#Filming a whole new kind of vlog

First-person repair vlog. Job one, a herbal decoction pot whose light won't come on: both switches fine, resistance reads 23 megohm which is wrong, the resistor is definitely dead, try a 200 ohm (spoken as 240; 499W trips, 300W), burn two resistors and watch the little lantern; the wire is broken too, and after the controller is repaired and powered the LED burns out again; oh well, fix it anyway, charge ¥10. Job two, a cordless vacuum with short runtime: open it up and test the battery; remove the fish paper on both sides; fit new domestic grade-A cells; measure each cell's internal resistance 13.44, 14.60, 15, 16, keep the resistance consistent; spot-weld at gear 16; after welding, voltage 3.8/3.8 OK; charging at 13.5W 500mA, charging is right. Job three, a smart washing machine: keeps filling non-stop and won't wash even when full, carried in; with no power the water doesn't come in with the tap open, but starts the moment it's switched on; check for air leaks; fit a new water-level sensor, sealed with glue, no test needed, 'the thing that senses the water level'; ¥50; glue dries overnight, test tomorrow; 'next time you need me it'll be after New Year'; perfect fix. Comments: can a TV that got knocked be fixed, can a broken clip be fixed, the Taiyuan folks want to visit, good skills and fair prices, why isn't the son on camera.

Opening: a customer blames the boss for not fixing a battery problem — “you’ve got me wrong, have a Zhonghua on me” — the Soaiy speaker shows volume as soon as it’s twisted, turns out it just wasn’t charging; Bluetooth / radio modes fine, no mic mode so Bluetooth is right; voltage measures 3.67 vs 0.7… “this battery is fine; just one volt on the other, that’s a big gap, go buy two batteries”. The kid’s thing works plugged in but not unplugged = the battery inside is dead and won’t charge, swap it and OK; the cable burned and was replaced before, the socket is discolored and needs replacing too, hang on. The old stove has run seven or eight years and is hard to fix; weak water feed is a common fault, try a steering motor first, give up if that doesn’t do it; the board is aging; two motors (rotation / water feed), and a bad water motor upsets the steering too; people often fail to fix things, take them apart and bring the pile over. Soaiy follow-up: “you didn’t even put the batteries in right, you’ve got me wrong” — measured voltage for ages, all normal, small screw fitted, done. A camera with no charge and won’t take one: check for charge current, long unused, the alternating red LED flags two faults — battery bad or water in the board; battery seems more likely, it’s fairly new with no water damage; fit a good cell — “give it unlimited learning opportunities; this cell is a bit wasted in there, overkill, an absolutely good cell”. Dongcheng pack: high-temp fish paper for insulation against cell-to-cell shorts, voltage present, LED steady not blinking, charging at 9W 1.7A; red charge LED steady; bye, kid. Comments: please tell us the fault causes and how you test / fix; a noodle machine unused for ages won’t charge, fixable?; a cordless vacuum won’t run; address; honest repairman.

Job one: the customer brings a Dyson vacuum and a switch part he bought himself at home but couldn’t fit — ‘I reckon the repair guy is all talk’ — let’s see today whether he is; take it out, fit a new one, test run, installed, perfect repair. Job two: a speaker that won’t turn on, open it and see what’s wrong: prying like this is the easiest way to set the battery on fire (a warning); grab a new cell, spot weld it; a bit of tape; it has power, OK, see if it plays; fill it up with glue for the customer, a bit more glue; watch the charging current — the wattage comes up, OK; charging; the little heart-shaped color-light speaker with a screen, perfect repair. Comments: the most refined man on Douyin (creator liked it); if you were nearby I’d bring my pressure cooker; should the Dyson be opened and blown out; post your address (creator: you can find it here too); can you come fix a water heater (yes, happy to take that off your hands); can you fix charging shoes.

Host, what’s going on with this one

Opens on a snowy day; a carbon-fibre umbrella that stands up to wind, shaft broken in one spot, fixed and painted with rust-proof coating. A fan’s imported speaker (brought back from the US) has sat for a long time — not that I won’t work for fans, just too much on; once it reaches the Boring Appliance Repair Workshop it must get done: open it up, the cells have gone bad and leaked, starved to death, 322mΩ, scrap, big cells; Yu brand; fit two power cells (spot-welded, the high-power unit with the red leads); measure 8.3V, full charge; reassemble and test whether it sings — it sings. A hair dryer, real or fake Dyson unknown, motor won’t spin, one squeak and nothing, reading 30.5, diagnosed as a burnt motor; find a motor (41.3), swap it in, perfect, very OK, revived at once; test again, perfectly repaired, real or fake Dyson, all sorted. A Haier MOOKA TV that keeps rebooting: upgrade it, the upgrade must use factory data, durable, no freezing or crashing; slow first boot after the upgrade is the system buffering; the earlier rebooting was the main board being under-powered; no lag now, start enjoying it, sound and picture perfect, the overtime wasn’t wasted; TV questions answered by Teacher Zhang in the comments. 138 comments: rename it Fix-Anything (creator liked it); where did your son go (I’ll call him back tomorrow); the Dyson sometimes doesn’t respond when powered (minor issue); boss, is my Xiaodu done (hang on); brought back from the US? plenty at Nangong market (you know too much); a 511 umbrella leaks (you have one).

Auntie brings a toy car: steering bad, lights not on, only lighting up now and then; her handle is 'Special Talent'; batteries test 4V/3.1V, charged, all freshly replaced. Auntie says fix the little toy first and if it's done well she'll bring the big e-bike; 'that's not right, I heard you fix things well so I came specially'; the repairman jokes 'that leaves me cold, no mood to fix it, I'll make it up on the price'. Fixed, it responds; the switch was reworked; ¥30 will do; 'come when auntie's not around'. Job two, a floor scrubber: replace a set of 10 cells; the customer brought it from Xinzhou, diagnosed the aged battery himself, doesn't seem to have a spot welder so asked us to weld it; spot-weld cell by cell (1234...); measure the cell voltage 3.79, 'these cells are really standard'; fit and test, check whether the battery locks in, original batteries are just better; plug in and watch the charging response; battery ¥40; charging wattage 36W, full power, floor scrubber perfectly fixed, cells balanced in every respect, let it charge a while. Comments: was the RC car dead because the board was shorted; only you do real repairs; a room full of floor scrubbers; all sorts of repair requests.

What time do you close at night

Host, which one is the voltage-select wire?

The keyboard customer says a kid peed into it, smells wonderful; strip the board and clean it, it sticks to the soldering iron, hook up a power supply set to 6V, OK, perfect fix. Two electric cooking pots that light up but don't heat (one setting doesn't work): first check whether the pot is worth fixing; when the heating element in this kind of pot dies it's generally scrap, two coils gone and can't be replaced, wouldn't last even if replaced, the aluminium poured on and hammered by hand is too loose to conduct heat, already broken; don't fix it, see if it can go for scrap. The other lights up but no steam: it sat unused for a while, the pot's dead and not worth fixing; pour the water out after every use, water left standing causes leakage; Shanghai Hongxin was big back in the day; look how corroded the pot is, from standing water, clip on the earth wire and it's a dead short, how did the breaker not trip, leakage should trip it, a miracle it unscrews at all, can be patched up to work, replace both parts, the inside needs cleaning, rinse it out with water often after use. Haier vacuum with short standby, replace the battery: take the battery out, fit domestic grade-A cells, measure 21.6V; cells perfectly fixed, strong suction, brilliant with the new cells; check charging voltage 25.6V 500mA, charging wattage 13W, 14W (half, normal), charging current normal, perfect fix. 52 comments: the most refined man on Douyin (4); dropped off a stew pot a month ago and can't find it; mirror not done in over half a month; air fryer sent in last month, no call yet (contact the repairman, he's busy and doesn't check Douyin); can a sealer be mailed in; what time do you close.

First job: what looks like an ELEX (Edifier) C3100 speaker with mains hum from one speaker, which means a shorted amp chip, so straight in; going by experience the middle amp chip is the problem; swap it (2032) and the hum is gone; pull the two originals, BDI, imported; thermal paste on, fit the amp chips and touch up the solder; power up and test, big brand at a low price, no buzzing; input signal, left and right channels OK, sound from both sides, rich deep bass, play a post-80s DJ favourite. Second job, a Chinese-classics story player with a broken USB port, replace it; charging current 0.7A, 3.8W; the cell has been starved flat, it must not drop below 3V, 30A power cell discharging at 3.8(V); ‘Welcome’; full charge 2.6 (reading), enough to beat Dahuanma (joke), all good. Third job, a Midea handheld vacuum, battery replaced (no commentary), powered up and tested, perfectly fixed, put on charge. Comments: Edifier speaker (creator: yes); swapped mine for an LM1875T, the TDA2030 is retired; which one is the voltage-select wire; assorted repair requests (water dispenser, freezer, range hood); he has every part going.

What’s the welder that welded the stainless-steel strainer called

Where’s the address?

Opens with welder sparks, ‘too strong, turn it down, down, down’ — the auntie’s stainless-steel skimmer handle is broken at three points; a new one isn’t worth much but it’s a shame to throw it away, and having come this far he’ll sort it, see if it welds, no charge if it won’t hold; hold this, it’s welded, quite solid, as long as she’s happy. Dyson hair dryer, bad connection in the cord, lights come on, everything else fine, take it off and replace it. Dianguoguo 4000W inverter: display fine but it just won’t work, it’s dead inside; the meter probes got blown, swapped for another meter; inverters burn their plugs all the time, fitted it, sits very nicely, perfect repair. The customer’s Samsung TV has sat far too long and he feels bad, just been busy; since the customer definitely wants it fixed, it gets sorted whatever it takes: no response at all, won’t turn on, power/main board fine, panel voltage shorted, short found — a chip badly burnt; chip removed, substrate burnt into a pit and blackened, hard to rework, no spare board so swap in a whole logic board, model looks close enough; fitted, powered up, picture appears, crisp and vivid with deep bass, perfect repair, 3.5 months, very sorry, will call the customer first thing tomorrow to collect, let him sleep well tonight. 171 comments: buy a stainless skimmer for ¥30 and use it as you like; what’s that welder that welds stainless spoons called; everything can be repaired; the boss is generous, gives everything a try; logic board ¥10; can you fix a Sharp 800 (of course); address.

I’ve figured the internet out — whatever you want to watch I’ll make it for you, ‘but not that one’. First the power bank: make a 9600 (mAh) one, charge it up; I’ll use my own nickel strip; basically done; they don’t even give you fish paper, use this instead; do the cushioning first; real materials; power on, try charging, try discharging, done, and not bad looking, sis, you get a discount. Starts fine but the chain isn’t cutting fast — chain off, really hard to get off, way too much material removed, mind the chain tension, ¥5; a drill that won’t turn, oil coming out (singing); find a screw, charging for the screw and the gloves isn’t unreasonable, ¥5; another one won’t turn, the wire is spliced, snip a section, wire is bad; brute-force it in; a special tool for taking the blade off, ¥15; done. Comments: list of Douyin’s 6 great logistics organizations (4421 likes); petition of ten thousand to see the tree at the door (3161, ‘I said no’); can this be fixed, it keeps saying wrong password (249); which store sells genuine 18650s; welder link / brand; how much for the power bank.