Fixing stuff

[Opsimath]

I like to tinker and try to fix broken things. No, I have absolutely no training outside of YouTube videos and online written instructions.

So, I just fixed the vacuum cleaner (replaced a bad power switch) and only had one screw left over when I finished. Only one!

That's good, right?

 

[jp]

Excellent job, Cynthia! I'm also a notorious tinkerer and always take a shot a dismantling and fixing broken things, rather than trashing them. This world is filled with enough broken things that can easily be fixed!

 

[FNG]

Parts used to be an issue, but Amazon is pretty useful these days.

 

[Stuball48]

Depends on - was the one screw Philips head or a flathead?
Good on you for fixing stuff.

 

[Rocky]

Things used to be designed to be repaired. Now they're designed for ease of assembly so that you can buy it cheap, and throw it away once it's outlived it's design-lifespan. That's fine for things where the technology advances quickly - like cell phones or laptops, but really, what was the last major advance in vacuum cleaner technology?

Congrats on finding something both worth fixing and fixable!

 

[Nuuska]

Surely you know the phrase : "After putting it back together all unnecessary parts lay on the table:"

 

[HeyMikey]

I will attempt a certain level of repair - as long as it won’t flood or burn the house down. I leave that stuff for the (insured) pros. Like you I’ve found YouTube to be super helpful as I’m a visual learner. A real lifesaver for me is taking lots of “before” pictures on my phone while deconstructing something.

 

[richardp69]

Since I am basically incompetent at most all things in life, I rarely try to fix anything. I kinda figure that's the true purpose of my heckbook.

 

[Guildedagain]

Working as a mechanic, everyone had a drawer of "extra bolts"... ;]

 

[Stagefright]

Youtube is a blessing and a curse. There have been many days of me laying on the ground, with a collection of parts around me, cussing the youtube presenter for making the repair looks easy. Half way through a job is no time to decide to hire a professional.

Zip ties were made for those occasions where you lost or forgot to install a fastener. They rate up there with WD-40, Duct Tape, and JB Weld.

 

[Nuuska]

Then again - there are some fantastic good repair videos on YouTube - if you have patience to find them. I have fixed Mercedes ML 350 air suspension w total cost - ( including my elbow grease . . .) - about 150 USD

But it is true, that too many of them "instruction videos" are bs. One just has to take time to find the good ones.

 

[wileypickett]

My dad was notorious in our family for the "unnecessary" parts scattered on the basement floor every xmas morning, after a night of assembling bicycles, ping pong tables, aquariums, and the the rest of the "needs assembly" gifts my four sisters and I had on our xmas wish lists over the years.

 

[West R Lee]

Cynthia, I spent my lifetime "fixing" stuff. In fact, 40 years for a large chemical company doing that very thing, though in my case, it was turbines and pumps and compressors and other very large equipment. When you start to get into something like that, you begin to realize that there has always been someone who was capable of repairing it in the past, so why not you? It's always an enormous help to know how something actually works before you make a repair, but once you have that understanding, it makes a repair much easier.

Now that I'm retired, I like to call on that past knowledge to do things like install pickup systems in a guitar or setting neck relief. Obviously, the correct tools help enormously. There really aren't many repairs you can't do yourself with a little ingenuity and the aid of a YouTube video if you don't have a manual. It seems here lately I've done washer repairs, dryer repairs, dishwasher repairs and plumbing, all with the help of YouTube videos. At work we had manuals for everything, when we don't, many times you can find an online manual, or resort to YouTube, which I've done many times. You can repair just about anything you set your mind to.

West

 

[walrus]

I wish I was handy, I am envious!

walrus

 

[Stagefright]

I will attempt to fix anything from kids toys to heavy farm equipment. Mechanical, Electrical, Computer. Doesn't matter. I draw the line at IKEA furniture.

 

[LeFinPepere]

Last week, I successfully managed to repair our washing-machine...I was lucky! Kinda inflated my ego for a while, I almost sang "I'm a man , spells M.A.N"...Boy , was I proud! For some reason,this machine doesn't have proper filters you can unscrew and rinse , all the dirt gathers inside the pump and clots in there.....So, after 10 months, it just stops working...I have inherited my father's strange inclination to open things to see "how it works", but I'm no so good at reassembling them. (I agree you-tube helps!) And yes , "unnecessary parts" and jars of "spare screws", I know what you mean...Oh, the joy of finding an abandoned toothed spring washer on the pavement !-then, I forget it in my pocket,and it ends stuck inside the bloody pump, together with a Dunlop guitar pick.......

 

[Guildedagain]

Yeah, a toothed washer could wreak some havoc...

Obviously, the correct tools help enormously.

Separate from my soldering tools, these are my mechanical guitar fixing tools. Needing all the help I can get, I buy and keep all the tools I can.

Mind you, this is just a general maintenance set acquired over time with nut files being the only pieces that are specialized, I've never attempted any kind of fret work beyond taming fret sprout or bodywork on guitars.

 

[wileypickett]

That Dan Erlewine guitar maintenance book was a big help when I was starting out on my guitar repair "journey." Doesn't just explain the "hows," but also gets into the "whys." Recommended. (And it's been revised and updated since I bought my copy.)

 

[West R Lee]

Yeah, a toothed washer could wreak some havoc...



Separate from my soldering tools, these are my mechanical guitar fixing tools. Needing all the help I can get, I buy and keep all the tools I can.

Mind you, this is just a general maintenance set acquired over time with nut files being the only pieces that are specialized, I've never attempted any kind of fret work beyond taming fret sprout or bodywork on guitars.

Man, I want a little guitar case box like that. I happen to have that sane set of files. : )

West

 

[Opsimath]

Last week, I successfully managed to repair our washing-machine...I was lucky! Kinda inflated my ego for a while, I almost sang "I'm a man , spells M.A.N"...Boy , was I proud! For some reason,this machine doesn't have proper filters you can unscrew and rinse , all the dirt gathers inside the pump and clots in there.....So, after 10 months, it just stops working...I have inherited my father's strange inclination to open things to see "how it works", but I'm no so good at reassembling them. (I agree you-tube helps!) And yes , "unnecessary parts" and jars of "spare screws", I know what you mean...Oh, the joy of finding an abandoned toothed spring washer on the pavement !-then, I forget it in my pocket,and it ends stuck inside the bloody pump, together with a Dunlop guitar pick.......

You found your pick! Congratulations!!

My husband found one of mine on the ground at the barn. I guess it had been in my pocket.