Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Removed the snooze button on my alarm clock. Not exactly a fix but snoozing is the bane of my mornings.
No doubt tomorrow I shall oversleep. Hey ho.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Nice rifle. I have a Theoben SLR98 which has seen off a few rats I can tell you lol

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Nice Rifles gents. And I have a maple stocked Air Arms S410K classic thats seen off a couple of thousand too ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

The ignition unit on the gas hob. A legacy of it having had cola spilled in it was the circuit board inside the ignitor box arcing across. Cleaned that up but I've never been happy with the way it works: You press the button but only get one spark when you release it. Very simple circuit charges up a capacitor and then the switch dumps that into the spark transformer that has 4 outputs.

What I really want is a stream of sparks all the time the button is pressed. With the addition of a Thyristor and Diac (two kinds of electronic switch) resistor and capacitor it now does just that. :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

The curtains in my son's room: the header tape had come away so needed few stitches.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Grass box bracket off a mates mower. It was fractured through and the weld had also failed. Finally remembered to do it: Wrestled the MIG welder out from under the stairs, god that thing's heavy, got set up on the patio with that and the angle grinder. Only a few minutes work needed but it's the getting the kit set up that takes the time. Then I have to pack it all away again. Still it's fixed now so that's a pint or two he owes me.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

What my old man does is wait until he has at least 3 or 4 welding jobs then do them all in one go. To say he's a whizz at arc welding would be an understatement. I blew a massive hole in one bit of work I was doing. He not only filled the hole using only the welder he also got the actual weld perfect.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Man of many talents you mate! ;)

Anyway I just fixed the wife's bikini top ready for her forthcoming holiday. Just a little delicate sewing involved.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My welding won't win any prizes but after it's cleaned up with the angle grinder it don't look too bad. :D Still getting a feel for the power settings vs the metal thickness.

I did invest in an automatic helmet which is a boon.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

:shocked: Should you not have taken him to A@E for the stitches. ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fixed my shower by replacing the pressure relief device. Not bad for someone who doesn't have a clue.

What would we do without the internet.....

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

One of our downstairs toilets. The cistern wasn't fitted with an overflow (just a water shut off valve) and has been overflowing onto the floor intermittently so I bought one of these and fixed it.

I must say the ball valve assembly is a very curious and not entirely satisfactory arrangement IMHO.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

There are many other types of valve these days. A lot of cisterns now "overflow" straight into the bowl, meaning you don't have to have a hole in the wall that allows cold air in during the chilly months.

I have weatherproofed some new solar LED lights by short circuit soldering the switch, soldering the batteries to the connections, then silicon spraying the lot.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Yes I've seen those and think they're a much better idea. Guess the guy who fitted our toilet either forgot to connect the overflow or couldn't be bothered. Anyway it seems to be ok now so now more wet floors I hope.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Stand closer to the bowl ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

lol

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My filing cabinet drawer - which the metal rail popped off earlier.

Blind woodwork - a new sport ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

A new venetian blind in Osem Jnr #2's new bedroom. More work to follow to turn it into his own private den.

Also, the rear brake on my mountain bike and a puncture on the wife's. Took me a while to remember how to get the tyre off but the old 2 forks plus tyre lever procedure soon came flooding back.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

'Fixed' the 6.4mm laminated glass in my new porch. Finally bit the bullet, measured up, had the stuff cut and did the fitting myself using neutral cure, low modulus silicone. Quite pleased with the results, especially after a great tip I was given to finish the silicone neatly by using a misting spray to moisten the surrounding area before removing the excess silicone. It's like everything though, if I did the job again I'd do quite a few things differently.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I'd LIKE to fix a dripping hot tap in my Ikea taps. Does anyone know if the cartridges are standard, or specific to each tap design?

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

So I take it they are 1/4turn taps which have a ceramic face?
I have found taps have standard bottom parts, spindle length can vary slightly for knob/handle. (don't throw any spacers away)
For future make sure water temperature at the tap doesn't go over 60°C as too high a temp kills the washer/ceramic face!

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I have found that if you get ANY failures in IKEA parts they quite often replace for free!

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

That's a good point. I've been looking for a replacement cartridge for a dripping basin tap in our bathroom and seen plenty which look very similar apart from the spindle. I can't seem to find one exactly the same so may take a chance on swapping out the ceramic discs, spacers etc. but retain the old spindle etc. Will post back if/when I get around to it.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fixed my Samsung 22" lcd. Power supply capacitor had popped. 59p to replace :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Nice one

Didn't realise you did component level stuff Sirius, could come in handy :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

A referendum in Scotland.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Miaow! ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Detail sander, model no longer available. - Replacement 60pounds
On/off switch replaced as mechanism faulty @2.00 pounds.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

7 and half year old Bosch Classixx washing machine.

Replacing the bearings - just purchased a bearing set (2 bearings, 1 O ring, 8 screws) £63.25.

Just spent 5 hours dismantling the fugging thing! probably another 5 hours putting it back together.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My love handles - now gone :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Hopefully my computer, which has been randomly disabling it's graphics card and refusing to start until the 4th or 5th attempt (damned beep codes) . I figured it was either the memory or motherboard, so, I replaced the memory a few months back. Yesterday I went out to buy a new motherboard, started to look around and found that 2nd generation Core i5s are not supported by modern motherboards, so ended up having to buy a 4th generation Core i5 to go with the new motherboard. Then ended up having to back up my stuff, repartition the drive (the new motherboard has a full UEFI firmware, the old one had a BIOS that was supposed to emulate UEFI), then install windows.

Still, the machine does feel faster.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My tumble drier. It wasn't heating up, had a similar problem a few years ago. and was told it was thermostat. saw a video on the espares page on how to do it for my model, ordered the parts at 9.99 now working a treat and saving me at least £30 on getting someone in to do it :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Good fix. The internet's great for stuff like that - so many fixes are simple once you know what you're looking for. I manage to fix our washing machine after finding a video online which was a great help.

---------- Post added at 08:59 ---------- Previous post was at 08:57 ----------

I just fixed the wife's favourite headphones, one earpiece of which had been trodden on and come apart. A little reconstruction with my old mate superglue and the job was done.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I was amazed how easy it was, I was feeling quite chuffed with myself that afternoon :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I hope the glue dried before she put the head phones on, otherwise you would have come unstuck!

---------- Post added at 10:51 ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 ----------


Well done Ravenheart, any good at washing machines!

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Washing machine all fixed and running like new, anybody want advice I will only be to pleased to help.

The missus is sooo pleased.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

That's why we just love fixing stuff! :)

Not to mention the brownie points from the uvva arf... :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fixed one of the panels in the garden fence, with the help of my 2 beautiful grand kids.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

New felt on the shed roof yesterday.

Cheers

Grim

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Worktop fan oven/grill ( Again! ). This time the motor would stall after running for about 20mins. It's not siezed, just won't run so I guess the winding has developed a fault.

Anyhow I had a rummage in the bitsa* drawer and found a similar motor on a salvaged tangential blower. I cut a thread on the longer shaft to mount the fan and improvised some stand offs to space the motor well away from the fan duct. Works a treat. :)

I think the original motor had a hard life as it was mounted directly on the fan duct that runs at the same temperature as the oven interior. No wonder the bearings were shot.

*Bits of this and bits of that.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Oh Heero how I could do with a handy person like you to fix the numerous small jobs needed in our new house. :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I have one of those and I call it my **** bin, because I throw any old **** in it.

Not literally :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Make him a cheeky offer Tinky... ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

The camera on my iphone. I had a spare one in my iphone spares box.
the last couple of days when you start the camera app. it would just freeze and crash.

you can tell my eyes are getting bad. it took me twice as long to get the tiny screws back in on the board.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Trip Switch.

The element in kettle went and kicked out the main switch.

Back on now and need new kettle tho.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Not sure if this counts as fixed but I was asked by a friend at work to do the initial install on a new HP laptop being gifted as an Xmas present.

The amount of crap that HP stuff onto these things is inexcusable. Aside from that it was pretty simples to get everything updated and ready to go. For being a very new laptop, it still had over 70 Windows 8.1 updates. Also chucked Classic Shell on to avoid the inevitable "What's this start button do" shenanigans!

Next up: My PC has started freezing every other boot when Windows 10 loads. I think it may actually be Core Temp, considering I updated it a few days ago and suddenly it freezes, but need to do some investigating.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

With winter fast approaching and my car's battery being rather small for its engine size and level of equipment, I've bitten the bullet and stuck a new battery in.

It's a Varta Silver (more expensive than equivalents, but it does have a much higher capacity) and I got it mail order. Took minutes to fit, and should help avoid a lack of start in the morning (on the car's part anyway...)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Nicely done, although would an Optima not have fitted? Same company makes them (Johnson Controls), but they're generally far better and usually not that much more than the Silver range anyway.

To update my last post, yes, Core Temp hates Windows 10. It's gone, and so is my PC freezing.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My mate suggested one of those, but the problem is that my car (Rover 45 1.4) has the stupidest battery positioning ever. Basically the battery is wedged between the headlamp and the gearbox mounting so you can't put anything larger than an 063 in.

The shortest Optima was about 30mm longer than the battery tray, had a lower rated capacity than the Black Varta battery coming out (not to mention the Silver one going in) and cost £132, whereas the Varta Silver was £42 (same supplier). The real killer was the optima was only covered for a year. Varta Silvers are covered for 5 years.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Yikes, they should be covered for the same amount of time really all things considered.

The rated power is a bit of a red herring. A car battery is used as a starter device, so the Amp Hour rating isn't not as relevant as the Cold Cranking Amps. The CCA of Optima batteries are very high, and they generally last longer than standard Lead Acid batteries. The Amp Hour rating is more relevant for stuff like Caravan batteries, which is where Optima Yellow batteries come into play.

However, that Silver was very cheap, so I would've went for that too all things considered. As you say, sometimes the Optima's just wont fit anyway. Usually not a problem in my work's field however.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

This is what I stuck in: http://www.tayna.co.uk/Type-076-Vart...ery-P3131.html

52Ah, 520CCA.

This was what I compared it to:

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Optima-Yellow-Top-P3118.html

38Ah, 460CCA

I can see the advantage of AGM type batteries, but not for this particular application. The car is a £600 banger, and a Varta Silver will do fine for what I use it for.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Ah, the Yellow Top isn't really what you need to compare it to. More comparable would be the RTR 3.7, 44aH, 730 CCA, but still lot's more money. As you said, for a £600 car it's a no brainer. Generally the machines my company sell these for are Tractors and thus it's not just the value but downtime that is taken into account and thus Optima's are generally worth it long term.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Just finished wiring up my Frankenstein P90 Telecaster (made from scratch apart from the neck). Sounds pretty nice.. twangy but meaty.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Old tangential fan heater. I'd left it in the garage after doing some car work and the damp got at the elements and they fell to bits. :(

I happened to have some Kanthal resistance wire but only enough for one element but I was able to get two more 1KW Kanthal elements off Amazon for £2.35 delivered. Meant for making up small kilns but the perfect size and rating for this job.

Attachment 25855 Click for full size, a bit big.

The element block has three 1KW elements, two of which are paralelled, the switches then allow for fan, 1, 2 or 3KW settings. I used the insides from some small chop blocks to terminate the wires to the original spade connectors.

Repair works a treat :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

One of Osem Jnr's Clarks shoes - the entire heel had become detached from the upper but a quick clean and some spray on contact adhesive did the trick.

I last fixed one of my cassettes :) (The pad that keeps the tape against the head for good sound)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

The plastic nut on the toilet seat broke, found one that fitted and rubber washer, job done! Shortened a pair of curtains. Painted a bedroom. Hung a curtain rail. Erected a new rotary clothes pole. I've still got a long list of 'to do's' as Mr T is no good at DIY. ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Bit premature as I've not actually fixed it yet but I've found the cause of my engine management going into disgusting mode every few weeks.

Turns out that the knock sensor has packed up and sends a false reading rather than throwing a fault code which would have made life a lot easier. Oh well another 100 quid to throw into the bottomless pit.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Managed to pair / sync some smartlink bulbs to the Philips Hue bridge (with a couple of blooms). So now I can control the lights via iPad / phone etc.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Some of you folks are just way too clever for me lol! :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I got my old Galaxy S2 back off my dad as he got a new phone.

I reformatted it - put a new battery in it and I must admit it's bot bad at all. It's going to make a really good spare handset I think.

I may even see if I can put kit kat or lollypop on it tomorrow.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

More Behringer junk

This time an amp simulator (Line 6 Pod clone)

Dry joints galore on the 1/4 jack input and line out connections. Problems compounded by the fact that there is no strain relief on the surface mounted sockets. Stoopid design and poor workmanship - buy cheap, buy twice or at least expect to be fixing it after a few months.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My Sister and Brother in Law's kitchen socket.

Basically, the socket plate was loose, so my brother in law tried to nip up the screw, only for it to shear off.

Taking the socket plate off, it seems whoever had done the job last had used the longest possible screw to hold the socket plate to the cavity back box behind it, and the screw sheared because it basically "bottomed out" against the back of the box. Cue the two of us trying to remove the reminants of the old screw.

Of course it won't budge...


In desperation, I checked my car to see if I had anything that would shift it, and luckily I'd brought the one indispensable tool for this kind of job, my 6" Irwin Vise Grip "wire" (actually just about everything) cutters. Had the darned thing out in 5 mins with those!

I last fixed a tape I got from salvation army :)

It didnt play well and when i opened the case to examine why,it was quite obvious!!!

THERE WERE NO ROLLERS IN IT!!!!!! -- I dont think I have ever seen something so stupid....... So I just transferred the spools to another tape case and she plays ok...

KOOL AND THE GANG - Something special

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fan switch in the cooker hood: Went to turn on the light over the hob this morning and the fan rocker next to it popped right out. On closer inspection the two pegs that it pivots on had both broken away from the actual rocker itself. One was still there in the housing but the other had vanished.

Dismantled the hood and got the switch out, then with some thin plastic backing it up I superglued the remaining pivot back into place. Then I found a small piece of plastic in the junk with a stub on it. (Actually the surface mount carrier for a dual pin strip) Glued that into place on the otherside. Some work with a needle file set and voila: Good as new.

Put the switch gubbins, spring and contact, back in and snapped the rocker into the housing. Works a treat.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Just installed a 5 metre 12V LED strip light down the edge of the stairs with an IPR sensor. Now no need to turn on the main lights when going up or down... Brill.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Having let the garage change my car's back box this week (in my defence the difference between doing it myself and getting them to do it was £15), my DIY fixit mojo was waning, untill I finally got around to working out why my driver's side washer jet wasn't working.

It had been knackered for quite a while. It sort of worked, but lacked any pressure. The passenger side one was working fine. In the end I decided to try swapping the feed pipes over, to see if it was a duff T-piece/anti drain valve or a duff jet.

Of course, having done this the passenger side jet was still fine, while the driver's was even worse.

In the end I traced the problem to the little 90 degree connector at the base of the driver's side jet. It had split, but in such a way that it still looked and fitted on fine. I stretched the feed pipe a tad and it fitted, so hopefully that should sort it long-term

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Leaky old washing machine. Got the new door rubber earlier this week for £7. Fitted it this morning amid much cursing especially when I found I'd put it on 180 degrees out and had to do the whole thing again. AAAGH!!

Yet to test it but there's a big pile of smalls to do.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Where's the video then??? ;)


I 'fixed' all 4 of our Velux window pleated blinds this morning by ripping them out and replacing them with Ikea cellular blinds which seem very good indeed. Some trimming of the top/bottom metal rails and blind fabric was required but when you know how... :)

I also fixed the hose on our Dyson DC25 vacuum cleaner which had split quite badly near the handle. Disassembling the hose was the hardest part then I had to trim a section of the coiled wire and clear PVC type hose material before feeding a new section into the fitting and putting it back together. Job done. :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

And have CF's swear filter go into meltdown.:D Anyway I mustn't pander to Gary's fantasies. Funnily enough I was wearing my kilt.

Sometimes replament is the better option.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Oddly enough my wife keeps saying that.... :erm:


:D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Wonky oven door: The stay on one side seemsed to have lost its spring tension and that was allowing the hinge to float out of the frame. I finally worked out how to release the door and got it dismantled to see what the problem was.

The stay works against a strong spring via a pivit, that same force keeps the hinge hooked into the oven casing. The pivot had broken. I drilled out the hole a bit to be able to thread it for a small bolt, cut the thread "tight" so no nut needed. Needed the use of an old valve spring compressor ( A series ) to get the spring short enough to hook the end of the stay over it.

Reassembled door and then with a bit of heaving snapped the stays and hinges back into the frame. Fixed a treat, hopefully for a while.:)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Drained my fuel tank of crappy BP Ultimate and replaced it with VPower+ Reset ECU codes and now back to full boost. Job's a good-un

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Kitchen calculator: It's battery and solar but suddenly stopped working in the shade. Opened it up and checked the battery, that was OK but the holder was a bit corroded. Cleaned it up and a shot of engineers' magic spray and fixed.:)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

:tu:

Now how many people would just have just thrown it in the bin and bought a new one?

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Too many. :( It only cost a couple of quid from Lidl but 5 mins for an easy fix. I hate chucking stuff out anyway if it can be fixed and still be useful.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My daughter's XBOX headset, the cable had split .... again.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I just fixed the broken zip on the wife's rucksack. It wasn't expensive but she likes it so... :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fitted shelves in the cupboard where our immersion tank used to be, great to have more storage. Next it's a paint job, kitchen this time.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Checked out six of my solar rock lights, recharged/replaced batteries, cleaned up connections and a shot of engineers' magic spray and out they go. The latest set of 3 only have a 300maHr AA battery. ( Previous ones were 600maHr) Replaced with 1300maHr ones.

Still have six pagoda lamps to check out ( Three fired up when I switched them on) and two more older rocks. Don't know how many will make it. They're getting on a bit and they don't make them to last.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

A 20ft section of trellis on one of our fences. The clematis growing along it coupled with age and a dose of woodworm finally saw the trellis I made about 10 years ago off so I've had to replace it with a new one made from treated 35x25mm roof battens.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

It had a good run Osem.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fixed two more leaks in the washing machine: Ribby pipe from the drum to the pump, loads of splits, applied liberal silicon rubber sealer and some elastic bands. Pump drive shaft seal, replaced as I had a spare bought some time ago when I thought it was leaking but not.

Fixes only need to tame the worst of the leaks until we can get the dosh together for a replacement. It's in a tiled solid floor utility room so a pool of water does no real damage.:)

Got a hoodie, some odd smalls and a fleece going through now - so far, so good.

Darn!

Pumping out and it's still biblical! Must be somewhere in the exit pipe inside the machine.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

You sure it's not leaking where the hose exits the pump?

Have you tried putting a raw egg in on a hot wash to seal any leaks? ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

i fixed the lack of 230 volt power on my boat i could only generate 1500 watts [2kva] continuously so i bought a ruddy big generator now i have 4kva -sorted :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I repaired the pipe that exits the drum mounted pump to a union on the frame. The leak is there at the union or between there and the back of the machine. Beyond there I can see it directly and it's all dry. When it all dries out a bit I'll have another go. The repaired bits seem leak free but it looks like the biggie wasn't them.:(

Otherwise it's build a duct tape dam and live with it. The floor is deliberately sloped to the outside door and a drain to cover this type of problem. I can just make the leakage flow to there.

What? And end up with a giant omelette.:D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Yaesu VHF/UHF transceiver I bought cheap not working...

Had to track down the issue which turned out to be a voltage regulator that had gone high blowing the two audio amp chips.. Nothing like a nice surface mount repair to start off the day :D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

My pc - yes with Natalie's help I know but we got a new SSD in it. Nice and snappy as well now :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

:)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Well done. :tu:

That's an upgrade I've done recently and it really makes a difference.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I turned a 7ft marine ply crate into 2 compost bins, as my old compost bins have composted themselves.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

there's got to be money in that a compost bin that composts itself at the end of its life ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Total recyclability ;)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Just replaced the felt roof on our shed - four and half hours of fun, and got it finished just before the skies opened.

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Have you dared to pop out and see how it's holding up?

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Fan oven: Fitted new element that came today. Oven was already dismantled as I had got the old element out to check the dimensions so relatively painless to put it back together. Works fine so decent roasties back on the menu. :)

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Cleaned the innards of my daughter's Xbox 360S. What a palaver to open the box!

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

Now just put on two coats of Ronseal - that should be that for another five years....:D

Re: What have you fixed lately?
 

I gave up refelting, the local cats shredded it in no time. So I decided to featherdge it. Solid as a rock now.