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One of the more complex repairs that I’ve done lately was of this Carver Receiver 2000 that a climbing friend brought my way. This is a rare piece of high end audio gear, manufactured in late 1980s. As received, the unit had no left channel output, and no A speaker output. B output and headphone output was fine for right channel.

I fixed a couple of items recently for the Campbell River Museum. The most interesting and unusual one was their popcorn maker, apparently a popular device for the young visitors (and some older ones). This is a Nostalgia brand unit. The machine was described as having a stirring motor that wasn’t working, but inspection revealed that the problem was that a solid state thermal fuse inside the heating pot had failed.

The Canon 15-85mm is one of my favourite EF-S mount lenses to use on a Canon cropped sensor body such as a 90D. It’s sharp, with nice bokeh, is lightweight, and covers a great walkabout range (24-136mm) with great optical characteristics. Although not being touted as a pro grade lens, it actually employs Canon’s famous ED glass and performs well as you can see in many of the galleries at https://davebaar.com of the past few years. However, my 15-85 began showing mechanical problems a few months ago; it eventually would not zoom wider than 35mm due to what felt like a mechanical blockage.

Fortunately, despite what I’d seen in some youtube videos about this lens, fixing the problem in my case did not require full disassembly of the lens.

Recently, a local friend from previous repairs brought over a Janome Serger that wasn’t working. The symptoms in this case were that the unit was completely “stuck” in that the manual handwheel could only be turned a few degrees, and the motor would not cause a significant rotation.

the sealer unit, all fixed

One of my neighbours brought over a nice vacuum sealer that wasn’t sealing bags properly. The model is a VacMaster VP215. Vacuum operation seemed to be OK, insofar as the pressure dropped and stabilized after several seconds of pump operation. However, appearances were that the bag seal area wasn’t being heated uniformly, so I first tried replacing the nichrome heater wire, but the problem persisted. After more careful observation, I realized that the unit was releasing vacuum before applying heat to the seal rather than afterward. (more…)

The compressor in our Viking Professional 36 inch fridge had failed. It had been in service for about 12 years. Replacement of this compressor is non-trivial. Don’t try it yourself unless you have some familiarity with vacuum systems and refrigerants. First, the specific Embraco compressor is no longer in production. I found a suitable replacement, by Sikelan, with approximately the same electrical and mechanical specs (1.7 runtime amps, 10.9 LRA locked rotor amps, 1/4HP).

Failed compressor, before removal

Steps to replacement:

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The neutral start switch, AKA inhibitor switch, on the transmission of our rough road vehicle, a 2007 Subaru Forester, was failing intermittently. Symptoms were that the car would not start (engine would not turn over on start) intermittently, but wiggling the transmission shift lever sideways would get it to start again. The starter motor had checked out OK. I found a new replacement switch, same part number, on ebay for about $100.

Failed Inhibitor Switch, removed

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the failed switch -note the depressed button

Over the past several years at Campbell River Repair Cafe events and elsewhere I’ve seen at least a dozen microwave ovens need repair because of failure of a specific component -one that is inexpensive and easy to source and replace: a door interlock switch. (more…)

One of the items that was brought in by a friend to a recent Repair Café event in Campbell River was a non-functioning portable humidifier, a Honeywell model HUD-200. I didn’t have time to get to it during the Café afternoon, but was able to fix it afterward. These devices are based on an ultrasonic “nebulizer”, basically a piezoelectric element in a high frequency oscillator circuit generating ultrasound waves in water, and thereby causing droplets to form and flow out in an airstream from a fan. The symptom was that water was flowing through the device, but no moisture was being created.

the nebulous humidifier

One of the most interesting and challenging repairs to come my way at the recent Repair Café in Campbell River, BC was a Bose clock radio. This radio had no audio output other than a loud buzz from the speakers when turned on.

Bose Clock Radio, post-repair

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