Our Bosch dishwasher. Some error code that internet suggested was the main processor board 
. Slammed the door - that didn't work. Switched off at mains and left for one minute.That didn't work. Opened and closed the detergent door forcefully 10 times (another internet search suggested it could be this door). Working perfectly now. Didn't get to my next step of chanting and reciting charms so all is good.
. Slammed the door - that didn't work. Switched off at mains and left for one minute.That didn't work. Opened and closed the detergent door forcefully 10 times (another internet search suggested it could be this door). Working perfectly now. Didn't get to my next step of chanting and reciting charms so all is good.When it was very cold last winter, my 2 well pumps for the heat pumps stopped late one Friday night. I did a quick analysis and decided it was either the controller circuitry or the pumps themselves. I called the HVAC company who called me back on Saturday. I explained the situation and they told me that:
- It will cost $150 for him to come out.
- He would pretty much come to the same conclusion as I did.
- I should wait until Monday to talk with their heat-pump expert.
- It will take a couple of months to get parts.
Automatic LED lamp, comes on when power goes, if set like that on the switch.
Put a 18650 (3 Ah) cell, with a 3.9 V Zener, the next higher available value is 4.7 V.
A 10E drop resistor in series with the supply did not work, so I put the resistor in series with the Zener, and supply direct to cell.
Zener is to protect against over charging the Lithium cell, connected in reverse across the cell, cathode to positive flying lead (easier to solder than those without tabs).
This was done to protect everybody from fires, the original cell was a 1.0 Ah 4.2 V lead acid battery.
Seems better now, as the resistor seems to allow a higher voltage into the cell.
Some improvement in duration, but that was with a bad battery.
It is a cheap Chinese unit, about 30 SMD LEDs, and 155J / 390k as supply, pretty common.
Local shop was out of controllers, apparently sold for this purpose, 50 cents each.
Next trip, will buy some. Market is 4 km from house, 10 minute drive.
Put a 18650 (3 Ah) cell, with a 3.9 V Zener, the next higher available value is 4.7 V.
A 10E drop resistor in series with the supply did not work, so I put the resistor in series with the Zener, and supply direct to cell.
Zener is to protect against over charging the Lithium cell, connected in reverse across the cell, cathode to positive flying lead (easier to solder than those without tabs).
This was done to protect everybody from fires, the original cell was a 1.0 Ah 4.2 V lead acid battery.
Seems better now, as the resistor seems to allow a higher voltage into the cell.
Some improvement in duration, but that was with a bad battery.
It is a cheap Chinese unit, about 30 SMD LEDs, and 155J / 390k as supply, pretty common.
Local shop was out of controllers, apparently sold for this purpose, 50 cents each.
Next trip, will buy some. Market is 4 km from house, 10 minute drive.
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A kindly and well prepared gentlemen repairing my hiking boots, due to separation of the left hamd sole somewhere up on Great Rigg (the right hamd sole separated coming down Fairfield resulting in my having to employ techniques from the Ministry of Funny Walks).
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"Repair" The clothes-washer would not spin. Funny smell too. Back when I was a wee lad, I fixed washers. Even then, identifying the model was hard, and the parts were non-stocked.
So this time, "repair" for me means "Call someone". I checked GE Repair ("can not dispatch to your location") and then called the local appliance shop (who is also the biggest part depot I have ever seen). They promised a tech Wednesday, then called Monday to say he was free. Well he may have been free but he/we diagnosed a small PCB embedded in a motor that is distinctly non-free; probably costs near as much as the machine. Was supposed to call me back with a firmer estimate, or at least a diagnosis fee. I can sort that when we go to buy a new/used washer off the floor.
So this time, "repair" for me means "Call someone". I checked GE Repair ("can not dispatch to your location") and then called the local appliance shop (who is also the biggest part depot I have ever seen). They promised a tech Wednesday, then called Monday to say he was free. Well he may have been free but he/we diagnosed a small PCB embedded in a motor that is distinctly non-free; probably costs near as much as the machine. Was supposed to call me back with a firmer estimate, or at least a diagnosis fee. I can sort that when we go to buy a new/used washer off the floor.
Impact drill, UK made Black and Decker from 1998.
Cooling fan on the replacement armature disintegrated, found the original fan, (I am a pack rat), and while putting it in place, broke the lug from switch to field coil, I had to remove the wires so that I could work on the armature.
That earned me an hour's walk in the market, and the advice from an aged repairman to just solder a piece of wire to the tip of the broken lug, and connect it to the wire from the switch, which I did.
New lugs not available.
Working nicely now, greased the gearbox with front axle grease as well.
But now I will keep it as a second machine, bought another with more features.
The trigger switch says 'Arrow England Jul 96'.
The internal wires have gone stiff, and most parts are not sold any more. The mains cord is still as new, not gone stiff with age as in most cases.
Cooling fan on the replacement armature disintegrated, found the original fan, (I am a pack rat), and while putting it in place, broke the lug from switch to field coil, I had to remove the wires so that I could work on the armature.
That earned me an hour's walk in the market, and the advice from an aged repairman to just solder a piece of wire to the tip of the broken lug, and connect it to the wire from the switch, which I did.
New lugs not available.
Working nicely now, greased the gearbox with front axle grease as well.
But now I will keep it as a second machine, bought another with more features.
The trigger switch says 'Arrow England Jul 96'.
The internal wires have gone stiff, and most parts are not sold any more. The mains cord is still as new, not gone stiff with age as in most cases.
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Indeed, you can often find bargains on good tools at flea markets!
About 10 years ago, I picked up a "like new" 1971-era Sears Crafsman 3/8" variable speed hand drill for $30.
Excellent reliable tool!
Here the power tools are rarely owned by householders, most are purchased for factory or building site use.
So flea market will have damaged scrap.
I have had to use kitchen knives as screw drivers, few households buy hand tools either.
My neighbor once asked for a foot long piece of 60-40 solder...I just bought a 60 gram reel for 75 cents!
But my die maker found a drill and an angle grinder from a known scrap merchant, a factory had closed, and all the contents disposed off. They were known names, grinder was a Bosch, he paid about half of new price.
So flea market will have damaged scrap.
I have had to use kitchen knives as screw drivers, few households buy hand tools either.
My neighbor once asked for a foot long piece of 60-40 solder...I just bought a 60 gram reel for 75 cents!
But my die maker found a drill and an angle grinder from a known scrap merchant, a factory had closed, and all the contents disposed off. They were known names, grinder was a Bosch, he paid about half of new price.
That's interesting, is it because of the cost of labour being low? In the UK due to the expense of "professionals" everyone does some or other DIY, (Some very good, some not so). An old friends wife, was the best wallpaper hanger I'd ever seen, even when over 60!
Labor is very cheap, and few schools have shop class, people don't want to use tools, they think of it as associated with low income.
A mental block, now slowly going away after the pandemic lock downs.
Even now, a regular stone / tile fitter gets about 10 GBP for 6-8 hour 'days', and about 15 for casual work, in large cities.
Most people set up an agreed work price, per job or per square foot.
That is more convenient, materials and cement from owner, tools provided by worker.
Also, wall paper is rare here, mostly paint on walls, most houses are cement plastered. Wall paper gets spoiled in monsoon damp, and the texture attracts dust. Some people have removed it, removing adhesive residue was an issue.
A mental block, now slowly going away after the pandemic lock downs.
Even now, a regular stone / tile fitter gets about 10 GBP for 6-8 hour 'days', and about 15 for casual work, in large cities.
Most people set up an agreed work price, per job or per square foot.
That is more convenient, materials and cement from owner, tools provided by worker.
Also, wall paper is rare here, mostly paint on walls, most houses are cement plastered. Wall paper gets spoiled in monsoon damp, and the texture attracts dust. Some people have removed it, removing adhesive residue was an issue.
I have a fridge I got cheap, nice big one, that was frosting up (probably why it was only $50). Rather than dink around, because it 'was' probably worth $50, I carefully examined everything I could readily observe, and noticed it appeared the grounding prong on the power cord had been removed.
So, I could not figure out how 'that' could make it frost up. So, on to further investigate. I obtained a service manual, and in that particular model the return line for the desfrost clock (timer) was connected to the ground pin on the power cord! So, with that connection gone, the timer wasn't running. So, it never defrosted.
C'mon! Why would the manufacturer do that? Probably so every time someone removed the grounding prong on that model--and probably others--the factory-service guy could charge $75 for an OEM power cord and $125 for installation! Everyone is happy but the consumer!
So, I had some nice Arrow-Hart commercial plugs, and I installed one. Works perfectly after that. So, sometimes you get lucky. The unit is a few years old, and it sold for around $1,700 new, as near as I can figure.
I also have a subwoofer off eBay. I connected it, and no sound. Although a red light on the back lit up. I removed the back cover, and it looked like the previous owner was trying to do 'something', got in over his head, and just left 4 wires dangling. I surmized by the looks of things how it was supposed go, soldered it back, and put on a few wire nuts.
It was correct. It's been working for a while, although the POT on the amplifier gain is slightly iffy. I could replace it, and I probably should. I don't really perform repairs for the cost saving, but for the time saving. Packing that up and shipping it back would take just as long as the repair, but then I'd have gained nothing.
I have a 9-y.o. HDTV. It has a fantastic picture, It broke. It really takes a long time to sort through all the current offerings in televisions, to choose a reolacement. So I thought it might be something easy. I took the back off and examined everything with a jewelers visor. There was a bulged, leaky cap on the power board.
I said my usual prayer, that somewhere in my sea of electronic salvage I could find something with a little bit higher ratings than what was in there. Don't want it to fail again. I had a bag of new caps that would work. From start to finish the repair took 45 min., and it saved weeks of shopping for a new TV!
I have a 20-y.o. laser printer, and I accidentally broke off the toner cartridge door unjamming a paper jam. So, I tried to find the part. No go. I was going to scrap it after 20 years of good service, but new printers are really a crap-shoot! Some are good, but most aren't.
So, I took and old credit card, cut it into some pieces the shape of the broken parts, shaved off the slick coating, and super-glued them in place. Everything seems to be fine, but I'm extra careful with the toner door now. It was purely a mechanical failure, so no wiring or electronics involved.
People say, "Your missing out on buying new stuff!" To which I reply, "I couldn't possibly care less about new stuff. I only care if it works and does what I want." With built-in obsolescence being ubiquitous, when I find something that lasts, I'm hanging on to it if at all possible.
I needed a amp for the guest bedroom. I stumbled upon a few recent reviews touting a Rotel amp made around 1996. So, I thought, WOW!, if people are still raving over it, it's probably pretty good. I found one on eBay for $275. I offerd $200 including shipping, and the seller accepted.
It a great bare-bones, no-frills, 60 wpc RMS, made just for audio, not processed soundtracks (stuff no one even knows what it's supposed to sound like). I had no idea when it was last used, so I brought it up on a variac. That was probably overkill for an amp that was probably used no more than 20 years ago. It started working around 80 volts in.
It sounds so much better than the Kenwood home-theater receiver that it replaced, which is now in the basement for a comouter sound system. That's fine, because no one knows what video games sound like 'live'!
So, I could not figure out how 'that' could make it frost up. So, on to further investigate. I obtained a service manual, and in that particular model the return line for the desfrost clock (timer) was connected to the ground pin on the power cord! So, with that connection gone, the timer wasn't running. So, it never defrosted.
C'mon! Why would the manufacturer do that? Probably so every time someone removed the grounding prong on that model--and probably others--the factory-service guy could charge $75 for an OEM power cord and $125 for installation! Everyone is happy but the consumer!
So, I had some nice Arrow-Hart commercial plugs, and I installed one. Works perfectly after that. So, sometimes you get lucky. The unit is a few years old, and it sold for around $1,700 new, as near as I can figure.
I also have a subwoofer off eBay. I connected it, and no sound. Although a red light on the back lit up. I removed the back cover, and it looked like the previous owner was trying to do 'something', got in over his head, and just left 4 wires dangling. I surmized by the looks of things how it was supposed go, soldered it back, and put on a few wire nuts.
It was correct. It's been working for a while, although the POT on the amplifier gain is slightly iffy. I could replace it, and I probably should. I don't really perform repairs for the cost saving, but for the time saving. Packing that up and shipping it back would take just as long as the repair, but then I'd have gained nothing.
I have a 9-y.o. HDTV. It has a fantastic picture, It broke. It really takes a long time to sort through all the current offerings in televisions, to choose a reolacement. So I thought it might be something easy. I took the back off and examined everything with a jewelers visor. There was a bulged, leaky cap on the power board.
I said my usual prayer, that somewhere in my sea of electronic salvage I could find something with a little bit higher ratings than what was in there. Don't want it to fail again. I had a bag of new caps that would work. From start to finish the repair took 45 min., and it saved weeks of shopping for a new TV!
I have a 20-y.o. laser printer, and I accidentally broke off the toner cartridge door unjamming a paper jam. So, I tried to find the part. No go. I was going to scrap it after 20 years of good service, but new printers are really a crap-shoot! Some are good, but most aren't.
So, I took and old credit card, cut it into some pieces the shape of the broken parts, shaved off the slick coating, and super-glued them in place. Everything seems to be fine, but I'm extra careful with the toner door now. It was purely a mechanical failure, so no wiring or electronics involved.
People say, "Your missing out on buying new stuff!" To which I reply, "I couldn't possibly care less about new stuff. I only care if it works and does what I want." With built-in obsolescence being ubiquitous, when I find something that lasts, I'm hanging on to it if at all possible.
I needed a amp for the guest bedroom. I stumbled upon a few recent reviews touting a Rotel amp made around 1996. So, I thought, WOW!, if people are still raving over it, it's probably pretty good. I found one on eBay for $275. I offerd $200 including shipping, and the seller accepted.
It a great bare-bones, no-frills, 60 wpc RMS, made just for audio, not processed soundtracks (stuff no one even knows what it's supposed to sound like). I had no idea when it was last used, so I brought it up on a variac. That was probably overkill for an amp that was probably used no more than 20 years ago. It started working around 80 volts in.
It sounds so much better than the Kenwood home-theater receiver that it replaced, which is now in the basement for a comouter sound system. That's fine, because no one knows what video games sound like 'live'!
My repair which I like to share is AM Audio Reference S2, two mono block amplifiers, class A amplifier with 80W on 8ohm.
Nice sounding amp, I didn't expect so open sound...
There are lot of other stuff which don't deserve to be mentioned, because they are so young on lifecycle compared to old stuff which I own or repair in my hobby time.
Nice sounding amp, I didn't expect so open sound...
There are lot of other stuff which don't deserve to be mentioned, because they are so young on lifecycle compared to old stuff which I own or repair in my hobby time.
You pretty much sound like me when it comes to the products that the consumer uses in their home.
And being retired now after having decades of experience professionally repairing audio and video equipment for tens of thousands of customers, I've seen the quality and value of those products go down the toilet.
This includes major appliances as well, and yes, even automobiles, in fact almost everything seems to have been affected with the "short term lifespan syndrome".
The widespread mentality of "keeping up with the Joneses" by buying/upgrading to new products has become propoganda and a money-making cash flow that benefits big corporations at the consumer's expense.
I refuse to succumb to that corporate madness that society has been led into, because I like my own personal freedom to be in 'my' control, because fundamentally, it's ours, not to be manipulated by others.
I've felt that way since I was in my 20's, being sensible about things, seeing "fads" come and go, and also seeing how it was affecting society.
Friends and neighbors that walk into my home sometimes like to poke innocent fun by saying they've entered a museum of vintage era stuff.
But they've also admitted to me that they've often been sorry to "toss that old stuff out", by buying new things, and further admitted to spending more money than they'd like to for replacements or repairs.
They've also been amazed at the quality of my vintage products, having essentially forgotten the actual quality that 'once was' in those products.
But like a drug or alcohol addict (or even a cellphone), once you've allowed yourself to get on that merry-go-round, you've now crossed over into that 'Twilight Zone".
Labor isn't cheap in the USA. A roofer makes on average $185,000/yr. Lots of hours, though! Plumbers earn, on average, $300,000/yr. The average fire fighter earns more than the average Harvard University graduate. Police officers average $100,000/yr. + overtime. House rough-framers average $120,000/yr.
In my state, concrete-form carpenters earn $75/hr. Drywall finishers earn $50-$75/hr. I don't know about tile setters, but I would estimate no one would perform the job for < $40/hr., $80,000/yr.
The GBP is about 0.75:1.0 USD. Mining engineers earn avg. $140,000/yr. Electrical engineers average $90,000/yr. Good programmers run from $60-$200/hr. I'm a BSEE and BSCS. I do custom manufacturing and consulting. I'm not going to state my income, but it's 6 figures, and I work about 10 hr./wk. on gainful employment.
But I have knowledge no one else has, and I can apply in ways that saves millions for my clients. But the market isn't large. I have done consulting in 45 nations, which is also the size of my manufactured-products market domain. The two go hand in hand.
There just isn't anyone else in the world that does what I do. So, I have plenty of free time to fiddle with electronic devices, do household and auto repair, garden, practice Roman Catholicism, do family activities, watch movies, listen to music, and everything else I like to do! I'm pretty satisfied in my spare time to disassemble small machines, repair them, and give them new life!
Of course a more interesting thread might be, "What equipment have you tried to repair but wrecked instead lately!" I do plenty of that too. I have shelves full of stuff I'm waiting to get to. Sometimes I'll purchase all the parts for a project, but end up selling them a few years later.
I'm kind of like a kid in a candy store when it comes to electronics. It helps when there's no real pressure to succeed in any particular repair. I don't mind disposing of items that I accidentally messed up. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I'm OK with it.
I designed a model railway announcement system using an echo IC and a digital speech storage IC.
Built it up and regulator got hot.
Removed all IC's to take load off and it still got hot.
I then spotted 5 volts came out of centre pin on regulator.
I had spotted my CAD software used a 7805 reg but pins were in wrong order on sch and pcb.
So I had changed them.
However while I updated sch I forgot to update component on pcb which put pins in wrong order.
A quick bodge of the pcb to fix it and it worked but was noisy.
I tracked noise down to a dodgy microphone causing hum.
Built it up and regulator got hot.
Removed all IC's to take load off and it still got hot.
I then spotted 5 volts came out of centre pin on regulator.
I had spotted my CAD software used a 7805 reg but pins were in wrong order on sch and pcb.
So I had changed them.
However while I updated sch I forgot to update component on pcb which put pins in wrong order.
A quick bodge of the pcb to fix it and it worked but was noisy.
I tracked noise down to a dodgy microphone causing hum.