What have you fixed lately?

[Osem]

Taf sorry if I wasn't clear but I wasn't intending to install/charge the li-ion battery within the unit, just test the unit momentarily using the pre-charged AA it to see if the thing still oscillates. Presumably the 3.6v would be fine for this.

As regards the battery shown, wouldn't it be easier to buy a 3 x AAA pack already assembled with read and black wires or am I missing something?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorola-M...MAAOSwgkRVSfk8

Cheers as always.

[Osem]

Well I've found and ordered a replacement battery pack for the wife's ultrasonic facial cleanser so we'll have to wait and see if it does the trick.

In other news:

I managed to get my Flymo XLT3000 petrol strimmer operational today after a lot of mucking about yesterday. Not having used it for ages, I made up a new batch of fuel 40:1 petrol/2 stroke and tried to fire her up. No joy, not so much as a burble despite numerous attempts at the starting procedure. My right arm hanging off, I hunted around for information online and found a few DIY videos so decided to try cleaning the sparkplug today. The unit hasn't been used more than about 15 hours in the years since I bought it so the air filter was very clean and there were no other visible signs of problems. Took the plug out, gave it a wipe over and a quick wire brushing before putting it back in and trying again. It tried to start on about the 3 pull and then fired up properly after a couple more pulls. Got her nice and warm and then went out to the front garden to strim our lawn. It all seems to be working well now so I'm going to make sure I actually use the thing more often (it has brush cutter, hedge trimmer and chain saw attachments) and avoid storing it for any length of time with fuel in the tank.

Another fix chalked up.

[raging bull]

Just be careful when you start to charge those batteries, they go with a loud bang if they are overcharged!

[Osem]

Originally Posted by raging bull

Just be careful when you start to charge those batteries, they go with a loud bang if they are overcharged!

They're the same type and spec (AAA Nimh 600mah) as the original 3.6v pack so I'm not expecting a problem. Fingers crossed...

I'll pop them in, reassemble the unit, pop it into the charging cradle and leave...

[Osem]

Doh, I've just realised that by fixing our lawnmower and strimmer I now have few excuses not to be occupied...

[Osem]

Well gentlemen, we have another fix.

Battery pack arrived today, terminal cut off, wires joined to those from circuit board and sealed nicely with heat shrink tubing. Bits carefully reassembled and then the big moment as I placed it into the charging cradle, heard a single beep and saw the red charging led flash. As I type the thing's charging away perfectly with no sign of any proble........................................

[Taf]

The door of our Samsung washer-dryer was making a loud buzzing noise these past couple of weeks. I lightly touched the outer window and the buzzing stopped. So I tightened the screws on the inside of the door by 1/8 of a turn. No more noise.

[Osem]

My Garden Groom Pro hedge cutter. Dusted it off for the first time this year earlier and powered her up only to find it kept cutting out. After checking the plug and fiddling around with the power lead where it enters the back of the unit I could find no reason for it stopping and starting except that it only happened when the unit was moving. Then I had a bright idea to check if there was some sort of safety on/off switch located where the on board collection bin attaches to the underside of the unit and sure enough that's where the problem was. A fairly minor adjustment to the retaining clip stopped the bin moving around causing the switch to cycle on/off. I wonder how many people have sent theirs off for repairs or even binned them due to such a simple fault. Happy days.

[Taf]

The missus complained that the paper shredder was dead. A quick check found the teeth clogged and that was causing the thermal cutout to operate even before it started turning. Plug out, dismantled and unclogged. Now back in operation.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Taf

The missus complained that the paper shredder was dead. A quick check found the teeth clogged and that was causing the thermal cutout to operate even before it started turning. Plug out, dismantled and unclogged. Now back in operation.

Yes, had that problem many times in the past. Unfortunately, on a couple of occasions, I found some of the metal cutters had become badly distorted and I could find no way to dismantle the cutting head in order to repair them.

[Osem]

'Fixed' one of the large hardwood windowboards in our lounge. It had become faded and watermarked and suffered from some rather curious sanding marks (slight parallel ridges about 3" apart) along its whole length which had become more visible over time so was looking pretty shocking all in all and had been bugging me. It's the first time I've used Danish oil and I must say I'm impressed with the finish and how easy it is to apply. Anyway, a morning sanding away and a quick treatment with Danish Oil has restored it to its original glory and won me a few much needed Brownie points...

[heero_yuy]

My favourite Braun electric razor (1508) The battery was getting very low on capacity and then it suddenly stopped altogether and no charge/cord operation either. I had previously replaced the battery a few years ago and had modified the internal latch mechanism on the case for easy re-opening by fitting a much less agressive spring and drilling a tiny 1mm hole to that a paperclip can be used to operate the catch rather than forcing the case open at one end to be able to get a screwdriver onto it.

I found that one end of the battery had come unsoldered and that had blown the charging circuit. I needed to replace several transistors, a resistor and the indicator LED plus soldering* in a new freshly charged 2500mHr NiMh battery.

Works a treat now.

I had sourced another motor off ebay just in case as this had failed a few years ago and was replaced. It can go on the spares shelf for when it's needed.

*Not good for batteries but a very hot iron and quickly seems to get away with it.

[Tinky]

Osem and Heero yuy clever or what?

[Osem]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

My favourite Braun electric razor (1508) The battery was getting very low on capacity and then it suddenly stopped altogether and no charge/cord operation either. I had previously replaced the battery a few years ago and had modified the internal latch mechanism on the case for easy re-opening by fitting a much less agressive spring and drilling a tiny 1mm hole to that a paperclip can be used to operate the catch rather than forcing the case open at one end to be able to get a screwdriver onto it.

I found that one end of the battery had come unsoldered and that had blown the charging circuit. I needed to replace several transistors, a resistor and the indicator LED plus soldering* in a new freshly charged 2500mHr NiMh battery.

Works a treat now.

I had sourced another motor off ebay just in case as this had failed a few years ago and was replaced. It can go on the spares shelf for when it's needed.

*Not good for batteries but a very hot iron and quickly seems to get away with it.

Now that's the sort of job I'd love to be able to do but I never got to grips with electronics, I'm more mechanical.

---------- Post added at 16:33 ---------- Previous post was at 16:32 ----------

Originally Posted by Tinky

Osem and Heero yuy clever or what?

You charmer you!

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by Osem

Now that's the sort of job I'd love to be able to do but I never got to grips with electronics, I'm more mechanical.

My grounding and effective apprenticeship was in electronics. When I no longer can fix something like this I'll retire my soldering iron.