Repair completed.

For next time, you might want to try one of these welders:

I got mine on eBay for just under $20. I used a spare auto battery as the power source. It worked great for reassembling a battery pack.

 

I got mine on eBay for just under $20.

Where was this 5 years ago when I needed one? Link to the vendor page?

ak

 

Years ago I bought this welder and it has served me well. It's more pricey than Wayneh's little neat device, but it has its own power supply. Plus it has a sturdy enclosure and controls.

​

 

Where was this 5 years ago when I needed one? Link to the vendor page?

ak

I got mine 3 years ago.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/353974088350

 

Tried but failed to repair a friend's Aura picture frame. This displays a continuous slide show of photos uploaded by the user. No sign of life shown.

My first test was the power block, but it was producing 5.3V, nominal 5V per the label. Moving on...

Next I pried off the front cover to expose a bunch of small screws to remove, and removed a black plastic support frame that holds the front decorative frame and surrounds the black display panel. That panel is 5"x7", about 1/8" thick, and fairly flexible. It was held in place with a bit of adhesive tape and I used a knife to cut thru that instead of trying to bend and pull on the display. Folding the panel up out of the way, I was careful to not stress its ribbon cable connection to the PCB.

With the PCB exposed I could see the attached items: A light sensor, a wifi antenna, and two LED (I think) boards, a small speaker, and the power port. Voltage was 5.3V at the PCB as expected.

My eyes were drawn to a small, on-board battery. 3V lithium, measured 2.2V. Aha, I thought. Applied 3.0V with my bench power supply. No observable power draw and most importantly, this did not lead the device to boot.

That pretty much reaches the end of my capabilities. I suppose I could test the light sensor but it would be difficult. The board has at least two push buttons on it, on the side opposite the battery, as well as a small USB port. There may be some way to reset this thing but I'm flying blind.

The warranty has long expired but the company offers a 40% discount off a modern model and that seems to prudent choice. Can't win 'em all.

 

Today I repaired my humble dryer vent. It used to be quite buckled and basically non-working. I removed the flaps and heated them up to lay flat. then put a weight on them as they cooled down. They work like new, even though they still look old. Lesson learned to wipe them down before heating.

 

Today I repaired my humble dryer vent. It used to be quite buckled and basically non-working. I removed the flaps and heated them up to lay flat. then put a weight on them as they cooled down. They work like new, even though they still look old. Lesson learned to wipe them down before heating.View attachment 357499

View attachment 357500

Not sure it's worth the effort.

 

Woodpecker making holes.


I called the expert to repair the holes.

 

You gotta love a woman wielding a caulking gun. The lovely wife Morticia would have mixed up some Bondo.

 

Not sure it's worth the effort.

View attachment 357503

For my situation, there are no visible screws. Being that it cost $0.00 and 15 minutes of time, it was worth it.

 

Did the same thing a few months ago with the exact same shutter. Used a rag on an extension gripper to swab out the duct. Like new.

It's not about the cost, it's about using what you have. If it's above the Index Of Goodenoughness, keep it.

ak

 

I have a Ipad I gave to my wife, she used it all the time. One day she had trouble with the screen dimming, flickering the black. I could get it back on for a moment then out again. Looked up resources and seem a software glitch. Tried their fix but failed.

So, I took it to a laptop place and they said it was to old and not to fix it. Then the girl at the shop held it so I could see a slight bend in the aluminum case, right at the charging port as well as the on/off button just above it.. I took it home and placed it on the stone counter top and pushed down, suddenly the screen came back and she’s been using it fault free for a couple days.

kv

 

My daily used 10 year old cheap sphygmomanometer died again. There is four silicone hoses in it, 2 repaired like 4 years ago; at the air pump, at the purge solenoid. Sealed with glue these leak-prone fittings at the cuff bladder today without breaking anything. Works just fine again. Happy.

 

The driver seat cushion on my vehicle torn from 25 years of butt sliding in and out. Spent a couple of hours strolling the wreck yard and extracted the passenger seat cushion of a BMW closely matching size, material and color needed.
No upholsterer involved.
Swapped. Am happy.

 

What's wrong with duct tape?

 

What's wrong with duct tape?

View attachment 359259

I can imagine that, after a long and arduous trip, one gets off that seat sporting a soggy silver butt ...

 

My subwoofer had a raspy voice, like if the voice coil windings were not glued to the bobbin. Somehow I was able to detach its outer 'spider' edge to check any friction and pulled the whole cone/coil upwards to inspect. Did find the coil healthy, can be just friction from not-centered. Confirmed by feeding an oscillator. Glued back by pushing the spider to a silent point. Will see hear when glue dries... Sorry the video did not attach showing the cone vibrating at 12Hz.

 

NOT A SPEAKER!! And actually it was last week. Some spike from the power company, (DTE) killed the motion sensor for the light that lights my front steps. First, it was stuck ON. Then it would not come on when it saw motion. I thought it was the triac that shorted, but it is deeper than that. It has a whole lot of components packed onto a tiny little PCB. So I installed a different one that did not fit the same. (The motion sensor, and an LED light, all live just below my RFD style mailbox. Out of sight and sheltered from the weather. If I figure out how to post a picture I would do that, because nobody will believe my description.

 

Several years ago , a brownout/spike shorted windings in the power transformer of my Marantz 4400 receiver. Next day I complained to the power company and they bought the transformer and delivered to me. All good again. One in a million cases. This is less believable ! They had a guy in charge of solving/compensating for those (their fault) events !

 

Several years ago

That kind of response sounds like several d.e.c.a.d.e.s ago.

ak