What fixes can we encourage on Repair Day

[Holly_Davies]

Hi everyone!

So as you all know Repair Day is coming up next month and we have been brainstorming how to encourage people to get involved whether they are experienced in repair or its their first time. We are planning to choose around 3 fixes/maintenance practices that we can encourage anyone to pick from and do to celebrate the day and wanted some feedback on what you think would be good to recommend and simple enough that we could offer a guide (probably distributed via social media) on how to do it.

So far we’ve had some super helpful feedback from @Dave and @Clare_Seek who suggested:

• Testing the fuse in a plug and replacing it

• Cleaning corroded battery contacts in a battery operated device when the batteries have leaked

• Fixing a broken headphone wire

• Cleaning the fluff and hair out of the filter in a hair dryer and/or fan heater.

• Putting a Sugru “boot” on the plug of your headphones and/or USB cables to stop them breaking.

• Detox your Electrical Friends such as, empty the crumb tray in your toaster, descale your kettle or electric shower head, clean your vacuum filters, and remove hair from the rollers

What do you think would be some of the best options to get people involved and is there anything that we’re missing?

[Dave]

Maybe:

• Give your electrical devices a Health Check:
• • make sure the plug is safe: the wires are secure and it’s not damaged
• • check the flex for injuries
• • examine the device itself for signs of damage or overheating

[neil]

Cleaning a laptop or computer is a good one too - there’s a page on the wiki - https://wiki.restarters.net/Clean_up!_Cool_down

And there’s also a good general thread on Talk on cleaning - https://talk.restarters.net/t/cleaning/7508 , and a general wiki page https://wiki.restarters.net/Cleaning

Cleaning is such a useful maintenance practice in general that perhaps that is one of the three practices that could fan out in to how to clean specific devices.

Based on the existing suggestions and what Dave said, maybe

• Clean/detox
• Test/health check
• Fix

are good 3 general themes? There’s something for everyone then, regardless of skill level.

Another simple ‘test’ one that Philip mentioned here is testing batteries - Shout out for Fun Ideas to Do at Community Events - #2 by philip

[Lucie]

I’d be really keen to see some textile/clothing repairs being included. How to sew a patch on a hole?

[juliet]

These are great ideas!

Please could I add: how to select the correct fuse rating, also the appropriate type of battery (alkaline etc).

[Holly_Davies]

Thank you so much for your feedback everyone! We’ve settled on 3 types of fix that we think will be simple enough to get people involved but also give them a tangible result.

These are:

• Clean: Maintenance is such an important element of keeping your stuff lasting for longer. Why don’t you have a go at cleaning one of your gadgets? You could empty the crumb tray in your toaster or clean the inside of your laptop or computer.
• Revive: There are some simple measures you can take to revive your stuff. Why not show your bike some love by pumping up the tires or oiling the chain. Have a go at descaling your kettle (and save energy when boiling it) or removing the hair from your vacuum rollers.
• Fix: There are lots of small fixes you’ve probably been putting off. Why not dig out some old headphones and fix the wire or sew a patch onto your old jeans?

[Panda]

You may want to highlight safety as well. For instance emptying the crumbs from a toaster, not just from the tray, will avoid a fire risk of stuck crumbs catching fire. Also it’s an occasion to remind people to never insert any metallic object in a toaster (while plugged in).