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Tips on Appliance Care and Repair - 

Power Drills  Toasters   Radio  TV  Computers  Printers  Scanners  Electric Kettles   Irons

NEVER NEVER work with live equipment.   Switch off and unplug it before you reach for the screwdriver

Make Yourself a Neat Continuity Tester 

- to test switches, motors,  transformers and fuses - All you need is an LED any resistor of a value between 470ohm and 1Kohm (see your local TV repairman or electronic engineer friend) and a 9V battery.  All components are connected in series with the component you are testing. – Davie

Cookers. If your gas hob has an uneven flame some of the jets may be clogged up. Clean out all of the holes with something like a pine needle to solve this problem.  -- S. Keen

Television. If your antenna is down, a good makeshift replacement is to use an upturned wire coat hanger. Pull it into a diamond shape, straighten the hook, and place the end of the hook in the central hole of the antenna socket.-- Robert Edmunds.

CD Player Repair:

A good tip for fixing a CD player is to clean the laser lens with methylated spirits or preferably isopropyl alcohol, (doesn't leave residue). Make sure the player is off as laser may permanently harm your eyes - Galileo - We get some big name contributors on this site - Ed

VCR. Snowy picture quality, and fuzzy sound can be due to dirty tape heads. Use a head cleaning tape to solve this problem. -- R Edmunds.

Dishwashers: There are several things you can do to clean rust like build up from inside your dishwasher. You can run it empty with a cup of white distilled vinegar to clean out (the) stain. If stain is still there, try a lime, rust and scale cleaner and run empty. I run vinegar through once a month and this prevents hard deposits from getting a head start.  -- Good Luck, Patti  Seizetheday!

Washing Machines. If your machine is making noisy vibrations the machine probably isn't balanced. Check to see if the floor is even, and sturdy enough to support the machine. Also check to see if the adjustable feet are set correctly. -- K. Richmond, South Dakota

Washing Machines. These can also make shake loudly if the load is unbalanced due to bulky items. Rearrange the load evenly to correct this problem. Too much detergent has also been known to cause such problems. -- Axel Klystron.

When opening a piece of equipment the screws that you removed can be stored in the correct sequence by poking them in to a piece of blue-tack or beeswax -- Robert E.

Safety

Use RCD's or Residual Current Devices when using dangerous appliances such as lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws, drills and sanders. These cut the mains electricity connection when a cable or flex is cut, or an electrical tool malfunctions, reducing the risk of electrocution.

Gardens: When using electrical equipment in the garden special care must be taken. Make sure that cables run behind lawnmowers, you must never cut towards a flex, or cut the lawn usin an electric lawnmower in wet conditions.

Gardens: Never clean or adjust electrical gardening equipment while they are still plugged in, make sure they are switched off first. Never wash electrical gardening equipment with water.

Never work with electricity in damp or wet conditions.

Plugs: Never overload a socket with too many plugs or adapters, and make sure they are correctly fused.

It is better to have a dead hairdryer than a dead repairman.   Work safely! -- Don's Mother-in-law

When going on holiday be sure to unplug all appliances -- Davie

Cleaning

Stereos. If the tape player on your hi-fi system is not sounding as sharp as it used to try using a head cleaner tape, since the heads are probably dirty.-- R. Sanchez, Houston, USA

Dirty Toasters: If your toaster has melted plastic from bread wrappers, etc., nail varnish remover (acetone) should remove it. – Simon Thorne.

Repair

Vacuum Cleaners. If you are getting poor suction with your vacuum, the hose could be clogged. Look in the hose to see if there is an obstruction, and if there is use something like a bamboo cane to unblock it. -- E Edmunds.

A small piece of beeswax on the end of your screwdriver allows you to reach awkward positions. No Beeswax use Blu-tac – Cameron Sutherland

When getting your tools out to do a little job, take lots of them, maybe even the box or the bag.  Having to return to pick up the tool you forgot can be so annoying! -- Davie

Garden Equipment

If your plastic garden furniture gets stained, make a paste by mixing of baking soda and water and apply it for a few minutes before wiping it off. -- Cameron Sutherland

The late fall is the time to time to oil and clean the lawn mower and other machinery.  Brush on clean engine oil or lightly spray with WD40 or similar – Cameron Sutherland

To preserve aluminum garden furniture, and metal tools over the winter apply oil (either cooking oil, or waste motor oil. Wipe them off before using again though. -- Derek Edmondes. (Use fresh oils as used motor oil can be pretty toxic -- Ed)

Some interesting articles by by Bill McCaslin:-

Setting up a home workshop
Ensuring the disabled have power
Mild retribution for the nasty ones
Don't put up with it
Don't let Spyware ruin your day
How to really use the magic metal

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