Make do and mend

[Scorpion]

A couple of weeks ago my wife told me that a bath mat had become stuck in the tumble drier in the garage. When I checked it, I found that the drum was not turning round so I decided that the belt must be broken. I eventually took the drier apart to see if I could fix it myself and found that it seemed that I could. I then found that Comet could supply me with a new belt and promptly sent for it. It was £13 inc postage for a new belt or £200 for a new drier, so it seemed like a no brainer.

Finally after a week of fighting our way through piles of washing drying around the house, the belt arrived today. I checked that the numbers on the belt matched the old one and got to work. I carefully manoeuvered the belt around the drum and only managed to cut three fingers and a knuckle in the process I then decided that the bleeding wasn't going to stop and had to put some plasters on. I could see that the distance between the belt and the motor was about 6 inches and there was hardly any slack in the belt. I then press ganged my younger son to assist me and with the help of heat gun and a great deal of brute strength we finally managed to fit the belt on. Only to discover that when rotating it there was a screeching sound due to the drum having detached itself from around the door We then had to take the belt off the motor, fix the drum and start again.

After a great deal more brute strength and making sure that the drum didn't move we finally succeeded It still took us another half an hour to fix the side of the drier back on and to decide where the extra screws we had left should go. However, the job is now done and everyone lived happily ever after

As if having problems with the tumble drier wasn't enough, the next thing to go was my Aspire One netbook. After loaning it to one of the kids it would only boot up as far as a nice baby blue screen and then nothing However, I don't blame her After some contemplation I decided that the SD disk must have packed in. I therefore had two choices. Buy a new/refurbished netbook costing £125 or take it apart and replace the disk. I decided that I had nothing to lose by taking it apart and found a video on youtube that showed me where all the secret screws were and managed to dismantle it without any damage Then, after rummaging around on Ebay I finally found someone selling what I needed for £26.

It finally arrived and after restoring the necessary software etc it is now as good as new

I also had a problem with one of the phones in the living room which lost the connection. I had to buy a new cable to replace the link it to the phone outlet which was in the hall. Strangely enough before it packed in it was crackly and someone calling the house couldn't hear if it was ringing. I reported it to BT online and coincidently the day after I fixed the phone, I received a response saying that they had fixed the fault.

[Maria]

Well done Scorpion and sympathy for those grazed fingers.

We've got a cache of various spare parts ordered over the internet, to 'save us money', which turned out to be useless.

[Porty]

What a fantastic effort Scorpion. That is way above my skill level. Recently I had an issue with something blocking the pump on my washing machine, which is about 18 months old.

I tried an outfit called Justask- who have online experts on a range of good and services. You pay what you think the advice you are given is worth. I elected to pay £13.

The advice was excellent, although it took a few emails, as I initially didn't grasp what the expert was saying. The machine was restored to full working order after only about 20 mins on tools!! I was delighted, it is the only thing I've ever repaired.

[Scorpion]

A few years ago I also had a problem with the pump in the washing machine and paid £30 for an engineer to come and fix it I watched what he did to dismantle the machine and It turned out to be a piece of wire that was trapped in the pump stopping it turning. When the same problem happened again, I decided to have a go myself. After fiddling about I finally found that it was a 5p coin that was trapped in the pump. Since then the clothes are always checked very thoroughly before they are put in, just in case

[wangi]

As if having problems with the tumble drier wasn't enough, the next thing to go was my Aspire One netbook. After loaning it to one of the kids it would only boot up as far as a nice baby blue screen and then nothing However, I don't blame her After some contemplation I decided that the SD disk must have packed in. I therefore had two choices. Buy a new/refurbished netbook costing £125 or take it apart and replace the disk. I decided that I had nothing to lose by taking it apart and found a video on youtube that showed me where all the secret screws were and managed to dismantle it without any damage Then, after rummaging around on Ebay I finally found someone selling what I needed for £26.

It finally arrived and after restoring the necessary software etc it is now as good as new

I updated mine to put Ubuntu Netbook Remix on it - much better...

[Scorpion]

Two questions about Ubuntu netbook remix;
1. Will there be any problems with the Wifi connection?
2. Is there an application for my Vodafone dongle so that I can use the internet on the bus?