Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

this stuff makes the edges go soft for a minute or so then it welds and hardens

it's for those plastics than nothing sticks to

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

That's what the old Airfix glue did - like a weld more than a glue. Wonder if it's the same stuff. Probably worth getting a tube and experimenting.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Polystyrene cement - believe it or not, polystyrene is what airfix models are made of, it's just the hard, not blown form of the plastic. And yes, it temporarily melts the polystyrene so you effectively weld the parts together.

It also smells great :spin: :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

That's the stuff. Reminds me of the good old days when all sorts of potentially lethal chemicals were readily available... :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fixed a broken zip on one of the wife's rucksacks by fitting a new slider. If ever we throw out an old bag or anorak we always remove the zip sliders for use on other items. Lost count of the times I've fixed stuff like that.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Good advice on saving the slider/runner. Another tip if a zip stops zipping together is to squeeze the "tail" of the runner together with pliers as wear here often is the cause of a zip failing to knit.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

That's exactly what I did last night when Osem Jnr came home and his football jacket wouldn't zip up. It had got caught in some adjacent fabric as he did it up and had then been forced so the zip wouldn't knit together. Some pliers and silicone spray did the trick.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Little digital bedside alarm clock: Came back from Cornwall yesterday and it was flashing, usually a result of a power blip but that usually hits the microwave as well. Tried to reset the clock but it wouldn't stop flashing so I turned it off.

Powered it up today and the display was a random set of segments and the internal alarm speaker was buzzing. A-Ha! I thought: Power supply.

Changed the main capacitor (100uF 16v) with a spare from my bits and bobs and voila! Fixed. Took the opportunity to treat the time/alarm setting buttons with some cleaner as they were also a bit dodgy. Old capacitor measured as no value on my test meter.

It's over 35 years old and this sort of fault is so common in small bits of old electronics. Electrolytic capacitors dry out with age and go open or low value.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Another solar rock light: This one stopped turning off in daylight and the battery was run down. I guessed it would be the solar cell, prized it up and yes, one of the wires had corroded through as had the tail from the cell. When they made it they didn't put enough sealant on to cover all the connections.

Replaced with one of my upgrade cells (about 2.5 times output of the original) and sealed it back in place with a good dollup of clear silicon rubber sealant. A fresh high capacity AA (2500 mHr) battery in the charger and it can go out in a few hours.

There's only one left now of this type with 4 LEDs that hasn't had the upgraded cell fitted. Seeing as all the others eventually corroded through I guess its time will come.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Magsafe power adapter for my Macbook Pro. Some tactical soldering and a bit of shrink wrap.

80 quid for a replacement? Not on my watch.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

A man after my own heart. :tu:


Anyway I'm declaring my trusty DAB radio as a fix officially as it's been working without a problem for a couple of days now. :)

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...2#post35912862

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

One of the security bolts inside my front door failed with metal fatigue so just had to chisel it out from inside (it's a big, old solid wood one).

Time for a new one.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Big golfing style umbrella: I though it was getting floppy. The wire loop that retains the spokes in a plastic moulding at the top had rusted through and the spokes had come loose. I undid the canopy to get to the top and with a carfully bent piece of locking wire secured the spokes back into the ring. I bent the ends of the locking wire at rightangles and slid the inner brass part of a chop block over the ends and used the two screws to secure the wire.

Re-fitted the canopy to the outer ends of the spokes. Good as new. :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

i recon you must be as tight as me good fix ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Thanks. I don't like throwing away things that for a few minutes work can be fixed. That's the way to end up at a food bank when the money runs out buying a new one.