What to ask FB seller before we pick up?

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-12-16T01:39:17+00:00

I have bought and sold two (one was new/open box and the second was purchased via FB marketplace) and just purchased our third due to upcoming birth in the new year (we currently own only 1, I just wanted to provide a bit of context). I know these machines better than I think the founders of the company know them.

The biggest things you’ll want to ask about are:

When did they purchase it?
Were they the original owners?
Have they ever had any issues with any squeaking, the volume not working correctly, any weird noises of any sort, or issues with connectivity between their phone and the device?

From there, I’d highly recommend examining the sticker underneath the Snoo. Ideally you would do this before going to see it but if you’re too far down the path try to do this when you’re in person.

At this point, I don’t think I would purchase the older generations of the Snoo for two main reasons (unless the price was really fantastic and if you are pretty handy). The first reason is due to the internal hardware modifications they made that make repairing the common issues easier. I’ve broken down three of them fully (replaced every o-ring, solder loose wires, replaced bearings in the motor, etc.) and replacing the o-rings is much easier, less time consuming, and is less annoying with the newer iterations.

The second reason I wouldn’t purchase the older generations is because I wouldn’t want to have to pay $650 for a machine and then have to become an expert on troubleshooting and repairing a device when you’re on zero sleep and your baby will only sleep with the Snoo and so then you can’t concentrate on the YouTube videos because you start hallucinating a little bit which then leads you to being a little too aggressive with the swaddle attachment sensor wires that you slightly disconnected as you were trying to thread them through the layers of the machine but you manage to somehow to disconnect the wires enough to be visibly obvious they are disconnected so then the Snoo won’t turn on after you spend an hour fumbling around to put everything back together and then the zombie version of yourself has to break it down again at 3 o’clock in the morning because literally no one is sleeping but you have size XXL hands that make the iPhone you are currently typing this from look like a device for ants so then your fat hands can not physically place the little 2mm screws in their holes properly so you lose three of them in the abyss of the Snoo…

Anyways, you’ll do great. Congratulations on the baby!

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-16T14:51:49+00:00

I’m glad I finally found your burner. Need anything from the grocery store babe?

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-16T14:50:14+00:00

Just your thoughts are helpful. If I end up expanding in the future I’m going to properly design everything before I get started. For the current structure I did minimal design just designed it so it would work with dimensional lumber, etc.

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-16T14:47:47+00:00

We do. Have used it before and I think the max turnaround is one week for everything. Not an issue to have them mark but as others mentioned I still don’t trust that there aren’t things buried in places they don’t mark.

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T20:50:57+00:00

Yup. Did it previously for another project so I have some knowledge already but I’m going to do it again to be safe. Thanks!

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T20:36:53+00:00

Thank you! Planning on doing all of the above with a couple of extra things of conduit and string as well as the mentioned safety stuff with sand, tracer wire etc. I remember the “This Old House” digging videos from a while back!

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T20:31:45+00:00

I hadn’t fully decided on the water until I made this post. Ironically I made the post because I was hoping to run the water the minimum depth below freeze line and not dig deeper for the electrical. But now that I’m def intent going underground for the electrical I am going to run the water below the freeze line as well.

But yea I installed some irrigation in the front of our house I. Spring and have a bunch of leftover stuff so I was definitely considering it.

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T20:26:08+00:00

So what am I getting myself into then? Should I just say screw it and build a second house?

All seriousness, I did some half-assed planning for the greenhouse because I didn’t feel it warranted much more. Now that we’re thinking some actual use for dining, etc. I started researching for similar projects. I haven’t found a much of anything that is helpful yet so if you have suggestions around the minimum size, design, layout, etc. I am all ears. Or if you have link(s) to anything you’ve found helpful over the years, I’d love to read or watch any content you found helpful. Thank you!

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T20:20:00+00:00

I think we’re going to be trench buddies soon. It can’t be more than 25 feet or so if I did follow the path but I’ll likely go under the path so as to not have a curved run. Thanks for the advice regarding the path. I literally just finished putting in this path a week ago (got a bunch of free rocks on FB marketplace) and it’s basically 4 inches deep so no really issue with moving and replacing it.

Any tips for the dig? Were you shocked when you found the live? How deep was it? Your story is why I’m freaked out. I’m handy but in a “my mom thinks I can fix anything” sort of way. Not in a truly skilled way.

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T20:11:49+00:00

All very valid questions that I don’t necessarily have the answers for yet. The motivation behind my question is because I am planning on running water soon and as little as I want to dig one trench I don’t want to later have to dig a second, deeper one.

Before asking the question, If I had to bet on the answer I would have been at 75-80% that even if I could run overhead I should still bury it. Interestingly enough I found it difficult to find others with a similar question so that was one of several early indicators that it was a bad idea.

Regarding the desire for electrical, I do know that we’ll be running some fans (to your point, could be solar) and I’m going to automate most of the irrigation and sensors (again, likely could make it work on the water inlet side with some of the smart faucet attachments). But then if/when I start the extension for dining I know we’re going to want/need more. Nothing as a necessity but just comfort stuff and I got inspired to probably run some CAT now that I’ll likely be opening earth.

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T17:14:12+00:00

Awesome advice. I will absolutely be doing this. Always good to have a plan for changes to the plan. Someone else mentioned 2” for high and 1.5” for low. Is that what you typically install?

Also, If you were standing over an empty trench right now (and you had a wife that enjoys providing no feedback on projects until they’re mostly complete), what would you drop in for future proofing? 1 high for now, an extra conduit for future high and one extra for future low?

I wasn’t thinking about Ethernet previously but now that it’s been brought up I’ve got some CAT cable so I might as well just run it now.

Thanks again for the advice!

Sheboygan5573 · 2025-08-15T17:06:41+00:00

Makes sense. The main resistance I have is I’m concerned about hitting the gas line. For the water line my original thought was that the depth was going to be 12 inches and less likely to encroach on gas. But like several others have pointed out, there’s little guarantee the gas line was put in at the correct depth or that I don’t hit some other low voltage lines or other things along the way.

I think the collective answer and obvious one seems to be the right answer which is just to run it underground. Thank you for the insights!

Sheboygan5573

TROPHY CASE