Along with the routine work here at Radio Retro, I started volunteering at the local Repair Cafe earlier this year. So I thought it may be interesting to review the various items brought for repair along with their faults and fixes I’ve encountered.

Repair Cafe Faults and Fixes

Anticipating which items will be presented each month was guesswork. So I bring with me a general selection of hand tools, soldering iron and multimeter ready for the likely candidates including vacuum cleaners, food mixers and garden tools.

On a typical Saturday morning there are around seven of us that specialise in repairing electrical items along with other specialists for woodwork, sowing, clocks, computers and general repairs. I also take on small mechanical repairs. I’ve seen a variety of items from cassette recorders and dehumidifiers to toy trains and vintage Christmas tree lights over the past year but you never know what will turn up!

Repair cafe rules

In case you’ve not visited a Repair Cafe, here’s how ours works. There’s usually a steady stream of people when the doors open at 10:30 and they can enjoy a coffee or tea and cake while waiting thanks to more volunteers that run the cafe side of things. Some visitors come along just for the cafe to have a chat and see what’s going on.

It takes over a dozen dedicated volunteers every month to offer our repair service free to local members of the community. We do suggest a small donation is made to the Repair Cafe box, but it’s up to visitors to choose if and what they can afford. All proceeds go to run the Repair Cafe, covering the cost of using the community hall and the necessary insurance required. Each visitor is only allowed one item at a time, although some couples bring along one each and some rejoin the queue with several items.

Repairs can take from a few minutes to half an hour or more and most of the time visitors leave with their item repaired and working. We also PAT test all mains powered items for safety and insurance purposes. We keep a number of common parts, such as replacement leads, lamp holders, switches and fuses, in stock. If items require other specialised spare parts – and some do – we ask visitors to return next month so we can order and fit them. We can also offer to track down larger parts and their cost so visitors can decide if they want to pay for the spares.

Our main aim is save items from the recycling centre or landfill and help the environment by saving the planet’s resources before the doors close around 1:30pm.

Common items faults and fixes

Here’s a selection repair cafe item faults and fixes so you can get an idea what you may like to bring along if you decide to give one a go.

Remember if you try repairs yourself and open up any electrical items, always unplug from mains power first. Dangerous voltages can be exposed inside. If in doubt, take your item along to a local repair cafe or shop.

1. Vacuum cleaners – probably the most common items are handheld and upright vacuum cleaners from Dyson, Henry, Vax and G tech. They either don’t switch on or have poor suction. Older models tend to have faulty power leads that often look undamaged from the outside but contain a broken wire. Models that recoil their lead inside automatically often suffer the worst, as many users simply pull their appliances along by the cable and tug harder when it reaches the end. Stop if you are guilty of this! Repeated tugs and pulls along with rapid recoiling is a recipe for breakage. Finding the broken section requires a mains frequency detection tool working along the powered lead looking for the break. Replacement requires disassembly, often requiring specialised screw driver bits, and either cutting the faulty cable and re wiring or replacing the whole length. Sometimes the plug end fails which is a simpler repair but finding the break needs a mains frequency detector. Other common faults include blocked filters which visitors seem unaware of. Newer models include a multiple filters often hidden in housings or clearly displayed on the appliance.
2. Food mixers – here in the UK the bake off programmes have proved all too popular and we see a steady stream of mixers that no longer mix. Fortunately some, like the Kenwood’s, can be disassembled fairly easily and spare parts such as nylon bearings are available – albeit at a cost of a few tens of pounds. Some are full with flour and have started to smoke causing the owner to bring it along and witness their exuberance first hand! A good clean inside is all that’s needed if you have  the tools to remove casings for disassembly.
3. Lawn mowers & Hedge trimmers – summer months see a steady stream of garden tools such as electric lawn movers and hedge trimmers along with pressure washers. Leads often fail and need replacing along with switch mechanisms that get hammered. Mains powered hedge trimmers can suffer from warn brushes with tell-tale smoke or intermittent running. New brushes are usually available for a few pounds but can take time to source and replace. As with all mains powered appliances final PAT testing is essential to ensure repairs are safe to operate.
4. Dehumidifiers – have become popular as energy costs increase, being used to dry clothes and remove condensation as home heating is reduced. I’ve seen examples that no longer work due to blocked heat exchangers and set up issues. Removing the plastic cases to access the heat exchanger requires patience and sometimes brute force as internal snap-close fixings are used for fast manufacture and difficult servicing.
5. Cassette players – these portable players and recorders have become popular again as a new generation learns to love analogue audio music formats. Perished belts can be replaced fairly easily and we stock a range of sizes that can be obtained for a few pounds. If you want to buy a specific belt for your cassette you may well end up paying much more than it costs to buy a bulk pack.
6. Clocks – Clockwork and quartz movement clocks of all shapes and sizes are still popular – we have one specialist to cater for mechanical clocks. Battery operated movements suffer from corrosion due to battery leakage or from dropping off the wall. Fortunately replacement quartz movements are often available for a few pounds to restore a cherished timepiece.
7. Toys – Mechanical and electronic toys suffer broken wires, corroded battery terminals and rusty mechanisms. Sometimes all that’s needed is disassembly to free up cogs and wheels and apply oil. Others need wires re-soldering or battery compartments cleaning and deoxidising from spent batteries left inside. Leakage from ‘dry cells’ that have been left inside with the toy switched on are the worst to repair. Sometimes the electrolyte drips inside to corrode the circuit boards and eat through copper tracks which makes repair much more difficult or sadly in some cases impossible.

If you have an item that no longer works or requires some attention, why not try and find a local Repair Cafe and bring it along? You may be surprised what can be saved. Or if you have some experience with mending things why not try to volunteer at a Repair Cafe. There’s always something new to learn and share ideas on reducing e-Waste.

Weather station repair with outside temperature sensor undergoing test.