Fixit Log

[Ego]

Great! I hope it turns out to be the case as I believe it is easier to fix than anything suspension related.

[Toska2]

@theanimal

My friend had a similar problem with his car. When he got new tires they always bounced regardless of normal shop balancing. He had them roadforced (tm) balanced and found that two had broken cords inside the tire. Roadforced balancing applies car like pressure to simulate real forces on the tire.

I would try a friend's wheel set to isloate the problem.

[SavingWithBabies]

I wanted a hand held device that retails for $400 but found one on eBay used with a broken charging base for ~$50. I took a gamble and bought it. As promised, the device did power on but it immediately turned off. I figured the battery was nearly dead. I checked the battery compartment and it did look like a 18650 lithium cell. I opened up the charging base and found it had one of the TP 405x variants of chips on it but there were some burn marks on a couple of chips. I'd guess water damage or the wall wart (which it did not come with) bit the dust and went out with a voltage spike. The circuit board had some pogo pins (the small pins with springs in them that a device stops on that conduct the electricity to the device to charge it).

I thought about how to fix it and realized the easiest way to go was to solder on one of the TP4056 boards I'd ordered a while ago. They are very inexpensive single cell lithium charging boards with micro USB ports (although you can get others, today would go for USB C) on them. I just soldered the battery connections right up to the pogo pins on the dead board and the 5v input to the other end and it worked! I did notice it got a bit warm and there was no venting for the base so I put an inexpensive SSD heatsink on it. It was way too big but I didn't have anything handy to cut down the aluminum and I just used the sticky foam-like tape it came with to attach it to the charging PCB. Then I taped that inside the base to one side so it didn't move around too much and cause a short or other issues. I forgot to take a photo of that heatsink but it was one of these inexpensive ones on AliExpress.

Some photos: https://imgur.com/a/z1Vyujn

I think I'll go back at some point and do a nicer job and expose the USB input so I can charge it via USB instead of using the wall wart.

[Sclass]

Fixed garage door opener

I was leaving the house this morning and I realized my garage door jammed. It appeared to be electrical. The motor made a momentary buzz and then shut down. The door was stuck so I needed to release it from the trolley using the little emergency cord and roll the door up. Interesting the door doesn't stay up on its own. I had to hold it while my wife pulled the cars on to the driveway. I live in fire country so this is actually kind of an issue. No power, no access to the cars. Two people required to open the door.

Anyhow I went through the system with my meter. The controller seemed to be getting 110V. The motor spun freely by hand. I looked at the overall system. Best to understand the system as a first step to debugging or else all your troubleshooting will be random shots. The motor is activated by a control board. The motor has a speed sensor on it to control the speed at which the door goes up. The controls and relays tested good with the meter. The problem was at the motor. The motor is AC and it had a big start capacitor on it. I figured I better pull the capacitor and check it out. The entire Genie unit is over 30 years old so I figured the cap could have blown.

Cap should be open on ohms setting on the meter. It tested closed (zero ohms). Shorted across the plates. I bought a new one at Grainger for $11. Fixed. Oiled up the trolley and screw thread and the hinges in the roll door.

Old Genie unit. From the 1980s.



Capacitor



Should read open (infinite ohms). Reads zero which is dead, shorted. Time for new one.



Kept the garage door man out of my pocket.

[davtheram12]

@Sclass
Great fault finding and fix! I've fixed a few electronics lately and it's amazing how a whole device can simply stop working because of a simple component. Admittedly it can be a little challenging finding the fault but once it's narrowed down, it's usually a simple swap. I can't say the same about fixing micro soldered components but I suppose challenges have their places

[Cam]

Fixed garage door opener

I was leaving the house this morning and I realized my garage door jammed. It appeared to be electrical. The motor made a momentary buzz and then shut down. The door was stuck so I needed to release it from the trolley using the little emergency cord and roll the door up. Interesting the door doesn't stay up on its own. I had to hold it while my wife pulled the cars on to the driveway. I live in fire country so this is actually kind of an issue. No power, no access to the cars. Two people required to open the door.

Anyhow I went through the system with my meter. The controller seemed to be getting 110V. The motor spun freely by hand. I looked at the overall system. Best to understand the system as a first step to debugging or else all your troubleshooting will be random shots. The motor is activated by a control board. The motor has a speed sensor on it to control the speed at which the door goes up. The controls and relays tested good with the meter. The problem was at the motor. The motor is AC and it had a big start capacitor on it. I figured I better pull the capacitor and check it out. The entire Genie unit is over 30 years old so I figured the cap could have blown.

Cap should be open on ohms setting on the meter. It tested closed (zero ohms). Shorted across the plates. I bought a new one at Grainger for $11. Fixed. Oiled up the trolley and screw thread and the hinges in the roll door.

Old Genie unit. From the 1980s.



Capacitor



Should read open (infinite ohms). Reads zero which is dead, shorted. Time for new one.



Kept the garage door man out of my pocket.

Ahh yes the humble start capacitor. I had no idea garage door openers had them! I've seen them in washing machines but that's it. They fall firmly in the 'do not lick the terminals even if tempted' category.

Great fix!

[mountainFrugal]

It is snowing here. A lot. The other day we were driving to the next town and once we got to 40 mph, the entire vehicle started shaking. It felt like the steering column was going to come off! We pulled over to inspect. Snow had accumulated, melted, and froze inside the rims of the wheels. There were large ice blocks on the side of the rims that were closest to the ground when it was parked in our driveway. We did not notice the shaking when driving through town at low speeds, but once we sped up on the state highway the shaking started. The wheels were extremely unbalanced in mass so it caused an unbalanced washing machine effect for the front wheels. The shaking seemed much worse on the driver side front wheel and sure enough that side had more ice inside the rim. After some ice chipping and scrapping the problem was solved.

[theanimal]

Oh man, that one gets frustrating after a while. It happens to me frequently throughout the winter and there always seems to be some ice lingering. It seems to be a problem unique to Subarus with the small wheel wells, I haven’t heard of it occurring with other vehicles. At least it’s somewhat easily fixable, especially if you have access to a heated garage.

[Sclass]

Fixed my nylon faced mallet.

I acquired this Nylon mallet thirty years ago. The replaceable faces have finally self destructed. Leaving a useless tool. The replacement faces are rare items on ebay for $12 a pair. Plumb Cooper tools may not even exist anymore.

So I figured I'd 3d print some faces. I installed them and whacked my anvil a few dozen times and they seem to hold up. Pretty good for fifty cents of filament. I expected them to fall apart at the lamination lines.

[jacob]

Fixed my nylon faced mallet.

Hmmm... now you have me thinking whether I should make a HDPE (Recycle #2) mallet for woodworking. It may be less fragile than using a head of wood.

[Sclass]

I was dreaming of using bottle caps to make a hammer head. However I realized I was too far down the melting, forming and molding learning curve. I don’t have a lathe and I don’t think my wife is going to approve of me using our burger grill to melt caps. But cast HDPE would be a perfect material.

The problem with 3D printing is this head takes a severe beating with a lot of cyclic stress. I suspect it will eventually fail along the layer lines. Time will tell. I’m planning on printing a couple of more faces to put on the shelf. They’re easy enough to press on.

I forgot to say I use this mallet a lot. It has been one of my most used hammers for the last thirty years. It is really good for automotive work where you want to loosen up a part but you don’t want to destroy it with a steel hammer.

[white belt]

My steering wheel on my 2005 Pontiac Vibe is really starting to show its age with many rough patches where the material has peeled/flaked off. Does anyone know any fixes for this type of issue? Basically it seems the market solution is to just buy a steering wheel cover but I'm wondering if there are alternatives. I have a steering wheel knob spinner mounted as well which might make fitting an off the shelf cover a bit trickier.

I finally fixed this with a stitch-on kit. I’m not the best at sewing, but it was pretty straight forward after watching a YouTube video. The new cover feels great, better than most steering wheels that come on typical hatchbacks. I also cleaned the steering wheel and now it looks almost brand new.

Before:



After:

[ebast]

I don’t think my wife is going to approve of me using our burger grill to melt caps.

Toaster ovens can be found curbside in fine working condition or near to it in any respectably dense neighborhood, fit on a workbench, and if you tweak the thermostat can cover anything up to 500°F/260°C, easy. Fullsize ovens too, I suppose as well, though somebody might pay you to haul away one of those. Could meet at least two uses since I've heard of people baking their own DIY formed hoses from bulk auto hose as well.

Three uses if you like your grilled cheese with a whiff of hydrocarbon.

[white belt]

I was cleaning some corrosion off my car battery and decided to pull the thing out to see how old it is. I’ve kept a detailed log of all the maintenance I’ve done on my car since I bought it in 2016 and upon closer inspection, it appears I have never replaced the battery. So I pulled it out and the sticker on the side said it was from 11/2015! So a “3 year” battery lasted 7+ years. The previous owner must’ve put it in shortly before selling the car to me.

I don’t have a voltmeter or equipment to test it so I decided to just replace it since I’m in the midst of a road trip that will put 2k miles on my car. The battery has never given me any issues despite its age. Is the 3 year lifespan a marketing myth or did I just luck out with a a battery that held up longer than usual?

[Sclass]

Yeah I haven’t stumbled across a free one yet. I’ve kept my eye out but all I find are overpriced units at yard sales. I think my mom left one behind.

They’re good for so many things. Solder reflow. Powder coating. Softening electronics potting. Etc etc.

One of these days I’ll find one and start playing with bottle caps. There’s the whole pressing and machining aspect. It’s a lot of work for that little hammer. Sadly it only costs $6 to get a new one at Harbor Freight. Another possible fix was making a mold on my 3D printer and casting the caps with high durometer urethane mold making compound. But that stuff costs a lot per ounce.

I’ve already broken one face off the hammer. Not by pounding though. I dropped the hammer on the floor and the head hit at an angle that sheared the face off along the layer line. Oh well I may redesign and print another with a thicker shoulder. At $0.50 a shot I think I can absorb it.

@white belt nice job on the wheel cover. Your original wheel surface was worn but doesn’t look too bad. I guess if it bothered you might as well cover it up.

Good on that battery. Mine always seem to last the warranty then die. Recently I’ve had good luck with my pulse desulfator I got on Amazon. I’ve managed to squeeze a few more months beyond the warranty out of my latest failed unit. One day it spontaneously failed. I bought the desulfator and brought it back to life. I do the recovery treatment once every two months. Proactively. It never failed again but I just run the recovery routine. It takes about 12 hours. It hasn’t failed since the first spontaneous discharge months ago.

[rube]

Is the 3 year lifespan a marketing myth or did I just luck out with a a battery that held up longer than usual?

Well, I have replaced a couple of batteries, but all definitely way after a 3 year lifespan.
The last one I replaced last year lasted 11 years, i.e. it was never replaced before. It still worked but the measured capacity showed I would get issues to start the car soon.

[white belt]

@white belt nice job on the wheel cover. Your original wheel surface was worn but doesn’t look too bad. I guess if it bothered you might as well cover it up.

I think for me the issue was more the feel of the wheel. It just isn't pleasant driving 8 hours with a wheel that feels like a mix of sand paper and crumbling foam.

I've had a long list of repairs for my car that I'm finally getting around to completing. For awhile I was ok with just getting by without, but once I started fixing things I found it to be a bit addictive. Another factor is that I've been using my car a lot more for long roadtrips as an alternative to flying. DGF agrees that we will sell her truck when we move in together next year, which means it's likely I'll need to get a few years more out of my car. It shouldn't be an issue because I'm at 190k miles on a Toyota 1ZZ-FE engine which can easily go north of 300k miles. I might even install an aftermarket radio to get the latest smartphone carplay features and a backup camera, but I'll have to mull that one over a bit more since it'll set me back $200-300 on a car that has a KBB value of like $2.5k. I installed a new radio in 2016 to give me Bluetooth capability but it's starting to show its age.

Next on my list is taking off my interior passenger side door panel to get at a non-functioning window. I still hear the actuator/motor when I push the button, which leads me to believe it might just be a broken clip.

I also want to fix a bunch of rock chips on my hood that are rusting. From my limited internet research, it seems a common method is to clean the rust off and then use something like Dr. ColorChip matched to the vehicle paint code. Anyone have any experience with fixing rock chips? I don't need it to be aesthetically perfect, just enough to stop the spots from further rusting.

[SavingWithBabies]

@Sclass Might be interesting to try annealing the 3d print? It is supposed to shrink a bit so have to factor that in. I fiddle with it briefly with boiling water but didn't end up trying anything with it.

[Sclass]

I’m sure annealing would help. I’d probably do it on the hammer so it would shrink around the hammer body. I looked at the separated layer and it looked like it would have helped to turn up my extrusion temp a bit to get better bonding. I’ll likely have another go in a day.

Today was a disaster. My garage door broke in exactly the same way. The new capacitor was shorted over. The replacement only lasted a few days. I decided to get another at Grainger but I knew dang well I may be treating the symptom and not the real problem.

I nosed around online and it looks like start capacitors can burn up if you have bad connections, too much weight or friction on the door or a defective motor winding. I don’t know much about the motor…I was looking at the wiring and I wasn’t even sure how the motor reversed itself to put the door down. I suspect there is some trick like split windings and extra phase added to one set of windings using the capacitor. Maybe. I don’t know Jack about electric motors.

Anyhow I cleaned up all the contacts. I got the courage to tighten the springs on my door so it’ll balance. Now the door has to merely overcome friction to open. Before I had to lift it up and hold it or it would come crashing down. This was putting extra load on the motor. The start capacitor probably was taking a good hit of current as the motor first turned on. That the hypothesis at least. I maybe looking at installing a new opener. They aren’t that much money for the whole kit if you DIY.

I will see how long this one lasts. Seems to open and close fine.

[theanimal]

Is the 3 year lifespan a marketing myth or did I just luck out with a a battery that held up longer than usual?

I replaced my battery from 2011 just last year. I had issues with starting that I thought were the battery, that I detailed elsewhere in this thread. Turns out the battery was ok and could have likely kept going for another year or 2.