performance parameters after repairing.But from economical point of view if repair cost is less than 40% then repairing the part could be the best option confirming original performance does not get affected.

That depends on the machine we are using.

Depends on

1. Cost to repair vs cost of new machine

2. Expected life after repair (also warrant y etc) - will something else fail even if the current fault is fixed?

3. Consideration for the environment.

4. Technological advancement.

5. Cost of company down time during repair

It comes down to the fact that paying a little more for a high quality product initially pays for itself in the long run in terms of price, down time for repair, and hassle and technology advancement. Replace your PC if it fails but get your Mercedes repaired even after 10 years because you know it will last another 10-20 years.

its depend on machine life and damage part condition. In case any type of machine if part damage more than 40% then new part more beneficial for it.

I think that this kind of question cannot be asked in a general form. In the hi-tech industry for example they do not repair machines. Machines in VLSI technology have a life span of 2-3 years, after which they are sold and replaced with new generation machines. Ion implanters can be in very good condition, but they become obsolete. Some parts can be used again, but usually a buyer can be found who wants the whole machine, but not parts...

So my answer is similar to a few other people who said that it depends what machine you are talking about...

The decision is an financial decision, and depend on the future of the production, and trhe cost structure. I f the machine is repaired, you will have an old machine and the reliability is decreasing in time, perhaps some obsolescence processes will ocurr. The cost of the reparation is a cost, and it will put on the production cost. If you buy a new machine, probably the efficiency will be increased, the reliability will be on top. The cost of the machine is an invest and could be added to the active value. So probably buying a new machine if the old is very old and obsolete, will increase the production, reduces the cost and benefit the company.

There are businesses in the world that specialize in refurbishing older equipment and they make money from that...Old machines can still be useful, but it really depends on what the machine is doing. For example a CAM machine from 20 years ago would still have machining parts that can be used, but the computers will have to be upgraded...But the economics of the upgrade depends on the product and on the country...

Another point is the budget , that's why we must take into account priorities, replace and old part of an important machine or buy a new one, will be an option depending on the differential price, production and utilities. Machines that are the center of work, like an Preparative Ultracentrifuge, must be in very good state because it may the first step of a complex operation , which can be failed at a start of a great number of separations or measurements.

There is not a general rule to follow on this. Every time you have to compare pros and cons of both options. Repairing usually is cheaper instead of buying a new mashine, but it is not worthy to spend money on an old mashine. Besides, spare parts tend to be very expensive. Generally, you should always check what is the best for your needs and budget.

Depend upon your pocket.....industrial world replace, poor repair.......

In my opinion, this is a threshold problem, and can be set up as such if one is familiar with all the parameters involved. Basically, with this approach, there comes a threshold beyond which it is no longer feasible (practical) to repair the machine. I recall setting up such a resolution for a simple example once, using sensitivity analysis and Lagrange multipliers (if memory serves right), but the full project never materialized so the method has disappeared into the shadows of time, as have many other things.