I tried fixing my grandma's 1980s Sunbeam toaster at her house in Tulsa last Sunday, and the kit's wires were half the gauge they should be. Anyone else found a reliable source for actual heating element wire that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?
My dining chair leg was loose and I had to pick between wood glue and finishing nails. I went with Titebond III and clamped it overnight for 12 hours. Has anyone else had that glue joint fail on them later down the road?
My dad thinks I should toss my 1998 microwave since the turntable motor died, but I want to swap in a used one for $15 from the local repair shop. He says new ones are safer and more efficient, while I figure keeping it out of a landfill matters more. Which side do you lean on for old appliances that still heat fine?
I hauled this 1950s Singer up from the basement last week and it would barely turn the wheel. After some digging online I tried dabbing a little 3-in-1 oil on the moving parts and letting it sit for an hour. Anyone got a trick for getting the bobbin case to stop jamming on these old models?
My neighbor Dave who restores vintage radios for fun told me that cheap soldering irons cause more cold joints than bad technique. He showed me how his Weller station makes connections in one clean flow while my $15 iron leaves a mess every time. Do you think it's worth upgrading gear before blaming the parts or is that just an excuse to spend money?
I was helping a buddy fix his old stereo amp last night and he kept reading 0 volts on a 12V DC line. Turns out he had it set to AC mode on his meter. I see this mistake at least once a month in the repair shop. The meter will show nothing or a weird number if you pick the wrong setting. Has anyone else caught themselves or someone else doing this with a simple voltage check?
I kept wondering why my toaster popped up weak after fixing it like 4 times. Then my neighbor watched me reassemble it and pointed out I was leaving the screws finger tight so I wouldn't strip them. He said tighten them until they just bite and now my toast comes out perfect. Anyone else been over-careful with screws and messed up a repair?
My Kenmore dryer started squealing like crazy two weeks ago. Looked up new ones. Cheapest decent model was $650 with tax. Spent $18 on a new drum roller kit and an hour of my time. Found a video on YouTube that walked me through the whole thing. Runs quieter than it did when it was new. Anyone else fix a major appliance for pocket change?
I found this old Panasonic clock radio from the 80s at my grandpa's house last month and the display was totally dead. Found a video from some guy in Ohio who showed me how to replace the capacitors on the board. Took me about an hour with a soldering iron I borrowed from my neighbor and it fired right back up. The sound is still a bit scratchy but I'm thinking the speaker might need some contact cleaner on the inside. Has anyone else tried fixing up old clock radios from that era and had issues with the volume knob crackling?
For years I grabbed whatever drywall anchor and screw combo pack was cheapest at the hardware store over in Greenwood. Last month I was hanging a heavy shelf in my garage and the whole thing pulled out of the wall after two days. Made me so mad I actually ripped the sheetrock trying to fix it. I asked a buddy who does cabinet work and he told me I needed self-drilling toggle bolts for anything over 20 pounds. He walked me through the installation right there showing me how the wings open up behind the drywall. I tried it on the same spot with the right anchors and that shelf hasn't budged since. Now I see people at the store grabbing those cheap plastic anchors for heavy stuff and I want to stop them. Has anyone else had a similar wake up call about specific hardware?
I was fixing up an old radio from the 60s and kept burning the board. Someone online said to switch from a chisel tip to a fine conical one for precision work. Changed it out for $8 at the local electronics shop. Has anyone else had a simple tip swap fix a whole project?
Found a tutorial from a guy in Cleveland who showed me how to pop the back panel off and swap the belt in 20 minutes, even with zero tool experience. Has anyone else had their machine start making that high-pitched squeal before the belt goes?
I used to only buy new machines from big box stores because I thought older ones would be too complicated to fix or maintain. Then I found a beat up Singer 348 at a garage sale in Tulsa for $25, spent an hour cleaning the bobbin case and oiling it, and it runs smoother than my 2021 model. Anyone else find that older gear is way easier to repair yourself once you get past the initial learning curve?
I dropped off a broken gaming laptop at our local recycling center in Tulsa last Saturday. While waiting, I saw this guy pick a toaster out of the e-waste bin, plug it in, and it worked perfectly. He just replaced a 50-cent fuse inside. That got me thinking, I tossed my old hair dryer last year without even checking the fuse. Now I'm going through my junk drawer with a multimeter before I give up on anything. Anyone else had a cheap fix on something they almost threw away?
I know I'm gonna get roasted for this but here goes. My grandmother gave me her 50 year old cast iron skillet last month and I've been using soap on it every single time I wash it. No rust, no flaking, eggs slide right off still. I think the whole "never use soap" thing is an old wives tale that stuck around way too long. Last week I even scrubbed mine with a steel wool pad after burning some sausage onto it and it's totally fine. Has anyone else actually tested the soap rule themselves or do we all just repeat what our grandpas said?
My Dyson ball vac finally died last week after 15 years of abuse. Motor was smoking bad. Looked up a replacement part online and found a refurbished motor for $12 shipped. Took about an hour with a screwdriver and some needle nose pliers. Thing runs like new again. My dad used to throw stuff away at the first sign of trouble. I get why now cause parts are hard to find sometimes but man it feels good to keep something going that long. Has anyone else had luck bringing an old vacuum back from the dead? What part failed on yours?
I was about to toss my old Oster blender after the plastic base cracked and the blade assembly started wobbling like crazy. Found a forum post from 2017 where some dude said to drill two small holes through the base and thread a heavy duty zip tie through them to clamp it back together. Figured I had nothing to lose so I tried it. Worked like a charm, the blender is actually quieter now than before it broke. I spent maybe 10 minutes and zero dollars on parts since I had the zip ties in my garage. Has anyone else found a dumb simple fix that saved an appliance you thought was done for?
I spent 45 minutes drilling out a single rusted screw on my patio furniture because the bit rounded off after 2 turns, and now I have to replace the whole hinge bracket instead of just tightening it up, has anyone else had better luck with those impact rated bits at Home Depot?