What I fixed today (or yesterday).

848 responses total.

My bicyle headlamp on-off switch broke.  I also had a pin in the connector
for the battery pack wire break off during straigtening.  This is a cheap
($30) unit with a separate battery pack and a 4 foot cable.  I didn't want
to junk it because I had invested in 2 sets of NiCad 'C' batteries (4 per
set), and there was little else wrong.

Took out whatever I had to to make the unit permanently on, then used hot glue
to close the switch holes.  I then removed the broken connector, and ran wire
out the same hole.  I found a couple RCA type connectors in my parts box, and
made in inline connection about 4" from the lamp.  On/off is by using the
connector.

ooh!  looking forward to contributing to this item!

I fixed a car stereo that I pulled out of the trash a few weeks ago.
It looked like it had been dropped from about 20 ft. up.  Case pretty
bent up, circuit boards inside with cracks in them and chunks missing.
front bezel cracked and shifted to one side, etc.  A challenge!
 
I spliced the cracked traces on the PC board with solder and strands of
wire, straightened out the metal parts with a hammer and block of wood
after removing them, glued the plastic bezel where it needed it, figured
out where the power and 4 speakers connected (No small task!), etc.  Yes,
it does work ;-)

Now I am working on an HP 540 Ink Jet printer I pulled out of the trash.
So far as I can tell, the main PC board as a problem with its processor.
Don't know if I can fix this one for next to nothing...

I attempted to fix a bulletin board that had come out of its (hardwood) frame.
I say "attempted" advisedly, as I fixed it before & the kids managed to make
it come apart again.  Originally it was held together with staples through
the b.board into the wood.  The previous time I added a few small nails.  This
time I also (somewhat against my better judgment) used wood glue.  After that
was done I suddenly had a thought, and located some glazier's points I'd
bought years ago, & added some of them, too.  (I'm hoping that the fact that
the pressure on them will be at right angles to their entry into the wood will
help.)
We'll see if it stands up to the abuse it gets.

Today I straightened the pins on a spare CPU that I didn't bother to
store carefully.  I also mounted a heatsink and fan on the system I'm
putting together.  
I also started some of the finishing touches on the speaker stands.
Oh, and laundry, but that's a different conf.

A shelf in a kitchen cupboard that a previous owner of our house had made
1/2" short and 1-1/2" too narrow managed to hold our cups for 15 years, but
was finally pushed off its supports, creating a cascade of cups, half of
which broke. I made the shelf the right size by adding rails on the side
and end, and stanined and varnished it. Should have done this 15 years ago...

I got 9 pairs of long underwear at Kiwanis.  I know this is not very related,
but DIY'ers working outside might appreciate paying only $2/3.  Sales goes
through Sat. 3 p.m..  Warm sweaters for $1, work shirts ditto, and their
hardware department is a blast.

I started working on this instrument thing I've been planning to build for
far too long.  Cut the pieces of wood into shape, cut the soundholes in the
soundboard, and now I'm waiting until I'm more conscious to glue it togeter.

Finally assembled a computer desk that fits my needs and space. It is a
2x4" table with folding legs, and a 2 shelf rack above it made from metal
support rods bolted to the table and shelves from _InterMetro_ (sold by
Ace hdwr).  I still intend to put a shelf under it across the legs frames. 
Compact, adjustable shelves, open structure, cheaper than the junk desks
sold "for computers". Holds CPU, monitor, keyboard, two printers, scanner,
UPS, ZIP drive and modem...and all the manuals, disks, etc I expect to
have (before everything is totally obsolete and I have to start over....).

The computer I'm using as a router started making weird noises, and when I
opened it up I found that the power supply fan was turning a few revolutions
and then stopping, and then turning a few more revolutions and stopping.  I
pulled a power supply out of a dead computer at work and used it to replace
the old power supply in my computer.  If I'd been feeling really adventurous
I woudl have tried replacing just the fan, but since I had a whole power
supply, and power supplies have all sorts of scary warning labels on them,
it seemed easier to put the whole new power supply in.

Noticed that the wire from my UHF antenna to the main antenna combining box
was down.  Aha, that is why UHF reception has been bad lately.  Got the
ladder, went up to the roof and reconnectd the wire.

My roomate just rewired the three extension phones so that they would all act
like the main phone, and I could answer an extension phone and then pick up
and talk on the desk phone, which I could not do since the fax/phone switch
went in. Two of them are now not working, what is the convention for red and
green wires?  (There is still also some confusion as to which phone gets
plugged into the fax machine and which into the switch - I am hoping that the
phone to which modethe modem is plugged is going to stay operable.  (If you
see any strange characters it is because this operation is going on as I type.
I was instructed to write for help with the red and green wires.)

Managed to thoroughly botch and then partially un-botch the gluing on this
instrument I'm making.  See item:9 for the gory details :)

The *convention* is that Tip = + = a wire = Green, and Ring = - = b wire =
Red, but I don't think it matters anymore with modern phone circuits.
When a polarized voltage is tapped from the phone line, a full-wave rectifier
is used. 

        I've got a dual digital alarm that at about 1 year started breaking
switches. with 2 alarms to set and date and 2 on/off it has a few. i liked
the clock and couldn't find another so a trip to radio shack got some mini
switches and i settled in for the duration. figuring out the circuits took
a few hours. turned out you turn on the alarms by turning off the power to
them, snooze and turning off the alarms is by applying power. i wired it up,
used the sides of a drill bit as a router to make slots for the mini slide
switches, put it all together and am still using it 10 years later. 

Figured out the phone late last night.  We are using a collection of
non-modern phones, where it mattered.  Is L1 + common to ground used by the
phone company?  The phones now all ring once only for a fax.

Cut pieces for kitchen curtains.  I hope I do the sewing before too long,
these are the last curtains needed.

Ring is at (near) ground when the phone is on hook, and Tip is then at ca. 
-50 v w.r.t. ground. However off-hook, both lines are below ground (I just
checked that for this line, and *black* was at -30 v, and *yellow* was at
-37 volts. I don't immediately know which of yellow or black is Tip or
Ring. I would guess that black is Ring. 

Did you know that the phone company is required to offer a certain number of
party lines in each neighborhood?  We got one for about $8.50/month, limited
service, dial only, with no other party on the line.  They did not want to
tell us anything at all about how to wire the phone as tip or ring.

Phone voltages work negative, yeah.  Normal on-hook voltage is 48vDC, 
ring signal is about 180 VAC peak-to-peak (!), and off-hook is a low 
voltage DC with the AC voice signal riding on it.  You can actually take 
2 of the older (non-electronic) telephones and wire them up in series 
with a 6VDC or greater power supply to make an intercom.  Sounds normal, 
but you can't get the bells to do anything.

r.e. #10  It is very common for the cheap fans in computer power supplies
to go.  I have replace lots of them!  It's no big deal.  All the warning
labels apply only if you have t he power supply plugged into teh wall while
you open it up.  The fans are 12 volt DC units.

what is a party line?  what is the difference between a party line and a
regular phone line?  is this some outmoded regulation that just hasn't been
made to conform with the current nature of the marketplace?

You can't use the party line when the other party is using it.  They used to
be quite common back in the fifties.  But we have no other party.  I am
thiking of requesting a second party line for my apartment, a block from my
first party line, since I would not be using both at once.  Either tip or ring
does not need the phone rewired, I forget which.
If you pick up the phone and hear the other party talking, you apologize and
hang up and wait.  But there is an allotted number perneighborhood and in Ann
Arbor there will probably be nobody on your party line.  In the boonies there
are fewer wires and more shared lines.

How does that work for long distance billing?

Same as anything else, I presume.  Ameritech just started charging about 50
cents/month for service without long distance.  Some time before that ATT had
calledand tried to sign me up, I said I did not need l. d. on that phone but
presume I was already signed up with them.  They asked for my mother's maiden
name to confirm, and next thing I new I had been billed $5 and signed up. I
protested strongly and got a refund.  Then ATT sent a $75 check which, if I
cashed it, would automatically sign me up.  I called them and pointed out that
I did not make long distance calls fromthat phone, but if I ever did would
change to a cheaper service.  They said that was okay, so I cashed the check.
Last month Ameritech told me I had no long distance carrier.  ATT is pretty
incompetent.  So I signed up with a cheaper company, which sent me a $5 check
to cover the fee, and then there was no fee (first time service).  I have not
made any l. d. calls but assume they would be billed same as usual.  My
cheaper company is TELCO, and is 10 cents/minute, plus a $3 charge or it will
be 15 cents 9-5 M-F.

Continuation of the fax/phone switch:  As part of the rewiring, the answering
machine was moved to the top of the fireplace mantel where it sits under the
switch amidst a tangle of cords and near two phones, a fax, and a transformer.
I had trouble getting close enough to view it for new messages.  Borrowing
an idea suggested for viewing a clock that would only run in the horizontal
position, it now has a mirror behind it for viewing the message indicator.

 I found an old computer, and retrieved 2 1.2 drives, plus various cards
and ports. They went into the hardware box for future use. Not sure how
well the floppies work, but that is yet to be seen.

finished the kitchen curtains a few days ago, then yesterday shortened them
a bit to fit better.

I found a way to take apart and salvage some of the large PVC fittings
that I glued last weekend...

OUCH on the PVC, we sympathize.  We have started insulating, and hope not to
have to take any of it apart.

Yesterday evening, while using my $29.95 Skill saw, I noticed that it was
running very noisily.  Sounding as though it had no lubrication, I put
it on the bench and pulled the gear box apart.  Sure enough, all the
grease had been slung from the gears and was stuck to the gearbox
enclosure.  I added oil to it to reduce the viscousity and, with a small
screw driver, loosened the stiff grease and mixed it with the oil.
After reassembling it, it still sounded bad.  I then oiled the rear
bearing in the motor and now it sounds fine again.  Not really a
repair, but more like making a $29.95 saw last as long as a $79.95 saw.

Maintenance rather than repair?  Are these saws designed for easy maintenance
or designed to be disposable?  Some of the cheaper stuff is nearly impossible
to get apart and together again, but is appropriate for the sort of use it
might get over the lifetime of an amateur.

"Maintenance" is either routine steps taken to increase the life or
function of something, or repair. 

Webster:  to keep in an existing state, as of repair, efficiency, or validity.
'Repair and maintenance' distinguishes between them.  Words have lots of
different meanings that overlap depending on context.  Makes it hard to
translate a lot of technical literature, unless you are really familiar with
a particular field.  

But they overlap - repair and maintenance are not totally distinct. You
will find many books on "House Maintenance", which includes repair (which
you have to do to maintain in most cases). Anyway, I said I wasn't going to
get into a semantic argument when it won't get anything maintained/repaired.

Yesterday I helped someone with a fancy fax-scanner-copier and a fancy phone
(with call waiting, 2 lines with distinctive ring, and caller ID), both fax
and phone had fax-phone switches, hook up the line so it all works (first time
since it was bought in May).  We tested everything except call waiting, what
happens when you get a call coming in when you are on grex?  Can you tell if
it is a fax or a voice call?  (Maybe the call waiting is only on one number,
but what happens when on grex if someone calls?)

you get brief line noise, then disconnection.  then the phone will ring.

...bummer...

We'd better warn the guy about this, but he would probably rather get
disconnected from grex than miss a business call.  For some reason, he does
not want to have two phone lines.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss