1

I thought of this because I know computers, electronics I end up fixing all kinds of things. Car, boat electrical, home theaters, appliances (and of corse networks, computers, smartphones).

Last summer I fixed a large fancy trolling motor for my parents. The controller board that does the speed, steering, etc was fried.
Last week I determined what was wrong with their dishwasher. I saw a flashing light on the control panel which meant nothing to them besides it was not working. I figuring it was some diagnostic code so I Googled it. Many sites said shorted control panel does this. I told my dad and he ordered a new one. It came this morning so I put it in about 15 min later after plugging it in again and clearing the error it was ready to go. Occasionally I have fixed stereos, receivers, etc for home theater devices for people.

It’s usually an interesting experience working with these things. I know basic electronics, and to a degree troubleshooting is somewhat similar to computers. Other than that some of these things I have no real idea how it works. When I get a culprit it’s kind of like I hope i’m right even though have no real background or training on the stuff to know more certain. So far I’ve got probably a 85% success rate with things working.

14 Spice ups
2

No odd electronics, but I do work on cars.

2 Spice ups
3

An ice maker :slight_smile:

A wise user decided to place a bag of bagels - on top of the ice maker. It sucked in the bag and attempted to make bagel ice. The end result was not good. After taking it apart and cleaning everything, it was fine.

6 Spice ups
4

I had to replace the pressure tank on our well the weekend before Christmas. So far, no leaks. Yay!

Saved the weekend cost of a plumber, so I’m a happy camper.

5

My relationship! Damn!

7 Spice ups
6

At work? Had to touch up walls with paint. Thought it was a rather odd request.

At home? - Whatever the Mrs. says.

7
  • Transmission fluid, oil, tires, etc.
  • Induction range control board.
  • Freezer fan and ice maker tray / heater.
  • Anything requiring a reciprocating saw (decks, doors).
8

hmmm, not sure how odd but I replaced a wire harness on a car once. THAT was interesting and a bit challenging however it all ended up working in the end.

Parents used to have a cabin in the mountains. Build in the 30’s/40’s. As it was build on a large rock formation there was lots of storage underneath. Crawling back in there…the cabin was, in places, supported by miscellaneous 8" x 8" posts that various small rocks were wedged under. Had to pound a few rocks back in to shim it up once. Building codes weren’t exactly what they are today.

9

Oh and my telescope mount (Meade LXD-75). It had a drive fault and sent a drive arm into the drive housing, ruining two worm gears and blew a MOSFET from the controller board.

The right was the blown MOSFET next to a new one (left).

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The drive fault happened a few moments after I took this image of the sunspot group 2192…

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6 Spice ups
10

NOt sure if i should spice this up or not… I love the picture and what you do for a hobby, but hearing the mount went nuts and caused a lot of damage sucks.

1 Spice up
11

Many years ago I worked at technical services for the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. I worked on things like pneumatic mechanical bears, replacing LEDs for spider eyes in the haunted castle, pulling thousands of feet of fiber, coax, 18/2 under the boardwalk and connecting huge triple-ought power cables to the beach stage. One particularly interesting project I remember was helping install the camera system for the roller coaster that takes pictures of riders available for printing when you exit. There were some real challenges to erect and support a stable truss to mount the camera on and minimize vibration from the roller coaster.

2 Spice ups
12

That’s when this meme comes in handy

spiceupordown.jpg

Except I made it geared for topics…I should revise to say “spice up or not”

But thanks! The damage sucked. It took $300 to get it back to working order.

1 Spice up
13

At work, probably a letter folding machine in pieces that was donated to the non-profit I was working for at the time. No manual (couldn’t find one on Google, either, which was strange).

Fortunately, I have an aptitude for figuring out mechanical things, and was able to put all the pieces and parts together so it would work. They had to send out about 1000 letters at the beginning of the year which they usually did by hand. That folding machine really saved us some time, and I helped stuff envelopes at a “stuffing” party so we could send them out. It was still working when I left.

14

a hot-glue book-binding machine,

a Grafik EYE system integration to a home theatre,

a tennis court,

an in-pool bar-n-grill,

an in-ground pool niche light that shocked people while the power was physically disconnected at both the panel and the electric meter,

2 Spice ups
15

Probably a DC power source of some sort would not be surprised had some capacitors in it. Or maybe there’s something else powering it or maybe the light was connected somehow to another source. Usually allot of lights for things like that are like 12V AC you shouldn’t even be able to notice it unless being wet makes things that noticeable.

16

I got an RC car working last summer!!

…it needed a new (charged) battery. So, I can only be so proud.

1 Spice up
17

I fixed the office managers purse-strap once.

2 Spice ups
18

Been there before… failed both times.

Well, the OP didn’t say anything about being successful, right?

1 Spice up
19

Got asked to “work” on a blocked toilet when someone decided not to flush it! Managed to refuse that one!

20

at work- a chair because I’m mechanically inclined and they couldn’t get it to go down. And then I fixed one of my employees shirt snaps where it came apart from a metal grommet before his class to impress a girl.

at home- if it’s broke I fix it.