Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fitted a new battery to our smoke detector................OK but I am a mere female :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Rigged up the CFL lighting rig for this year's chilli grow. And no sawdust for the missus to gripe about. :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

There's nothing mere about you. ;O)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My electric chainsaw. Been conifer pruning today and decided I needed the big guns. Having not used it for years it took me quite a while to find it buried under general detritus in the garage but eventually did, toped up the oil, connected it all up and then... Nothing! Checked the extension cable, RCD, fuse etc. and couldn't work it out. My voltage detector showed there was power but I couldn't get it to work. I was pulling what little hair I have out when I suddenly noticed the front hand guard/chain brake...

Suffice to say there was nothing wrong except that the chain brake was set as operational hence no power to the cutting chain... :doh:

Anyway I should have used it earlier because it cuts through conifer trunks and branches (6"-8" thick) like a hot knife through butter. I'm off out there again now to finish off.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Deep cleaned the dishwasher and cleared out the level sensor pipe. It's been taking on too much water so not cleaning well. Last time it happened it was this pipe getting grease in it.

Took the opportunity to scrub the entire interior, door and the filters as well.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

That sounds like a job you could get your partner to do in return for all the meals you cook. ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

He did offer to help but space in the utility room is limited and once I was into the job I just wanted to get it done.

He'll make up in other ways. ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Make sure he does! ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

The wife's new watch strap using my new pin remover. No more mucking about with small hammers and nails to out the link pins, a simple turn of a screw and out they pop. Job done and no possibility of and damage to the case or strap.

I also fixed one of Osem Jnr's watch bracelets which he'd managed to bend. The metal was easy to reshape and t just required fitting a new spring bar.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

There's been a few fixes done around the house recently...

First one was a new exhaust back box on the focus. I don't usually do exhausts but as this was "simple" I decided to have a look.

In the end it took a grinder and a chisel (and my father's help) to shift the old unit, luckily the new unit was a decent Bosal item so bolted straight up. Next time however the garage can do it!

The next repair was to a velux roof window following a strange incident just before christmas. A part of next door's chimney pot flew off in high wind and struck the glass about 2/3 the way up the pane. Somehow this managed to break the *inside* pane of the sealed double glazed unit, with but a scratch on the outside. Luckily this meant the window was still watertight and could wait until the weather improved.

Another lucky break (excuse the terrible pun) was that Velux sell the glass units separately and ordering a replacement is not difficult at all. I decided on an unit with a toughened outer pane and laminated inner, as the last one didn't have a laminated inner pane and it took me ages to clean up all the shattered glass.

So, the day came to fit said glass, and luckily the weather was good. The window came out fine and was quickly stripped down and rebuilt with the new glass. We then tried to put the window back in. After 30mins struggling we gave up, sat down and double checked everything against the bathroom Velux window (which hadn't been damaged).

It was then we found out that muggins here had re-assembled the window incorrectly by accidentally swapping over two cover plates that should have been on opposite sides. A quick swap job later and the window went straight in and seems to be nice and watertight.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

A bath tap suddenly decided it would not turn more than about a quarter turn. Dismantled and reassembled to make it work properly.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I've known that happen on some taps as the main washer and/or seat wears down. Eventually the "O" ring that seals the stem in the headstock pops out from its recess when the tap is fully closed and stops the tap opening properly.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

We bought a really decent color laser recently which we got cheap 2nd hand (about £50) only had two faults which was a dent in the transfer belt and a chunk taken out of the upper fuser roller.

Got a box of fusers (5 used for £40) with a view of making one good one but it seems they all work perfectly so that was a 5 minute replacement.

Also spotted a new original transfer belt for £70 posted so that was a 10min job. Though afterwards it was ghosting but a quick menu change where I upped the transfer voltage solved that issue.

Consumables were all 90% and not clones so fine for a few thousand pages.

So for £150 and a bit of work I've got a £500+ printer that is doing great for number plates, vinyl stickers and 37 pages per minute printing.

:D not fixed a laser since I worked in an IT workshop back in the late 90's, glad to see I haven't lost it :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Nice work Kymmy. :tu:

Fixed the zip on Osem Jnr's #2's school rucksack. He loves it so couldn't bear to chuck it away.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Not so much a fix, but a couple of upgrades have arrived for the focus

The first is a new stalk for controlling the windscreen wipers, but unlike the current one it has the option of varying the delay on the intermittent wiper setting. Not quite so handy now the weather's better, but brilliant when its "sort of" raining.

The second part is a new headlamp switch (the one mounted to the dash). The new one has a dimmer control for the instrument backlights. The current one doesn't.

Luckily on my MK1 focus both upgrades are basically plug-and-play, so its just a case of swapping my original parts for the new ones.