Forum menu
Mrs T-R car - After I ripped off the fuel lines and fuel cooler on some snow/Ice the other week.
Trailrat, if a car gets used a lot in deep snow or off road there are various protections from these people:
PROTECTIONSOUSMOTEUR.EU I've equipped the car I lend to junior, I'm just careful. 🙂 The only downside is it adds half an hour to an oil and filter change.
When he did the Mongol rally in a 205 I bolted bits of plate over anything that could get ripped off.
oddly the car actually has steel bash guards all over the front and all the moving bits up there from factory - the fuel cooler is recessed inside the sill depth directly under the drivers seat - it shouldnt theoretically be possible for it to get caught - as the bash plates should have done all the "bashing" already
Unsure if i may have caught other debris or otherwise but the wind driven snow drifts on our road were 3-4 feet the other week so potentially bellied it who knows.
My Karcher pressure washer, which sprung a leak after the cold snap we had a couple of weeks back.
Pulled the cover off, couldn’t spot anything immediately, so switched it on and got a high pressure jet in the face from a hairline crack in the outlet elbow. £17 spare part and it’s fixed.
Guess what my Karcher is doing? It's good to know that it's an easy fix.
Did you replace the outlet elbow with the steel one that Karcher sell. Had to do this to our K4 a few years back as the hose kept popping off.
Literally replaced the yellow insert and seal on the power lance this weekend as it was getting impossible to get on as the plastic had swollen. Top tip, remove the yellow plastic insert and ream it out a little - just watch the rubber washer. My inserts were knackered so bought the Karcher kit. Also picked up a new 10m hose (not a karcher one) so we will see how long that lasts.
Fixed my Tacx Flow T2240. Not used it for a fair few years, since getting back to commuting by bike after covid. Had to use it last March/April as recovery from a broken pelvis and hip socket. Used it a few times but it was making a right racket under low load (flat or downhill). Come this last few weeks, it's really noisy (using it because of ice). Quick google suggests that the case might be slightly mis-aligned from 'storage'. Nip back into the garage and take a look. Low and behold, the two halves of the case aren't quite clipped together in one part of the circumference. Click and it's back in place, and it's been quiet since.
Does anyone else find that repairing one thing leads to another?
On recent jobs:
The switch on the angle grinder stuck while making up a bracket. Half and hour to dismantle and blow out all the dust from cutting bricks.
The drill went on the blink drilling into the bricks. Shorten cable which had broken from years of flexing.
Using the electric plane the cable snagged on the work, flipped up and got planed - find cable salavaged from a dead appliance and change.
Drop tiny wood working hand plane. The cast iron breaks in two. Get out the oxy-acetylene, braze the two halves back together, clean up, reassemble and maybe two hours later continue the original job.
Clean the limescale off the kettle element but the limescale was the only thing stopping it leaking so dismantle, fix the leak and reassemble.
Does anyone else find that repairing one thing leads to another?
Er, you replied to my thread about the vintage motorbike tyres earlier?
Yeah. That. 🙃
Did you replace the outlet elbow with the steel one that Karcher sell. Had to do this to our K4 a few years back as the hose kept popping off.
Literally replaced the yellow insert and seal on the power lance this weekend as it was getting impossible to get on as the plastic had swollen. Top tip, remove the yellow plastic insert and ream it out a little - just watch the rubber washer. My inserts were knackered so bought the Karcher kit. Also picked up a new 10m hose (not a karcher one) so we will see how long that lasts.
I didn’t get a steel one, replaced it with the standard plastic. I got a 10m hose last year too, which is great, no more hauling the pressure washer around the patio or cars on wheels that don’t turn
Guess what my Karcher is doing? It's good to know that it's an easy fix.
I did a bit of YouTube research before having a go, it looks like there’s a few different things that go wrong mostly split pipes and o rings failing. Pulling it apart is a bit fiddly and you need a torx not an Allen key
Hubby bought some jeans from Vinted, sold as new with tags. They definitely were not new. The hems had been sewn up, unpicked and dropped back down. The hems were frayed and dirty. One wash later and some expert sewing by me and all repaired and ready for another life.
Replaced the capacitor in my Rega turntable, and it’s back to normal speed, so out with the vinyl for the rest of the afternoon. 😊
Not quite a repair, so much as an upgrade. When I had my carbon arrows made up, I opted for SpinVanes for the fletchings, which are a fairly complex type of setup, in that they’re taped in place, with tape wrapped around an extension at each end. Trouble is, they have a crease along the bottom edge, and I’ve had one tear off, and found a couple more with splits, so I’ve bought a fletching jig, and a packet of conventional vanes, and tried my first attempt at fletching my own arrows.
I won’t have chance to try it until next weekend, our club range is sodden at the moment, and shooting in the rain isn’t much fun, but it’s looking good so far.
Easy to tell the vanes apart, the SpinVanes are dayglo orange.
Just to add, to avoid confusion, arrow fletchings traditionaly were feathers, so were called flights, but with synthetic ones, while you still fletch arrows, they’re more commonly called vanes now, and sold as such.
When a sport has a history going back several thousand years, materials change and so do names, which brings in elements of confusion; points were usually called piles, but it’s easier to call them points. 🤷🏼♂️
points were usually called piles, but it’s easier to call them points.
Nobody wants to win a bunch of piles. 😁
Water bill showed we used over double our normal usage in the last quarter…
Our house is 350m from the meter so I called out the leak detector. He took all of 10 minutes to find the leak.
The previous owners who laid the pipe used an inferior product with a thinner wall that is prone to cracking.
So that left it to me to dig up the pipe. It’s a bit awkward because the phone and power lines are collocated. Easy enough to dig without damaging anything, easy enough to cut the pipe. But an anger fest trying to fit the joiners and get them done up tight.
Dug it up on Friday. Fixed and backfilled on Saturday.
Reeksy, good work, I work with water and leaks! what method was used to find your leak and it is main or private pressure? Thanks C.
I patched my first, and very large, plasterboard hole in a ceiling last week. Caused by a plumber replacing pipes in the room above. Lived with it covered with cardboard for a year. It took bloody ages due to drying times, having to keep revisiting the job due to mess and location, but the look on my kids face when he did a double take and said ‘what, where’s the hole gone!?’ Made it all worth it.
But my proudest moment was regaining my VW T4’s 1st & 2nd gears in an emergency while driving back from holiday, utilising the small tin lid to a jar of anchovies and a couple of zip ties.
This guy uses a stethoscope thing with a box that beeps (that’s my technical description!). We fitted a valve the first leak we found (maybe 10 years ago) so that he can pressurise the line and then presumably listen for the noise. He said he has about 60m range before another valve is needed. But on this one he said he’d try without and it turned out within 5m of the valve!
We’re on mains. Virtually the last house on it I think.
Neighbour called tonight to say there’s a leak on the other side of the meter so I guess I’ll check that in the morning. At least that shouldn’t be our responsibility.
I’ve bought a fletching jig, and a packet of conventional vanes, and tried my first attempt at fletching my own arrows.
I don't think I've ever owned arrows I haven't made myself. Fletching isn't particularly difficult.
I dug out my old kit the other day. Time has not been kind to my arrow staves, I think if I threw them out they'd come back.
... sorry, I've just read that back and it could sound condescending. That wasn't my intent. It's a satisfying thing to do.
@Cougar - when you’re starting from scratch, it’s enough getting all the rest of the equipment together, trying to fathom how to make up a set of a dozen arrows for a recurve bow before even being able to use it is too big an ask. These arrows are carbon shafts, a second set, and the SpinVanes I wanted are far too complicated for a beginner to try fitting, which is why I’m now replacing them with standard vanes I can easily set up with a jig.
Using SpinVanes was, in hindsight, really not such a good idea, and didn’t bring any significant benefit, running before I could walk, basically.
It is, as you say, quite a satisfying thing to do, especially when the weather’s as crap as it is!
I’ll set my bow up later, just to make sure everything is aligned correctly when nocked, then start working on the other ten - there should be a dozen, but one went under the grass while setting up sight marks, and the mower went over it before I could find it, and nicked the shaft in several places, it broke into pieces when I tried flexing it… 😖
£10.50 for a replacement bare shaft…
This is why I shoot wooden arrows. It's pence to repair when you hit a rock and blast the pile off. 😁 If you want modern arrows that bend then you want alloys and a straightening jig; with carbon... wait, this is a cycling forum right?
There is no way I would attempt to DIY spin vanes, I wouldn't know where to begin. They'd likely be spinning alright... !
This is why I shoot wooden arrows. It's pence to repair when you hit a rock and blast the pile off.
If you want modern arrows that bend then you want alloys and a straightening jig; with carbon... wait, this is a cycling forum right?
🤣 Well, there’s a reason the full sus bikes I rode were alloy…
I deliberately decided I didn’t want to shoot longbow, I didn’t want to faff around constantly making my own arrows, one of the beginners who started the same time as me went to longbow, made a lot of his own arrows, then went to the dark side and bought a recurve! I started with alloy’s, bent one hitting it with another arrow! I swallowed the advertising claims and went for SpinVanes, which I realised aren’t all that, and now I’m using carbons; the piles are easy to replace, they don’t bend when they contact, and they’re just as easy to fletch as wood or alloy, which I’m now learning; about time now I’ve been doing this sport for three years.
As far as I could tell, the primary reason to shoot longbow (at least back when I was shooting) was that so few others shoot it that you don't have much competition in your class at shoots. Though really, if that's your intention then you want an American Flatbow. 😁
A quick trip over to the club to shoot a few ends, just to see of my fletching is throwing up any issues, and it looks like I’m keeping the grouping reasonably close…
…except for one, but it was raining and I didn’t care too much, so straight back home, strip all the old fletchings off and clean all the sticky goo off the shafts, which took a couple of hours, and straight on with the rest, which took another three hours or so…
…and all seems to have gone smoothly, considering I’ve never done this before. 😁
@Cougar - yeah, possibly, although most members of my club aren’t really bothered about shooting competitions. We had a family of four who started when I did, and they all shot bare bow, there was the member who also started same time as me and went for longbow, then went over to recurve last year, and we had another beginner last year who shoots longbow, and we do have a couple of other members who shoot longbow, one of them also shoots recurve, and another recurve member is showing worrying signs of taking up compound!
I was interested in compound, until I realised a) how complicated they are, and b) how ‘kin’ expensive the damn things are! We have one member who comes along pretty regularly checking his sight marks, he shoots compound field archery, and he competes internationally; he’s got three bows, and another three or four, one of whom has represented GB successfully on a number of occasions.
I’m not interested in competing, although I do record my scores, see if I can get a few badges, but basically it’s more a mental health thing for me, gets me out of the house, we shoot indoors at the moment, then three times a week through the spring, summer and autumn, for a couple of hours or so, then over to a local pub after the evening shooting.
Keeps me occupied. 😎
This should possibly be its own thread. I know we have other archers here (including a beardy longbowman).
Microwave - again. New magnetron fitted and it should be all good for another 5-6years of abuse.
£70 to repair something that costs almost £1000 to replace (SMEG built in microwave combo oven) makes it worthwhile.
Magentrons in this spec are becoming hard to find - I had to get this one from Australia. The last one came from Russia…
These, sorta
Not repaired but managed to find the spare part so repair now possible. Cooker hood, halogen light, the door that pops down to change the bulb has started popping out/not locking in closed properly, so sooner or later will fail (*presumably) , anyway, Electrolux have run out of the part, some online digging and £45 per light box unit (sharp intake of breath as can get the whole hood on eBay for £118). and there are 2 of them. Further digging (and luck) and reading the small print means that I’ve found the preceding model of the light (it does fit) and it’s used in quite a lot of makes and they’re at preceding orices - £22 posted,
My washing machine... Sort of...
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/off-topic/exciting-washing-machine-repair-chat/
Not quote up to the level of some of the repairs on here but I have just replaced Ear Cups on 3 pairs of headphones that were slowly disintegrating and leaving black bits of "leather" round the house/in my hair.
Replacement cups were between 6 and 11 quid depending on model and now they're all pretty much as good as new.
Chair leg - snapped where the thread was for the bolts. Been glued now ! I'm the repair man for my wife's sewing machines - I won't touch the computerised ones (touch screens), but I've replaced a motor on a freehand quilting machine, and the bobbin holders on a manual machine - that involved 2 million screws to come out before I could pop in two new bobbin holders.
I just did my first bit of darning to repair a bit on my jumper where I ahve gone through the elbow. I had to borrow the darning needle, the wool I had does not match (and was from the cat's yarn ball), but it means I no longer have a slightly cold elbow on one side.
A GX AXS rear mech using el_boufador's excellent Haynes manual style post from back in January GX AXS T Type pogo pins replacement process / terror – Bike Forum – Singletrack World Magazine Forum
Re-commisioned rather than repaired.
My Dad's Radio Controlled Motor Boat which he built when I was 7 years old (1974).
I've had to find batteries and check wiring connections etc... Nothing too difficult.
A quick test in the bath shows it all working and ready for a trial run at the weekend. Although it's quite long and there was only about 200mm between the bow of the boat and the end of the tub 🤣 😎
It did create rather a tidal wave when at full throttle 😜 😬
Well, it turned out that, for some unfathomable reason, once I started shooting a series of arrows, something kept knocking the arrow rest on my bow, and loosening it, which was a pita, so I had to cut short my session, get some different vanes and strip the others off, which was an even bigger pita, because I had to pull the nocks out and soak the end of the shafts in acetone to dissolve the adhesive, which took some time and was rather messy!
Got new vanes and fitted them and put the nocks back in, and they look great…
Went along to the range Wednesday afternoon, it was very pleasant there, no wind, quite bright and mild, shooting in shorts and a tee shirt, which isn’t usual February weather, and thankfully everything is working as it should!
That’s at 30 yds, with the sight adjusted by pure guesswork, well, an educated guess, so now I can start working on increasing my distances up to 40 and 50 yds, which I haven’t been comfortable doing previously. Roll on warm summer evenings! 😁
@countZero, Nice!! What bow are you shooting? Specs on the arrows, good for outdoors?
I have my first WA competition tomorrow (18m indoor - Elite Compound) and am a bit nervous. All of my stuff is ready and I tried really hard to get all of the bad scores out of my system on Tuesday and Wednesday. I know I am going to get monstered by the others because, on a good day, I can stretch to a 275x300, but they have bad days and still get 290+x300.
Whatever, it'll be fun.
@willard - Kinetic Sovreign 25” riser, WNS long limbs, so 70”, Shibuya sight, my arrows are Easton Avance Carbon, 6mm. My draw length is 31.5” draw weight 34lb.
Oh, and they’re perfectly fine for indoor and outdoor shooting.
I’ll be honest, I’m not really interested in competition, it’s more a mental health thing, I needed something to focus on after I retired, and I did archery at school, but never really had much time to really follow up on it. I rather wish I had, but it suits me going along to the club range a couple of evenings a week and a Saturday morning, plus I have access during the if I want to go along and shoot some sticks.
During the winter we shoot indoors, 20yds Portsmouth on Saturday mornings, we rent a space on a 5-a-side football pitch inside a former aircraft hangar at what used to be RAF Colerne, now 21st Signals Regiment gym. Usually a mix of compound and recurve, but once the warmer weather comes in we have recurve, compound, bare bow and longbow.
Me…
Got new vanes and fitted them and put the nocks back in, and they look great…
Pro tip, use a different colour for the cock feather, it makes it much easier to nock by sight.
Also, whilst black is cool, hot pink is a lot easier to find when you miss completely.
... is it just the angle of the photo or are your nocks pissed? The top one at least. That'd explain the strikes when loosing.
That must be a very quick camera shutter^^, the arrow hasn't moved 😉
IANAA
Mrs oldnick is into horsing, and has had to borrow a horse trailer to get to events and coaching sessions.
So when an Ifor Williams horse trailer that had been unused for a couple of years came up for about half the usual price it was time to dig the spanner’s out.
Seized coupling (brake tube) and brakes full of rust and separated brake linings and half the lights didn’t work.
Took the coupling off to work on it at home, and replaced the bushings, tube and bellows, new lock, general strip clean and grease - 2 gentle evenings.
Brakes hubs and electrics took a lazy day at the yard last weekend.
It still needs a good clean but now works perfectly for about £1000 less than buying a used one in good condition.
Pro tip, use a different colour for the cock feather, it makes it much easier to nock by sight.
Also, whilst black is cool, hot pink is a lot easier to find when you miss completely.
I don’t need a different colour cock feather, I have dayglo orange labels along that side of the shaft with my name and club printed on, in case any go into the grass and someone else finds it, and my SpinVanes were dayglo orange, and they were no easier to find in the grass than black ones would be, three years experience has proved that, having had someone point to the arrow I was actually standing on, and couldn’t see the vanes!
It’s not unusual to have to resort to using the club metal detector to find missing arrows with bright vanes on. The long white makers labels show up just as much. Three years of wandering around with several other people and none of us could find someone’s missing arrows, one of my carbon arrows turned up after the grass had been mowed, and the mower blades left tiny nicks along the shaft, which split into several pieces when it was flexed slightly. 😖
That must be a very quick camera shutter^^, the arrow hasn't moved
The arrow was already in the target, if you look closely, you can see the bowstring is still vibrating at the top.
I was hoping Jules, who took the photos from the other side of the range, might have caught it in flight, but because I’m left-handed with a bow, which means I hold the bow in my right hand, and draw with my left, she can’t see when I release; an arrow’s traveling at roughly 200’/second, she’ll need to know when I release, so ideally I’ll need to tell her just as I’m about to release so she can take a burst, and hopefully get the arrow somewhere between the bow and the target, if she can catch it flexing in flight, so much the better.
I had no idea she was even taking photos, so I couldn’t anticipate and let her know. Next time, we’ll set up so she’s closer behind me with a shallower angle of view.
It’s surprising just how much an arrow can flex in flight, I’ve got a spring-loaded pressure button on my bow to damp that down a bit, but it can’t be completely removed.