Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[Boho]

I noticed there was no drain hole in the AC then I read that in modern ACs water collects in the pan and gets splashed on the coil to cool it off and only excess will overflow out of the pan. To prevent rust there should be a valve that releases the water when you turn off the AC. I don't care if it's manual or automatic. It should stay open when the unit is off to prevent rain from accumulating. And I don't know how often there's not enough water to cool off the evaporator but maybe there should be a compartment for pouring in extra water.

 

[jollystomper]

Over the weekend our microwave oven began arcing with bright flashes after running for a few seconds. There was no metal in anything we were heating, so we thought, being a 10 year old item, it was on its way out and time to look for a new one.

However, the power of the internet in a way I like came through. I searched for similar problems, and the research pointed to the mica sheet that covers the magnetron. I check and ours was dirty. I cleaned it but it seemed so thin I decided it made more sense to replace it.

Although parts are not available for my microwave, mica sheets are readily available and very inexpensive. I ordered a 4 pack of mica sheets from Amazon for $5. I used the old mica sheet as a template, and in 5 minutes cut out a new one in the same shape from one of the sheets and replaced it in the microwave. No more arcing! The microwave is working fine now.

The microwave costs us $74 ten years ago, so "blowing that dough" to replace it would not have been not a big deal. But I was glad we can get more usage out of it. DW gets confused by all the whiz-bang features provided. All she wants to do is to set the desired power level and time to run. I am fine with these basic functions as well. We figure the $100 or so plus/minus we would have spent to replace it we can spend on a date night instead.

 

[aja8888]

Over the weekend our microwave oven began arcing with bright flashes after running for a few seconds. There was no metal in anything we were heating, so we thought, being a 10 year old item, it was on its way out and time to look for a new one.

However, the power of the internet in a way I like came through. I searched for similar problems, and the research pointed to the mica sheet that covers the magnetron. I check and ours was dirty. I cleaned it but it seemed so thin I decided it made more sense to replace it.

Although parts are not available for my microwave, mica sheets are readily available and very inexpensive. I ordered a 4 pack of mica sheets from Amazon for $5. I used the old mica sheet as a template, and in 5 minutes cut out a new one in the same shape from one of the sheets and replaced it in the microwave. No more arcing! The microwave is working fine now.

The microwave costs us $74 ten years ago, so "blowing that dough" to replace it would not have been not a big deal. But I was glad we can get more usage out of it. DW gets confused by all the whiz-bang features provided. All she wants to do is to set the desired power level and time to run. I am fine with these basic functions as well. We figure the $100 or so plus/minus we would have spent to replace it we can spend on a date night instead.

Excellent! Nice detective work for the mica sheet problem!

 

[grasshopper]

Over the weekend our microwave oven began arcing with bright flashes after running for a few seconds. There was no metal in anything we were heating, so we thought, being a 10 year old item, it was on its way out and time to look for a new one.

However, the power of the internet in a way I like came through. I searched for similar problems, and the research pointed to the mica sheet that covers the magnetron. I check and ours was dirty. I cleaned it but it seemed so thin I decided it made more sense to replace it.

Although parts are not available for my microwave, mica sheets are readily available and very inexpensive. I ordered a 4 pack of mica sheets from Amazon for $5. I used the old mica sheet as a template, and in 5 minutes cut out a new one in the same shape from one of the sheets and replaced it in the microwave. No more arcing! The microwave is working fine now.

The microwave costs us $74 ten years ago, so "blowing that dough" to replace it would not have been not a big deal. But I was glad we can get more usage out of it. DW gets confused by all the whiz-bang features provided. All she wants to do is to set the desired power level and time to run. I am fine with these basic functions as well. We figure the $100 or so plus/minus we would have spent to replace it we can spend on a date night instead.

Problem with things 10 yo or more is that today a new product may cost half as much. My digital thermometer said it was time for a new battery. Battery cost $6.50, new thermometer same brand and everything $2.50. Break the 4 cup coffee carafe replacement $10, new 4 cup coffee maker $15.

 

[braumeister]

Problem with things 10 yo or more is that today a new product may cost half as much.

That's what happened with my electric drill recently. I could repair it by buying a $90 switch, or buy a new equivalent drill for $80.

 

[Walt34]

That's what happened with my electric drill recently. I could repair it by buying a $90 switch, or buy a new equivalent drill for $80.

A lot of people bemoan the "throwaway society" but I believe the issue isn't laziness, it's that manufacturing has become so efficient that the cost of an entirely new drill has become so automated that practically the only time a human being touches it is to put the finished product in a box. And maybe even that step is done by a robot. That's how they're sold so inexpensively.

But tracking, inventorying, and shipping individual parts requires a lot of expensive individual handling by people. That's my take on it anyway.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge/expertise in manufacturing will correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[braumeister]

I'm sure someone with more knowledge/expertise in manufacturing will correct me if I'm mistaken.

Oh, I'm sure you're exactly right. And I don't bemoan the situation, I celebrate it (while shaking my head).

The first hard drive I ever bought cost me over $800 and had a capacity of a whopping 10 megabytes. The most recent SD card I bought for my camera cost less than $12 and had a capacity of 64 gigabytes. Hard not to appreciate that kind of progress!

 

[Time2]

Not as much a repair as construction, but, I have had our grill setting on 4 patio stones for years I finally got around to putting in forms and pouring a 6'x 6' concrete slab. My son is visiting, he did all the heaving lifting, about 1400 lbs, 80 lbs at a time. It's complete, we pulled the forms and rolled the grill back in place. I do want to install a light above the grill.

 

[ERD50]

A lot of people bemoan the "throwaway society" but I believe the issue isn't laziness, it's that manufacturing has become so efficient that the cost of an entirely new drill has become so automated that practically the only time a human being touches it is to put the finished product in a box. And maybe even that step is done by a robot. That's how they're sold so inexpensively.

But tracking, inventorying, and shipping individual parts requires a lot of expensive individual handling by people. That's my take on it anyway.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge/expertise in manufacturing will correct me if I'm mistaken.

My entire career was in/supporting manufacturing, and this is right on. Especially in electronics. Even repairing defects on the manufacturing line often took very specialized equipment that might cost $10,000 or more to replace a part, with special time/temperature profile settings for specific parts to provide just the right amount of heat to de-solder them, w/o overheating the rest of the board. And that wasn't even 100%. And another product might require a different tool. It just isn't feasible to have repair shops stocked with all this specialized equipment, or DIY.

I've mentioned before, I do think it has gone overboard. We could have more modularization, so that common modules could be stocked and replaced. Not for all cases, but certainly more than we have today. Just look at all the different switch panels and displays for something as common as a microwave oven, dishwasher, or clothes washer/dryer. They all do pretty much the same thing. This could be a few dozen generic/common units, with a different overlay to provide a different look to a product/brand.

One success story was when the EU pushed for USB charging for cell phones, to eliminate the waste/expense of replacing your charger every time you got a new phone. Now we have generic USB chargers that are cheap, get re-purposed to power any other USB device, and thrown out far less often, and fewer are built/bought as you just re-use your old one.

-ERD50

 

[Time2]

My entire career was in/supporting manufacturing, and this is right on. Especially in electronics. Even repairing defects on the manufacturing line often took very specialized equipment that might cost $10,000 or more to replace a part, with special time/temperature profile settings for specific parts to provide just the right amount of heat to de-solder them, w/o overheating the rest of the board. And that wasn't even 100%. And another product might require a different tool. It just isn't feasible to have repair shops stocked with all this specialized equipment, or DIY.

I've mentioned before, I do think it has gone overboard. We could have more modularization, so that common modules could be stocked and replaced. Not for all cases, but certainly more than we have today. Just look at all the different switch panels and displays for something as common as a microwave oven, dishwasher, or clothes washer/dryer. They all do pretty much the same thing. This could be a few dozen generic/common units, with a different overlay to provide a different look to a product/brand.

One success story was when the EU pushed for USB charging for cell phones, to eliminate the waste/expense of replacing your charger every time you got a new phone. Now we have generic USB chargers that are cheap, get re-purposed to power any other USB device, and thrown out far less often, and fewer are built/bought as you just re-use your old one.

-ERD50

I see the problem as making something electronic when mechanical is fine. Just let me turn the dial to 3 minutes on my microwave, don't put in a board that costs $9 and them when it goes bad charge me $89 to buy it.
Same on a washer, good old mechanical timers worker great. They only time I think I got a good price on an elctronic board was for an excercise bike that my wife picked up because someone used the display as a handle and broke the PCB, I got a new one for $26 and it wasn't just a simple PCB. I have a treadmill ( another freebe the wife picked up) it would not start. I troubleshot it a part level and found a bad part, I replaced it and now it runs... FULL SPEED! So, more troubleshooting. I can buy the board, but it's $130.

 

[John Galt III]

I see the problem as making something electronic when mechanical is fine. Just let me turn the dial to 3 minutes on my microwave, don't put in a board that costs $9 and them when it goes bad charge me $89 to buy it.

+1, +1, +1. What's up with the insane parts replacement costs?

 

[Boho]

I see the problem as making something electronic when mechanical is fine.

Mechanical is fine and sometimes better. My air cleaner went through a period where it would turn on and change settings by itself. It has touch switches. I want a snap action switch.

I'd like to install a conventional switch on my cell phone and laptop (when I get a laptop with a working battery) that disconnects the battery. I'm afraid I'll do something to make it explode though. I wish they would come that way.

 

[Time2]

Mechanical is fine and sometimes better. My air cleaner went through a period where it would turn on and change settings by itself. It has touch switches. I want a snap action switch.

I'd like to install a conventional switch on my cell phone and laptop (when I get a laptop with a working battery) that disconnects the battery. I'm afraid I'll do something to make it explode though. I wish they would come that way.

My son always removed the battery when he was on the power supply.
Of course he had to make sure it was charged for when he did have power available. That isn't often.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I replaced the front struts on DW's 2007 Prius this week. The grunt work wasn't too bad thanks to my handy pneumatic wrench ... but the nuts that retain the strut mounts are ridiculous. They're tucked way under the cowling so I had to fit two of the three nuts on each side with my fingertips. A box-end wrench was a no-go because it wouldn't clear the space between the end of the strut mount stud and the cowling sheet metal above it. I had to remove the washer fluid reservoir and unmount the brake fluid reservoir to get access on the passenger side. It's tight in there.

DW did notice the difference with the new struts, so that was gratifying.

 

[6miths]

Just fixing my mom's old wagon that she uses in the garden. The wheels were fine but the wooden bed has pretty much dissolved and box all warped and falling apart. A couple of new bolts as I had to use the sawsall to cut as they were so corroded, others spent then night soaking in CLR and then WD40. So new wood and a bunch of varathane and serviceable again.

 

[freedomatlast]

The 4 year old central A/C at the rental stopped working and the downstairs A/C unit at the primary residence stopped working on the same day.

First the rental A/C story....tenant calls about no A/C at 9:00 PM one evening. I stop by and find the evaporator coil iced over. The evaporator fan is running fine and the compressor and condenser fan are running as they should be. I turn the unit off, give her box fans to get by overnight and come back in the morning after the ice has melted away. I find the refrigerant charge is fine, but the filter is dirty, so I change that, fire up the system and all is well. Two days later, I get the same call for no A/C again. Again I let the evaporator coil melt down over overnight and come back in the morning. This time the entire system doesn't come on when I power it up. I push in the contactor manually and the compressor comes to life. Next I find there is no 24V signal at the contactor. I check all wiring and all is good. Culprit has to be a bad thermostat not sending a 24V signal. I replace the thermostat and all is well.

On to diagnose the downstairs A/C system at the primary residence. Evaporator fan is running, compressor is running but condenser fan is not running. I give the fan blade a little nudge and it starts spinning. I get a new dual capacitor the next day for under $15.00 and that is fixed.

I wish I could say that's the end of the A/C issues, but it isn't.

This morning I get up and it's 77 degrees F upstairs. Find that the evaporator fan is running but the compressor and condenser fan are not running. Go outside, pull the panel and find inside it is packed with a mice nest and two dead mice. Great. I clean all that crap out, luckily the wiring is fine and unchewed, attempt to push in the contactor manually and find that it's already pulled in. I find 240V at the one side of the contactor, 24V from the thermostat at the bottom of the contactor and no voltage at the other side of the contacotr. So my diagnosis is bad contatctor. I remove the wiring off the contactor, look for a replacement online and on a whim decide to blow out the old contactor with compressed air to remove any pieces of mice nest that might be between the contacts. I check the continuity and it's ok. So I decide what the heck, might as well reinstall it and see what happens. Voila, the unit fires up and works normally.

Get out to go for a ride in one of the cars I only use occasionally and find the A/C isn't nearly as cold as it should be. Check of the refrigerant pressure indicates low refrigerant. Add a can of 134A that I keep in stock and all is well.

Ok, that's enough for one cooling season!

 

[aja8888]

Get out to go for a ride in one of the cars I only use occasionally and find the A/C isn't nearly as cold as it should be. Check of the refrigerant pressure indicates low refrigerant. Add a can of 134A that I keep in stock and all is well.

Ok, that's enough for one cooling season!

I'm sure you know this, but low refrigerant mean a leak somewhere in the system.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

My AC failure was a little simpler.......

The problem was quickly traced to a faulty thermostat. No display, and the batteries were good, so I went in to investigate.
After stripping down to the circuit board I found evidence of corrosion along several of the trace lines and around the microchip. So, I sprayed the board down with Caig Deoxit for a 5min soak, then scrubbed thoroughly with a toothbrush. Wiped off the excess and cleaned the button contacts with isopropyl alcohol, then reassembled. Reprogrammed and tested...... It works!

 

[Sunset]

The 4 year old central A/C at the rental stopped working and the downstairs A/C unit at the primary residence stopped working on the same day.

First the rental A/C story....tenant calls about no A/C at 9:00 PM one evening. I stop by and find the evaporator coil iced over. The evaporator fan is running fine and the compressor and condenser fan are running as they should be. I turn the unit off, give her box fans to get by overnight and come back in the morning after the ice has melted away. I find the refrigerant charge is fine, but the filter is dirty, so I change that, fire up the system and all is well. Two days later, I get the same call for no A/C again. Again I let the evaporator coil melt down over overnight and come back in the morning. This time the entire system doesn't come on when I power it up. I push in the contactor manually and the compressor comes to life. Next I find there is no 24V signal at the contactor. I check all wiring and all is good. Culprit has to be a bad thermostat not sending a 24V signal. I replace the thermostat and all is well.

On to diagnose the downstairs A/C system at the primary residence. Evaporator fan is running, compressor is running but condenser fan is not running. I give the fan blade a little nudge and it starts spinning. I get a new dual capacitor the next day for under $15.00 and that is fixed.

I wish I could say that's the end of the A/C issues, but it isn't.

This morning I get up and it's 77 degrees F upstairs. Find that the evaporator fan is running but the compressor and condenser fan are not running. Go outside, pull the panel and find inside it is packed with a mice nest and two dead mice. Great. I clean all that crap out, luckily the wiring is fine and unchewed, attempt to push in the contactor manually and find that it's already pulled in. I find 240V at the one side of the contactor, 24V from the thermostat at the bottom of the contactor and no voltage at the other side of the contacotr. So my diagnosis is bad contactor. I remove the wiring off the contactor, look for a replacement online and on a whim decide to blow out the old contactor with compressed air to remove any pieces of mice nest that might be between the contacts. I check the continuity and it's ok. So I decide what the heck, might as well reinstall it and see what happens. Voila, the unit fires up and works normally.

...

Thanks for the education.
I've replaced my condenser on the A/C , but didn't even know about a contactor and what it did, so looked it up now.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

This morning I get up and it's 77 degrees F upstairs. Find that the evaporator fan is running but the compressor and condenser fan are not running. Go outside, pull the panel and find inside it is packed with a mice nest and two dead mice. Great. I clean all that crap out, luckily the wiring is fine and unchewed, attempt to push in the contactor manually and find that it's already pulled in. I find 240V at the one side of the contactor, 24V from the thermostat at the bottom of the contactor and no voltage at the other side of the contacotr. So my diagnosis is bad contatctor. I remove the wiring off the contactor, look for a replacement online and on a whim decide to blow out the old contactor with compressed air to remove any pieces of mice nest that might be between the contacts. I check the continuity and it's ok. So I decide what the heck, might as well reinstall it and see what happens. Voila, the unit fires up and works normally.

I had this same problem twice with a mouse somehow getting into the box and testing it's conductivity across the relay. After stewing a few days in the heat, I needed to remove the relay and clean the juices out with soapy water before reassembly.

 

[freedomatlast]

I'm sure you know this, but low refrigerant mean a leak somewhere in the system.

Yes of course.

12oz of 134A every three to four years does not warrant a compressor seal replacement on a car with over 200,000 miles.

 

[aja8888]

Yes of course.

12oz of 134A every three to four years does not warrant a compressor seal replacement on a car with over 200,000 miles.

I guess not!! I'm surprised the A/C lasted that long!

 

[freedomatlast]

I guess not!! I'm surprised the A/C lasted that long!

If you are surprised at that, you might enjoy this.

I also have a very old Corolla with over 300,000 miles that has only ever been topped off with R12 twice in its life and it's the coldest A/C of any vehicle I own including our brand new car. Center vent temperature is between 34 and 35 degrees F on a 90 degree F day.

All A/C components in the car are original with the exception of the idle up switch which was replaced with a used one from the junkyard five years ago. I get a kick out of seeing how long things will last with only requiring minimal maintenance.

And yes, I am EPA section 609 certified.

 

[aja8888]

If you are surprised at that, I also have an old Corolla with over 300,000 miles that has only ever been topped off with R12 twice in its life and it's the coldest A/C of any vehicle I own including our brand new car. I get a kick out of seeing how long things will last with only minimal maintenance. And yes, I am EPA section 609 certified.

I don't know where you live, but here in Houston, Texas, car and house A/C's get the workout. You can figure about 15 years for a house unit to last and cars, even less.

My 2005 Mustang made it 14 years before the compressor failed. That was an exception, but it only has 63,000 miles on it.

This last week, the temps have been in the high 90's with humidity about 70%. It's only been going down to 80F overnight, too.

 

[travelover]

I had this same problem twice with a mouse somehow getting into the box and testing it's conductivity across the relay. After stewing a few days in the heat, I needed to remove the relay and clean the juices out with soapy water before reassembly.

Mine quit and I found the contactor packed with crushed ants. I guess they are attracted to the electromagnetic field.