Van stock levels

Hi Chris. I run the same as you with just a small van. As electrofix says, experience dictates what you know to carry. As well as the brushes, I carry the commonal Bosch, Beko and Hotpoint pumps. Stuff goes in cycles so over the past 30 years or so, ended up with things I will probably never use again but in their heyday were a weekly fit. I rarely even fit caps now although I’ve got several values on board. I don’t keep many belts now either..appliances rarely seem to last long enough for them to get to a perished state!

As others have said, I think everyone stocks different things, depending on their customer base, the types of machine they get called out to and the faults they come across.

A lot of the parts needed for washing machines are unfortunately pretty random, motor brushes, heaters, door seals, pumps, belts, dampers, locks, handles, door frames, dispensers, control panel parts, sensors, inverter boards. At least we don’t need to worry so much about drum parts these days!

For tumble dryers, belts, capacitors, tensioners, heaters, sensors, bearings, blowers, mains filters and the occasional power module for good measure.

I don’t repair ovens.

Luckily, a good proportion of repairs don’t need any parts. And of those that do, a fair number you can pre-order the parts based on the fault, eg door seals, door handles. Over the years I’ve learned not to stock anything unless it is for a common fault on a type of machine I still get called out to often. My stock value has pretty much halved over the last few years. Less weight to carry round and much quicker to locate the parts when needed in the van.