Buy when you need something, but only what you need. Buy better quality products that can be repaired and last a long time. Eschew throw away consumerism. Repurpose products when these products are no longer needed. With these rules, people will buy less but better, putting much less pressure on Mother Earth. It is a possible solution to reducing the effects of climate change.
Moen 7400 Series Kitchen faucet, Bought around year 2000, I don’t even recall, but with free parts, it continues to work very well. Photo by Don Tai
Some objects in life you just use every day and take them for granted. They just work, day in and day out, until something goes wrong and then you really notice them. Our Moen 7400 series kitchen faucet is one of our house appliances that just seems to last and last. When I think that, yes, it is time to replace it, I call Moen for free parts, they ship them to me, I install them and the faucet goes right back to working just as the day I bought and installed it. Smooth, problem free, drip free, to again fade into the background. Often times I use the kitchen faucet while thinking of something else and really don’t pay attention.
Bucket Head Wet/Dry Vacuum, disassembly and quality inspection
Thrown to the curb, this was, with its tail cut off. So sad, I had to take it home, give it a try and possibly a second life. This unit pleaded underdog, discarded and forlorn. Unremarkable in appearance, ’tis a vacuum, for sure, but where is the bottom? The Bucket Head wet/dry vacuum is meant to couple and sit on top of the standard inexpensive Home Depot 19L 5G bucket, sold separately. It just clips onto the top of the bucket, hence the name “Bucket Head”. The vac head even has slots for the bucket’s wire handle!
Replacement 3.5mm 4 connector headphone jack, varnish, shrink wrap, new jack completed, Photo 05 by Don Tai.
After many years of careful use, the headset that came with a long gone Blackberry smartphone lost sound in the right ear. If I wiggled it “just so” the sound would reappear, but with any further movement the sound would again be gone. It was clear that the wire would need to be cut back and the 3.5mm phone plug would need to be replaced. Because I do like the feel and the quality of the headset and mic, this was worthwhile to repair.
Nutribullet NB101B was non-functional. A cleaning of the actuator switches fixed it. Three drainage holes were unclogged. Now it works.
A friend gave me his Nutribullet NB101-B, a small blender used for smoothies. The blender was non-functional but intact. He said that the blender was well used, but started acting intermittently, after which it stopped working. There are many youtube vids on cleaning the blender, and the cleaning did fix the problem. There are, of course, extra details that I discovered.
Seam Grip Sealer and Adhesive, McNett, instructions are not good but it does eventually seal.
I bought this from a local MEC store (new packaging, same product name) here in Toronto for a seam repair on two Goretex jackets, where the seam tape’s adhesive had failed and the seam tape was hanging loose. After reading the instructions it was clear that they were not very good.
Delta Miter Saw 36-070c Blade Guard Repair. Photo by Don Tai
I bought this Delta Miter Saw model 36-070c part no. 899880 (0012) used at Goodwill for a pittance, not expecting much, but it has been going strong for the last 5 years. A couple of days ago the blade guard did not retract when the saw goes down to cut. I had to manually move the blade guard up to make a cut, which was annoying. The repair required some accurate and slow drilling with my tiniest drill bit, and 3 tiny screws. Now the blade guard goes up and out of the way when the saw goes down to make the cut.
Delonghi Convection Oven EO1270 is stainless steel and looks really nice. Too bad it is not repairable. Photo by Don Tai
This Delonghi Convection Oven, EO1270, made in China under the name “德龙“， came to me in near pristine condition. It looked like it was used only a couple of times. Yet when I plugged it in it would not work. I decided to take it apart and see if I could repair it. It was pretty evident that this oven was not designed to be repaired. In the end I found a flaky on-off switch, which could have been replaced, but to get to the electronics I’d have to drill out a couple of rivets. This repair would not have been worthwhile.
This is an LG G3 smartphone with the back and bezel removed. The LG D-852 has some differences. Note the brown flexible flat cable at the top (yellow arrow). The LG D-852 has a rectangular and square one. Remove and reinstall both.
My LG D-852 suddenly developed screen problems, which included fading to black from the edges, then black horizontal lines, and finally just all black. It seemed odd that only today this would happen.
I found this post and decided to investigate. I took the phone apart, unplugged and reinstalled two connectors, which fixed the screen problems. It took 3 minutes, a very small screwdriver, and no additional cost.
Aika ML100a electronic pressure cooker, 爱家, broken after only 1.5 years. Made in China
I have seen a couple of these Chinese made Aika ML100a electric pressure cookers on the side of the road, discarded. They have obviously malfunctioned in someway and are now garbage. I decided to pick one up and rip it apart.
This Aika pressure cooker was probably a response to the popular “Instant Pot”. The Chinese is 爱家, aijia, “love family”. The name Aika is also not Japanese.
