Mend it and make do

[NorthernSky]

pair of Gaiters for hiking. elastic string had gone at the top of them
was all ready to buy a new pair when i thought, why not just fix these
couple of quid for some string, cut the old out and did a bit of sewing
will get another few years out of them i'm sure.

 

[Cavalol]

Replaced old phone with another that wasn't quite the same size, and instead of buying a new case I used £1 shop glue to repair the old one. Feeling very pleased with this 'massive' saving, a few days later my mate rang me as I was out walking the dog. As I answered the call, something slipped out of my hand and something else remained. Looked at the floor praying it was the case, not the phone. It wasn't, and my new phone's screen was shattered to high hell.

 

[Rezillo]

Emboldened by replacing my iphone 5s battery, I had a go at fixing my wife's Kindle Voyage, whose usb charging socket had snapped away from the circuit board and was not repairable.

I bought a s/h motherboard from a US ebay seller for £25 and used the tools that came with the iphone battery replacement to take the Kindle Voyage apart. Followed an online video and it all worked. Having a stereo microscope helped - the ribbon connectors were minute.

I then found I could resurrect my old Kindle keyboard with its cracked screen by dismantling it and getting a new screen for under £10 from Ebay. That worked as well.

 

[KneesUp]

Emboldened by replacing my iphone 5s battery, I had a go at fixing my wife's Kindle Voyage, whose usb charging socket had snapped away from the circuit board and was not repairable.

I bought a s/h motherboard from a US ebay seller for £25 and used the tools that came with the iphone battery replacement to take the Kindle Voyage apart. Followed an online video and it all worked. Having a stereo microscope helped - the ribbon connectors were minute.

I then found I could resurrect my old Kindle keyboard with its cracked screen by dismantling it and getting a new screen for under £10 from Ebay. That worked as well.

... remembers that there is a Nexus 7 tablet in the car with a cracked screen ...

 

[Globalti]

I found half a dozen old Sartorius lab scales thrown in a skip at work. Got permission to remove them, took the three best home, dismantled them and built one working scale from the bits. It's proved its worth time and again for weighing small packages and is so accurate that if you weigh something wet, you can actually watch the weight decreasing as the item dries before your eyes.

 

[EltonFrog]

The Fragrant MrsP want to get a new cheese slicer because the handle kept coming out. I’ve used some araldite and glued it back. Araldite is smashing stuff.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

The Fragrant MrsP want to get a new cheese slicer because the handle kept coming out. I’ve used some araldite and glued it back. Araldite is smashing stuff.

No, it's for mending smashed stuff silly!

 

[Rezillo]

To add to the list of repaired things:

1. Some years ago, we had a v. expensive Yamaha AV receiver that one day decided it wouldn't turn on, or rather, it would turn on then off immediately. I was quoted by a Yamaha agent £150 for repair, plus postage plus parts plus any additional repair time. We came to the conclusion this wasn't worth pursuing so bought a new non-Yamaha receiver.

The old one was a big thing and I hadn't the heart to throw something so large and complex away, so it sat in the back of my shed for several years. Eventually, I realised this was a waste of time so in an initial clearout, out went its remote control. The next week, I hoiked out the receiver to take down to the tip. However, something nagged so I googled various terms for the receiver's fault. Up came a power supply issue affecting different receivers but they were ones in the same series as mine. The fault was a single open circuit polyester capacitor, costing a few pence, in the power supply board.

Five minutes later, I was peering at my PSU board. It looked a bit different but there was exactly the same component in it. It took me ten minutes to remove the board and another five to remove and solder in a new capacitor that I already had in a box of spares. Plugged the receiver in, pressed the power button and it burst into life. I then regretted throwing away the remote the previous week! The unit is too old to use in the house now but it makes a great radio and amp for the workshop.

What is really annoying is that the fault info was only eventually leaked. It was well known at the time the receiver went wrong and looked upon as a lucrative source of engineers' income as it was so quick and cheap to repair.

2. My old 2005 Honda CRV aircon stopped working, leaving one light on the controller flashing. The answer, according to my Honda dealer was £500 + labour for a new controller unit. Google was my friend. The controller had a firmware bug which shut it down after a given number of uses, typically about 3 years worth. It could be reset by a wierd combination of key turning while holding down various buttons and pressing another to put the aircon into diagnostic mode. After that, the aircon worked again and was still working two years later when I sold the car.

 

[ColinJ]

I have mentioned this before elsewhere on CC ...

I had an Xperia Ray, a tiny smartphone with a 3.3 inch screen. It was very handy for slipping into small pockets but eventually my eyesight couldn't cope with it without the aid of glasses so I donated it to a friend and bought myself a larger phone with a 5.0 inch screen.

My friend used the Ray for a couple of years but then it got stuck in an endless 'boot loop'. No matter what we did, we couldn't get the phone to start up. It got put in a drawer and forgotten about.

I found it again some time later and decided to consult Team Google for advice on how to revive it. It soon became clear that I had to completely reinstall the phone's software. I got hold of a copy of the original software and a software tool for 'reflashing' it. After a couple of false starts, I succeeded and got the phone working again.

(I put a pack of playing cards next to the phone so you can judge how small it is.)

I am writing some Android apps and I want to make sure that they run okay on a range of devices. I can now test them on my new phone (medium size HD screen, fairly recent version of Android), my tablet (largish screen, medium resolution, old version of Android) and the Ray (small screen, low resolution, ancient version of Android). I'll try to make sure that the apps work properly on all 3 devices.

 

[Salar]

I used to pick up vintage cane fly rods which were past their best for free or for peanuts and resurrect them as another fly rod.

 

[Blue Hills]

The Fragrant MrsP want to get a new cheese slicer because the handle kept coming out. I’ve used some araldite and glued it back. Araldite is smashing stuff.

Well done. She can surely wait until her birthday for a new one.

 

[classic33]

Well done. She can surely wait until her birthday for a new one.

If the Araldite holds, why would she need a new one?

 

[Chris S]

The screen on one of my spare mobile phone was covered in tiny scratches. A website recommended polishing them out with toothpaste but it didn't work. I then tried some 'Brasso' and they disappeared after about 10 minutes.

 

[Drago]

This topoc appears to have raised its handsome head again, so it seemed prudent to resurrent the one true home for such discussion.

 

[ColinJ]

This topoc appears to have raised its handsome head again, so it seemed prudent to resurrent the one true home for such discussion.

Well, now you have brought this back to life...

View attachment 456664

(I put a pack of playing cards next to the phone so you can judge how small it is.)

I am writing some Android apps and I want to make sure that they run okay on a range of devices. I can now test them on my new phone (medium size HD screen, fairly recent version of Android), my tablet (largish screen, medium resolution, old version of Android) and the Ray (small screen, low resolution, ancient version of Android). I'll try to make sure that the apps work properly on all 3 devices.

It turns out that my apps will not run on the old tablet or the old phone because they are running ancient versions of Android and the hardware is old hat too. I have bought a modern tablet, and have donated the phone to a friend who is using it as a handy radio, satnav and camera. For some obscure reason she won't take the SIM out of her old 'dumb' phone and put it in this one so she carries both devices!

I will try to remember to report any future mending and do-making here.