#Appliance repair

The H1 is the handiest little tool I've ever used: handheld, rechargeable, fits in a pocket. The cell in the shaver had swollen, so I put in a new one, two welds, put it back together and it buzzed to life — Grandpa's shaver, ten years old, lives again. The joy of these little fixes — if you know, you know.

Where’s the address? Not telling?

Post your address,

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.

An embedded automation programmer goes home and fixes appliances for the village elderly for free. 1) Rice cooker: the light flashing on the repair socket means a loose connection, just push it in firmly; boil water to test the response, water temperature rising from 35°C, heating ring at 100-plus, one done. 2) Hair dryer: no response from the switch, so the switch is suspect; two screws out, it has been opened before and the switch tied with string; multimeter on continuity, the switch pressed shows no continuity; the switch clip is broken, inside is a copper leaf + latch + spring, the two contacts on the copper leaf are burnt, and a diode is wired in for the speed change; no such switch on hand, so the burnt parts of the contacts are cleaned and it goes back, fixed with strong glue instead of string; gear one and two latch fine; the original soldering was sloppy — joints must be solid or they arc, and an arc at the grip is dangerous; suggest a varistor in series across the switch input / output; powered up, back to full health. 3) Cordless drill battery bay won’t charge: odd screws, swap the bit; barely charges and the gauge drops on one press, most likely the cells need replacing; 5S, 21V at full charge; when removing the BMS mind the 4 balance leads; clean off the old nickel, keep the holder; originally 1500mAh each, replaced with 5 new 2000mAh cells with 3C certification; measure every cell’s internal resistance before fitting, this batch all around 17mΩ, fine for a Li-ion drill’s power needs; the original had no fish paper but a ring is best, the 18650 shorts most easily right at that ring; in series order, spot-weld the series nickel strips first, then the main + and − strips, last the balance leads; refit the BMS, tin with the iron and solder the balance-lead nickel strips to the board, connect the main + and − last; check for cold joints; fish paper back on, into the battery bay, screws in; the red charge light is normal, the drill pulls hard. 4) Two membrane keyboards merged into one: swap the cable, note the wire order and numbers, the membrane contacts must line up with the board and be pressed with the clamp bar, cable into its slot, add heat-shrink. 5) Hair dryer plug with one long and one short pin: fit a rice-cooker cord, high power so tin the joints to avoid heating, wrap in tape and heat-shrink. Sign-off: night view of the mountain hollow, ‘maybe I can’t make my hometown rich, but I can contribute a little with what I’ve learned’. 260 comments: five cells out of your own pocket, don’t do this kind of job again (3) → creator: lost my shirt; suggest more close-ups (screws, soldering, multimeter readings) → noted; hold the iron by the grip (proper practice); serving the people, down to earth; that workbench is my dream → I’ll make one.

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.

Can you fix a Xiaomi water purifier tap

Do you fix gas guns

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.

Can you repair imported irons

Job one: a ‘space-capsule’ sleep device with a dodgy switch, the customer took it apart himself and broke it, plugged it in, shorted and burned, blackened in the middle. Job two, a heater, plugged in and switched on, 1600W 7A, so clean inside; check whether the heating tubes are worth repairing, all three tubes are fine, just swap the part, fix it, it burned black. A Worx electric kettle, 2000W 9A, a shame to throw out for a minor fault, have a look, could be left unrepaired — no charge at all, no parts fee, no inspection fee, ‘I like taking money, no free looks either’ (joking). A bread maker; a PANDA CD-850 CD/DVD combo that won’t read discs, laser assembly serviced, cleaned, oiled and polished, reassembled, plays a VCD fine, repair done. A handheld vacuum (Worx) runs for a short time after a full charge, aged battery, replace outright: brand-new cells checked for IR / voltage, 3.376V, insulating rings on; AWithZ (P30C) powered on, it can reach 30 kilowatts, turn the power down a bit, check it’s solid, fine, round welds; the clips are all broken; repair complete, day done. Comments: a Taiyuan appliance craftsman; spray some WD40 (creator: fast response, some just need charging); could fix a UFO; can you fix one that won’t heat up; can you fix industrial boards; ‘lots of people say the AWithZ is no good’ (0 likes); want to learn (come on then).

A first-person record of one day (a live earnings counter sits top-left). Job one, a Hisense TV: clear picture but no sound even at volume 100; checked with a ‘Da Vinci tester’, two small components found open, desoldered and replaced, power on and the long-lost sound is back — perfect repair, ¥150; the creator also invites viewers’ LCD TV questions. Job two, a floor washer that won’t charge and shows fault code E10: pull the pack and measure, two cells badly aged, so all 6 original cells are replaced; each new cell is checked on a battery tester (internal resistance meter) (ASR readings of 10.17 / 11 and so on); the ‘Kill-You 3000’ spot welder welds thick nickel strip to try the weld quality — perfect; pack fitted, anti-vibration foam stuck on, hot glue heated and applied, fixed and OK, earnings jump to 440 (+290). Job three, a health kettle: the ‘tian’erte’ (thermostat / thermal fuse) replaced, 890 watts, 4 amps, that’s right, earnings 450. Job four, a restaurant electric cooker with a broken cord end: rewiring sounds simple but is a hassle, the plastic has hardened and is hard to open; cut off the end and fit a new cable, 16A cable for 3000 watts; a touch-up solder that isn’t solid gets redone; when done it looks original, ¥30. ¥480 for the day, knock off. 469 comments, heavily divided: ¥150 for two diodes is ‘brutal’, a used TV is only ¥120 so not worth repairing; the other side: ‘you’re paying for skill, if you think it’s expensive you’re a layman’ (liked by the creator); ¥290 for 6 cells plus labor is a bit high, over ¥200 profit; someone built their own ‘Kill-You 3000’ and asks for pointers.

Appliance repairer Xiao Yi: soldered 18650 cells with a soldering iron for decades, and only today learned there's a handheld spot welder, much better than a soldering iron; here's a test for everyone; press down, spot weld; done, give it a tug, very solid. Comments are all asking the price; someone says it runs out of charge after a few welds; requests for a full-length video.

First job: a KAMJOVE auto-fill kettle whose swivel is sluggish — swap the swivel motor, heating is fine, fifty yuan. Second job: an electric kettle not making contact, 1800W 8A, bought for two hundred-odd; today the five-to-six-hundred all-stainless ones are built like the two-to-three-hundred ones, imitating the American Westinghouse (Westinghouse six hundred to a thousand). Third job: a noodle press (a viewer found him on Douyin): won’t charge properly, red light keeps blinking, never got wet; the new multimeter (Fnirsi) has a nice clear display; on the DC volts range the battery is flat — should be 12V, only 3.5V, and it won’t charge (the 4.9V won’t rise); the battery leaked — the usual failing of these small cells, the cell gets burned through while soldering and the electrolyte leaks, the cells are scrap; internal resistance reads 20/17 (mΩ); re-cell (new cells spot-welded, no narration); OK, full charge; charging at 11W (caption says 1 W) 0.09A, 12V, no problem; ¥50 for the repair, the noodle press cost two hundred-odd. Comments: pure hobbyist; the coupler is ¥10; this guy is skilled and stocks every part; why bother fixing it for 50; same noodle press, same problem.

Opening: when a tricky job leaves him sweating and stuck, out comes the ‘ultimate weapon’. Job one, an Aige Bluetooth speaker — light won’t come on, won’t charge, something dead inside; after the fix the light is on and it enters Bluetooth mode, ¥30. Job two, a Tineco floor washer with a charging fault, bad contact, ‘Tineco machines are just no good, make do’; the (Fluke) multimeter can’t tell good from bad and can’t find the fault, a sip of tea dregs to calm down. Then the ultimate weapon, the ‘Yao Ni Ming 3000’ (spot welder): control board fine, panel fine, the battery isn’t supplying enough — one cell already dead, replace them all. Genuine Samsung cells, IR tested one by one at 9.6/9.7/9.8/9.8; to tell genuine Samsung, check the QR code on the bottom of the cell (e.g. 981945). Spot-weld the pack, very OK. Back on the charging dock: reads 28W, the machine is 26V 1A i.e. 26W, reaching 27W means it’s charging at full power; 5 minutes on charge, test run fine, charge was 49 and is now 53; smart switching and the ‘return to dock’ prompt work as normal. 439 comments: charges more than fellow creator ‘Jiadian Huatuo’; many ask for a build guide and the principle of the ‘Yao Ni Ming 3000’; Fluke multimeters aren’t cheap; someone lists the repairman’s tools — Fluke multimeter, IR meter, coulomb counter, Li-ion spot welder; which welder is it and how much.