The great "can't fix that" racket

[Escadrille Ecosse]

On 9/7/2023 at 9:16 PM, Nick Jones said:

Happily the machine even still works and no longer sounds like it’s about to chuck a rod. I’m calling it a win for now. We’ll see how it lasts.

Well done. The old ones seem to last for ever. My Mum's, brought back from Aden in 1967 is now with my sister and still going strong.

[Nick Jones]

1 hour ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

The old ones seem to last for ever. My Mum's, brought back from Aden in 1967 is now with my sister and still going strong.

 That’s (even) older than me then!  Fair play!

[mpbarrett]

Delonghi coffee maker.

My daughter got this free from FB, it had a leak from the boiler that she fixed by replacing the joint (plastic). 
But then the pump stopped working, as its electrical she asked me to have a look. It took an hour to take apart including finding a bit for the TORX security screws used on the base... What a pain to work on everything stuffed into a very tight case.
Pump not running, no power on the leads to it and when I metered it is shows open cct?
Don't understand what sort of pump it is it looks more like a solenoid than a motor. Decide to connect it directly to 240V (as per rating) and it sits there happily running (vibrating). So even more confused as there is no continuity across the terminals so guess there must be some driving electronics inside...
So has the drive board gone or is there something that's inhibiting the pump? No idea and after trawling  the web for a few hours I am still no wiser. Cant find a  cct diagram for the control board so it tricky to delve into it.

Do I give up (don't like being beaten), buy a cheap one from Ebay (for the same price as a new control board) which has leak from the valve and use bits of this one to fix it or give her  a Costa gift voucher.....!

Sometimes the urge to repair stuff becomes over whelming. This is on top of the repair pile which includes a rather nice Leak amplifier, no output, and a Mantis rotavator (free off FB) that does not start as there is no spark.

And what I really want to do is work on my new OD control unit for my 3 rail gearbox....
 

Mike

Flow meter on right and pressure relieve valve of left

[RedRooster]

8 hours ago, mpbarrett said:

This is on top of the repair pile which includes a rather nice Leak amplifier, no output

I've a NAD Amp which needs similar, just waiting on parts. 

[rogerguzzi]

Hello All

              Here we go again!

I went to switch off the light in our porch last night and it switched off with a clunk and would not switch on again now this is a so called Crabtree quality switch and it is only about 33 years old!!! (they do not make them to last anymore!)

So in the True Sideways tradition I took it apart this morning and the loop off the end of a tension spring had broken off!!

So I thought shall I mess for about one to two hours trying to fix it or get the Memsahib to collect one from Screwfix at the huge sum of £3.69?

Common sense prevailed and she collected a new switch which is just the same as the old one just the teminals different(I hope this one lasts a bit longer?)

So I changed the engine oil in Spitty insted! (better use of my time I think?)

Roger

[JohnD]

Is this an answer to the "Can't fix that" racket?   A "Repair Cafe"?

This is a real and international movement, with it's own website: Repair Café - Fix Your Broken Items (repaircafe.org)

I've been led to it by a post over on the TRR site, where "Lebro" reports, on the "In the Shed" thread:

Not exactly a "shed", but our local church hall. The 1st meeting of the newly formed Repair Cafe.  50 odd volunteers & a shed load of items needing repair.

I got through 2 X Dyson vacuum cleaners (1 broken mains cable, & 1 simply clogged up with fluff !),

1 toaster (crumbs between electro magnet & steel plate it was supposed to hold down)

1 Convector heater (needed new mains lead)

1 charger for a dustbuster (wires twisted till they split & shorted)

1 pair hair straightening tongs (same as above charger)

A great day, we found we all helped each other doing the repairs, & we meet again in Feb

Bob

Many here are quite capable of fixing whatever device or implement goes wrong, but clearly we are in the minority>   In the community, to re-use is as good as to recycle!   I shall steal this idea and see if my neighbours would like to start a Repair Cafe!   You too?

John

[rogerguzzi]

Hello All

              A bit of advice needed?

Our Old toilet cisten lid has some hairline cracks in it I have done some repair in the past by glueing strips insiide it!

But now there are a few more on the other corner.

I have looked at it again and like most of these things it is hollow and there are 2 holes in the rear lip.

So I thought how about blowing it out to get rid of any fluff etc out then filling with something?

I wondered if Fibre glass resin would do the job and hold it all together?

I know there are experts in this stuff on here it is Alien stuff to me!

How about this stuff 

2.5kg MARINE GRADE POLYESTER RESIN + Hardener kit - FIBREGLASS moulds | eBay

Roger

ps the suite is almost new (45 years) and it is coloured(Sunking) and we like it and do not like white ones plus I do not want to gut the bathroom!

[JohnD]

Roger, 

2.5Kgs would be much in excess of what you would need.  Halfords does much smaller tins of resin and sachets of hardener.

As it's a lid, would it be worth preparing the underside and laying a skin of fibre glass, random mat with resin?   

John

[zetecspit]

1 hour ago, rogerguzzi said:

 

I wondered if Fibre glass resin would do the job and hold it all together?

 

just resin is a bit brittle. I would want to mix some fibres in too fo strength. 

Plenty of resin suppliers on ebay etc, I have bought kits to do my garage roof, and more recently firewalls on a terraced house as well as small flat roofs. Be aware if any thickness teh resin gets HOT as it cures. This may be an issue with what you are trying to do.

[Hamish]

Fill it with expanding foam ??

sticks like to sh1 t to a blanket so could work?

[Escadrille Ecosse]

25 minutes ago, Hamish said:

Fill it with expanding foam ??

sticks like to sh1 t to a blanket so could work?

Do not use expanding foam. Without wanting to sound cheeky in any way Hamish this is because it expands, with quite some force in a confined space. Quite possibly sufficient to break the relatively thin-walled ceramic of the lid. Especially if it is already cracked. 

Polyester resin might do the job but as John says it is quite brittle without reinforcement which is tricky here.

I would suggest using some epoxy resin. Get stuff suitable for laminating as it is less viscous than the araldite stuff you are probably used to and can be poured into void space and sloshed around.

It is fairly expensive compared to polyester resin but you don't need that much. You don't need to fill the void, just to coat the insides. 250g would probably do the job.

East Coast Fiberglass ECF are reputable and very reasonably priced.

Just be sure to follow the mixing instructions, in particular the mixing ratio is critical. Too little harder and it will never properly cure. Too much and it will be weak, and unreacted harder is nasty stuff, potential irreversible contact dermatitis. 

Edited January 6, 2024 by Escadrille Ecosse

[rogerguzzi]

Hello All

                 I first thought of foam but after fitting lots of windows last year and using to fill the gaps I realised it would probably crack it more

I did think of a sloppy cement mix  but not sure how it who dry/cure in an enclosed space?

I do have a plan B which is to make a nice wooden top for it as the walls are tounge and groove pine Ish  and the Memsahib likes the sound of that!

A few hours of shaping it and a good few coats of proper varnish not this water based Cr*P yacht type with plenty of nasty stuff in it!

Thanks all its food for thought  but I just wish stuff was made to LAST

Roger and the worried Memsahib

ps both the sink taps and the bath taps are still nice and shinny after all these years(we did not buy cheap but not top of the range! and it paid off unless you want to scrap it every 2/3 years? and end up poor?)

Leaves a lot more money for Spitfire Travels and Wine of course(We Must get things in priority???)

Plus how much of your life do you spend in the bathroom???(Deli belly excluded)Men that is!

[rogerguzzi]

Hello All

             I forgot to say we drove Spitty across that Dam !

But you had probably guessed that as you know the Mad things we do and Get away with!!!

I think Classic Cars like ours can get away with alsorts in Spain as they just love our old cars not like the French and Italians(I have seen them look away when I caught their eye sad buggers?)

Roger and the Memsahib

ps last photo the cork puller!!!!!! Ha Ha 

[mpbarrett]

13 hours ago, JohnD said:

Is this an answer to the "Can't fix that" racket?   A "Repair Cafe"?

This is a real and international movement, with it's own website: Repair Café - Fix Your Broken Items (repaircafe.org)

......

Many here are quite capable of fixing whatever device or implement goes wrong, but clearly we are in the minority>   In the community, to re-use is as good as to recycle!   I shall steal this idea and see if my neighbours would like to start a Repair Cafe!   You too?

John

lots of regular repair cafes around Cambridge, electrical  and clothes repair seem to be what people want. All very well organised with local engineering firm giving tools etc to the organisers. They also have trained some of the volunteers to do PAT testing as some venues wont let you use any electrical equipment unless its been PAT tested...
Very popular, most now have pre booked repair slot due to the demand.

People do want to repair stuff but just dont know how to do it and the manufactures make it very difficult (designed not to be repaired, no spares, no info, HSE concerns etc).

mike

[rogerguzzi]

Hello Colin

I would suggest using some epoxy resin. Get stuff suitable for laminating as it is less viscous than the araldite stuff you are probably used to and can be poured into void space and sloshed around.

I did not realise there was so many type of resin?

What about this one looks easy to use for me and as you say I only need to coat all the surfaces and it say will bond ceramics etc

Or perhaps one of the others? (its all Black Magic to me!)

650-8 G-Flex Epoxy Resin - ECFibreglasssupplies - Next Day Delivery

or this one?

WEST SYSTEM mini pack 101 (ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk)

or this one?

CRYSTIC® VE679-03PA DCPD - Modified Vinyl Ester Resin for Infusion (Inc Catalyst) (ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk)

Roger

[Nick Jones]

I think I may have previously complained that my elderly hedge cutters had suddenly let out their magic smoke….

I took them apart and found a cracked gear casing, worn out brushes and a cooked armature. Even I had to concede full value had been extracted……

So I borrowed my father’s second-best cutters. The heavy ones, he calls them. TBH his hedge cutting days are behind him now….. but anyway……. 

Today I wanted to use the “new” hedge cutter, which I’d been assured worked just fine. Only it didn’t. Nothing. Checked the fuse and it was ok, so I had to disembowel the thing and quickly established that the flex was non-conductive. There was a slightly strange looking area about 2” back from where it goes into the casing so I lopped off 4”, reconnected and it works. Except that the safety interlock mech only works every other go and drops out if you don’t keep both switches in crushed in a death-grip.  Methinks it wasn’t just the weight that drove him to buy a better one!!

It did the job though (albeit with some cussing) and I can probably fettle the interlock…. It is bloody heavy though….

[Escadrille Ecosse]

4 hours ago, rogerguzzi said:

I did not realise there was so many type of resin?

Hi Roger, yes it's all a bit confusing to be sure!

First off vinyl ester resins are crystic resins like polyester, and use a similar chemistry with the same methyl methoxy catalyst systems. They are generally used as 'tooling' resins for mould making as they ar somewhat tougher and exhibit less shrinkage on curing.

On to epoxies and because the lid is hollow you're going to need something 'runny' enough to pour in and flow easily.

The G-Flex is more an adhesive (like) and would be good on a single skin fitting but it will be much too viscous to pour.

The West system 101 minipack uses the 105 resin which has good flow properties for what you want I think but includes a couple of fillers. The microfibre one is OK in small quantities and will add some strength but the low density filler will make things too viscous.

So I'm actually wondering if you would be better off getting the plain resin kit

https://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/west-system-junior-pack

And a separate tub of 403 microfibres

https://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/west-system-403-microfibres-

and you can then play around a bit with adding microfibres to get a nice mix that will pour well enough while having some extra reinforcement

 

 

[Escadrille Ecosse]

1 hour ago, Nick Jones said:

Except that the safety interlock mech only works every other go and drops out if you don’t keep both switches in crushed in a death-grip.  Methinks it wasn’t just the weight that drove him to buy a better one!!

Had something very similar with my previous hedge cutters. Could hardly hold a restorative mug of tea afterwards.

Good luck on the 'repair' with that.

 

[Nick Jones]

I had a similar issue with my last machine, though on that one the mech involves lots of wire rods and is fairly easy to fettle to be less obnoxious, though it tended to need annual re-education…..

This one…. I dunno, I didn’t yet know it was a problem when I was in there. It’s completely different though - no rods to tweak.

[rogerguzzi]

On 1/7/2024 at 6:29 PM, Escadrille Ecosse said:

you can then play around a bit with adding microfibres to get a nice mix that will pour well enough while having some extra reinforcement

 

Hello Colin

                 What about this sort of filler seeing as it is going into China/clay ?

Marble Filler Powder, Marble Powder for Resin Casting, Microdol Filler | eBay

Plus does this Epoxy resin look ok for the job?

Epoxy Resin Repair Kit - Carbon Fibre Repairs - 150g,750g,1.5kg & 3Kg | eBay

Thank' Roger

[Escadrille Ecosse]

2 hours ago, rogerguzzi said:

Hello Colin

                 What about this sort of filler seeing as it is going into China/clay ?

Marble Filler Powder, Marble Powder for Resin Casting, Microdol Filler | eBay

Plus does this Epoxy resin look ok for the job?

Epoxy Resin Repair Kit - Carbon Fibre Repairs - 150g,750g,1.5kg & 3Kg | eBay

Thank' Roger

Roger

That's an unbranded resin without a TDS so I can't be certain but on the basis that they state that it is suitable for laminating and casting rather than as an adhesive then I would expect it ot have a low wenough viscosity for what you want and as it's a relatively non-critical application then it would probably do fine.

Ideally you would use milled glass or carbon fillers as they add strength as well as bulk/viscosity to the resin. The microdol is essentially powdered rock to adjust viscosity. Given the cost of the engineered fillers it's probably OK for your application though.

[rogerguzzi]

Hello Colin

                  Thank's I will go with that as is cheaper and it may not work in this case and go with plan B a nice piece of wood shaped and varnished!

Roger

Ps they say it is low visosity so should run into all the spaces

I am sure the other stuff is better but is twice the price and stil may not do what I want?

[Nick Jones]

Could you not use (also use) some good old fashioned re-bar in the form of wire (old coat-hangers) and or wooden barbecue skewers?

Edit: or even lighter fibres such as hair/ beard clippings…. 

[Escadrille Ecosse]

29 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Could you not use (also use) some good old fashioned re-bar in the form of wire (old coat-hangers) and or wooden barbecue skewers?

Edit: or even lighter fibres such as hair/ beard clippings…. 

As the resin is effectively being used as a glue you really want lots of small reinforcement rather than a couple of big. A bit like reinforcing a concrete ground slab with mesh rather than bar.

8 hours ago, rogerguzzi said:

Hello Colin

                  Thank's I will go with that as is cheaper and it may not work in this case and go with plan B a nice piece of wood shaped and varnished!

Roger

Ps they say it is low visosity so should run into all the spaces

I am sure the other stuff is better but is twice the price and stil may not do what I want?

Yep, give it a go Roger...

[rogerguzzi]

46 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Could you not use (also use) some good old fashioned re-bar in the form of wire (old coat-hangers) and or wooden barbecue skewers?

Edit: or even lighter fibres such as hair/ beard clippings…. 

Hello Nick

                I am not cutting my beard off for a toilet cistern top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The last time I had to shave it off was about 40years ago when I had an operation on my carotid artery as I had a blow out on it like you would get on an inner tube!!!

The bit that worried me most is they said they may use a bit of Plastic pipe to repair it??? (I thought how long will that last??)

But luckily when I woke up I found they had cut into my groin and used a bit of my vain(Much happier until the drugs wore off then it Da Half Hurt trussed up like a bit old stewing steak?)

But the the Sister in charge said do you mind us looking in that area to remove the stiches? (I would have walked naked down the ward to get rid of the pain?)

I have always been a bit of a wuss!

Roger

ps I think I may have a bit of fibre glass matting I could chop up fine and mix in as well?

pps I will be making body shells next (not)