Have you "fixed it" and saved money?

I probably saved myself $125.
So our 10 year old Bosch Dishwasher decided to go nuts on us. It would run, but it would not stop running. It would just run in the wash cycle all day long if you let it. Also, the water was not getting hot like it should. So, I did a little research on the internet and found a post somewhere where a person had the same problem and stated it was a bad solder joint on the master control board, in the circuit that controls the temp sensor. Anyway, I decided to tear it apart and see what I could see. Lo and behold, there was an obviously bad solder joint right smack in the middle of the master control circuit board! I cleaned it up and put some fresh solder on it and viola! It's fixed!

don't you love it when a plan comes together

weewillie said:

don't you love it when a plan comes together

Click to expand...

Yep! Had a similar thing with an Epson Printer that had the LCD display go black after several years of faithful use. A quick internet search and I found someone describing the same issue with the same printer, and describing how putting a dab of solder across a blown (very tiny) fuse link fixed it. I had nothing to loose, so I tried it, and it has been working ever since.

Last year the soap dispenser cup on our GE dishwasher would not open. Upon investigation I found that the micro motor was bad. Called around for a replacement part but the dishwasher was too old. Went on EBay and found the exact motor used on a microwave turntable. I bought it for $8 and a year later it's still running great.
Way to go Bas!!

That gives me hope, our dishwasher, 20 years plus old, has quit on us, as I understand it, it is usually either the circuit board or the pump. My wife has given me a reprieve on fixing it as I am trying to finish up a non-british car project, cheap old me actually said, lets get a new one, but the wife said sshe was reading around on the internet and they are all basically the same and not that hard to fix. The kids are gone, so just the two of us, not that bad doing the dishes by hand.

Did the same thing with the overhead temperature and compass readout on the Tacoma a few years ago; didn't price repair, but probably similar cost.

You may have noticed, I changed to title of this thread. Thought it would be interesting to hear more stories about how we have "fixed it" ourselves and saved a ton of money.

Wow - I've probably saved thousands by fixing things myself. Not even mentioning car problems (new as well as classics), I've done washing machines (timers, valves, relays), driers (temp sensors, drive belts), furnace oil burner, furnace firebox liner, house electrical "improvements", patching the workshop roofing, laptops and desktops, recaning chair seats, reupholstering the ol' Rambler, lawn tractor (steering gear, starter, blade sharpening), 1840 mantel clock mechanism, plumbing leaks (I *hate* working on plumbing ...), small appliances, small electronics.

What can I say? I'm a frugal ol' Yankee who hates spending money. I'd bet just about every BCF member does most of his own household repair work.

Tom a/k/a Ebenezer

PS - April 30, 1916. Birth of Claude Shannon, father of information theory

NutmegCT said:

Wow - I've probably saved thousands by fixing things myself. Not even mentioning car problems (new as well as classics), I've done washing machines (timers, valves, relays), driers (temp sensors, drive belts), furnace oil burner, furnace firebox liner, house electrical "improvements", patching the workshop roofing, laptops and desktops, recaning chair seats, reupholstering the ol' Rambler, lawn tractor (steering gear, starter, blade sharpening), 1840 mantel clock mechanism, plumbing leaks (I *hate* working on plumbing ...), small appliances, small electronics.

What can I say? I'm a frugal ol' Yankee who hates spending money. I'd bet just about every BCF member does most of his own household repair work.

Tom a/k/a Ebenezer

PS - April 30, 1916. Birth of Claude Shannon, father of information theory

Click to expand...

A good one for me that comes to mind is when we had our kitchen remodel. I saved about $1500 by tearing out all the old cabinets and hauling them to the dump myself. (Except for a few that I kept for the garage). Also, I tore out all the carpet in the house and installed 3/4" Solid Oak flooring. I probably saved $5000 in contractor costs by doing 100% of the install myself. It took a lot longer but I felt really good about it when it was done.

I have the 11th window to install sitting in the hall ( big dog, hope it fits). The HD windows seemed a good value, $100 and up install estimates plus strangers in the house finally got me going on a long overdue project. It was surprisingly easy and now I can actually open ALL the windows. Part of the program is I don't hire out anything I can mess up myself.

fixed SWHTM old Sunbeam mixmaster (capacitor gone) two weeks ago. She didn't want a new one. Today repaired the peerless transmission out of my 1986 Wheelhorse lawn tractor(new circlips on the axle inside the tranny}. Won't be able to get it back in for at least a week as it is supposed to rain every day this coming week. Can't cut grass anyway with all the rain.

I do everything myself I'm capable of. I have two 12x12 roll up doors on the barn and wanted to put in automatic openers, they wanted $2000 to install a pair of commercial openers, the doors are heavy. I bought the openers for under $800 and installed them myself, saving $1200. I can't remember when someone else worked on any of my equipment or vehicles. Honey do list, ME! Nice to know your needed. :highly_amused: PJ

Two kinds of DIY here -

1. Doing for yourself what you could pay others to do. Mrs JP & I do virtually all our own home renos. Back in the day we couldn't afford to hire someone - not we can but can have a much nicer home at a much reduced price if we do it ourselves. Plus we are more meticulous and caring of our home than any contractor could ever be. And at least the mistakes are our mistakes!

2. Repairs that keep things out of landfill - and sometimes have startling results. I have had any number of experiences but, just off the top of my head that 4 dollar switch that I had to replace about every two years to keep the microwave going long after many others might have thrown it away. Needless to say, any number of cars, replacing the "guts" of light fixtures like I did for a ceiling fixture last month ($6) and so on. coupling in the washing machine ($12)

Interestingly, one that got away is a motherboard on our fridge that I paid about $150 to replace only to belatedly discover it was about $15 worth of relays and a capacitor (and many are throwing away the less than 10 year old fridge because the company won't support it!) AND the fridge in our last home where (under warranty) a $5 clip was replaced with a $1300 door.

Youtube and the interwebnet are amazing for this BTW - currently having some car door issues on the Kia and waiting on a new combustible vapour sensor for the Hot Water heater (warranty) - learning everything to fix/replace online!

Your Fridge story remind me of my garbage disposal problem a couple years ago. The Plastic outlet pipe where the outlet hose attaches had broken. It was a piece that, at best, might have cost $5 IF they sold it as a separate piece. But they wanted me to buy the entire outer disposal housing at a cost of $65! I fixed the plastic outlet with crazy glue! Been working great ever since.

I never throw something out without trying to repair it first. The main bearing on the washer went and 3 evenings of work got it back to like new. EVERTHING has to come apart to get to it! At the same time I discovered that the ears which the plastic tub is hung off of were almost worn through so I lined them with soft metal to create a bearing.
YouTube and eBay have made it much easier. I just discovered that there are kits to refurbish the remote control on the Nissan car key fob. Just a few switches and a new plastic case will be like new.
Basically a challenge prove that I can do it and of course a bit of savings doesn't hurt.

I recently "fixed" an old tower (computer) that hadn't been turned on for a few years. We wanted to see what was on the hard drive before we tossed it.

When I turned it on, nothing happened. The power supply light was on and we got a few messages on the screen but there was no noise from the hard drive and everything just froze. I figured the drive itself might be a bit stiff from sitting so long (I know the feeling...), pulled the side off the case, and gave the drive a rap with a screwdriver handle. It started immediately and booted up.

Same treatment as I used to use on stuck carburetor floats. Doesn't always work but it did this time.

70herald said:

I never throw something out without trying to repair it first. The main bearing on the washer went and 3 evenings of work got it back to like new. EVERTHING has to come apart to get to it! At the same time I discovered that the ears which the plastic tub is hung off of were almost worn through so I lined them with soft metal to create a bearing.
YouTube and eBay have made it much easier. I just discovered that there are kits to refurbish the remote control on the Nissan car key fob. Just a few switches and a new plastic case will be like new.
Basically a challenge prove that I can do it and of course a bit of savings doesn't hurt.

Click to expand...

That's one I'd like to tackle. The cost for a new drum on our from loader is obscene!

Basil said:

describing how putting a dab of solder across a blown (very tiny) fuse link fixed it. I had nothing to loose, so I tried it, and it has been working ever since.

Click to expand...

Been doin' this for everything from microwave ovens to soundboards in Betamax video cameras!

My garage beer locker went stupid a year ago, no more cold CAB(!)... went to th' innerwebs, looked at the manufacturer's YouTube stuff, a problem with a "capacitor" (really a thermal switch) could be cured by sending them $35 for the part. Got the part number from the blown part in the 'fridge and went on a hunt with a search engine. Got the part from Hong Kong for $2.50... Ordered TWO in case it happens again, soon. And cold CAB are in the locker as I type. :smirk:

Maybe it wasn't broken doc.... They just aren't there long enough to get cold.

Bah! Th' silly thing was CLICKIN' like a cricket and no refrigeration.

I ain't THAT anxious fer a CAB. :wink: