What did you last repair?

One of the tube sockets on my amplifier.

After installing it I discovered that the leads were improperly formed from the factory
making it sit crooked, I removed it and reformed the leads so it now sits straight.

Thank goodness for a nice desoldering iron.
 
The other day I got a VHS tape in the mail I ordered (AND JUSTICE FOR ALL - 1979)

I Think the person rewound it with one of those crappy radioshack things WHICH ARE HORRIBLE.. (They slam the tape @ full speed when it gets to the start) - YA DONT EVER USE THAT GARBAGE!!!

The tape was off the take up spool so I opened the cartridge and re-attached the clear lead tape to the spool using a couple pieces of tape..... I had to put it in a different shell as the parts in the back (1 of them) came off and it wouldnt play at all........

I took an empty one and put both spools into it.... Its not working correctly for some reason (the things in back of the spools) but thankfully its working...

This is the first 1981 columbia release of this movie and its the BEST and i didnt wanna lose it,been looking for it for along time!!!
 
One of my IGBT amp modules didn't work.
I was quite surprised because I double check every resistor and capacitor value before fitting. My drawers have transistor and diode values written on them so I double check them too.

I visually inspected pcb for shorts and none soldered joints but it was fine. Buzzed out all resistors and all correct values.
Got the magnifying glass out read the transistor numbers and noticed one was BC182L instead of MPSA42. I was shocked as I never use that transistor in my designs.
It must have sneaked into the batch at my component supplier.
Replaced it and the amp burst into life.
The BC182L is npn as well but a different pin out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
On Saturday, I fixed a portable freezer at work. Then the same day a coworker and I fixed our pressure washer.

Repairing stuff isn't our job, but as we're surrounded by people lacking any concept of how machines work, we're sort of forced to keep it all working.
 
It took me only 4-1/2 years to rebuild this updraft Zenith carburetor for a 2008 cu-in gas V8 engine in a 35-ton Plymouth ML8 locomotive. Note US quarter provided for scale. This was my first carburetor rebuild and hopefully my last. We’ll see if it actually works after spending $200 on the rebuild kit and so many hours cleaning decades of dirt inside and out. The guy where I bought the kit said if he had one of these for sale in rebuilt condition, he’d be asking $5000 for it.
 

Attachments

  • Rebuilt Zenith 1510MV Carburetor_0020.jpg
    Rebuilt Zenith 1510MV Carburetor_0020.jpg
    330.9 KB · Views: 408
Last edited:
It took me only 4-1/2 years to rebuild this updraft Zenith carburetor for a 2008 cu-in gas V8 engine in a 35-ton Plymouth ML8 locomotive. Note US quarter provided for scale. This was my first carburetor rebuild and hopefully my last. We’ll see if it actually works after spending $200 on the rebuild kit and so many hours cleaning decades of dirt inside and out. The guy where I bought the kit said if he had one of these for sale in rebuilt condition, he’d be asking $5000 for it.

You have a locomotive for casual use?
Just wondering.
Pictures?
 

PRR

Member
Joined 2003
Paid Member
It took me only 4-1/2 years to rebuild this updraft Zenith carburetor for a 2008 cu-in ....spending $200 on the rebuild kit ... in rebuilt condition, he’d be asking $5000 for it.

I suspect this is #4463 at the Arizona Railway Museum.

When I discovered I could buy a whole new carb for my 3.75HP B&S, I didn't bother with a rebuild. (I done float-carbs, but do not understand this reed carb.)

Stromberg or Zenith? Ah, in 1943 it was whichever they could get.

My first thought was that you could plop a Holley 2300 2bbl carb on that engine and it would run better than new. Down-flow converts to up-flow with a bent pipe, like a sink drain trap only bigger. There's a turbo-four shop in your town which does such big bends every day. 21st-century TIG-welded! The boat-shop has hand throttles.

Ah, but the Le Roy is governed. Flyballs pull-back the throttle at 1,000RPM. The revised throttle position may not suit the linkage. The project has overcome too many problems to risk an over-rev. Ignition limiters are rude and may not be adaptable to Bosch magnetos.