The joy of appliances you can repair yourself

[Off-Shore]

Just replaced the heating elements on our Dualit Toaster. Works just like new and was not a hard thing to do. It's a shame that many of today's appliances are sealed or difficult to repair or spares hard to come by. My kids were amazed to see this in pieces and it being repaired.

It is just so satisfying not to be forced to buy new stuff when they stop working 

[Bean]

I won't throw many thing away unless I've given it my best shot at a DIY repair.  By the time I'm satisfied that I've done everything possible, a marginally damaged appliance will be FUBAR.

[Tom]

I fixed a faucet  yesterday  and  am  quite  proud  of myself .

[eastbound]

couldnt get a plumber to meet me at my house, so i ordered a belt for my broken dryer for 8 bux on the internet, and installed it, guided by an excellent you tube video. very satisfying.

[PonoBill]

Bravo--I hate throwing away something I need. I hate replacing something that should have lasted years. I fix most things, even stuff you might not expect to fix. I'm waiting for a logic board for my Sony NEX-5, the USB port came adrift. If I hadn't rushed the job a little I could have fixed the original board, but I got the surface mount replacement port misaligned, and when I desoldered it, I wasn't patient and careful and lifted the pads.

A lot of things can be repaired now, the internet is a remarkable resource for that. I fix my own computers, iPhones and iPads. The repair bits are cheap and available and there's plenty of step-by-step instruction videos. Last fall, before we left for Maui, a knob on our dryer cracked in half. I was going to order a replacement, but it would have been the same under engineered plastic. So I found a metal sleeve the right size with a setscrew at our local amazing Ace hardware (huge) and then 3d printed a knob to go over it. With the cost of 3D printers dropping, the media getting better, and the library of existing bits growing exponentially they're getting to be a fundamental DIY tool.

[Tom]

But sometimes it works out like this guy.

 https://www.youtube.com/embed/69yswP-MSvQ

[Sup-position]

But sometimes it works out like this guy.

 https://www.youtube.com/embed/69yswP-MSvQ

That Dude is an absolute Genius ! ! !

[Bean]

But sometimes it works out like this guy.

 https://www.youtube.com/embed/69yswP-MSvQ

That Dude is an absolute Genius ! ! !

Yes, he'll never have to do another project...

[PonoBill]

I once believed that anyone could learn to be technically competent if they simply worked at it, then I met a neighbor who changed my mind. If you saw him pick up a tool you'd immediately know that he shouldn't be touching them--a certain basic wrongness that clearly went all the way to his DNA. 

[juandoe]

I once asked Robert McClelland, the surgeon who performed the tracheostomy on JFK (didn't help),  about surgical technical ability.  He said about 10% are truly gifted, 80% are trainable, and 10% there wasn't anything anyone could do. 

I replaced the heating element in my dryer last year and sucked out a half inch coating of lint from every internal surface.  THAT was satisfying.

[Beasho]

ACF 50 Fix it in a bottle.  This was recommended by a friend who was a race car driver.  I was asking him about the next step up from WD-40 and he recommended ACF 50.  They used to use it in the pit.  It was designed as an anti-corrosive formula for the aircraft industry (Anti Corrosion Formula 50).

ACF 50 IS THE BEST FIX-IT LIQUID ON THE PLANET.   

This is as much of a game changer as adding a paddle to a surfboard.   I keep an eye dropper of the stuff in my computer bag when I travel.  People think I am nuts until I apply some to the electrical contacts for their SIM card or iPhone charger plug and BOOM all working again.  An eye dropper is actually the best way to apply it because it is a real differentiator on electrical contacts and micro electronics where corrosion is the real enemy.

For anything Electrical or Mechanical it lubricates and prevents / reverses corrosion.  I have used it on bicycles, GoPro mini SD cards, computer parts, pliers that have been rusted shut, appliances, rc airplanes, fishing reels . . . . apparently it is great on motorcycles, real airplanes and helicopters too. 

It is pricey and hard to find but worth every penny.

[Beasho]

Here is a video explaining it.  And another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30paBTt8Oko

Here a guy puts ACF 50 on a toy car and dumps the car into a glass of salt water then pulls it out and it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HBqGZzKN_p4#t=369