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| Author |
Message |
keesan
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Maintenance
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Feb 19 21:42 UTC 1998 |
What sorts of regular maintenance do you do on tools, appliances, etc.? I
expect this to include replacing lubricants and small worn parts, making
necessary adjustments, etc. What else? Have you had problems with things
that are difficult to maintain? Are some brands better in that respect? Any
interesting stories about things that stopped working due to lack of
maintenance?
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| 43 responses total. |
keesan
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response 1 of 43:
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Feb 20 20:30 UTC 1998 |
Concerning an electric drill (Sioux or Milwaukee 45 degree angle): The screws
in the body loosened up, and its the body that holds the gears in alignment.
It ruined the gears so they didn't mesh anymore, and the drill split apart.
Now the body is all worn out. The gears had to be replaced, for about $30
including shipping. Some of the screws had fallen out, others had loosened,
I never noticed it, I had never run into this before. It's an all plastic
body drill, maybe they can't use jam screws in there? The screws were into
metal inserts, which were okay, its just that the screws didn't stay in the
metal inserts. Maybe they should have built it differently? Now I know
what's going on, I am keeping an eye on the screws and the body.
J. Deigert
The freezer door on our 50s refrigerator just started falling apart.
It seems to have also lost a screw. What sort of maintenance do refrigerators
need besides checking the gasket and dusting the coils in back (and of course
cleaning). The lightbulb acts as if it is rusted in place. A thermostat on
another model shed one small piece - should these be checked occasionally?
The refrigerator is permanently set to freezer temp until we fix it.
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n8nxf
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response 2 of 43:
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Feb 21 21:54 UTC 1998 |
When lightbulb threads get sticky like that, I like to smear a thin coat
of Vaseline on the bulb threads. It makes getting the net time
it needs to be replaced.
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keesan
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response 3 of 43:
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Feb 23 04:55 UTC 1998 |
How do you suggest getting it out this time without breaking it? At present,
we have a magnet-type flashlight on the fridge instead (or turn on the ceiling
light).
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rcurl
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response 4 of 43:
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Feb 23 05:30 UTC 1998 |
You can't do much to maintain a refrigerator except what you are doing.
The base of a lightbulb is now aluminum, and this corrodes making a rough
surface - which is why the bulb becomes difficult to remove. I also use the
vaseline trick. You could spray in a little WD-40, which momentarily
lubricates the rough spots, and maybe the bulb will come out more easily.
Nevertheless I have broken off bulbs trying to remove them, in which case it
becomes a matter of trying to turn the base with pliers, mangling it in
the process. Unplug the fridge, of course, before taking really strong
action (or using WD-40...it's flammable).
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gibson
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response 5 of 43:
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Feb 23 05:59 UTC 1998 |
Once the bulb break, use needle nose pliers. Grab 1 side, bend it in
part way to loosen it, then just unscrew it.
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davel
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response 6 of 43:
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Feb 23 12:03 UTC 1998 |
... disconnecting the power cord first, I hope.
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gibson
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response 7 of 43:
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Feb 24 05:42 UTC 1998 |
That takes the fun out of it!
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keesan
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response 8 of 43:
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Feb 25 01:20 UTC 1998 |
Patrick, you are welcome to come over and play with my fridge.
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keesan
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response 9 of 43:
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Apr 5 14:32 UTC 1998 |
Yesterday we fixed a Kiwanis tape deck marked 'works' in one place and 'needs
work' in another. It would not move in the play position. Used the trusty
Swiss Army Knife to remove a lot of tape wound around the pinch roller.
(The knife is a recent present from the owner of the fixed VCR). The wood
saw was just right for the job (but we had to take the door off first) along
with tweezers. The cause of the problem was a really filthy pinch roller,
which I had to scrape a lot before cleaning with alcohol. SHould have been
cleaned a long time ago. Well, this problem (tape not moving because of the
jam due to not cleaning the roller) seems to be responsible for another
problem - the tape turns off after a few seconds (worn clutch?). Lack of
maintenance can ruin things in unexpected ways. (Tape acts as if it has
reached the end, when at the beginning - gets worse over time - any other
ideas? We have not had it apart again.)
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other
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response 10 of 43:
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Apr 5 17:28 UTC 1998 |
check for gunk around the drive belt and pulleys driving the spindle. the
resistance it causes would disengage the drive exactly as would the end of
tape resistance.
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davel
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response 11 of 43:
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Apr 5 22:20 UTC 1998 |
Re-glued some joints in a chair (including one I'd fixed before <sigh>).
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keesan
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response 12 of 43:
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Apr 5 22:44 UTC 1998 |
re #10, we cleaned all the belts, too, everything looked okay. Will have to
take it all apart again. It worked okay until we played about half a tape,
then got increasingly worse. WOuld stop, then run the second time we turned
it on, for about 20 sec, then stop again. Finally it would not start at all.
What sort of glue do you use on chairs? It is supposed to be something that
you can get out again easily, for this reason.
Nice library video from Fine WOodworking on furniture repair.
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other
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response 13 of 43:
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Apr 6 07:53 UTC 1998 |
how about gunk in the electric motor itself? have you tried several different
tapes and gotten the same result?
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davel
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response 14 of 43:
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Apr 6 13:50 UTC 1998 |
I just use standard wood glue. I also have access to neither the AA Library
(for checkout purposes, that is) nor a VCR.
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keesan
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response 15 of 43:
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Apr 7 20:40 UTC 1998 |
Davel, would you like a cheap VCR?
Jim thinks the belts in the tape deck may be too loose and are slipping, the
way they would at the end of a tape. Have cleaned them, but they may have
gotten worn out by being played with tape stuck in the machine. Another tape
deck (of three left to try to repair for Kiwanis) will not open the door,
which seems to have been melted shut in one corner. A third would not open
until we opened the case, turned the flywheel to the right position. The
belts are definitely loose, but with cleaning it now plays.
You can watch videos at the library on their machine.
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davel
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response 16 of 43:
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Apr 8 11:16 UTC 1998 |
No. No TV to hook it to, either.
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keesan
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response 17 of 43:
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Apr 8 17:10 UTC 1998 |
Works on a monochrome or composite monitor, we don't have a TV either. Or
on a TV that gets channel 3 but no others. I wonder how many grex members
don't have TVs - we know two others besides you and us. Monitors are so much
more interesting! Make that only a composite monitor, but we had a composite
monitor that was green on black (don't quite follow this). They were used
on early Commodores and Apples, Jim says. We have run across four color
composite monitors. IBM and Zenith PCs were designed to use them. Lots of
companies made monochrome composite, on the game type computers used color
ones. We fixed two more tape players most of hte way - they probably need
new belts (one does not auto stop, just squeaks, the other seems loose after
cleaning). Anybody want to come in and try to fix a few bad switches at
Kiwanis? Or sort old software and manuals and dump much of the stuff?
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scg
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response 18 of 43:
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Apr 8 19:23 UTC 1998 |
I'm using the monitor from my aunt's old Commodore 64 as my TV. It's getting
old and wearing out. The color isn't all that good anymore. I should
probably replace it at some point, but I haven't gotten around to it.
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keesan
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response 19 of 43:
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Apr 8 20:08 UTC 1998 |
JIm asks how it can wear out and what can happen to the color. We have never
had a worn out monitor. Can you tell us what the problem is, in case it is
some simply adjustment? (If you do decide you don't want it, please pass it
along to us.) Is there anything labelled R G or B with a knob or three?
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scg
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response 20 of 43:
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Apr 9 05:34 UTC 1998 |
It's not that the color is uniformly off, but it sometimes gets very bright
while I'm watching it, and then goes back to normal a few seconds later, and
does other weird stuff like that. It actually seems better now than it used
to. I'm assuming it doing that is a sign of being worn out, rather than
something it has done since the beginning, but I don't really know.
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void
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response 21 of 43:
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Apr 9 09:02 UTC 1998 |
(i don't own a tv. my roomie does, but i rarely watch it.)
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n8nxf
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response 22 of 43:
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Apr 9 11:31 UTC 1998 |
(Sounds like a voltage regulator isn't.)
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scott
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response 23 of 43:
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Apr 9 12:59 UTC 1998 |
Of course TVs wear out... the picture tube is a big vacuum tube, which can
weaken over time, plus a phosphor coating that can gradually be used up (newer
TVs are better than old TVs for longevity of the phosphors, thanks to improved
materials and processes).
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rcurl
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response 24 of 43:
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Apr 9 16:36 UTC 1998 |
Phosphors get used up? How? [Serious question - I can imagine them falling
off, since they are powders cemented to the inside of the screen in some
fashion, or being oxidized or otherwise chemically altered, but what are
the causes of their deterioration?]
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