It's not often I get to do my own repairs (I won't touch household electrical and plumbing because I always screw it up) but this past weekend, I decided to tackle an automotive repair.
I have an old 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee with power windows that haven't worked in years. Those Jeeps have a known problem with wiring breaking that lives inside a rubber boot that runs between the chassis and the door.
I decided to peel that rubber boot back to see if it was the problem, and it was. I counted at least four broken wires in there, out of ten. One of which was the ground wire, which ensured that nothing worked (mirrors, windows, door locks).
After doing some Googling, I found a really good thread post somebody had written that advised just snipping off the Molex connectors on either end, run new wire, and solder the connections. I figure the Jeep is over 10 years old and is kind of a beater now anyway, so if I broke anything it wouldn't be a big deal.
So...snip, snip, snip. Cut all the old wiring out, ran new wire, and then realized how much I suck at soldering. I also fell victim to one of the classic blunders. No, not the one about getting involved in a land war in Asia. The other one - forgetting to run heat shrink tubing over the wires before soldering them. Doh! Had to use electrical tape instead.
Oh well. All turned out okay in the end. After I was all done, I put the door panel back on, hooked up the battery and...it all worked!
The power windows, mirrors, door locks - everything that had been broken for five years started working again!
I was so happy I did a "solder dance" and celebrated