What have you repaired lately?

[Quintillus]

To complement the threads on what you bought lately, and what projects you have. I'm thinking of the target of this thread being repairs that aren't necessarily the size of a whole project, but still restore something to proper working order. Cars, house projects, fixing slightly broken furniture, etc.

I recently fixed my roughly 40-year-old box fan. It has three speeds, but the knob that you use to control the speeds had come disconnected, so it was stuck on low when plugged in. Other than that, it still worked, and it wound up being a pretty easy repair. Hopefully it has a few more decades in it.

 

[Cutlass]

I unplugged a toilet yesterday.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Ha! A kitchen sink faucet!

Here's how I "repaired" it. Hot water tap was dripping. Went to insert the new cartridge that the manufacturer sent me. Couldn't get the faucet handle removed. Corrosion, hard water. Thought I could remove the entire valve from below. The locking nut holding that in place was frozen. Couldn't get any tool in from under the sink basin to get any mechanical advantage. Looked on the internet for help. Asked on CFC for help. Tried Liquid Wrench, blowdryer, tapping. Went to a plumbing supply shop. They were willing to sell me a basin wrench for $50. Didn't want to spend that on a tool I might only use this once.

Got an inspiration: remove the whole sink. Then I can get a tool in place to unlock that d*** nut. Removed the sink. Still couldn't get any mechanical advantage on the nut. Notice sink itself is corroded.

Bought a new sink. Bought a new faucet. Installed new faucet in sink. Installed new sink.

Voila! I've repaired my dripping hot water tap!

 

[amadeus]

My laundry rack with wheels was all tilty so I untilted it. It’s just some modular thing so I didn’t need any tools. Took about 10 minutes minus the time cleaning it.

 

[Cutlass]

Couple weeks ago I had some scuffed paint on my car that I fixed.

 

[Zkribbler]

We have a family of beasties called bukbuk. Among them are termites and their cousins powder-post beetles. We had powder-post beetles.on the top of my bedroom's doorjamb. We took out the damaged wood and entombed the colony in epoxy.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Unplugged a bathroom sink with a spiky headed flexible stick that I stuck down the drain. It broke up the clog and pulled out a bunch of gunk.

 

[AdamCrock]

Hey ! Don't look at me ! The day before yesterday I turned down the radio because it was to loud ! .....
Alright, alright !! I'll fix that drawer .... You don't have to remind me every half a year about it .... sheesh ...

 

[bernie14]

Replaced passenger side window regulator on my wife's car

 

[Kyriakos]

I am pretty sure I never repaired anything in my life.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Yesterday I unstuck a dresser drawer, and got a TV tech guy in to fix the problem the other one caused a few days ago (no, I don't do my own electronic fixes).

I am pretty sure I never repaired anything in my life.

You've edited your own writing, haven't you? That equals repairing something.

 

[tjs282]

I repaired my home-office chair last week: put a new set of wheels on it (alloys, of course!)

This thread reminds me, I also need to repair the other wobbly foot on the towel-stand, and tighten down the handle on the frying-pan lid. Yay, me!

 

[MaryKB]

I converted a defunct sql query to the new syntax.

 

[Zelig]

Replaced all the speakers in my car (probably not worth it, my stock speakers were rotting and fitting brackets to third-party speakers was an inordinate amount of work compared to just replacing with new OEM speakers) and replaced a window switch.

 

[Zkribbler]

You've edited your own writing, haven't you? That equals repairing something.

I understand what you're saying, but IMHO you've stretched the definition a bit too far.

Here's the definition of Cambridge Dictionary:

to repair something
These words refer to taking something that is broken or damaged and working on it so that it works again.

One of the most common words for this is repair. Repair is usually used for machines or small electrical items.

He asked if she could repair the broken lamp.
I need to get the dishwasher repaired.
The verbs fix and mend are common alternatives. Mend is most often used for clothing or other cloth items.

I must get my bike fixed.
Can you mend that hole in my trousers?
The phrasal verb do up is often used when someone repairs something and improves it. Do up is more common in UK English than in US English.

Nick loves doing up old cars.
The verb service is often used when examining and repairing cars or other machines.

I'm taking the car to the garage to have it serviced this afternoon.
The phrasal verb patch up can be used when someone fixes something in a basic and temporary way.

I patched up the old bike and got it working.

In my mind, editing is an intellectual exercise. Repair is a physical action.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I understand what you're saying, but IMHO you've stretched the definition a bit too far.

Here's the definition of Cambridge Dictionary:

In my mind, editing is an intellectual exercise. Repair is a physical action.

What is the purpose of the Olive Branch thread in OT?

To mend or repair broken friendships or acquaintances in OT, to apologize, to make the situation better.


Maybe your sentences haven't been broken enough to think of editing as fixing or mending them. Some of mine certainly have.

My main character's situation tonight involves some serious PTSD, and he is trying to explain it to someone, saying that while his body has mostly healed, his mind feels broken. This is part of the story I'll be tackling for NaNoWriMo this time around.

Yes, that sounds a bit too modern for an 11th-century story, but if the original game developers can include Shakespeare, Little Red Riding Hood, and 19th-century suspenders, I can include some modern psychology. After all, PTSD isn't a new thing since wars have been happening for millennia. It's just our terminology and some ways of understanding it that's new.

 

[Quintillus]

Fixed one of the two broken strands of Christmas lights, using parts from the other. Back up to 80% of full illumination.

 

[Josu]

I have a couch which has electric relax.
The relax was not working in one of its sides.
I bought the pieces, opened the couch, changed the pieces and sealed the couch back

 

[tjs282]

and tighten down the handle on the frying-pan lid

Yeah, about that...

What kind of bloody idiot kitchenware designer/manufacturer 'decides' that a 20 x 4 mm self-tapping bolt, screwed directly into a PU(?) plastic handle, is likely to remain adequately secure over the product's potential lifetime, when that product is a steel(?)-rimmed glass lid ~35 cm in diameter, weighing ~750 g, and intended to be used at temperatures possibly exceeding 100°C...? Turned out the handle was loose because the plastic threads had (predictably) mostly worn away, simply from lifting the lid XX number of times in the 3–4(?) years since we bought it (and this was not a cheap no-name brand, either)

Didn't have a wider diameter bolt handy/ suitable (and which anyway would probably have failed similarly after not very much more time), so decided to superglue the thing back together (wife's preferred 'prettier' repair method) — though I'm still not personally convinced that this will hold out for long, either.

If it doesn't, I've already decided that I'll drill the hole all the way through to the top, run a longer bolt from the inside of the lid to the top of the handle (cut to length if necessary), and secure it with a washer(s) + nut (i.e. what the manufacturer could/should have done in the first place, for a few cents more on the price of materials).

(Fudge the whole *****y concept of 'planned obsolescence', fudge it soooo fudging hard. If I ever become King of the World, it will be a crime for company executives to push it as a product-design criterion, punishable by amputation at the very least)

I converted a defunct sql query to the new syntax.

I have absolutely no idea what this means. Therefore, you must be awesome

 

[thecrazyscot]

One of my daughter's costume jewelry earrings came apart, so I put it back together.

I hope she still thinks I can fix anything in 15 years