The right speaker on my old Macbook Pro (13", 2015) started putting out some distortion. 🔊 🫤
It's a common issue with apple laptops, where the paper-like cone rips around the rim.
I opted to repair it with bit of flexible super glue applied with a toothpick.
It sounds softer now — adjusting the balance halfway to the right mitigates that — but no distortion. 👌
Based on the reviews out there, the resulting sound quality may actually be no worse than with a replacement part. 🤷🏻♂️
On more #repair adventures... I rarely throw stuff away without an autopsy, so I kept this half-broken space heater.
It seems to have had a bit of a meltdown from a poor connection inside the switch. 🔥
I replaced the burned wires, cleaned up the switch innards with sandpaper and contact cleaner, and rebuilt the hole in it with super glue and baking soda (homemade plastic). Looks a bit messy before cleanup, but works. 👌
I have a CO₂ fire extinguisher handy, just in case. 🧯
No broken kettle can stand in the way of a man and his instant pasta pot. 🍝
Once more, a case of overheat caused by oxidized connections. No significant melting this time, just enough deformation to break contact. Easy fix with some sanding and careful bending. It required a deeper disassembly than I expected, and some attention to keep the safety features in place.
E-waste avoided. Pasta consumed. 👌
Electric kettles are clever devices. Mine pops the button near the lid using a small disk of metal that bends (deforms) once it gets hot enough (from the steam, it seems).
It also has another metal disk that bends and breaks the neutral if the base plate gets too hot (required new thermal paste on reassembly).
Plus a small spring loaded cilinder on the live side, which I speculate is meant to melt, separating the contacts before it causes a fire.
The Retro Timer 💾
David Belson
in_sympathy