Dear Amarin,

Hope you're well. I concur as to your point as to capacitors' service life benefiting from storage in cool, dark places. I've stored under such conditions spare ECU, Ignition Control Units, ABS Control Units, and SRS Control Units. I hope that should I have a need, one of these stored units will remain serviceable.

Because most household appliances rely on a "control board", it is a good idea to acquire a spare "control board", soon after buying the appliance. Most appliance makers discontinue spare parts about 10 years after a model goes "obsolete". That's precisely when spares are needed.

Most appliance "control boards" are made from the same materials as are used in personal computers, which machines go obsolete after five years. Thus, appliance "control boards" are not built to last as long as are auto computer modules.

While a refrigerator's compressor might have a working life of 20+ years, if the control board fails - and a replacement can't be had - the refrigerator is "scrap metal".

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook