Fixing mundane stuff
Discussion
Does anyone else try and fix mundane household items?
Currently got the angle grinder on the work bench which broke yesterday, yes I could buy a new one for £30, but a quick strip down revealed the soft start circuit in the switch was burnt out. £4 off eBay should see it working again.
Laundry basket has multiple cracks in, I drilled the cracks and 'drift stitched' it with cables ties....has been like that for about 4 years!
Replaced the battery in the karcher window vac for a couple of quid and then the motor for pence.
Not sure whether it's because I'm tight, like a challenge or hate throwing what should be serviceable items away. Anyone else do similar?
Currently got the angle grinder on the work bench which broke yesterday, yes I could buy a new one for £30, but a quick strip down revealed the soft start circuit in the switch was burnt out. £4 off eBay should see it working again.
Laundry basket has multiple cracks in, I drilled the cracks and 'drift stitched' it with cables ties....has been like that for about 4 years!
Replaced the battery in the karcher window vac for a couple of quid and then the motor for pence.
Not sure whether it's because I'm tight, like a challenge or hate throwing what should be serviceable items away. Anyone else do similar?
Edited by Cats_pyjamas on Wednesday 25th September 12:33
Why fix things when you can have an overly complicated work around?
The timer switch on my coffee grinder broke a while ago, and I couldn't find anywhere doing a spare part for it, so I wired it permanently on and then dug out an old smart socket and programmed Home Assistant to turn it off 15 seconds after it turns on. The slight annoyance is if I want 2 cups worth of coffee need to run it twice, so I'm seriously considering setting a couple of commands for Alexa to grind one or two cups worth at different durations.
The timer switch on my coffee grinder broke a while ago, and I couldn't find anywhere doing a spare part for it, so I wired it permanently on and then dug out an old smart socket and programmed Home Assistant to turn it off 15 seconds after it turns on. The slight annoyance is if I want 2 cups worth of coffee need to run it twice, so I'm seriously considering setting a couple of commands for Alexa to grind one or two cups worth at different durations.
I've replaced the motor on the Dyson for a fraction of the cost to replace so that was a win. However trying to get certain parts of the head seem impossible on-line so had to buy a replacement head, found a new unit of eBay for 1/2 the price on-line so kind of a win.
Had to fix the coffee machine also, luckily parts diagrams and part numbers are available easily on-line so ordered the parts and replaced pretty quickly.
If it can be fixed I'm pretty handy stripping stuff/rebuilding so happy to delve in, worst case it's already broken so have to buy a new one anyway.
Had to fix the coffee machine also, luckily parts diagrams and part numbers are available easily on-line so ordered the parts and replaced pretty quickly.
If it can be fixed I'm pretty handy stripping stuff/rebuilding so happy to delve in, worst case it's already broken so have to buy a new one anyway.
Forgot one...I have a cheap trailer to go on the back of my bicycle. The wheel bearings and axles where pretty cheap and nasty and after a year or so one of the bearings failed. I couldn't get the outer shell out of the wheel, but found a pack of 10 cheap bearings on Amazon that fit nicely inside the old outer shell, they're narrower than the originals but I fitted 2 of them in there and that wheel now runs so much smoother than the other I'm tempted to rip the bearing out the other wheel.
Our Pedal bin has 2 stubs that locate the pedal , one snapped,rendering it useless, it’s c$100+ for a similar bin, so I drilled through the stub, put a block of wood in place behind the stub, then a long screw though the drilled stub, which found purchase in the block of wood, built the bin back up, job jobbed, seems fine after 6 weeks now.
I will always try and fix something before binning it!
I will always try and fix something before binning it!
Broke an expensive pair of over-ear headphones at the plastic hinge type joint, used a 2mm drill to make a new hole then reassembled using the shafts of the drill as a new hinge pin, ground it off slightly shorter then used heat to melt the plastic over the holes.
Ended up doing the same on both sides as it was far stronger than oem.
Next project is stripping one of my amps down and resoldering a couple of chips that i suspect have dry joints.
Ended up doing the same on both sides as it was far stronger than oem.
Next project is stripping one of my amps down and resoldering a couple of chips that i suspect have dry joints.
Edited by dudleybloke on Wednesday 25th September 13:29
I find i spend an inordinate amount of time fixing stuff that would be easier to replace.
I think it is that I don't like the waste of resources. I don't think of myself as some sort of eco-warrior, but seeing how much stuff goes to landfill when it could be fixed and reused is just depressing.
So this week i spent an hour resoldering a tiny wire that had come adrift on an LED tube light instead of buying a new one for £15, and replaced the broken cable in my car's electric window mechanism with a doctored bicycle brake cable i had knocking around. I also replaced the bent handle in my garden rake with a wooden handle I retrieved from a broom in a skip.
So that's probably about 2kg of stuff not going into the ground this week. Multiply that by the 24 million households in England, and we could save 48,000 tonnes of rubbish per week with a bit of make-do-and-mend.
I think it is that I don't like the waste of resources. I don't think of myself as some sort of eco-warrior, but seeing how much stuff goes to landfill when it could be fixed and reused is just depressing.
So this week i spent an hour resoldering a tiny wire that had come adrift on an LED tube light instead of buying a new one for £15, and replaced the broken cable in my car's electric window mechanism with a doctored bicycle brake cable i had knocking around. I also replaced the bent handle in my garden rake with a wooden handle I retrieved from a broom in a skip.
So that's probably about 2kg of stuff not going into the ground this week. Multiply that by the 24 million households in England, and we could save 48,000 tonnes of rubbish per week with a bit of make-do-and-mend.
wibble cb said:
Our Pedal bin has 2 stubs that locate the pedal , one snapped,rendering it useless, it’s c$100+ for a similar bin, so I drilled through the stub, put a block of wood in place behind the stub, then a long screw though the drilled stub, which found purchase in the block of wood, built the bin back up, job jobbed, seems fine after 6 weeks now.
I will always try and fix something before binning it!
So do I.I will always try and fix something before binning it!
For example, Mrs cammy cuts through electric cables on a regular basis, hedgetrimmer every time she uses it, cutting through the extension cable, which is becoming shorter all the time, even the vacuum cleaner, the brush bar goes through the cable, or at least tries to, three times now. I will need to replace the flex. She also broke the window handle, just pulled it too hard, I replaced it with a handle from a window that is never opened, A dining chair creaked, so I took it apart completely, glued the joints and put it back together, no more creaks.
Always repair when I can, replace when I cannot.
Youtube is a great resource, tells me how to do so much.
People make a living out of this (or at least a bit of extra cash) - my wife's Dyson hairdryer stopped working just out of warranty, Dyson refused to fix it, I couldn't even work out how it came apart so it went on eBay as spares/repairs with an explanation of how it wasn't working.
Someone bought it for £150, fixed it, then sold it on for something like £240.
Someone bought it for £150, fixed it, then sold it on for something like £240.
The flap that closes the ice dispenser on our american style fridge freezer broke, leaving a tennis ball sized hole directly into the freezer, the other half instantly demanded we buy a new fridge freezer!
Took it apart, noticed that the plastic clip the flap mounts into had snapped off and spare parts are no longer available, took it into work and made a new bracket out of brass and epoxyed it back into position, has been working perfectly for the last 18 months, the repair was a bit over engineeered. I was very smug when I announced it was fixed and we didn't need to waste the money on a new fridge.
Likewise our overpriced Smeg kettle broke recently, there was talk of a new hot tap to replace it. A couple of days later and a £10 thermostat and it was working and disaster averted, back to having cups of tea.
Theres a lot of satisfaction to be found in fixing stuff, shes proud of the fact that I can do it when her friends have partners that can't..
Took it apart, noticed that the plastic clip the flap mounts into had snapped off and spare parts are no longer available, took it into work and made a new bracket out of brass and epoxyed it back into position, has been working perfectly for the last 18 months, the repair was a bit over engineeered. I was very smug when I announced it was fixed and we didn't need to waste the money on a new fridge.
Likewise our overpriced Smeg kettle broke recently, there was talk of a new hot tap to replace it. A couple of days later and a £10 thermostat and it was working and disaster averted, back to having cups of tea.
Theres a lot of satisfaction to be found in fixing stuff, shes proud of the fact that I can do it when her friends have partners that can't..
I've replaced a couple of deadbolt gearboxes on modern door locks recently instead of changing the entire multi-point lockset.
There was something satisfying about taking it to bits and working out what cogs and levers did what, what had broken, and that I only needed to replace a smallish part of it.
I've a decent ironmongery store close to me as well - old school where you slap the broken part on the wooden counter and a guy in overalls goes into the warehouse and quickly returns with exactly what you need.
There was something satisfying about taking it to bits and working out what cogs and levers did what, what had broken, and that I only needed to replace a smallish part of it.
I've a decent ironmongery store close to me as well - old school where you slap the broken part on the wooden counter and a guy in overalls goes into the warehouse and quickly returns with exactly what you need.
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