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What was the last thing you repaired?

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Offline  twrch
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I really enjoy fixing things, and getting more use out of discarded (or cheap!) items. As a complement to the "What was the last thing you made" thread, to start things off here's my latest effort.

We got a pedal-powered digger toy for free, probably because it was missing the steering wheel and mechanism. I finally got around to putting something together:

Repair 1

Repair 2

Works a treat! At some point I should sort out those sticking-out bolts.

The little boy initially burst into tears because it wasn't a steering wheel, but he soon got over it. Might be fun to make some kind of trailer next.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:30 pm
Offline  ElVino
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not in your league but fixed my non functioning dishwasher by tilting at a 45 degree angle, freeing up the float trip switch. Saved me a £60 call out charge 🙂

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:35 pm
Offline  longdog
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Oven knobs had split so they rotated on the spindle. 5 minute epoxy and job's a good'un.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:44 pm
Offline  scc999
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Repaired a broken floor tile in the kitchen along with putting a support under the break to hopefully prevent it happening again.

About to try and diagnose then fix an issue with the screen on a friends Lenovo laptop. I suspect the screen cable to be to blame - we'll see.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:53 pm
Offline  jimw
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Not exactly a repair, but the extending tv wall bracket I bought was poorly designed which allowed the second arm to dip under the weight of the tv as the bushes that held the spindle about which it rotated were loose fitting plastic. This meant that if the tv was horizontal when against the wall, it listed about 5degrees to the left when extended and if adjusted to be horizontal when extended, it listed against the wall.
So I made an alloy bush that cured the problem. I don’t have a lathe so bought some thick walled alloy tube, drilled it out and then reamed it to the correct size by hand V. happy that it has worked.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 8:55 pm
Offline  sirromj
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We've been given one of those exact same diggers. The red bits for hooking the arm up in front of the steering wheel broke, so I just removed the whole arm piece. Our 4yo boy is finds it difficult to play with as it's so big for him but removing the arm mechanism helped. I really want to steal the wheels off it to make a barrow for the garden though!

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:00 pm
Offline  northernmatt
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I put new batteries in the TV remote

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:01 pm
Offline  tthew
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At some point I should sort out those sticking-out bolts.

You should do it sooner rather than later, they look like an accident waiting to happen.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:03 pm

Offline  dirtyboy
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Replaced condenser and compressor on my Honda civic air conditioning system.
A black car with no AC is orrible.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:08 pm
Offline  hatter
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Washing machine, worked out the motor needed new carbon brushes, never done it before, bit fiddly and awkward but managed it, fired up first time.

+5 husband points for me.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:13 pm
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Shower was cutting out during the wife’s mega showers - replaced the solenoid for a tenner and all’s working again.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:20 pm
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I healed after my last injury if that counts

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:25 pm
Offline  daftvader
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Last thing was the oven, fixed the pressure switch on the door and replaced the fan motor. Prior to that was a heating pipe that I slightly drilled into 😇

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:26 pm
Offline  plus-one
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Fixed my track pump(rubber washer had cracked) new washer I found in my box of tricks. Pumping away an normal now 🙂

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:28 pm
Offline  superleggero
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Replaced the elements in a Dualit toaster. Ordered spares from the factory and watched a 'how to' video on YouTube.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:31 pm
Offline  stumpy01
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The lift off bit of our vacuum cleaner fell over and the tab keeping it shut snapped off...

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I designed these bits in Fusion 360, printed them and fitted them.
Still going about 3 years on...

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[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300768_ff6102990e_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48854300768_ff6102990e_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hr64yu ]IMG_20190925_212639[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/me96kka/ ]STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:35 pm
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Offline  martinhutch
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Washing machine rubber door gasket. Needed a new jubilee clip to hold it on, so bodged it with a chain of zip ties while I waited for it to arrive. Zip ties still holding well, six months later.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:39 pm
Offline  bikesandboots
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Pedal bin linkage.

I'm not sure repairs above involving buying a replacement part and fitting it should get a full point.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 9:59 pm
Offline  oldmanmtb2
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Made a new choke lever/mechanism for my petrol leaf blower....

Yep baby Robin death machine

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 10:04 pm
Offline  nick1962
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I put new batteries in the TV remote

S*** never thought of that just ordered a new TV 🙂
Glued a glass oven door back on recently can't believe they are only held on by glue.Also sourced and replaced the carbon bushings for the motor on the washer.
Still can't get the fridge light to work.It's the bulb but something to do with switch that turns the light on when you open the door but it's a built in and I can't be arsed dismantling everything to get it out.Similar problem with the oven light,the housing disintegrated when i tried to change the bulb.Mind you the hob ignition is also goosed.I know this as it wouldn't stop clicking even when not in use so I pulled all wiring out to cure it.Think it's probably time for a white goods upgrade.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 10:07 pm
Offline  woody2000
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Cheap crap exercise bike for the MIL. Belt had snapped, £5 for a new one and half hour or so of tinkering = maximum brownie points 😄

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 10:24 pm
Offline  40mpg
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Just this evening helped my daughter replace the wiper motor in her aging clio. And un-bung the drain holes which meant it had been sitting in a trough of water.

AA man had told her it would cost £300 at a garage. £25 for a new motor, sorted.

Only tricky bit was getting the leverage bits in the right place so the wipers went up not down. Which we only realised once we'd reassembled all the plastic covers etc doh!

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 10:46 pm
Offline  drnosh
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Unblocking scuttle drain holes is a regular part of the car washing routine at Nosh Towers,

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 11:08 pm
Offline  jeffl
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Replacing the piezo ignition lead for one of the burners on the hob. Fixing a new drain hose on the seconds hand washing machine as the previous owner, my dad, decided to cut it off 🙄. Fixed the garden fence, post and gate that were rotten by replacing them all. Oh and a new bulb for the number plate light on the car so it passed the MOT.

God I'm such an awesome middle aged, middle class white bloke 🤣

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 11:35 pm

Offline  dmorts
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@40mpg

aging clio

Have you checked the bonnet catch recently/ever? They're known to fail if not maintained and it's a fault Renault acknowledges can happen

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 11:39 pm
Offline  yiman
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Today was unusual because I repaired/fixed a couple of things.

1) The U bend on the bath waste. It's been leaking for months, with an empty ice-cream container underneath it collecting the drips. Today I fixed it (I think) with a replacement costing the princely sum of £5.18
2) My son's schoolfriend's bike. A bmx with the rear wheel nuts slightly loose so the wheel had been pulled up the sliding dropouts and the chain had gone slightly slack. The poor lad's dad died in his sleep a couple of months ago so I was more than happy to help.

 
Posted : 05/10/2021 11:44 pm
Offline  reeksy
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Recent successes:
- The kid's Dirt jump - needed a bit of a kicker on it and lengthening
- Water main - we have a 350m driveway, after it was graded there was a significant leak. In trying to locate it I created an even bigger leak, which i eventually fixed before finding the original leak (operative had driven into a valve causing an underground connection to loosen) and fixing that. A weekend i'll never get back.

Failures:
- Waeco fridge ... i'll just get the casing off to replace the thermostat - nek minute covered in refrigerant.
- Youngest's bike's headset clicking 🙁

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 3:48 am
Offline  p7eaven
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The lip/handle of the lid of the chest-freezer. 6:30am and it stinks of epoxy in here. So far 2021 feels like being stuck in the worst parts of the 1970s.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 6:19 am
Offline  yourguitarhero
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Replaced the ignition switch in my van with one from an Austin Metro. Required some cutting and crimping to the old multiplug

Hand drilled out the pinlock hole in my motorbike helmet visor to fit a pinlock branded insert so now I can see through a non scratched and non foggy visor

Kitchen cabinet downlighter
Bathroom fan
Oven fan
Washing machine brushes

^ they've all been this week. I generally find 2 or 3 things I need to fix per week.

Annoyingly it's always something new so I'm learning from scratch every time. Guess it means my fixes generally work!

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 6:36 am
Offline  molgrips
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Mercedes

I generally find 2 or 3 things I need to fix per week.

Same. It's good to do, but once you realise you can then you have endless jobs.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 6:46 am
Offline  Daffy
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10 year old 55" TV. Lost a little brightness at the bottom and would occasionally turn off. New back (side actually) lights from China (the only place with new parts) and 3 hours later and we have a nice functional TV again. No landfill!

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Posted : 06/10/2021 6:56 am
Offline  richmtb
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Old Hope Mono M4 brakes from 2008. They'd been languishing in a box for 10 years. Stripped them down cleaned all the pistons and replaced the reservoir cap. A full bleed and new pads and they are as good as new.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 7:58 am

Offline  p7eaven
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@Daffy - nice job!

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 8:03 am
Offline  grahamt1980
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I had the apparently known mazda rattly speaker issue in the car.
Took the door card out, removed the speaker and glued the speaker cone back to the frame.
Probably cost 50p and half an hour of my time against £100 or so for a new speaker.
Crap design

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 8:06 am
Offline  Murray
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My track pump

Replaced the o-ring on the piston and then undid all the damage I did by greasing the wrong parts

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 8:22 am
Offline  tonyd
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15 year old gore waterproof jacket - velcro cuff adjusters were delaminating so I've literally just super glued them back together. Glue is drying as I type.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 8:53 am
Offline  pocpoc
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Nintendo Switch joycon repaired for my lad. L1 button wasn't working. Stripped and cleaned and still not working so £6 for a new button and ribbon cable. Replaced that and one happy son. And one happy me saving £40 for a new joyon.
Also replaced the sticking timer on our 14yr old Dualit toaster, but they're designed so that you can do that. Does it still count?

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 8:58 am
Offline  thenorthwind
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Fixed my 1/2" router which was cutting out under load. I thought I'd just killed the cutter fitting oak worktops and was pushing it too hard, but it did it with a new cutter too, and with minimal load. Thought maybe the brushes needed replacing, but it seems one of the holders was just loose. Nice to see that you can still buy pretty much any part of it as a spare though (DeWalt 625E, same as the Trend T10).

Fixed my track pump as well... sort of. I replaced the O-ring on the piston which had come off, stuck inside the cylinder and disintegrated, with one from my generic O-ring selection but it doesn't seal perfectly, so while it works as pump, it does let some air out. Need to replace it with the proper size.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 9:15 am
Offline  misteralz
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Our not very old but no longer in warranty AEG dryer was throwing the same fault code for months and it had gotten to the point where a reset wasn't fixing it. Pulled the board and resoldered the cracked soldered joints. Then did the rest of them as I figured they wouldn't be far behind. Been washing and drying EVERYTHING this past week.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 9:26 am
Offline  Murray
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SJS Cycles or BikeTart are your friends for Topeak spares

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 9:28 am

Offline  DrP
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I got all my partner's window hinges cleaned and lubed up, and stuck new handles on them all.
She thought they were broken as a few couldn't open for 5+ years... just needed a bit of TLC!

DrP

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 9:37 am
Offline  Keva
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a puncture!

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 9:40 am
Offline  jimmy
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Am about to fix my lawnmower. On the last mow of the season (hopefully) the front wheel fell off. Looked like it had sheared the metal rod, but I tried to remove the other side to check and it looks the same. Think it just needs two crimp washers (£100). A job for the weekend.

EDIT: Love fixing stuff.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 9:47 am
Offline  zippykona
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As much as I hate Mr Dyson I do like the fact that you can get all the bits for his Hoovers.
5 years daily use and the motor was grumbling. £250 for a new hoover or £60 for a new motor.
10 minute swap over and good to go.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 9:58 am
Offline  dcwhite1984
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Fixed a few things lately,

Broken window handle, the metal insert inside had broken off, had a spare in the garage which needed to be cut down but nice easy fix and job done.

Nan-in-laws petrol lawn mower, turns out it had been stood still for a while, needed the petrol tank draining and flushing, new spark plug, tank cleaned out and its like new.

BBQ - we have a decent sized bowl which then had wooden tray area to the side, BBQ is about 10 years old so wood had seen better days, got some treated 6x1 for about a tenner used the old pieces as a template and its come up well, now neatly stored for winter.

Sons favourite monster truck - top came off and wouldnt click in, bit of glue and bobs your mothers brother.

Dyson vacuum, dyson wanted £80 for a call out charge as its quite old, stripped it down myself found the part online which was £5 and we now have a fully working vacuum.

Its always good to have a go at fixing stuff.

 
Posted : 06/10/2021 10:08 am
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