My roommate, who loves challenges, would like to offer advice on how (or in
some cases whether) to fix the following:
Large appliances:  stoves, portable ovens, refrigerators, freezers, washing
machines, dryers, dehumidifiers.  (How large is a large appliance?)
Small appliances:  lamps, space heaters, fans, vacuum cleaners, hairdryers,
and assorted portable kitchen appliances.
Home entertainment:  radios, tape players, CD players, telephones
Tools:  power tools (saws, drills), saw sharpening, manual garden tools
Miscellany:  metal furniture, pressure cookers, thermometers, electrical test
equipment, baby strollers, toys, tents, flashlights, backpacks, shoes, bike
helmets, eyeglasses, birdfeeders, zippers, music boxes, you name it!
No gasoline-burners, TVs, or amplified musical instruments please.
Hands-on help is offered only to those who cannot use their own hands.

171 responses total.

an example of a large appliance could be: a 1.2 gigawatt portable diesel
generator which both resembles and functions like a semi-trailer.

a small appliance could be: an in-ear hearing aid...

Webster's Third International Dictionary (1961):  Appliance 2b:  an
instrument or device designed for a particular use c a household or office
mechanism (as a stove, fan or refrigerator).  operated by gas, electric
current, or a small motor. 

Instrument:  1b:  tool,  2:  utensil, implement

Device:  1e: a piece of equipment or a mechanism designed to serve a special
purpose or perform a special function

By definition 2b your giant generator would be a large appliance, and the
hearing aid a small appliance.  I have heard of a dental appliance, which
I think is used to train teeth into a new position. 

But I would suggest the more common definition of household mechanism.  If
you want to start an item on portable diesel generators, I would bet you
can find a better category for it. A hearing aid is a medical device.
What category are eyeglasses or electric toothbrushes? 

The 1982 American Heritage Dictionary, College Edition, defines appliance
as simply A device or instrument, esp. one operated by electricity and
designed for household use.  Shall we call a large appliance one that is
not easily moved by one person, but is small enough to fit inside a room? 


Tool (Webster):  1a  an instrument (as a hammer) used or worked by hand:
implement  b (1) the cutting or shaping part in a machine or machine tool
(2):  a machine for shaping metal:  machine tool  2a:  an instrument or
apparatus used in performing an operation or necessary in the practice of
a vocation or profession.
.

Well, yeah, but a cook would call a blender a tool and a handyman would call
a blender an appliance.  To a cook, it _is_ a tool - it serves a purpose, and
you use it to make things.  To the mechanical sort, it _is_ an appliace - it's
something you've got in your house that's bigger than a light bulb, smaller
than a tractor, and has a motor.
It's not like there are strict divisions between these things anyway.  As much
as I love semantic arguments...

This item appears to be intended to encompass what the whole conference
is intended to encompass. Why doesn't your roomate, keesan, just respond
in items in the conference, rather than expect everyone to also post their
items in this item? 

He was just offering to help, in case people were wondering what sorts of
items were actually fixable.  It was not expected to turn into a discussion
of definitions (see item 1).  But not much happens the way you expect.

Everything is fixable...whether it is *worth* fixing is another matter. Its
amazing how many things are built to not be easily fixed. The modem with
the chip fuse comes to mind...I replaced that, but most people would just
have to buy a new modem. 

Do you know anything about fixing a fax power supply?  The repair shops 'fix'
them by replacing the unit.  It works intermittently - after it has not been
used for a few months, the fax works fine, until I turn it off, then it will
not go on again.  Brother/Epson power supply.  A capacitor of some sort?

I doubt it.  Perhaps a funky solder connection?  Perhaps an open
bleeded resistor around a capacitor?  Hard to say...

We have a quartz clock, with a tested-good battery, that will run for only
20 minutes when vertical (hung on the wall), but runs indefinitely when
horizontal facing up (did not check it mounted on the ceiling yet).  What is
the cure?  Does it need something cleaned?  On arrival it was dead, but taking
it apart and poking at it got it running.  A rummage-sale special.

try forcing compressed air through the works, to see if anything (dust
bunnies) comes out.  also, give the woks a little shake, and see if you can
hear anything loose.  shake gently though.

We did all that, next step is to take it all the way apart, I guess.

Run it horizontally. Set up a mirror so you can read it from afar, if you'd
like. You can also get replacement quartz movements for just a few dollars.
They can go bad for all sorts of reasons, but commonly the pivots get worn
and gunky, which causes drag, or causes the gears to not mesh correctly.
Happens in all mechanical clocks, quartz or not. If you really like the
case/dial, replace the movement (and maybe the hands, as finding replacement
movements that will also accept the hands on hand is not easy).

We have a spare movement but for a smaller set of hands.  Where does one buy
a new movement?  Or I could try it on the ceiling.  The case is large, round
and white and has dark black numbers and hands and can be read without
glasses, so is worth re-doing.  Thanks for the idea.  Do you know why a clock
would work horizontally but not vertically?

The wear of the pivots and pivot holes lets the gears misalign, possibly
causing jamming or more friction. The pivots settle to the bottom of
the picot holes when the clock is vertical. 

For parts, try TimeSavers, http://www.timesavers.com

Maybe the insides lean forward and scrape the inside of the glass?

The glass is off, it still stops.  Rane's explanation makes sense.  The clock
will start again if shaken up, then when it runs probably settles.  Is there
no local store that sells mechanisms?

Try either Franks Nursery & crafts, or maybe a hobby shop?

I saw a clock kit at that science place in Briarwood, but that is a very
expensive way to get just a replacement movement (and hands). Replacement
quartz movements are only $4-5 from TimeSavers...postage will cost as much.
Clock repair is among my hobbies, so when I need a quartz movement I wait
until I have enough other stuff to get to make it worthwhile.

        Rane do you fix clocks for other people? I have an old one that would
run a short time but doesn't do anything now. It's a windup.

It sounds cheaper to just pick up another used clock at a rummage sale than
buy a new mechanism.  We have another clock that was $1 and works.

That's why I asked if the case and dial was of interest. I would not replace
the movement in a junker case/dial (e.g., plastic). 

I don't have time to offer public clock repair. It is also awkward for
private individuals to offer to fix clocks without making it a business,
as no one believes what should be charged for the work, or what should
be done. No clock repairer will do a half-way job, but must totally
disassemble the clock, clean all parts, and repair or replace all parts
that are broken or warn. I might do a partial job on my own clocks, but
then I can't complain when it stops again, can I? Clock cleaning and repair
starts at ca. $100 for very simple clocks. Chimers - think $200 up. 
(Incidentally, clocks *strike* the hour - chiming is always music.)

I got a 48 hour wind-up (mantel) clock cleaned and 'repaired' for $45 and it
ran for about 2 days after that.  They must also wear out.  Why is my electric
wall clock still running after at least 20 years, is it made differently from
the battery type?  
Are the quartz-mechanism gears thinner, or a different material, or just
poorer tolerance?

Battery mechanisms run at the minimum possible power so quit when things
start rubbing. Line powered clocks consume a lot more power and just
overpower friction for much longer. Did you take that clock back to the
repairer when it failed to run after two days? He/she has a responsibility
to warrant the repair for at least a year, if in the business.

No, I gave it to a friend as a mantel decoration.  The repairer tried hard,
had it in the shop for a couple of weeks trying to get it to keep proper time.
It was probably not very well made and was about 75 years old.  Regarding
friction, would cleaning and lubrication help a quartz mechanism?  If so, with
what chemicals?

The only useful cleaning and lubrication requires total disassembly. One
cannot disassemble quartz movements, usually. Cleaning a clock requires
reaming out gunk in pivot holes (with a wood stick), and lubrication is
done with quantities of *clock* oil, like 0.01 of a drop (there are special
oiling tools for that purpose). The "war stores" in the clock trade are
about people bringing in clocks dripping with oil (usually 3-In-One, which
is a disaster for clocks). 

would graphite powder be an acceptable lubricant for clock movements?
i know it is used in the tight tolerances of locksmithing...

Graphite powder is used in locks because its viscosity doesn't change
with temperature and because it doesn't become thick with time.  In
lock tumblers you have pins sliding in cylinders while in clocks you
have pins turning in journals.  Oil holds better in journals and gets
too stick in cylinders.  Graphite would not last long in a journal.
 
As I recall, those little AA cell powered quartz movements use all
plastic parts, including the gears.  They are a sloppy fit and the
plastic changes dimensionally as the plastic outgasses.  Sometimes
a poorly trimmed gate can interfere with other parts.  If you can
take the movement apart, look for plastic where it doesn't belong and
trim it with an Exacto knife or whatever.  I've also run across move-
ments where the hands were rubbing against one another and stopping
the clock  that way.  If your movement is plastic, silicone oil would
be the best lubricant.  And only a tiny bit.

Klaus is correct about the non-applicability of graphite to clocks.  Clock
oil was for a long time a highly refined whale oil. It must have very
specific surface tension properties, which iinclude *does not spreaingd
readily on metal*, and staying in the pivot hole. Spreading would empty
the pivot holes, as well as make the plates gunky and collect dust. There
are now synthetic clock oils, but they are still liquid fats. You may be
able to repair a quartz movement with a hack job like Klaus describes - if
you can take it apart. But remember - they only cost $ 4-5....consider
your time. 

Well, we have nothing to lose except time, but you may hear from us about
adding to your next order for clock parts.  It is a nice sturdy case.

One of the retainers, where it goes into the bearing, was not at a right angle
so the plastic retainer was shaved (with a hacksaw) so that when it was
clamped down it was square with the armature shaft (so it went in straight),
so the plastic pin went straight into the plastic hole and the fit was not
so sloppy.  We will know in about 20 minutes if this helped.  This did not
seem to be a problem of wear but of warping.  The challenge here is not to
get the clock working but to get the mechanism working.  We have other clocks.

The clock, which used to stop after 20 minutes, has now been running 35.  We
don't know if it ever worked before we got it.  It came labelled 50cents,
needs some tinkering.  Thanks for letting us know we could cheaply replace
the mechanism so we could risk ruining this one, and for the idea of too much
friction.  Make that 40 minutes now.  If anyone does not understand what we
did, that makes two of us (I just type here).

[Rane thinks of repairing a clock with a hacksaw, and passes out....]

You can get quartz movements, pretty cheap, from most any
woodworker/toymakers' supply catlogue, BTW.

The clock ran for 2 hours this time.  Will now try silicone oil.  The point
is not to make the clock work but to make the mechanism work.  We also hope
to repair the power supplies on three faxes (not replace them, that is too
easy and very wasteful).

"Too easy.." <grin>
I like these people

The second hand did not come off easily, so the clock has been oiled from the
back, only half the bearings.  How to remove the second hand properly?
If it works, the clock will eventually go into the kitchen of the house we
have been building since 1986 (hand tools and recycled materials).

On *most* clocks the second and hour hands are press fits, and the minute
hand has a retainer nut. But there are variations...

How hard should you force to get off the second hand, which comes off first?
The clock stopped after 40 minutes once it was oiled, instead of 20 hours.

You can apply enough force to remove the second hand so long as it is
just short of breaking something (heh, hehe, heh...). It is usually
pried off with little curved levers. I just looked at a couple of quartz
movements, and the second hand is mounted on a small tube that slips over
a quite thin rod that comes up the center of the tubes supporting the
minute and hour hands. Under the second hand is the round nut retaining
the minute hand.

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