Travel luggage is pretty bad. Not small electronics bad but up there. Wheels get beaten up all the time and those should be easily repairable or replaceable. But nope - if your suitcase is more than a couple years old good luck finding wheels. I'm waiting for rando wheels from China that are almost exactly the right size to see if it will be good enough for one of our less frequently used suitcases. And even then I had to take a hacksaw to the broken wheel because it's not made to be repaired. The suitcase is otherwise in great condition and barely used. If I have to get rid of it....what a waste.
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I hate how unrepairable everything is
- Thread starter Exterous
- Start date
Lost_in_the_HTTP
Lifer
It isn't even that. I had a gadget fail (can't remember what it was now) and found that all of the screws were something like a #1 Phillips ... except one. It was some kind of odd security screw. And it was set deeper than the others so the driver needed to be longer. I had a small 10 piece set of drivers for those and none fit. I had to go dig out the larger 100 piece set to find one that fit.
This was not a specialty item, just something very common. They just didn't want people to get inside it.
This was not a specialty item, just something very common. They just didn't want people to get inside it.
MrSquished
Lifer
The EU has some good stuff passed and working to pass on right to repair laws. And universal standards where they make sense, like one charging interface for cell phones.
highland145
Lifer
Electronic gadget, can't remember what it was but something cheap and easily fixable, had vandal proof torx screws. 🙄
Gardener
Senior member
Replaced a battery on an old Kindle reader, then responded to a poster who had posted a battery replacement query on the crapazon kindle forum. Moderator locked the thread, msg'd me with "users are too stupid to do this" and "this procedure is not to be discussed here".
As for tamper proof screws, a dremel turns any screw into a slotted head.
As for tamper proof screws, a dremel turns any screw into a slotted head.
highland145
Lifer
It was a "reason" to order bits. 😀
Red Squirrel
No Lifer
On similar note I absolutely hate planned obsolescence. Pretty much anything that requires a phone app can be turned into a paperweight the minute they decide to stop updating the app or it gets removed altogether, or whatever cloud server it may rely on. Unlike PC where you can probably have some form of installer file or can even just copy an exe and associated files files over and back it up and even move it to a different machine, phones are basically a black box. Lot of home automation stuff, drones and action cameras rely on apps for example. Even major appliances now, even some water heaters! When you get a new phone if you can't download the app anymore or the new version decides to not support your model hardware (either phone, or whatever product it's for) then you're SOL. I've even seen internet routers that require an app to configure it! It's bonkers how they are pushing this app stuff so hard now. I would rather see it be a web interface if they're too lazy to just put the functionality physically on the hardware itself at least it's OS/hardware agnostic and not tied to 1 specific device that has a short life span.
Same with any subscription based software or hardware, that's not any better either even if no apps are involved. They seem to be pushing this a lot too even for cars now. Super terrible. You will own nothing and you'll be happy.
Same with any subscription based software or hardware, that's not any better either even if no apps are involved. They seem to be pushing this a lot too even for cars now. Super terrible. You will own nothing and you'll be happy.
[DHT]Osiris
Lifer
The last electronics I legitimately repaired was like a decade ago at this point, replaced a few failed caps in what was at the time a rather expensive plasma TV. I still have it, still looks great other than being 1080p.
Red Squirrel
No Lifer
There's something satisfying about fixing electronics, sometimes it's such an easy fix too. I've replaced capacitors and sometimes transistors and have fixed a lot of things for only a few dollars.
mikeymikec
Lifer
My recent experience with my suitcase - Samsonite - approximately 6 years old: The extendable handle was getting jammed, and of course it started doing this at the very start of a holiday while travelling to the airport. I got home and tried to fix it myself. In the good news column it was fastened to the case with 4 torx screws so that was easy, but I couldn't get any further inside the handle to figure out what was causing the jam. In the bad news column it was out of warranty, but in the good news column Samsonite sells spares for it so for £30 they sent me a new handle and it's working fine now.
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I do fondly recall when I replaced my broken dash cluster on my '05 Civic for $17 with one I found at a you-pull-it junk yard. Took about 20min
But a lot of it is because I hate the waste of throwing something away that could easily still be used it only some minor repair considerations had been made
Fanatical Meat
Lifer
Agreed and while at the time I purchased I suspected something like this would happen but money was tight so I had to.
Replaced kitchen sink faucet about 8 years ago old Home Depot brand built in sprayer had a leak and that faucet used an odd connector and odd size hose, I couldn’t find a proper replacement. I replaced it with yet another Home Depot faucet now this one has a drip at the aerator and this appears to be glued or similarly permanently attached to the faucet. Just sucks throwing the entire thing out because a small part developed a leak.
Replaced kitchen sink faucet about 8 years ago old Home Depot brand built in sprayer had a leak and that faucet used an odd connector and odd size hose, I couldn’t find a proper replacement. I replaced it with yet another Home Depot faucet now this one has a drip at the aerator and this appears to be glued or similarly permanently attached to the faucet. Just sucks throwing the entire thing out because a small part developed a leak.
lxskllr
No Lifer
I see stuff sometimes I'm vaguely interested in, then see it's controlled by a (cr)app, and I nope right out. With high interest, it might be worth spending time to see if the $thing can be controlled in a sane manner, or be hacked to do so, but most of it is impulse purchase junk, and not worth the time. Source code, or GTFO.
edit:
I literally just got this email from MorningSave...
MorningSave is a meh™ company, so they deal in distressed merchandise. How long do you suppose that (cr)app's gonna work when the product gets delisted, and why do I want an air filter on wifi anyway? Fucking stupid. Gimmick features that provide minimal value, and open up security holes in the network. You want your air filtered? Turn the stupid machine on. You want it off? Walk your ass 10' over and turn it off. That isn't something that needs to be automated or controlled with a program.
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This particular suitcase is our only checked bag sized suitcase and we've used it maybe 4 times since we're almost always HBO. Or main carry-ons are lifetime warranty bags but this one isn't given how much we use it
Muse
Lifer
Had a GF who upbraided me saying "you want everything to last forever." I don't think I had a come-backer. It's true, I've hated planned obsolescence my whole life. I'm damned good at repairing stuff.
One of my mottos: If I cain't fix it, it ain't broke.
Some stuff can't be repaired, of course. I do throw out some things.🙂
Muse
Lifer
I have a pretty nice carry on roller case. TBH, I don't think I've rolled it yet (maybe a bit)! Dang pandemic put my travel plans on ice and I haven't picked up on it. I have traveled one time since, a 500 mile flight and I took backpack, not the roller carry on. Its wheels must be primo OK. However, if any of them go poof, you can bet I'll think about fixing them. I have a workroom, tools, a lot of doo-dads and such and a lot of attitude when it comes to fixing stuff.
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MrSquished
Lifer
When I fly, I just check in my Sherpa. No wheels, but reliable legs.
Muse
Lifer
I have a golf GPS (Callaway uPro) in 2011, a refurb. I still use it. Callaway farmed out support for it. They stopped supporting it about 2014. They gave people fair warning in advance and let owners download course data for free for the final ~6 months of support (used to charge $$$ for them). I downloaded as many courses as I could that I thought I might ever need.
My Callaway uPro looks pretty beat up but it keeps working. I keep it in my pants pocket while golfing most of the time, sometimes in my push cart receptacle.
I spotted a pristine looking one for sale cheap ($33.10 including tax and shipping) on Ebay about 3 months ago and bought it. The seller didn't accept returns. However, the seller posted that you couldn't use it unless you registered at Callaway's website (I figured I had him by the nuts if this turned out to not be true, which is what I figured if it wasn't working for me). I found when I got it that there was only one course on it, actually 2 9-hole courses at the same country club in New Jersey. There was no way to get more courses on it. I called Callaway and the company that supports the unit. I had thought I could put the courses on that I'd downloaded in 2014, but no, couldn't because it has old firmware, presumably the original one. To use the courses I have it's necessary to have newer firmware. There's no way to get that installed. Used to be you could do it by signing in at Callaway's website. I was SOL, except that I had a good argument with Ebay that the seller's listing was misleading. You cannot create or sign into your uPro account at Callaway since they axed support in 2014. I got my refund, but had to send it back (with prepaid label). I figured it was worth a try to get a like-new backup, but it didn't work out.
My Callaway uPro looks pretty beat up but it keeps working. I keep it in my pants pocket while golfing most of the time, sometimes in my push cart receptacle.
I spotted a pristine looking one for sale cheap ($33.10 including tax and shipping) on Ebay about 3 months ago and bought it. The seller didn't accept returns. However, the seller posted that you couldn't use it unless you registered at Callaway's website (I figured I had him by the nuts if this turned out to not be true, which is what I figured if it wasn't working for me). I found when I got it that there was only one course on it, actually 2 9-hole courses at the same country club in New Jersey. There was no way to get more courses on it. I called Callaway and the company that supports the unit. I had thought I could put the courses on that I'd downloaded in 2014, but no, couldn't because it has old firmware, presumably the original one. To use the courses I have it's necessary to have newer firmware. There's no way to get that installed. Used to be you could do it by signing in at Callaway's website. I was SOL, except that I had a good argument with Ebay that the seller's listing was misleading. You cannot create or sign into your uPro account at Callaway since they axed support in 2014. I got my refund, but had to send it back (with prepaid label). I figured it was worth a try to get a like-new backup, but it didn't work out.
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Muse
Lifer
One of my favorite gizmos is a home automation that doesn't require a web supplied supporting app: KASA taps, turn on/off, schedule A/C, the app works, shouldn't need updating. I have two versions and several of both kinds. The fancier one has energy monitoring. They should continue to work as long as 2.4mhz wifi is supported by routers. From any of my smartphones I can control any of these.
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Looked that up - my wallet said eff off. If I did travel allot, that would be a different story. We had an old Samsonite that we kept for, IDK, 20 years. I was on the plane once and saw the baggage truck coming in too fast toward the plane. I could see our luggage, that was on the top of the pile, go flying off as he stopped. A dent that didn't affect functionality was all that happened. We finally got rid of it because it was so damn heavy.
Muse
Lifer
I did this with an optical disc player but it went bad again in pretty short order with almost no use. Replaced a capacitor. I figure it was just a bad design. It was a cheap Best Buy specific brand.
K1052
Elite Member
Yeah they are not cheap but have taken everything we've thrown at them in a decade plus of heavy travel. They should easily last another 10 years or more now that we're not both on the road all the time for work.
Sometimes all you have to depend on is yourself and your luggage:
Muse
Lifer
Had a small leak at the cold water valve of my kitchen sink faucet a couple years ago. Went to replace the washer (I'd done that before a few times) and it turned into a nightmare. The threads that kept that valve together gave way, had to replace the faucet. I bought a cheap but VERY satisfactory faucet to replace the borked one but couldn't install it due to old plumbing (the house was built in 1910, a Craftsman). Went without hot water for weeks, there was no shut-off valve for hot water short of the tankless heater outside and couldn't install the new faucet to the kitchen wall. Am using that cheap faucet with hospital handles now. Posted thread here:
No hot water until... until...until.... NOW!
Please see pix below. So, I took a break from a project yesterday and decided to do a bit of maintenance. Figured it was pretty trivial, because I've done stuff like this many times... minor plumbing. My kitchen has a wall mount faucet with a pivoting 10" spigot and H & C handles. I installed...
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