Ever come up with unusual fixes?

Post Reply New Topic

My wife dropped her cell phone in the toilet at work, and it water logged. Later, I noticed the phone sitting in rice on the kitchen table, as I guess this would be a "ye olde Indian trick" that they told her to do. (The phone was off at the "plunge.")

Well after several days, and we were at the table, she was ready to" boot it," and I said, "wait, let me pull a deep vacuum on it." She said, "do you think that might hurt the large touch pad LCD screen?" I said, "I don't think so, but wasn't sure."

Deep down I knew the rice wouldn't be a desiccant for the water, (maybe the moisture).

So I went to the garage to find my home made "canning" mason jar, with the r-22/r-12 schrader valve that I soldered to the top metal lid. I put the phone in this glass jar for 10 minutes in a 500 micron vacuum from a refrigeration/air conditioning evacuation pump, and immediately watched about 10 drops of water ooze from the phone casing halves.

I broke the vacuum and removed the phone, and did the acid test: Put battery in and turned it on. Nothing, no power, put on charger, then Walla! It booted up fine, and I made a phone call. Later, she then tried the large touch pad screen (on this LG "Venus") and it was "frozen." We thought Taps, "lights out" - new phone!

Well, I pulled another vacuum for about an hour this time, and thinking this last ditch effort was as meaningful as the first effort; (especially as it was powered under these condtions, now) and surprisingly this worked! The phone is as good as new. I dehydrated the phone without "busting" the LCD.

Anyone?

Last edited by Mdyar on 15 Aug 2011, 12:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm sorry, but if that happened to me, I'd flush the toilet and get a new phone. That's just too disgusting.

I've fixed a lot of things at restaurants I've worked at over the years, sometimes in some pretty odd ways. Years ago I used chewing gum as an insulator to fix a short in a tabletop conveyor oven at a sandwich shop I was working in, saved us a lot of trouble during the rush and the store a sizable repair bill, not that I saw any thanks for it. More recently I've machined improved parts for some of the plumbing fixtures at my job, making more efficient and durable nozzles for our sinks to boost the pressure and precision of the water jet and such. That actually makes my job easier, so I don't mind taking on little projects now and then. I also recently modified the central vacuum at my house to use a sort of multi-stage filter that shunts large objects out to the side, keeps the thing from clogging up if I accidentally suck up something too large. It also directs a fair amount of dust straight into the yard, which I don't mind since it cuts down on the bag changes.

Every damn day. Its like a challenge for me. If i cant fix it with enough tape, glue and zipties then its f****d

This is nothing compared to the previous posts. I have one of those Brita filter things on my faucet and it is a b**ch to turn. I was not going to spend money on another just to have it turn easier. I looked at it and figured I just needed something to add that would give me better grip. I found a vitamin top that was designed so you could grip it easily. I took the top, drilled and filed it just enough to slid over the Brita's switch and it worked. No more sore fingers.

Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together....

Heh sorry, couldn't resist.

Nice thinking out of the box.

And you are a gunsmith as I remember.

I think the bowl was empty. My wife is too conscious of germs and general cleanliness to touch this. I didn't asked though.

There you go.

There was a garbage truck that came to a jobsite to pick up some garbage, and this was important to move, or get out of the way for a delivery of something. But the driver couldn't get the lift to work properly, as it was missing a bolt from one of the support brackets, and he was going to leave and come back later. I suggested taking off another bolt ( an identical one) that wasn't crucial to the operation of the truck, as I had some tools on hand and to put this one in its place. Simple.

I know, sometimes it just takes looking at what is actually causing the trouble and being resourceful. I too am thankful for zip ties also. We were in the next town and hit a pothole knocking the wheel stabilizer loose. I was bewildered as to what to do since the car had no trouble running but that part had to be secured some how so we could at least get back home. I remembered I had zip ties in my auto emergency kit but have never used zip ties before. I put two on and they held it securely until I was able to get it fixed.

I've always been Mr. Fixit in my house. I once had a rocketship that was malfunctioning. I tapped the connector on the battery several times and it fixed the problem. Not quite as impressive as the others, but I was 6 at the time.

I remember when my dad bought a new flashlight that didn't work, I fixed it by putting a little ball of aluminium foil next to the battery (the spring on one of the battery sockets was too small so the battery wouldn't make contact). Not exactly quantum physics, but my parents were amazed a 7 year old could fix something they couldn't (hehehe ).

My dad once jump started a car using a tin whistle.

That may be the wrong term. I know nothing about cars.

I like the ideas of the posters who thought of "fixes" when so young.

I guess all this is having a "presence of mind" with things, and having the ability to do something without being shown.

Haha, not for appliances....but unusual fixes for stains? YES.

I was the queen of messy when I was younger....I'd split everything from glue to soda to markers to paint to barbeque sauce, and the list goes on and on.....but, I was also pro at getting in trouble.

So, most of the time to avoid that, I'd get out a bunch of random liquids: windex, sunscreen, hand soap, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, stain remover, furniture polisher, hairspray, and the list goes on and on.

But I'd mix them into unusual combinations and eventually I lightened up a LOT of stains that wouldn't have come out AT ALL otherwise.