Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[skyking1]

The alternator started singing on the Ford dump truck, No More Juice For You!
I had changed it out a year ago. Hmm. I get in there and find the Rube Goldberg adjuster had dis-assembled itself. It has a rod coupler in it, I don't know if it is standard that way but the jam nuts had worked loose. I re-cobbled it till I get better parts.

 

[Walt34]

Seems this is not a repair even the handy should broach without great care, so we called up the folks who installed our latest opener, <snip>

That's why I decided not to DIY - one slip and then I'd be dealing with the inconvenience and cost of broken bones, not to mention the pain. For a once-every-10-year job, I'll just BTD and pay the garage door guy, who I'm quite sure is cheaper than the orthopedic guy.

 

[Time2]

One of the springs on our garage door broke yesterday. Completely snapped in the middle. We didn't know what happened, other than I closed the garage door and heard a bit of a delayed clunk. Then it wouldn't open, not even manually. A friend mentioned it might be one of the springs and there it was, split down the middle.

Seems this is not a repair even the handy should broach without great care, so we called up the folks who installed our latest opener, and they were here today and gladly replaced both springs. We figured the odds the 2nd might break soon were high enough to avoid the bother if we waited.

Had that happen to us once, just a heck of a racket in the garage, went out to see what it was, found one spring broken. The hook broke off the end, I heated it up, formed a new hook and reinstalled it. It worked fine for years until a hurricane damaged the door and we got a new one.

 

[Philliefan33]

One of the springs on our garage door broke yesterday. Completely snapped in the middle. We didn't know what happened, other than I closed the garage door and heard a bit of a delayed clunk. Then it wouldn't open, not even manually. A friend mentioned it might be one of the springs and there it was, split down the middle.

Seems this is not a repair even the handy should broach without great care, so we called up the folks who installed our latest opener, and they were here today and gladly replaced both springs. We figured the odds the 2nd might break soon were high enough to avoid the bother if we waited.

Must be something in the air - one of ours broke a few days ago. Despite having replaced a spring before (probably 20 years ago) DH and I decided we didn’t want to DIY this time. Paying the professional was much less expensive than getting injured if we slipped up.

 

[sengsational]

Must be something in the air - one of ours broke a few days ago. Despite having replaced a spring before (probably 20 years ago) DH and I decided we didn’t want to DIY this time. Paying the professional was much less expensive than getting injured if we slipped up.

I'm one of the few DIY spring winders that survived, hehehe! I used nice long, perfectly fitting levers. I took my time, and positioned myself where, if TSHTF, I'd not damage myself.


Point of this post, though, is, when selecting springs for yourself, you can spend slightly more, and get springs that will last many more cycles. Like more cycles than you are likely to need. Forever. But if you call the man, guess what springs they select for you?

 

[Telly]

I'm one of the few DIY spring winders that survived, hehehe! I used nice long, perfectly fitting levers. I took my time, and positioned myself where, if TSHTF, I'd not damage myself.

Point of this post, though, is, when selecting springs for yourself, you can spend slightly more, and get springs that will last many more cycles. Like more cycles than you are likely to need. Forever. But if you call the man, guess what springs they select for you?

Yup! I have replaced our torsion springs twice. The first time I just went with exact replacement springs. Years later, one broke. Decided to investigate a bit. Found an online place that had spring tables, including upgrades for durability. I planned to be out of here in a few years (back then), wondered if I should just get replacements again, or upgrade to longer life. As usual, I decided to spend a bit more and do it right, had the room, so went with upgrade. Splurged and had the cones included, so I could just install them when they arrived. My moving plan fell through. I'm still here. The springs may well outlast me!

 

[homestead]

Was working outside today and noticed the clamp on the grounding rod for the electrical panel was broken. Installed a new one. Don't know how long it has been broken, probably broke it with the lawnmower. Darn thing only lasted 44 years. : (

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I'm glad someone brought up grounding rods. I just remembered that I had a metal pole along the back wall of my yard that broke at some point and I can't remember exactly where it goes. I still have the broken part and figure I probably need to find a matching one at Lowes or Home Dept. Do they need to be set in concrete? My back yard backs up to an Edison easement so i assume that's why it's there, lots of Pylons in the area.
Is that what it would be for and if so am I living dangerously not fixing it immediately?

 

[MC Rider]

Maybe Edison will fix it for you?

 

[W2R]

Laz-y-Boy just came by and repaired my recliner! WAHOO!!!! It needed a new linear actuator to make the leg supports go up and down. I am in 7TH HEAVEN - - it is so comfortable now. It was not very comfortable when it was broken, even with my legs on an ottoman.

Anyway, this is not something we could repair ourselves since the linear actuator is proprietary and we couldn't get one; had to have Lazy Boy order one and repair it.

One nice thing is that they didn't charge us a cent beyond the $145.23 that they charged two weeks ago before ordering the part. I was figuring on maybe another $500-$600 in labor, but happily I was wrong.

 

[aja8888]

Laz-y-Boy just came by and repaired my recliner! WAHOO!!!! It needed a new linear actuator to make the leg supports go up and down. I am in 7TH HEAVEN - - it is so comfortable now. It was not very comfortable when it was broken, even with my legs on an ottoman.

Anyway, this is not something we could repair ourselves since the linear actuator is proprietary and we couldn't get one; had to have Lazy Boy order one and repair it.

One nice thing is that they didn't charge us a cent beyond the $145.23 that they charged two weeks ago before ordering the part. I was figuring on maybe another $500-$600 in labor, but happily I was wrong.

Nice!

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Maybe Edison will fix it for you?

Good idea, I never thought to call them and ask.

 

[brett]

Fixed our three under counter low voltage halogen lights fixtures. 80W transformers (3X20Wbullbs) in each from Home Depot on line. 20W bulbs from Amazon. $6. glass shield replacement for one of the units.

So much easier than shopping for new fixtures, de install, and install of new ones.

 

[Walt34]

I had an interior door that for whatever reason kept wanting to move away from the open position to a point halfway closed/open. No amount of fiddling/bending/adding washers to the hinges as advised by various sites/videos made any significant difference.

The solution was simple and took a lot less time than all previous attempts. I drilled a 1/4" hole in the door on the side that faces the doorstop, and another 1/4" hole in the rubber end of the doorstop. Into each hole went a small magnet with a dollop of glue (making sure that they were facing so as to attract each other) and that works great. I'm quite certain no one will ever notice the magnet in either location unless they look for it, and if one is concerned about it a dab of paint on each will fix that.

 

[travelover]

..............The solution was simple and took a lot less time than all previous attempts. I drilled a 1/4" hole in the door on the side that faces the doorstop, and another 1/4" hole in the rubber end of the doorstop. Into each hole went a small magnet with a dollop of glue (making sure that they were facing so as to attract each other) and that works great. ..........

I had a similar issue at my last house. They actually sell magnet door stops, which I installed. It worked great for years until I sold the place.

 

[Walt34]

I had a similar issue at my last house. They actually sell magnet door stops, which I installed. It worked great for years until I sold the place.

I'll admit the door stops were what gave me the idea. I already had the small magnets to use on hatch covers on R/C airplanes, and I'm a bit disappointed in myself that it took so long to think of it.

 

[Poweruser]

I had an interior door that for whatever reason kept wanting to move away from the open position to a point halfway closed/open. No amount of fiddling/bending/adding washers to the hinges as advised by various sites/videos made any significant difference.

The solution was simple and took a lot less time than all previous attempts. I drilled a 1/4" hole in the door on the side that faces the doorstop, and another 1/4" hole in the rubber end of the doorstop. Into each hole went a small magnet with a dollop of glue (making sure that they were facing so as to attract each other) and that works great. I'm quite certain no one will ever notice the magnet in either location unless they look for it, and if one is concerned about it a dab of paint on each will fix that.

Reading this reminded me try to work on my door with the same issue. I found a Youtube video that showed removing one hinge pin and bending it slightly with a hammer to create friction when reinstalled. This worked out for me. I have a hinge pin spring tool that I bought just in case some time ago and never used that made it easier to remove the pin from the bottom hinge.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I upgraded my kitchen recessed lights to LED, what an amazing difference. You don't even realize how ugly yellow your current lighting is until you get LED.
Total cost for the kitchen $35 and less than an hour of my time, it literally is plug and play. It was really 5 minutes per fixture but being a girl I check and recheck to be sure it's done properly and I don't set the place on fire.
I'm going from 75w reflector bulbs to 7 watt fixtures so I should see a nice energy saving. I originally bought some LED light bulbs but decided just to go ahead and upgrade the whole fixture.
I have a total of 18 fixtures throughout the house and the cost is less than $200.

 

[brett]

In the process of re-upholstering a chaise lounge. DW found the upholstery material last week so it is over to me.

 

[ERD50]

I upgraded my kitchen recessed lights to LED, what an amazing difference. You don't even realize how ugly yellow your current lighting is until you get LED. ....

Those are nice, because you can try the different color settings to best match the area you are lighting.

I bought some for DD's townhouse, but the cans were a different size, but I got to try them out before I returned them, so I got a sense of how well the color settings work.

-ERD50

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Yep, there is a choice of 5 colors and you can leave the lamp hanging and plugged in while you try them all to see which shade of white you prefer. I also have 2 different sizes of recessed lights but Home Depot sells the matching fixture for the smaller ones as well so I lucked out there.
So far I'm very pleased with this project and should have them all installed by the end of the day. And then the dust cleanup of all the crap that fell out when I removed the old fixtures.

 

[Walt34]

It was really 5 minutes per fixture but being a girl I check and recheck to be sure it's done properly and I don't set the place on fire.

I don't know why this reminded me of it, but when I was in high school one of the popular pranks to pull, especially on females, was to install a gag pyrotechnic device under the hood of their car. When the engine started there was a loud whistle, a huge BANG! and then a cloud of smoke rolled out from under the hood. It didn't hurt a thing but scared the daylights out of the victim.

 

[travelover]

I don't know why this reminded me of it, but when I was in high school one of the popular pranks to pull, especially on females, was to install a gag pyrotechnic device under the hood of their car. When the engine started there was a loud whistle, a huge BANG! and then a cloud of smoke rolled out from under the hood. It didn't hurt a thing but scared the daylights out of the victim.

Can you still buy these? Asking for a friend.

 

[MC Rider]

Can you still buy these? Asking for a friend.

LOL.


LED lights are great and have come way down in cost. We remodeled our kitchen in 2012 and put LED bulbs in the recessed light fixtures. IIRC they were north of $20 per bulb then. Claimed to last 20 years. Um, no.


Much cheaper now.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I don't know why this reminded me of it, but when I was in high school one of the popular pranks to pull, especially on females, was to install a gag pyrotechnic device under the hood of their car. When the engine started there was a loud whistle, a huge BANG! and then a cloud of smoke rolled out from under the hood. It didn't hurt a thing but scared the daylights out of the victim.

I had to google it....
You're lucky you never set the car up in flames

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/b...jokes-involved-explosives-auto-trix-car-bomb/