Kenwood Chef: I like the early model centrifugal governor breaking contact for speed control!
The belt snapped on our Samsung clothes dryer (my fault). I had started drying some shoes that I had washed which requires the use of a rack. Unfortunately I also through in some clothes items and when they hit the rack it stalled the drum snapping the belt. This was either Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Ordered the belt and had it fixed by New Year's.
White Sewing Machine Co, Model 764 (circa 1964 - 66)
I have been lusting for one of these for a couple of years. Just because of the appearance - all the sexy curvaceousness. Designed in the early 1960's, but showing a lot of art-deco elements from the 1940's or early 50's. (And maybe a bit because my father was an engineering aide at White in Cleveland when I was born in 1951, though he left a year later when they started moving product design to Japan.)
One showed up on EBay at the upper end of my price range. Seller said it was in working order, and the photos showed almost no cosmetic wear and tear. Well . . . . the motor turned and the needle bar moved up and down. I silenced the clattering by removing a bunch of old, dried, lube and putting modern silicone-based grease or oil on anything that moved. The bobbin case was broken; $20 at a local sewing machine shop. The spring in the thread tension assembly was twisted out of shape; possibly from packing & shipping. It broke when I tried to restore it. $10 for a replacement from an online source. The toothed drive belt had taken a set and lost elasticity; I replaced it pre-emptively rather than face a failure without warning. The rubber tire on the bobbin winder was glazed and slick; fixed it with an emery board.
Now seems to be running well. Sews multiple layers of heavy denim without the motor speed sagging. I need to get motivated and find a project for it!
I have been lusting for one of these for a couple of years. Just because of the appearance - all the sexy curvaceousness. Designed in the early 1960's, but showing a lot of art-deco elements from the 1940's or early 50's. (And maybe a bit because my father was an engineering aide at White in Cleveland when I was born in 1951, though he left a year later when they started moving product design to Japan.)
One showed up on EBay at the upper end of my price range. Seller said it was in working order, and the photos showed almost no cosmetic wear and tear. Well . . . . the motor turned and the needle bar moved up and down. I silenced the clattering by removing a bunch of old, dried, lube and putting modern silicone-based grease or oil on anything that moved. The bobbin case was broken; $20 at a local sewing machine shop. The spring in the thread tension assembly was twisted out of shape; possibly from packing & shipping. It broke when I tried to restore it. $10 for a replacement from an online source. The toothed drive belt had taken a set and lost elasticity; I replaced it pre-emptively rather than face a failure without warning. The rubber tire on the bobbin winder was glazed and slick; fixed it with an emery board.
Now seems to be running well. Sews multiple layers of heavy denim without the motor speed sagging. I need to get motivated and find a project for it!
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Let's try this again.
White Sewing Machine Company, Model 764, circa 1964 - 66.
I have been lusting after one of these for a couple of years. Mostly because of appearance: All that sexy curvaceousness. And the art-deco design elements out of the 1940's or early 50's, though it was designed in the early 60's. (Compare to the Norfolk & Western J-class locomotives (late 1940's) or Chrysler's Air-Flow cars (late 30's).) And maybe a bit because my dad worked for White in Cleveland when I was born in 1951, though he left soon after when product design and manufacturing started moving to Japan.
One recently showed up on EBay at the upper end of my budget. The seller said it was in good working order, and photos showed almost no cosmetic wear-and-tear. Well . . . the motor turned, and the needle bar moved up and down.
I fixed the clattering by removing old, dried, grease and oil, and lubeing with modern silicone-based lubes. The bobbin case was broken; $20 from a local sewing machine shop. The spring in the thread tension assembly was badly twisted; possibly from packing and shipping. $10 from an online source. The toothed drive belt had taken a set and lost elasticity so I pre-emptively replaced it rather than face a sudden failure. The tire on the bobbin winder wouldn't turn due to a glazed and hardened surface; I fixed it with an emery board.
Now it sews several layers of heavy denim without significant sag in the motor speed. I just need to get motivated and find a project to do with it. Perhaps my grandkids will use it for the next 50 years or so!
White Sewing Machine Company, Model 764, circa 1964 - 66.
I have been lusting after one of these for a couple of years. Mostly because of appearance: All that sexy curvaceousness. And the art-deco design elements out of the 1940's or early 50's, though it was designed in the early 60's. (Compare to the Norfolk & Western J-class locomotives (late 1940's) or Chrysler's Air-Flow cars (late 30's).) And maybe a bit because my dad worked for White in Cleveland when I was born in 1951, though he left soon after when product design and manufacturing started moving to Japan.
One recently showed up on EBay at the upper end of my budget. The seller said it was in good working order, and photos showed almost no cosmetic wear-and-tear. Well . . . the motor turned, and the needle bar moved up and down.
I fixed the clattering by removing old, dried, grease and oil, and lubeing with modern silicone-based lubes. The bobbin case was broken; $20 from a local sewing machine shop. The spring in the thread tension assembly was badly twisted; possibly from packing and shipping. $10 from an online source. The toothed drive belt had taken a set and lost elasticity so I pre-emptively replaced it rather than face a sudden failure. The tire on the bobbin winder wouldn't turn due to a glazed and hardened surface; I fixed it with an emery board.
Now it sews several layers of heavy denim without significant sag in the motor speed. I just need to get motivated and find a project to do with it. Perhaps my grandkids will use it for the next 50 years or so!
Attachments
2007 Ford Taurus sedan. "Check Engine" light came on. The codes showed some mis-firing cylinders and a catch-all code for emissions controls. Well, the vehicle doesn't warrant more than a couple hundred bucks in repair costs, but I've seen similar behavior before. So I replaced the spark plugs. "Check Engine" light went off. I'll find out if I REALLY fixed it when it goes for emissions inspection next week.
Wow, that thing is gorgeous! Love the 2-tone paint job. 😎
EDIT: Oops! The sewing machine that is, not the Ford. 😀
EDIT: Oops! The sewing machine that is, not the Ford. 😀
Dell S2209W computer monitor.
At first, the power-ON light blinked a few times at turn-on. Eventually, it blinked for 15 minutes or so before the monitor would display an image. I guessed that something was affecting a "Power Good" signal at start-up.
Turned out to be electrolytic capacitors in the power supply. (Several web pages pointed to them as the culprits.) I replaced all 10, though only one showed any signs of a bulging case. (And that one was hardly noticeable.) The worst part was opening the outer plastic enclosure!
At first, the power-ON light blinked a few times at turn-on. Eventually, it blinked for 15 minutes or so before the monitor would display an image. I guessed that something was affecting a "Power Good" signal at start-up.
Turned out to be electrolytic capacitors in the power supply. (Several web pages pointed to them as the culprits.) I replaced all 10, though only one showed any signs of a bulging case. (And that one was hardly noticeable.) The worst part was opening the outer plastic enclosure!
I designed and built a new modular amp. Couldn't figure out why one side had less gain than the other but otherwise was clean. Apparently red and brown look similar on a blue resistor. gNFB had 1k on the left and 2k on the right. Both are 1k now and it's a success!
I fixed a prototype modular preamp. The SMPS I was using was such a noise bomb, if I powered it while the USB scope was connected to it's ground, the computer's touchpad and touchscreen malfunctioned.
Swapped it out and problem solved but this PSU has a PF of 0.61!
Swapped it out and problem solved but this PSU has a PF of 0.61!
And in a case of "I'm a moron"... I fixed the new phono build by putting the tubes in the correct sockets... Go figure.
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Wow -some pretty hard core projects and repairs have been posted lately! I've done lots of car work, but replacing a drive shaft is clearly beyond my present comfort level...
There seems to be some bad mojo hanging over my house lately:
Over the past two weeks, I've revived our 20 year old washing machine by replacing the transmission, the motor coupler, and the set of dog ears at to top of the agitator. Then, just two days later, the motor in the dryer needed to be replaced...
Then the upstairs furnace needed a new ignitor and flame sensor just two days after the water heater developed a gas leak (OK, I called someone else for this one).
I'm hoping I'm done for a little while now!
There seems to be some bad mojo hanging over my house lately:
Over the past two weeks, I've revived our 20 year old washing machine by replacing the transmission, the motor coupler, and the set of dog ears at to top of the agitator. Then, just two days later, the motor in the dryer needed to be replaced...
Then the upstairs furnace needed a new ignitor and flame sensor just two days after the water heater developed a gas leak (OK, I called someone else for this one).
I'm hoping I'm done for a little while now!
Just today I was using a circle cutter in my drill press and the chuck fell off. So looked it up online and found out all I had to do is reinsert the tapered spindle and give it a nice tap from a hammer.
Disaster week, furnace broke on Sunday and the gas fireplace simply stopped on Monday. I was surprised that the decorative fireplace in the living room was capable of heating the entire house (probably due to tight construction). It turns out they use a standard 120V wall switch for the 750mV thermopile gas sensor and it had developed enough resistance with age to fail to operate the gas valve.
In the very, very early days of Ebay, and motivated by "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers" I sold rolls of black gaffer tape as "Fixes Check Engine Light, Guaranteed". "Helps pass NJ DMV inspections", other stuff I pulled out of the ether.
Washing machine packed up (mid wash, of course). An old Fisher and Paykel intuitive model (like the smartdrive but with less buttons and an LCD display)
It would only beep and make a awful humming noise, throwing up error 105 on the screen.
Off first then, to the gargler, which reveals error 105 is a "communications error" with possible causes ranging from display controller, motor controller, or motor position sensor... All of which means $$$ and fairly difficult to obtain as they're model specific. I keep scrolling. Oh, in one particular model series, this can be due to the drain pump. Fingers crossed then. (I understand these machines use it as part of the power supply for the electronics, sort of as ballast. Weird setup but I guess it saved a few $ in the BOM vs a separate transformer)
After the job of dragging an 8kg top loader, still a quarter full of water outside to drain, with no shortage of cursing, I got the thing tipped up and checked the pump's DC resistance with a meter.
Should be 33 ohms, read 25. Hm. The coil did look rather a dark roast too. I guess it had its last hot supper.
Thankfully, we have a spare machine, smaller and a little grotty, but with the same type of pump. So I swapped it into the dead machine and, lo and behold, the machine sprang back to life [emoji106]
Advice for young players: always check the simple/cheap thing first and hope you get lucky [emoji12]
It would only beep and make a awful humming noise, throwing up error 105 on the screen.
Off first then, to the gargler, which reveals error 105 is a "communications error" with possible causes ranging from display controller, motor controller, or motor position sensor... All of which means $$$ and fairly difficult to obtain as they're model specific. I keep scrolling. Oh, in one particular model series, this can be due to the drain pump. Fingers crossed then. (I understand these machines use it as part of the power supply for the electronics, sort of as ballast. Weird setup but I guess it saved a few $ in the BOM vs a separate transformer)
After the job of dragging an 8kg top loader, still a quarter full of water outside to drain, with no shortage of cursing, I got the thing tipped up and checked the pump's DC resistance with a meter.
Should be 33 ohms, read 25. Hm. The coil did look rather a dark roast too. I guess it had its last hot supper.
Thankfully, we have a spare machine, smaller and a little grotty, but with the same type of pump. So I swapped it into the dead machine and, lo and behold, the machine sprang back to life [emoji106]
Advice for young players: always check the simple/cheap thing first and hope you get lucky [emoji12]
EDIT - I realized that the fireplace makes an excellent emergency heating system if the switch is replaced with a mV system thermostat. Modern high efficiency gas furnaces require 120V power the fireplace does not.
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I love after xmas period...I now have 70 audio/video repair jobs pending for assessments...see ya'll at Easter😉
I just fixed the amp in an old Elac subwoofer. No schematics available, and the board was laid out by someone who wanted it to look like it was done by an RF engineer (but it really definitely wasn't).
The problem? About five or six 2.2 uF SMD electrolytics that when tested out of circuit measured around 1 nF.
The problem? About five or six 2.2 uF SMD electrolytics that when tested out of circuit measured around 1 nF.