Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[ls99]

A checkbook repair.
Had stainless steel chimney liner installed for furnace's chimney. The brick chimney's mortar is pretty bad so the same crew will re-point it.

[BrianB]

Two days ago our 6 year old Frigidaire front-load washer stopped going into spin cycle. The wash, rinse, and drain all worked but at the end of the cycle it would just turn slowly and never go into high speed spin to get the water out of the clothes. Our washer & dryer are stacked and in a small closet so I was not looking forward to pulling both out and getting inside to work on it.

Some internet research showed me that the number one service problem with these machines is the door latch / lock, and this was likely our problem. This didn't make sense to me. Why would the machine turn on at all if the door latch wasn't engaged?

The door latch replacement looked easy and is one of the few repairs that can be done from the front so I decided to gamble on a new switch ($25 on Amazon with one day delivery). Put it in today and it works!

I broke open the old switch to see what I could learn. It is actually a two-stage switch. In the first stage a "finger" on the door actuates a leaf switch that lets the machine go through the slow speed cycles (fill, wash, rinse, and drain).

The second stage is a wax motor. It is a small sealed container of paraffin wax with a heating element and a tiny piston / actuator. When the paraffin is heated it expands, pushing out the actuator, which contacts a leaf switch. This stage only controls the high speed spin cycle. The heating element resistance was supposed to be 1.3k to 1.7k ohms but the old switch measured about 200 ohms, so it was definitely defective.

I think this was a win / win / win situation: My wife was ecstatic that we could wash clothes again and she thinks I'm a mechanical genius; we saved the $500+ cost of a new machine (or $200+ repairman bill); and I learned a lot about a technology I had never heard of before!

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I put new wiper blades on my car a week ago and got snow and frost Monday. Passenger blade was frozen solid so I tapped it with the snow brush and for first time ever literally broke the blade. Was bummed out about having to go buy another in less than about a week so checked the storage shed just in case I kept some after downsizing.. I must have had a horder moment as I found three of what size I needed purchased at some sale in the past.

[NW-Bound]

My Harbor Freight battery maintainer failed. The lead-acid batteries I put it on measured 12V something, not the 13.8V it should be. These are the batteries off the motorhome, which I replaced with lithium batteries. I have no immediate use for them, but want to keep them well in case I need to use them as starting batteries for my cars.




Pried the plastic case open. Saw the problem right away: the electrolytic cap on the bridge rectifier was bulging. Quickly soldered on a replacement, wrapped the pried-out case with electrical tape, and put it back on the batteries.

Three days later, checked the batteries. Same darn thing! I was so sure of the fix, I did not even bother to measure the output of the battery maintainer after replacing the bad cap. Checked the output, and saw that it put out a puny 20mA.

Back to the electronic bench. It turned out that they used a 7805 IC to do the voltage regulation, and this chip went out with the bad cap. Good thing I have a few of this common IC on hand.

Half hour later, and the Harbor Freight battery maintainer is working like new, putting out 13.8V at 200mA. And I saved not only the $10 to buy a new one, but also the hassle of driving there.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound My Harbor Freight battery maintainer failed........ .

I've had poor luck with these HF trickle chargers, even when new. Now that I'm rich (heh), I've moved on to genuine battery tenders that Costco has on sale every Christmas.

Neat that you are able to diagnose the failure mode, though.

[NW-Bound]

There's nothing wrong with the circuit they use. It has short-circuit protection, meaning if you short the clamps together, it will not burn out. If you put it on the battery with reverse polarity, it shuts down.

Simple and effective circuit. But just like with more expensive electronics like TVs and computers, dang 5c electrolytic caps fail, and the whole thing gets thrown away. What a waste!

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianB ... I broke open the old switch to see what I could learn. It is actually a two-stage switch. In the first stage a "finger" on the door actuates a leaf switch that lets the machine go through the slow speed cycles (fill, wash, rinse, and drain). The second stage is a wax motor. It is a small sealed container of paraffin wax with a heating element and a tiny piston / actuator. When the paraffin is heated it expands, pushing out the actuator, which contacts a leaf switch. This stage only controls the high speed spin cycle. The heating element resistance was supposed to be 1.3k to 1.7k ohms but the old switch measured about 200 ohms, so it was definitely defective. I think this was a win / win / win situation: My wife was ecstatic that we could wash clothes again and she thinks I'm a mechanical genius; we saved the $500+ cost of a new machine (or $200+ repairman bill); and I learned a lot about a technology I had never heard of before!

Nice! I wonder why all the complexity for that second stage of the switch? Isn't it enough to know if it is open/closed?

I wonder if this was some way to add a time delay, w/o modding other circuits used across some other models? But isn't this all firmware control these days? And why a time delay before you go into high speed spin? Isn't just closing the door enough?

Curious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound ... Back to the electronic bench. It turned out that they used a 7805 IC to do the voltage regulation, and this chip went out with the bad cap. Good thing I have a few of this common IC on hand. Half hour later, and the Harbor Freight battery maintainer is working like new, putting out 13.8V at 200mA. And I saved not only the $10 to buy a new one, but also the hassle of driving there.

That's what saved a trip (or a wait for parts to arrive). But of course, who doesn't have a few 7805's sitting on the shelf? Hah, I have some, plus I'll cut them out of anything going to recycling. Can usually salvage at least one, or a 7815, that way.

Now we need 3.3V regulators for these new wimpy, low voltage circuits.

-ERD50

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 But of course, who doesn't have a few 7805's sitting on the shelf? Hah, I have some, plus I'll cut them out of anything going to recycling. Can usually salvage at least one, or a 7815, that way. Now we need 3.3V regulators for these new wimpy, low voltage circuits. -ERD50

I don't, but I am a mechanical engineer. I have a REAL Battery Tender...LOL

[NW-Bound]

Nah. Inside your more expensive battery tender may be just a 7805. And if an electrolytic cap goes kaput, it will take that 7805 along with it.

I paid $6 or $7 for this HF thing 7 or 8 years ago. It has worked that long, and I got my money's worth.

By the way, I looked back at my record to see that I bought 10 of these 7805 as part of an order of miscellaneous electronic parts from China last year. The cost for 10 ICs: $0.65.

Seems cheap, but then I paid only $0.50 for a 32-bit 48MHz STM ARM microcontroller, which is vastly more complex and difficult to make.

[NW-Bound]

Another story about "wonderful" Harbor Freight electronics.

I had a few of the following HF meter. They give them out quite often with coupons stating "Free with any purchase - Value of $x.xx". How can I resist this? Travelover admitted to having a few himself.

I have these laying around where I may need them; in the garage by the spare batteries hooked up to the tender, in my cars, etc... I keep the better meters at the bench.

Don't sneer at the accuracy; these are far better than the VOMs that people older than 60 would still remember. And those doggone VOMs of 20,000 Ohm/V sensitivity required a lot of squinting to get any reading worth anything. And they cost more than this HF wonder. The meters are far better than their test probes, which are pure garbage. Good test probes alone cost the same as these cheap meters. I can't figure this one out.

But back to my story. In verifying that the battery tender now worked, I found that the 200mA current range was shot. Only the 10A range worked.

Opening up the meter revealed the problem shortly. The 1-ohm shunt resistor for the 200mA range was burnt. This was my fault, as I was tired of changing the 200mA internal fuse, and put in a 2A fuse. With that 1-ohm resistor replaced, the meter works again as well as it ever has.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Another story about "wonderful" Harbor Freight electronics. I had a few of the following HF meter. They give them out quite often with coupons stating "Free with any purchase - Value of $x.xx". How can I resist this? Travelover admitted to having a few himself. ... Don't sneer at the accuracy; ...

I've bought a few of those meters years ago, from ebay or Amazon, for maybe $5? And I agree, they are surprisingly capable for the price. Hard to believe they can sell them for that.


But of course they are cheaply made, and I just had too much trouble with intermittent connections on the selection switch. The readings would be wacky, and I'd 'massage' the switch, and they'd come back. It was just too annoying, especially when working on an intermittent problem - adding an intermittent meter to the mix was beyond frustrating. "Free" is too much to pay in that case.

But like you say, if you can put them somewhere and leave the switch set, they might be OK.

-ERD50

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound .......... Travelover admitted to having a few himself.

Guilty. I realize that these are not high quality, but for the work I do, they provide plenty of useful information.

I've found the same issue with the leads, they are a tiny gauge of wire, which makes the 10 amp measuring position laughable. But for free, I'd say they are worth twice the price!

[akck]

Recently, our pellet stove shorted out. All signs pointed to a dead circuit board, so that part was ordered. When it arrived, the fuse blew within a second, caused by a shorted igniter. Fortunately, it didn’t kill the $400 circuit board this time. So a new igniter was ordered, but had to wait a couple of weeks before replacement as we were going on a trip. So far, it is working normally and we have pellet heat in our basement.

[jcfradio]

We had a toilet that was leaking while I was away last week. DW wanted to replace the toilet since it had not be flushing very well. I had a look at it and determined that the fill valve needed replacement - and just coincidentally, I happened to have an extra valve in the house. Thirty minutes later, all fixed and now it is flushing completely. So, not only did I save several hundred on a new toilet, but I also had the satisfaction of another fix-it job. I can now watch the football game with a smile on my face.

[FrankiesGirl]

This week I recalked both bathtubs, touched up some chips in one tub,and a few ceramic floor tiles in one bathroom and kitchen while I had the chip repair stuff out, then replaced one NASTY bent (no idea how that happened) tub overflow cover with a shiny clean new one. SO MUCH BETTER!

[Megg1141]

Installed a new hot tub cover but will be installing a hydraulic lift as well. This way i can remove and replace the cover by myself when needed.

[ls99]

Cut off 6" of bed legs. Now I can sit down on it, instead having to climb up to get into the bed. Been considering the idea for several years. Can't rush these things.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 Cut off 6" of bed legs. Now I can sit down on it, instead having to climb up to get into the bed. Been considering the idea for several years. Can't rush these things.

With the bed low to ground, you can also be sure that no monster will be able to hide under the bed, and to spring out in the middle of the night.

[NW-Bound]

One of my vehicles drove squirrelly, and I even had to call a tow truck to get it home. Thought it was the front wheel bearing, because it made noise and the wheel was hot when I touched it. This was more than 1 year ago. And the car just sat there, until I have time to look at it.

Now, it's time to fix it or to give it away. Start up the engine, and man it starts right up (I have a small solar panel on the dashboard to keep the battery alive). Darn! AC still blows cold and everything. Hmmm... Maybe I should fix this car, and keep it as a spare.

Pull off the front wheel, and discover that it is the brake caliper that is stuck and the pads are dragging on the rotor. Should be an easy fix, but look at that torn CV boot. Might as well replace it.

Turns out that for old cars, the entire half-shaft is not much more expensive than the boot itself, and how the heck can you put on the boot without taking apart the messy joint, which is also worn? Nope, the whole thing has to go.

I can't get over how cheap the half-shaft is at less than $40, including the shipping cost from 2,000 miles away. The darn thing is heavy too. How can that be, other than these parts are so old stock, and nobody drives this car anymore, and the vendor may as well get a couple of dollars for it?

Now, it's all back together, with a spanking new half-shaft. But I still have the other side of brake pads in the kit. I should replace the other side too. And I guess I might as well look to buy the other half-shaft.

There's always something to do.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I can't get over how cheap the half-shaft is at less than $40, including the shipping cost from 2,000 miles away. The darn thing is heavy too. How can that be, other than these parts are so old and nobody drives this car anymore and the vendor may as well get a couple of dollars for it? Now, it's all back together, with a spanking new half-shaft. But I still have the other side of brake pads in the kit. I should replace the other side too. And I guess I might as well look to buy the other half-shaft. There's always something to do.

Those cheap half shafts are cleaned and rebooted used shafts from China (or Mexico). I hope they are balanced and straight. I went through a few of these in the past. Now I have my old shafts rebuilt locally.

Only replace the other half shaft of the boot is torn and the grease has all leaked out.

I've also sent mu old axles to this place:

https://www.raxles.com/