Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[NW-Bound]

But, but, but the web site you linked shows that the problem might be simply caused by bad solder joints to pins of a relay. These solder points are readily accessible, and can be reflowed with a soldering iron and a bit of solder.

Why do you have to send it to some guy?

 

[Ronstar]

But, but, but the web site you linked shows that the problem might be simply caused by bad solder joints to pins of a relay. These solder points are readily accessible, and can be reflowed with a soldering iron and a bit of solder. Why do you have to send it to some guy?

I haven't looked into this for a while, but IIRC the problem was getting the device properly sealed after it was taken apart and soldered. That's the part I'm worried about. I know I can solder, but I'm not sure how to seal it- yet. Need to do more research.

 

[Gumby]

DIY helped us to RE!

I am reminded of an acquaintance who recently took her monster luxury SUV to the dealer . . . . . so they could reset the clock when we changed to Daylight Savings Time. She won't be retiring anytime soon.

 

[Lisa99]

DIY won't help us retire any earlier but it has enabled us to have much nicer finishes in our houses than we'd ever be willing to pay someone to install.

Over the years we've learned how to move plumbing in a concrete slab, take down non-load bearing walls, install tile and appliances, run electrical for lights and switches, paint so you don't know it was DIY....

Lots of work, but when we buy a house we don't worry about what it looks like inside. As long as we like the floorplan we can make it exactly what we want for the cost of materials.

There are two exceptions. We won't touch anything related to gas. If we need a gas line installed or moved we hire someone qualified to do it. The other exception is if the addition/change requires a permit that you'd have to show if the house were ever sold. We recently had to replace a water heater. In our county new water heaters must be brought to code with earthquake strapping and some other silly stuff. We hired it out even though it cost >$1000.

 

[Donzo]

Many great fixes! I recently ordered an 8 foot sliding glass door for our porch. Water got between the panes on the current one and steamed up, blocking the view. They (Home Depot) want $580 to deliver and install. I have a buddy with an enclosed trailer to get the door here and cart the old door to the dump. Taking out the old door and installing the new one will take no more than an afternoon. I am looking forward to doing it! Being handy or becoming handy has it's monetary rewards .

I also changed a 6 foot window into a sliding door last year after putting a hot tub outside the master bedroom porch window.. This was a little more involved with removing a small section of wall (below window) and re-locating wiring above the opening. Still just an afternoon job and we use that door daily now. I'll bet it would have been $1000. to have that done by a pro.

 

[momoftwo]

Miele vacuum hose repair

Well, my recent success pales compared to most posted here but for an old lady with few DIY skills, im pretty happy.

We have TWO ancient Miele cannister vacuums, one for upstairs, one for down.
They are tanks. They are deliberately the same vintage and the parts are interchangeable.

The dopey plastic collar that attaches the hose to the cannister cracked.
New hose was going to be 150-200 bucks. Went online, found specs for the small collar part, bought it on amazon for 29dollars.

Viola, one screwdriver and two minutes, all good.

 

[Htown Harry]

I just [-]survived[/-] completed the replacement of a 50 gallon water heater in my attic. Details here: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/water-heater-advice-needed-67712-2.html#post1366476

 

[Donzo]

I just [-]survived[/-] completed the replacement of a 50 gallon water heater in my attic. Details here: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/water-heater-advice-needed-67712-2.html#post1366476

I enjoyed reading your water tank thread! Picturing a 170lb tank getting up into your small opening/small space attic was entertaining.....no joy for Harry

 

[Walt34]

I just [-]survived[/-] completed the replacement of a 50 gallon water heater in my attic. Details here: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/water-heater-advice-needed-67712-2.html#post1366476

I read that feat of endurance. Me and plumbing just do not play nice together - I'd have hired a plumber. Growing up we didn't have that option so to me it is pure luxury.

 

[NW-Bound]

I also read about Harry's heater-in-the-attic ordeal. I have never seen one there. In my part of the country, heaters are put in the garage, or the utility room next to the garage.

 

[Meadbh]

I also read about Harry's heater-in-the-attic ordeal. I have never seen one there. In my part of the country, heaters are put in the garage, or the utility room next to the garage.

+1

Since all water heaters will eventually leak, wouldn't it make sense to have them at the bottom?

 

[REWahoo]

+1

Since all water heaters will eventually leak, wouldn't it make sense to have them at the bottom?

Htown Harry lives in Houston (Htown) where it is common to run plumbing through the attic rather than within the slab (no basements in that part of the world). Freezing temps are very uncommon. But when temps do dip into the 20's as they did on a rare occasion in the early 80's, broken pipes and major water damage can - and did - ensue.

Water heaters located in the attic are commonplace as a means of saving space - but they are a PITA to replace.

 

[imoldernu]

Reading NW-Bound's accounts of electronic repair leaves me in total awe. I'll try almost anything except Air Conditioning, but the part about replacing capacitors makes me shudder. I recently took apart an older 17" laptop, just to see what was inside.
I mean.. who builds these things? The screws were so small that I couldn't even find them, and the parts that "snap" together make ya wonder if that's the only way to to take them apart. The LCD screen didn't seem to have any connections, except the plasticky tabs with brass strips inside.
I DID go to a YouTube step by step instruction for a similar laptop. It showed what looked like a 50 step process to take apart, and a similar "put together" series of steps. NO WAY!...

Now when I hear about friends who get estimates for laptop repair that total into the $200+ range, I understand.

Amazing we've come to the point where "replace" is cheaper than "Repair".

On the other hand, my neighbor gave me a $500 electric boat motor that he had taken to the dealer where he bought it a year before, for repair. The "shop" estimated a $250 repair to replace a circuit board. When I opened the "head", and did a continuity check, I found a cold solder joint. Total repair time 7 minutes. Gave the motor back, and am now the local "Mr. Fixit"... Not sure it was a good move.

 

[steve88]

I have a bosch dishwasher that I hardly used. Maybe the first 6 months of when I bought it 5 years ago. Then used it maybe 4 or 5 times a year after that. Now it stop working. Anyone know what forum I can go to for diy repair?

 

[Donzo]

I have a bosch dishwasher that I hardly used. Maybe the first 6 months of when I bought it 5 years ago. Then used it maybe 4 or 5 times a year after that. Now it stop working. Anyone know what forum I can go to for diy repair?

You can start here. Also youtube has videos showing most repairs once you diagnose your washers problem.

Bosch Dishwasher Diagnostic Procedures; dishwasher repair | Dishwasher Repair | Fixitnow.com Samurai Appliance Repair Man

 

[45th Birthday]

From what I can remember:

Laptop: screen (kid cracked it).
Water heater: gas valve, main board.
Pool heater: various parts, including rewiring mouse-chewed wires.
Dishwasher: various parts on two different ones, including water valve.
Ice maker: various parts on one and complete replacement of another.
Washing machine: lid switch.
Dryer: motor.
Garage heater: motor.

There is an amazing amount of information out there that helps repair almost anything. I've found it most helpful to google the symptoms and make/model if you can't figure out what's wrong or how to repair.

 

[scrinch]

I diagnosed and replaced a small inductive sender unit that inserts in the differential of my Dodge PU when the speedometer went haywire at low speeds.

I recently disassembled my cell phone and replaced the broken USB port.

I kept the old dishwasher, washer, and dryer alive for decades by replacing latches, springs, switches, and motors. I finally replaced them all with quieter, more efficient models, though.

 

[M Paquette]

Fence. Damn windstorm...
Multiband shortwave antenna. Damn windstorm...
12 volt linear power supply. Bad electrolytic capacitors...

I think that covers October so far.

 

[John Galt III]

Took my old car to a couple mechanics to get estimates when it would stall out sometimes and make blue smoke until it warmed up. Both said I needed to rebuild the engine since rings were worn out, or valve seals (insert bs reason here), which would cost $500 or so. I got on the internet for a while and found out it was just a $12 part attached to the carburetor which solved the problem completely. Did it myself and avoided the ripoff.

 

[Secondact]

My 25 year-old Echo leaf blower would no longer start and I assumed it had finally died. While researching new models online, I came across a YouTube video decribing how to rebuild the carburetor. I decided to take a chance by fixing it myself and ordered a rebuild kit online. Did the job myself and it runs like new!

 

[Walt34]

Had a crack in the gas cap on my old McCulloch sidewalk edger that I'd found on Overstock.com for $99 ~15 years ago. They're long since out of business so while I looked around a bit for a replacement I didn't expect to find one and didn't. Nothing I tried matched the screw threads. I hated to throw it out for lack of such a simple thing.

So after cleaning it thoroughly I used some old model airplane canopy glue that works great on plastic just to hold things together for the more permanent repair. I had some fiberglass cloth from my model airplane days and used that with some epoxy made for plastics to hold the cap together. I haven't tried it yet - the epoxy hasn't fully set yet - but I'll sand down the rough edges and see how it goes.

It ain't pretty but I think it'll work.

 

[MRG]

Had a crack in the gas cap on my old McCulloch sidewalk edger that I'd found on Overstock.com for $99 ~15 years ago. They're long since out of business so while I looked around a bit for a replacement I didn't expect to find one and didn't. Nothing I tried matched the screw threads. I hated to throw it out for lack of such a simple thing.

So after cleaning it thoroughly I used some old model airplane canopy glue that works great on plastic just to hold things together for the more permanent repair. I had some fiberglass cloth from my model airplane days and used that with some epoxy made for plastics to hold the cap together. I haven't tried it yet - the epoxy hasn't fully set yet - but I'll sand down the rough edges and see how it goes.

It ain't pretty but I think it'll work.

You can epoxy almost anything. Great idea. Wait, you said McCullouch went out of business?

MRG

 

[akck]

One of the passenger door locks stopped working on our 4Runner. The first time I went to remove the door panel, I chickened out because it felt like I was going to break something. I then did a search and found a link to a video on how to do it. I found I missed one screw and that it was okay to use a lot more force to pop it off. Unfortunately, the power lock mechanism tested bad and that was a $220 part. For that amount, we can reach behind us to lock/unlock the door.

So, a successful access, but unsuccessful repair. Maybe at some future point when I'm retired, I'll take a shot at fixing the short.

 

[NW-Bound]

... It ain't pretty but I think it'll work.

Pretty? Surely you already knew how the frugal ER'ers here choose between pretty and cheap!

And talk about epoxy, I removed the leaking radiator from my minivan for inspection, and was ready to buy a replacement. Instead, I found a small leak that I should be able to patch with epoxy.

But I took the occasion to remove the two end panels of the radiator to clean the inside, as I happened to know that I could buy the two long gaskets to seal the plastic end caps of the radiator to its main body consisting of skinny channels held together with fins.

I used JB Weld, which is a bit more expensive than regular epoxies, but the darn thing is strong and worth it for applications like this. Still holding up after 5 years of scorching summer heat, with the radiator pressure as high as that of a steam locomotive. OK, OK, I exaggerate, but you've got to agree that 5 years is a long time.

 

[Walt34]

Wait, you said McCullouch went out of business?

MRG

According to this article they declared bankruptcy in 1999, although I gather the brand name still exists. I didn't research it any further, being more interested in the gas cap.