What have you fixed lately?

[heero_yuy]

My kitchen worktop mini oven/grill unit. I'd noticed the two top elements (120v 350W) were looking twisted and one had actually grown in length so they were on the way to failure. (End of rod heater at the front)

Photo0243_s.jpg Click for full size.

Couldn't source replacements so I got a 36" 750W user bendable rod heater off ebay and used an 8mm pipe bender to make it into an "S" shape. I drew out the oven inside on squared paper to scale and used a copper wire on the same scale to plan my bend points. Using a small diamond grinder in my hobbyist drill I reamed out one of the original insulators to accept one end of the rod. Took a while as the ceramic is very hard and brittle.

Secured the other end in a hex nut that was a tight fit in the casing but allowes the element some freedome for expansion.

Photo0245_s.jpg

Using some coat hanger wire I fabricated two more fixings through the old ceramic insulators. Used some heat proof wire to return the far end of the new element. For ease of access I've removed the internal top cover.

Photo0244_s.jpg

All works a treat. And yes I did try to clean the interior but being a sort of brushed ally its reluctant to release the splashes.

(Element came from Ezone heating on Ebay for £11 delivered next day)

[peanut]

Replaced the hose on a Bissell lift off carpet cleaner that had split. It had to be stripped down to the motor to connect the water/detergent spray nozzles that run through the hose. Either that or a replacement at £300. The part cost £20 inc p&p from Bissell direct.

[Osem]

@ Peanut & Heero - I love the fixes which save £££'s

[Taf]

A elderly neighbour's flat conservatory roof. Beautifully built apart from the roof which was an absolute abortion joined together with blobs of silicon sealant. Aluminium flashing done to keep the rain out, aluminium paint to be applied on a dry day.

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by Osem

@ Peanut & Heero - I love the fixes which save £££'s

I hate to scrap something that can be given a new lease of life for a bit of ingenuity and a small number of £s.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I hate to scrap something that can be given a new lease of life for a bit of ingenuity and a small number of £s.

I'm hoping Mrs Osem agrees with you...

[rogerdraig]

sony experia z3+ / z4

[techguyone]

Originally Posted by rogerdraig

sony experia z3+ / z4

What did you do to it

[rhyds]

I've not actually fixed anything yet, but am after a bit of advice...

Long story short: I've got an LED Christmas tree that was supplied with a dead 31v DC power supply. The suppliers refunded me for the tree but couldn't supply a replacement power supply.

I've now bought a 31v power supply from another LED lighting supplier, but the new unit has flashing/chasing options and a 3-pin connector, as opposed to the original unit's 2-pin connector and no flashing options.

Now, From an electronics point of view I'm guessing the 3 pins are:

Negative connection
Positive 1
Positive 2

And the flashing/chasing effects are done by applying voltage to the two positive connections in turn, with the "all on" setting being +31v to both positive terminals.

Now, as the connections are totally different I'll be chopping the connectors off and joining the cables directly (the new unit comes with a length of cable, so it should be a simple job to join them up)

First off: Should I join the two positives together or just use one and tape off the spare cable? As the LEDs are wired in one bank/chain most of the flashing cycles probably won't work anyway, but with the two positives joined I'd imagine most options would essentially become "always on" as there would always be 31v or so on the connector.

Secondly: What's the best way to join small gauge cable like you get in LED Christmas lights? I was thinking twisting the wires together together, then soldering, then taping them up or should I use terminal/chock blocks instead?

All suggestions welcome.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by rhyds

I've not actually fixed anything yet, but am after a bit of advice...

Long story short: I've got an LED Christmas tree that was supplied with a dead 31v DC power supply. The suppliers refunded me for the tree but couldn't supply a replacement power supply.

I've now bought a 31v power supply from another LED lighting supplier, but the new unit has flashing/chasing options and a 3-pin connector, as opposed to the original unit's 2-pin connector and no flashing options.

Now, From an electronics point of view I'm guessing the 3 pins are:

Negative connection
Positive 1
Positive 2

And the flashing/chasing effects are done by applying voltage to the two positive connections in turn, with the "all on" setting being +31v to both positive terminals.

Now, as the connections are totally different I'll be chopping the connectors off and joining the cables directly (the new unit comes with a length of cable, so it should be a simple job to join them up)

First off: Should I join the two positives together or just use one and tape off the spare cable? As the LEDs are wired in one bank/chain most of the flashing cycles probably won't work anyway, but with the two positives joined I'd imagine most options would essentially become "always on" as there would always be 31v or so on the connector.

Secondly: What's the best way to join small gauge cable like you get in LED Christmas lights? I was thinking twisting the wires together together, then soldering, then taping them up or should I use terminal/chock blocks instead?

All suggestions welcome.

Firstly connect the 2 lives together. Seconly use a soldered joint and heat shrink insulation.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/127Pcs-Hea...UAAOSwB09YGbXx

[rogerdraig]

Originally Posted by techguyone

What did you do to it

replaced digitiser and the front camera and straightened the frame slightly it had had an argument with a car door. getting the glue to set was the hardest bit (lot of heating clamping and waiting involved for some reason)

---------- Post added at 13:35 ---------- Previous post was at 13:31 ----------

don't know if this is considered fixing more of an upgrade ( saving someone from pulling their hair out as they were stuck ) put new 2TB drive into brand new PS4Pro so that they could transfer their stuff from their PS4 with 2TB drive 14 hours that took with a network cable

[rhyds]

Originally Posted by pip08456

Firstly connect the 2 lives together. Seconly use a soldered joint and heat shrink insulation.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/127Pcs-Hea...UAAOSwB09YGbXx

Problem is getting hold of heat shrink without waiting for a delivery (even maplins is a fair drive away). What I might do is use the connector blocks for testing and then solder/heatshrink the connections on the final job.

[rhyds]

All done thanks to pip's advice. Turns out the unit was wired with one positive and two negatives, but otherwise it worked as outlined above.

I managed to find some heatshrink tubing in town but I didn't think to get the next size up as well to shrink over the two joints, so there was a little tape involved.

[Uncle Peter]

The switch in the button unit on my wireless doorbell. Well for now at least as judging by the poor quality of the "switch" hardware it's highly likely to fail again after a few uses.

Basically just a thin metal membrane held to the circuit board with two flimsy tabs and relies on pressure (not solder) to make one set of contacts. I might take it apart again over the weekend and solder them but it'll more than likely end up in the bin.

It's the type they sell in Screwfix which has 2 remote chime units. Avoid 'em folks.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

The switch in the button unit on my wireless doorbell. Well for now at least as judging by the poor quality of the "switch" hardware it's highly likely to fail again after a few uses.

Basically just a thin metal membrane held to the circuit board with two flimsy tabs and relies on pressure (not solder) to make one set of contacts. I might take it apart again over the weekend and solder them but it'll more than likely end up in the bin.

It's the type they sell in Screwfix which has 2 remote chime units. Avoid 'em folks.

That's against the Ts & Cs of this thread mate!!!



---------- Post added at 14:20 ---------- Previous post was at 14:03 ----------

Talking of dodgy switches, the on/off button on the end cap of my Feit LED torch has failed after being intermittent for some time. I've had a look on YouTube but can't see any way to access the switch from the inside on this model - it seems the problem is often down to the mechanism coming loose and requiring tightening of the retaining ring from the inside but I can't see a way to do this. I have a second identical unit so would keep the body as a spare anyway but can anyone suggest a fix or workaround? The rubberised end button does still give a positive 'click' when pressed but doesn't feel the same as the working one on my other torch. I can feel there's something wrong inside it but can't work out what it is.