They don't make 'em like that anymore!

I enjoy fixing things.  So much so that my wife thinks I enjoy TRYING to fix things.  For me, not being able to complete the process is extremely annoying.  But I'm already ahead of myself.

It started a couple weeks ago but I didn't hear about it until a week ago when Carolyn mentioned that our stove-top griddle wasn't working, hadn't worked for a number of weeks.  It's usually not a crucial part of our cooking equipment so it wasn't high priority.  Still, it seemed a shame to have a perfectly good griddle sit idle while we fry pancakes in an electric frying pan.

When I got a little time last week, I took the switch assembly off and easily found the culprit.  One of the Line-In wires had broken off.  However, as I tried to remove the broken lug so we could add a new end-connector, the switch literally fell apart in my hands.  Suddenly the job got more serious.  Now I would have to replace a part.  Heat had made the connector block on the switch so fragile that pulling the old line and heating element wires off pulled half the switch out as well.

I went to the Internet to order that part.  The two largest supply dealers described the part.  However one supplier said No Longer Available.  They only "believed in" parts manufactured in the U.S.A.  The other one said they didn't have the part and didn't know anyone who did.  However, if they did have it, it would cost $60.   Discouraged, I closed up the stove top and began looking for a new stove top.  It seemed such a shame to spend $2,000 because you couldn't find a $60 part.

Turns out there is an appliance sales and service company in Sacramento that everyone here should know about.  Zajic's Appliance Sales & Service at 2459 Fruitridge Rd, Sacramento, CA 95822, (916) 452-6748.  http://www.zajicappliance.com/

Their website isn't much to look at but the Yelp entry for the Zajic's has one 5-star review after another.  Carolyn described the situation and the part over the phone and was assured they had it.  They offered to come out and install it or help us through the install on the phone.  As it turned out the instructions were clear.  The part well made.  We're back up and running having spent $34 instead of $2,000 or even $60.