The great "can't fix that" racket

[JohnD]

Then perhaps anyone with a parts availability problem should contcat Shapeways?  

https://www.shapeways.com/?utm_campaign=search_branded&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=shapeways&utm_term=%2Bshapeways&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsOKBgeHj4wIVFODtCh3jlAC7EAAYASAAEgKD6fD_BwE

John

[mattius]

I have a 3d printer, its been amazing for problems like mentioned above, paid for itself more than over. Broken switches, buttons, clips etc. i.e. Neff wanted £30 for a switch for our cooker hood, i printed it for about 5p, no-one can tell the difference.

Especially when a lot of it is already out there, check out Thingiverse before you start drawing up items, you find a lot of stuff has already been done.

Where it gets really interesting is printing moulds for GRP and Carbon parts, although the bed size of most printers is pretty small.

 

If only metal 3d printing would become more affordable, then the world is your oyster.

 

[richy_rich]

There are a (very) few Spitfire parts on Thingiverse e.g. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1652149 pretty cool

[Nick Jones]

Today’s challenge was MiLs 2.5 year old Hotpoint fridge freezer. It was taken poorly Tuesday evening and we had to go and rescue the rapidly thawing freezer contents. Stupid thing has no kind of warning system/alarm, so it was already a bit late.

I wasn’t allowed much tinker-time as we had to rush back home with the still frozen items, so just time to establish that it had dumped a lot of water on the floor (condensate evaporation pot full and overflowing), the compressor did run sometimes and seemed to be getting some parts of the freezer cold, but definitely not the fridge.

Did some homework. This is a “frost-free” device. I’ve not messed with one of these before. The internet (the fixit bit not the marketing-lies bit) says they are the devils work, with the extra components of the auto defrost system resulting in reliability issues. Favourite failure points being the cold air recirculating fan or defrost heaters  (yep, heaters..... in a freezer.....) or the control system. It was also pointed out in several places that “frost free” quite often means “concealed frost” with the whole lot getting frozen solid over time and causing all manner of odd behaviour. I also noted that parts were stupidly expensive.

Still, given it’s quite new it seemed worth a little investigation. My goal was to get far enough into it to check that the heat exchanger wasn’t iced solid, the fan worked and the heaters weren’t open circuit.

Took a little while to figure out how to get into it, and a bit longer to work out that the fan only runs when the fridge door is shut. At the same time I discovered that the “door open alarm” is largely useless as it allows the fridge door to remain open up to 1” and doesn’t work on the freezer door at all.

Couldnt find any faults in the end, though there could be something awry with the defrost system controls. I think probably it had got heavily iced up, possibly because a door was slightly open, but mostly defrosted itself (and its contents!) on Tuesday. There was a lot of water on the floor...... Seemed to be working correctly when I left.....

The two things I have learned.....

1. Avoid frost-free fridge freezers if you want a long-lasting relationship with it. Conventional devices are much simpler and consequently more reliable. Defrosting isn’t needed very often and isn’t much hassle!

2. If your frost-free machine is messing about, it may be that it needs...... defrosting!

 

[rogerguzzi]

Hello All

               In the same vain  why do things not last?

I had a small leak in my garage roof for a while(but in a corner) but another leak appeared over my old lathe(B****r)

So today I thought I better fix them! so some hours and flash band later I think they are fixed for the winter(plus scraped all the moss off)

Now my garage roof is the dreaded Asbestos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (its ok when wet to saw etc) better than in my apprentice days when you mixed raw asbestos with water to make what they called Monkey muck to insulate steam pipes!!!!!

Then while walking the dog I thought how old is that roof and it works out at 43 years!!!!!!!!!!! and the sheet were second hand then!

So as I said why do things not last?

Roger

[AB|W]

Roger,

Many of the things that last did so because they are now classified as environmentally verboten. Lead in Paint, creosote in timber, asbestos, aminopyralid on grassland, open coal fires, wood burning stoves. Even a petrol engine will outlast an electric cars battery pack, it is a very long list including drugs, food additives, nuclear, Donald Trump..…….

Todays panacea is almost always tomorrows Frankenstein's monster. 

Alan

 

[rogerguzzi]

2 hours ago, AB|W said:

Roger,

Many of the things that last did so because they are now classified as environmentally verboten. Lead in Paint, creosote in timber, asbestos, aminopyralid on grassland, open coal fires, wood burning stoves. Even a petrol engine will outlast an electric cars battery pack, it is a very long list including drugs, food additives, nuclear, Donald Trump..…….

Todays panacea is almost always tomorrows Frankenstein's monster. 

Alan

Hello Alan

                  So what am I going to do with all this wood I have drying and the wood burner?

I can still get GOOD creosote locally just have to say I am trade?(I always buy the thickest and blackest(can we say that now?)

The world has gone a bit PC but will not solve the problems! (we in UK are clean because all our pollution is in China!) 

But it makes us feel good but deluded!

Roger

[richy_rich]

7 hours ago, rogerguzzi said:

Many of the things that last did so because they are now classified as environmentally verboten.

They were also relatively expensive.. a decent freezer in the '50s or '60s was probably in the order of a months' wage, not including the cost of the electricity to run it.  It would have been a big investment and you'd damn well expect it to work for 20 years or more.

Comparatively speaking, modern ones are much cheaper to buy and to run, as well as being more energy efficient to boot...  I won't make any attempt to quantify which is the better approach, there are too many factors to consider but I'm just trying to point out that it's not all bad

[rogerguzzi]

Hello All

               I think I may be in line for a Medal!

Our LPG gas oven has been over cooking things for a while(we thought it was us!)

But it came to a head when we were cooking a post Christmas Turkey for our sons Birthday celebrations and nearly burnt it to a cinder

So I checked the temperatures with my Cheap Chinese infra red thermometer and it was not regulating!

So a bit of hunting on Tinterweb and find main dealer £100 +p&p  Fleabay £65 post free (looking good)

Then the very old brain cells kicked in and I thought when we scrapped the old cooker I saved some parts(doesn't every one?)

So a rummage in the shed finds said part and the saints must have been on my side this time?(not that I believe that for one minute!) and the capillary sensor was the same

So a couple of hours later we have a cooker that regulates again(calibration may be a tad out but will make a chart of up a bit or down a bit)

So the Medal is for using a part out of a 42 year old cooker to repair a 15+ year old cooker

If it keeps working I will feel a smug Bar steward!

Roger 

ps seen at the petrol station today(in my dreams!)

[Nick Jones]

Well done sir 

The 42 year old one is undoubtedly made to a higher standard and will still outlast the cooker......

[richy_rich]

10 hours ago, rogerguzzi said:

ps seen at the petrol station today(in my dreams!)

Spa 6 hour?   Definitely the petrol station in the paddock at Spa either way..

[rogerguzzi]

9 minutes ago, richy_rich said:

Spa 6 hour?   Definitely the petrol station in the paddock at Spa either way..

Hello Richy

                     Yes Spa 6 Hours last year and you can keep the spring classic now the 6 hours is SO much better and no silly parades of people in their classics thinking they are racing drivers! 

Just proper Racers!

Roger

[rogerguzzi]

40 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Well done sir 

The 42 year old one is undoubtedly made to a higher standard and will still outlast the cooker......

Hello Nick

                   And probably me and the Memsahib?

Roger

Ps must post information on our up coming trip to India(not Goa!)

[richy_rich]

9 minutes ago, rogerguzzi said:

Yes Spa 6 Hours last year

Thought so, the weather gives it away   I tend to go to the summer classic (3 hour) and the 6 hour most years, but then Spa is my local circuit these days..  6 hour definitely worth a visit for those that haven't been.

[PaulAA]

3 hours ago, richy_rich said:

6 hour definitely worth a visit for those that haven't been.

Possibly the best-value racing event in the calendar.  And no noise limit!

The lad and I return home on the Sunday evening flight scruffy, smelling acutely of burnt hydrocarbons and partially deaf.  But extremely pleased with ourselves.

Apologies for the thread drift....

Paul

[JohnD]

Can't fix that?     Have you seen the many 'restoration' videos on the Net?

Many are rather obvious, pre-electronic objects, but some are modern.   This one seems impossible:

 

Yes, it uses a new LCD screen when the old one is obviously useless.     How the rest of the electronics survives the original neglect, then washing in powerful cleansers, I cannot imagine.    But it seems to work!

John

Edited January 13, 2020 by JohnD

[Nick Jones]

Blimey..... that's extreme.  Even I'd have been prepared to concede that was beyond redemption!

[DeTRacted]

Hmmm - colour me sceptic but people make money from posting videos like this and it seems odd that he just happened to be filming the digging and 'found' the phone. He didn't seem to take much care in aligning and soldering the new display connector either. How can we be sure the working phone shown at the end was the same one?  

Getting electronics wet isn't a problem though, as long as there is no power. Most PCBs are coated after assembly with conformal lacquer which will protect it, and as long as the water is thoroughly dried off after cleaning - including places it might be hiding like inside sockets - no harm will be done.  If there is residue though, short-circuits are likely when power is applied.

 

[mpbarrett]

I think this is the most expensive piece of broken plastic that I have seen for a long time. 
This is the motor pump assembly from a Aqualisa power shower. The small (2mm by 5mm) bit of plastic (blue highlight) has broken off the pump body.
This is part of a bayonet locking mechanism that connects the pump to the outlet (with an O ring to seal the joint), I think the plastic had fatigued and broken resulting in water leaking from the joint.
Unfortunately it is tightly fitted into the moulded housing so no room to fit an external clamp or glue it together. Also client (daughter) wanted it fixed asap.....
Only option was to buy a new pump, motor and outlet all for £159.00! Not a good start to the new year.
At least I salvaged the motor, a rather nice 12V DC one (the pump is feed from an external supply) that I have put away for some future project

Mike

 

[Nick Jones]

Aqualisa....... I have history with them....... thermostatic shower mixer tap...... thermostat died young.  Very expensive part, but to change the unit for something else involves plumbing and tiles....  Of course the bastards know this 

[Rod1883]

Slight tangent perhaps, but we have a very nice Sony Smart tv. A fairly modest in size 42" version, but with a 3D function, purchased at the end of November 2013 - so just a shade under 6 years and 2 months ago. I do not consider this to be old, it is barely out of warranty (5 years), and works well.

I was extremely surprised and disappointed yesterday evening when I accessed to BBC iPlayer to be presented with a screen to say that this tv, amongst other 2012 and 2013 Sony models, would not be supported by the BBC from mid February, and so I would not be able to access the service on it after that date. This is disgraceful in my opinion and is effectively making the tv partially obsolete. The BBC are contributing toward making equipment prematurely obsolete, driving cost and putting pressure on the environment through the requirement to replace and/or purchase alternative equipment.

[mattius]

Not much help i'm afraid but i would suspect the problem is more likely with Sony not updating your TV anymore to make it compatible with the newer streaming technologies.

Certain older streaming formats such as flash video which everyone used to use are a major security risk these days.

I remember when TVs with VHS / DVD players first came out i would always tell everyone not to buy one, as if one fails the other is useless. Unfortunately these days with everything built in smart, unless it can be kept up to date it can be rendered useless. Same has happened to iphones, ipads and most recently SONOS.

[Rod1883]

...from my contact with the customer service functions of Sony and the BBC, each is blaming the other. I have a number of Sony products but if this is a sign of the supported life of their products now, I doubt I will purchase another.

[Nick Jones]

This is unfortunately a growing problem and afflicts an ever increasing number of smart TVs. Certainly older Samsung models are similarly affected.  Ours (not yet affected) has software update capabilities but as far as I can tell Samsung are not providing updates.

Another facet of planned obsolescence?

[RedRooster]

Lately had iPad that won't update and laptops with Windows 7 which the support for has stopped, nothing wrong with either devices apart from lack of OEM support.