It takes money to replace broken stuff. I'd rather save some money by trying to repair it first. If possible.
Which isn't always possible, but at least I managed to repair this simple computer mouse. Which made me think what else I fixed over time?
Planned Obsolescence
I strongly dislike companies like Apple, who - in their attempt to create the thinnest, flattest gadgets - glue everything. Apple & Co also don't mind the planned obsolescence forcing us to buy something new when the old device fails... and we simply cannot repair it.
Some companies design stuff deliberately in such a way that it fails after a few years of usage (preferable when the warranty expires) and make sure you can't repair it (weird stickers, glue, strange screws, and copyrights on spare parts that you can buy nowhere).
I don't like that. And I typically try to repair everything at least once...
Mouse
Let's start with my latest repair: a mouse. It's probably not even worth the time, but hey, it works again. And you can never have enough spare computer mice 😉
Symptom: mouse wheel behaved erratic.
Typical cause: either the decoder is broken (can't fix) or the PCB got damaged over time (re-solder the pins).
In this case it was neither. The little axle is a bit short, and its edge just sticks into the rotation decoder. Over time, the edge of the spindle was worn out, and wouldn't turn the rotation decoder consistently.
Fix: hot glue or a decent drop of bison kit (a contact glue) on the part of the axle that sticks into the decoder. Problem solved.
Tip
If you have too many BT devices floating around, it's smart to add a little label to both the device and the BR receiver, like this:
With this mouse working again I wondered what's my top-3 of rescued devices? (Those that I remember, at least 😁)
Top 3 Rescues
There was a lot more over the years, but I just don't remember. Obviously, I'm not going to include simple fixes like kitchen doors, light fixtures, or regular maintenance jobs like replacing brakes or light bulbs.
Which jobs do stand out in my memory?
1. Makita 6010D Cordless Drill
Bought a new switch, and the thing works again! In some ways this feels extra special, as that drill is the first electric tool I ever owned, and must now be over 40 years old...
It also shows that sometimes you can find spare parts for things that are long obsolete. Amazing...
2. Extrair Air Extractor / Cooker Hood (2010)
One of the buttons failed, and the motor started to become noisy. I tried to buy the proper spare parts but - of course - couldn't buy them anywhere. "Buy a new one," was the typical reply.
I took it apart, flipped the small PCB containing the buttons 180 degrees, and resoldered all the wires. I also fixed some vibrations by taking the engine + fan apart, and carefully removing all oil residue from the fan. That was 6 years ago or so, and the thing still runs great.
If the board fails again I'm probably going to build a little custom keypad to replace it with, as the rest of the unit is still tip-top.
3. Urban Ears Hellas headphones
An older, but fantastic headphone, which had to withstand the abuse of daily use by my youngest daughter. She managed to break the plastic headband of her white one twice (forcing me to glue the whole thing with 2 component glue, after which it was no longer adjustable). Then one side went silent.
I took it apart, and indeed, one of the drivers had failed. Unrepairable, unfortunately. (A 50 cents, two gram heavier design might have survived longer...)
I owned another, almost identical headphone (orange instead of white) and a few months later one of the drivers of that one failed. I hadn't emptied out the 'electronic waste' box yet, took the white one apart, and managed to repair the orange one with the remaining driver.
As for the quality: these things suffer from daily use, so they won't last forever. Urban Ears could have made it a little tougher, yes, but they probably still wouldn't have lasted longer than 3 to 4 years. Still, I'd be willing to pay those extra 50 cents...
Runners-up
- Patching up a 1986 2 doors Toyota Corolla
We got clipped by another car on the highway, and ended up in the guard rail. My good old grey Toyota Corolla (at that time my wife's car, currently no longer my car nor my wife) suffered too much damage, so I bought an old white Corolla of the same model / year and discovered the whole rear was pretty rotten. Literally.
It was a bit of a toss-up which car would have been easier to fix, but in the end we settled for the white one. I rewelded large sections of the rear, and we used several parts of the grey one to get the white one up and running. (I can't remember what bits and pieces, sorry, but I still have the welding scars to prove it was a lot of work.)
My ex-wife later crashed the rear of the white car into a light pole, and that was the end of the Corolla. Repair would have been possible, but I no longer had time nor space.
- Marantz Vector 4 speaker foam surrounds
Those old speakers date back to the late eighties. The speakers have foam surrounds - attaching the speaker cones to their metal frames - that tear up over time. You can buy replacement surrounds for a few bucks, rip out the old foam edges, and glue the new ones back in. If you're really into old audio then you might have a look at the filters and replace (some of) their aged capacitors as well.
I still have some Magnat Labda 4's and Viva 33's to fix up. To be perfectly honest, those old speakers sound way better a lot more recent ones.
- A 17" Philips flatscreen monitor
A simple resolder of the incoming power leads was enough. (It's now gathering dust in the attic as technology has progressed over the last 20 years (damn, that's long) but it lasted a long, long time.)
I can't recall if this was a dumpster rescue or not. I think it was.
- Canon Inkjet printer
Sorry, forgot the model, but it contained a 'sponge' (as all inkjets do) which was saturated and triggered an error. I took the printer apart, and manually cleaned that sponge. It was a very dirty job, but I managed to squeeze another couple of years out of that printer until the print head broke down.
It would be nice if printer manufacturers would properly document the error, and sell replacement sponges, but they won't make any money that way, so I guess not 🙄
- Computer Desk
My computer desk is a pair of Ikea legs, with a customized wooden top. The top is made of two kitchen tables. The left half is the top of the kitchen table from my old house, the right half is a near identical table top that was thrown away. I threw it in the back of my van, connected both halves, and created a unique computer desk.
It's time I re-sand and re-paint it. I plan to replace the current legs with an electric height adjustable frame, so might combine those two jobs.
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