repairing things

more bike repairing chat. building up my other bike has given me the confidence (and tools) to tackle some jobs I'd previously have handed off to the bike shop, so... I've serviced the rear hub on my good bike. one of the benefits of doing things yourself: you can discover when others (i.e. professionals) have previously bodged it. my rear hub doesn't have the little interior weather seal - which will probably have shortened the service life of my bearings which is annoying (altho they looked OK when I took them out). can only think the bike shop forgot to put it back in when they last serviced. looks like I can get replacement parts easily enough. very satisfying (if a little messy)

Yesterday I tackled the biennial breakdown of the internals of my ageing Gaggia espresso machine to scrape out corrosion and weird mineral grit. Don't think I will use the kettle as a handy jug to fill it any more. I will admit that I thought briefly about throwing it away and buying another, but no. At 18 it's my fourth oldest appliance, after the toaster (53, older than me), the dryer (42) and the fridge (19). I've repaired them all.

xp afterwards you can go for a lovely cycle in the rain to rinse it down

MatthewK that's an impressive lifespan on that toaster! (And the rest, frankly) What make is it??

It's a Sunbeam AT40 - I have repaired the internals a couple of times, but my parents got it as an engagement gift in 1967. Wait I think they got *married* in 1967, maybe it's 54. It's all electromechanical, just a triggered drop mechanism (which drives other people crazy) and some kind of thermal-expansion release. I don't think it's got so much as a resistor in it, aside from the heating elements. Makes better toast than anything I've otherwise used.
https://i.imgur.com/YTDpSW9.jpg
I have two backups, one working, one for parts ...

MatthewK, you possess a marvel of engineering.

heh heh
although mine will only trigger if the other slot is empty

oh my god, that is insane! I have pulled it apart several times but could never understand the mechanism.

fixed the link between the toilet handle and the plastic flusing thing earlier this year - it had rusted through after >20 years. replaced it with a 4" bit of coathanger but that has itself rusted through and broke again yesterday.

i've cut another bit off the same coathanger and replaced it, but i wonder if something like a zip-tie would be better. my worry is that the bottom of the link seems to be the only thing stopping the plunger thing disappearing completely into the flush mechanism to be lost forever.

you could try coating the coathanger in something that makes it rust resistant like plastikote if you have it?

yeah, wondering if if have any other plastic coated wire that'd work, like that usb cable that broke last week even. i'm not sure whether the link needs to be stiff or whether i can get away with something floppier, as long as the tensile strength is enough so it doesn't break when pulled.

and i can fix the plunger worry by adding something higher up the shaft - won't be in the way but will stop it from retracting completely.

i mean, zip tie sounds reasonable im just spitballing!

alternative solutions always welcome

You mean just the mechanism that pulls up the flapper? Isn't that often a lightweight chain?

It's not much of a repair, but just finding the name of the plastic thing along the side of a glass shower door was a challenge. It's an acrylic door stop, or jamb, or strike jamb! Decided to just glue it fixed first anyway.

there's a us/uk different with toilets and that goes for the internals as well.

https://www.tradewindsimports.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/300px-Toilet-cistern-01.png

the siphon there being the biggest difference. which i think means the pressure needed to pull is greater here. the old link was quite thick guage, probably 3x the coathanger wire (and perhaps galvanised to help against rust)

actually, here's a good pic, that bent wire there

https://www.ritefixdiy.co.uk/image/cache/catalog/Plumbing/Flush%20Syphon-500x500.jpg

A zip tie seems like it would work as a replacement - just needs to withstand an upward pull? And they have some rigidity, especially the longer/wider ones.

Is there a reason you can't just buy the actual replacement part? Hereabouts, a kit to replace all the inside bits is less than twenty dollars. Chains and flappers and things are significantly less.

Where's the fun in that, ymp?

ianap but maybe it needs to be stiff so you could e.g. stop it flushing by pushing the handle.

pushing pulling the handle.

there's a return spring in the siphon so theoretically it'll go back down itself. mine doesn't seem to want to, the wire's puling it slightly so it's no longer straight up and down.

eventually found the words to use to search for them and found them online, £2.50 for 2. just need to choose the right size. one size does not fit all.

yeah every time I've jury-rigged something in a toilet, I've regretted it. For a while I had a bread-bag twisty-tie as a temp repair; it rusted immediately.

I was today years old when I learned

there's a us/uk different with toilets and that goes for the internals as well.

Our ancient dryer stopped heating last week and I almost bought a new one before deciding to attempt repairs. I cleaned out the lint trap and exhaust duct, replaced the heating element, and have a working dryer again.

replaced the broken pipe connector for the faucet on my balcony so now we have water for the plants

the first day this has been an issue

Possibly helpful advice in this hot weather. Our outdoor umbrella's winding mechanism broke and I tried to repair it. Tip one: do not pull the cord out from the top of the pole! It's probably just come untied from the handle, remove the handle mechanism and use some wire to hook the cord out through the hole there. Like a fool I pulled ours all the way out and as our pole is hinged there's a tiny gap in the middle that you somehow have to thread the cord through. I eventually managed it by tying the cord to a long bit of garden wire that I straightened out, but of course I then discovered there's a plastic sleeve inside the pole near the bottom and instead of going through the large hole in the middle, the wire had somehow slipped between the sleeve and the metal pole, trapping the cord there. So that was an extra 20 minutes of teeth gnashing. Tip two: be extra sure a) you have all the handle parts and some of them haven't fallen out in the garden; ii) how the handle parts all fit together and 3) which direction the handle slots back in - the ratchet assembly only screws in on one side of the pole. Otherwise you may find yourself threading and unthreading and knotting and unknotting the cord, I don't know, three or four times. Tip three, tie the knot as close to the end as you can as they are not generous with the length of cord - or you might find yourself having to take the whole thing apart untie and retie the knot AGAIN.

But it's fixed now.

sounds like it's time to recover from the repair by sitting under the umbrella

Or I could sit in my sweltering loft while doing the 'working' from home I was enthusing about only a couple of days ago.

The other day one of our smoke detectors started beeping (not the alarm) so I assumed it needed a new battery and changed the 9v battery. But the next day another smoke detector started doing the same thing. And the day after that a *third* detector did the beep thing and I thought, hmm, odd that all the installed batteries should go bad within the same day. Then the one I changed first started doing the beep thing *again* and I suspected something was afoot. I replace the batteries in all of them, but I also order a cheap battery tester, and indeed, the batteries are not bad, it's the combo smoke/carbon monoxide detectors themselves that need to be replaced. That's what the beep of this brand was trying to convey. In fact, the way it apparently works is that they beep five times, and even if you reset them they start the beeping up again in a couple of days. And after a couple of weeks the intermittent beeping supposedly can't be silenced, ensuring that you absolutely *must* replace them. (Or I guess unplug them? Ours are wired.) Anyway, I had no idea these things go bad and need to be replaced! The downside is that they cost about $30 each, which ... sucks. But they're important, so you do what you gotta do.

I've got four wired ones in the upstairs that have a battery backup, and it started beeping at 4am because the battery had drained. I didn't want to dig around downstairs for batteries so I unhooked it which caused the other three to start beeping because they were alerting me that one was no longer connected.

Josh - I've had that happen, but they were older ones. They should all have a date stamped on them that is the date of manufacturer. Most are designed to "go bad" after a certain time has elapsed from that date, some are 7 years and others are 10, iirc. Some might even be less than that, but I would look at the dates to see how old they are.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DizArM0XcAIhyMv.jpg

Yeah, mine are c. 2013, so yeah, it's been about 7-8 years.

Need to replace the flapper seal on my toilet tank, going to try to do so tomorrow, when I was planning on deep cleaning the bathroom anyway. I am not great at plumbing stuff but also am not calling a guy who will charge me $100+ for twenty minutes of work.

Will let y'all know how it goes lol

Yeah that is one of the most frequent - possibly the most frequent - jobs that is realistic for a non-handy civilian to do. You'll be fine.

Yeah, i watched a short video on it and was like, "oh, i'll be fine" right after i posted here.

Anyway, I had no idea these things go bad and need to be replaced! The downside is that they cost about $30 each, which ... sucks.

yeah, that's why there are some that differentiate themselves from others by saying they last "10 years worry free" -- standard models don't last as long. $30/each is the cheap kind! "fancier" ones will run about $10-$20/more -- though the fancier ones were on sale at Home Depot today for about $35 -- the individually packaged ones. They also have "contractors packs" (of 2 or 3 or 4) -- which weren't on sale, why, idk.

I think the "10 years worry free" ones have a lithium battery built in. At least, I think that's what the "10 years" is referring to. Mine were hard wired combo smoke/carbon monoxide, so yeah, something like $32 each in the end, but I assume the lifespan (est. 7-10 years, iirc; mine made it to about 8) has something to do with the technology, not the battery, since the 9v batteries were still all good. The oddest thing was that at least a couple of them, the green operation light was still on when I flipped various breakers. In fact, one green light was pulsing, though most were solid. Maybe because they're wired together, or on their own circuit, or local codes when installed required them to be independent? Anyway, I get anxious around anything electrical, let alone devices designed to blare out an ear-piercing alarm when triggered, not to mention wired together to all go off at once, just inches from my ear when I'm standing on a ladder, so I just shut off power to the house and changed them all in 10 minutes or so. I think they could have been "hot swapped," but every instruction said to shut off the breaker first. Sure, most likely just to be safe, but I didn't want to fry a circuit somehow or whatever.

You can also get a kind that plugs into the wall that also has a battery backup -- so you don't have to deal with frying circuits and live wires.

Had no idea about these smoke alarms.

Had one connected to the wall through ... RCA cables? Started beeping even though there was no fire. Pull it off the wall... and it still beeps.

Find the battery and remove it. Still beeping. So now I'm convinced I got one of those possessed smoke alarms. Threw it out.

i bet the possession is related to the whole "smart home" thing -- like, yr smoke alarm was taking orders or having an argument with someone's smart fridge idk

Fixed that toilet flapper no problem. Toilet works great. Husband was proud of me for attempting to do something "handy."

only things i have repaired recently were the squeaky bathroom lock, and the door handle to the front room. things i need to repair:
- dining room light wiring. i will get someone else to repair this i think, even tho my gf explained how to do it, she is much more practical than me and i would balls it up and die
- landing light needs fixing
- my favourite coffee cup broken, needs fixing

finally getting around to sorting out a couple of zips on jeans taht have been hanging around for months. But not touched sewing machine in ages. JUst not got it together to make anything this year. Started in about the first week of teh year and thought i was getting off to a good start but nothing since early spring.
Hopefully this is me starting to get back into things but don't want to talk too soon.

I bleeded my radiators the other day and then was pissing about trying get the pressure right. First the pressure was too low and the boiler wouldn't fire up and then it was firing up and cutting off after 10 secs because I'd put too much water back in. I just need it to carry on working until the annual service in January. I hate messing about with boilers because I try and act like I know what I'm doing but haven't really got much of a clue. Council plumbers tend to be such arseholes I only like to call them as a last resort.

yah i need to get mine serviced this year. its ancient but touch wood etc. i think it must have some leak somehwere in the system because i have a radiator that needs constant bleeding and is always making high ptiched squealing noises.

so much for "repairing things" the boiler is totally knackered now, the PCB won't even boot up and just keeps blinking on and off. It's getting a milder anyway but the missus has MS related ultra cold sensitivity and anything a degree below room temperature is like Siberia to her!

We had a lock/latch on back door stick in the closed position, meaning we literally couldn't open the door. I tried taking the door off the frame, but of course that couldn't work, because the latch was engaged in the door jamb already. So I got a bunch of pliers and screwdrivers and whatnot and went to work on what little I could reach after taking off the handle, but no use. I did manage to remove/destroy most of the exposed latch mechanism, but the tiny tip of the latch itself was unreachable and just would not retract. We finally had to call a locksmith out and he said I had the right idea, but it still took him a good 20 minutes+ of further physical effort to finally rip all the parts out to free the door. I guess the origin of the problem was that a tiny little piece of metal or something had spontaneously broken loose and clogged up the works? Anyway, pain in the ass, but fixed now. I suppose better to have a door permanently shut than permanently open.

wish I could repair my living space by having the racist morons who live next door permanently removed.
Hate sharing a street door with people who can't keep it locked and just leave it open for hours on end. We've had problems with people who have nothing to do with the building hanging around at teh bottom of the stairs before. Now hopefully coming to the end of a time when kids have been throwing fireworks around and into unlocked doorways.Still no cop on. Hoping mail hasn't disappeared.

we had a package stolen from inside the foyer just this week. deliver guy had a picture of it left by the inside door, but someone got in and took it. the lock hasn't been great recently, stiff because of the change of weather perhaps. and we've had druggies using the porch for shelter for the last few months.