Bored - Nothing to do?

I have a thought. Often, a great deal of stuff is wasted because people can't figure out what to do with it.

We can go to the woman's shelters and ask them what they need. Post this on Twitter or Facebook as appropriate.

Go to the local high schools and ask the Principals for help. Teenagers literally cover the city. If they can spot useful things on the side of the road, or tell their parents that someone needs something, this could be transmited on Twitter and someone can respond.

It wouldn't take much effort, and people can join or drop out as appropriate.

Let's do a Patton and win this war.

In my experience, the usual problem is a mechanically broken door, cracked handle or hinges. That can usually be sort-of repaired.

But fixing things like that is time intensive, fine if you enjoy it but not efficient.

The days when fixing microwaves was financially worthwhile are gone, at least for most faults.

NT

It is the usual case now that repair is more costly than replace... particularly for something with a custom I/C inside. ...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson | mens | | Analog Innovations | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142 Skype: skypeanalog | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

I'm looking for work... see my website.

Thinking outside the box...producing elegant & economic solutions.

Yep. Some friend have an old microwave oven that fits perfectly into their custom kitchen cabinet work. They tried to find a new one that was exactly the same size, but couldn't. So, it had to be fixed. It was the usual general cleaning, Hi-V diode, and maggottron tube replacement (mostly cleaning). I fixed it for the cost of the parts. If I had charged for my labor, it would have cost far them more than a new oven.

We have several local organizations that fix appliances, computers, exercise machines, and such for resell and donation.

One of the problems with recycling appliances is that the price difference between new and "refurbished" is fairly small. The result is that the refurbished appliances end up being donated for free to those that can prove that they're on some form of public assistance program. Similarly, I have difficulties reselling their refurbished computers because my customer usually prefer new machines with a better warranty. Much of the stuff that could be easily repaired and resold, gets recycled instead. I have photos (somewhere) of pallets full of computers, printers, and appliances, all of which could easily be repaired, but not economically.

There are new UL requirements for overtherange microwaves, Higher clearance over the stove top and taller microwave. This makes replacement difficult with existing older cabinets. If I had to replace the GE Spacemaker I have I would need to cut the cabinets in half to fit a new model.

Cheers

I think all of you are missing the point. Steve is advocating spending your time to help others. It is a donation of your time and effort to needy people. I did not see anywhere that he mentioned financially worthwhile. His is a noble idea and I support him and abused women. Please read his OP for understanding and quit being design freaks for a while.

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With respect that point of his was made as clear as day. And responded to b y the rest of us by asking why one would choose to use such volunteer time in a knowingly inefficient way to thus produce less help than one could. Di d you miss that somewhere along the line.

NT

Clue: It would be more efficient to buy a new microwave and donate it to the charity of your choice. Even better, skip the store and give the charity the money so they can buy what's _really_ needed.

The usual problem round here is that some copper harvester removed the transformer before you got to it.

And that can't :)

Yup. Work another hour, bill another $100, buy two cheap microwaves new and donate those. It'll take less time than finding and fixing one.

Me, I like fixing things too, but there's a limit to what is worth spending your time on.

Clifford Heath.

Don't be silly! The first microwave I fixed, was based on ICs in a printed circuit board with NO bypass capacitors for the TTL. Easy fix, solder a suitable number of bypasses. The second was a fuse, the third a bit of silicone lube on a sticky plastic pawl.

The official parts-and-repair organizations for appliances start with a circa $100 charge to show up at your door, and they HAVE to do that for nonportable appliances under warranty. Yeah, for a $150 microwave oven, that's kinda ... prohibitive. Diagnosis by user and a few simple parts is almost always effective, though.

And, I know more about what NOT to buy for my next garbage disposal, now that I've looked inside the last one after it failed.

I live in an apartment complex and have "rescued" numerous microwave ovens from the dumpster (were they DO NO BELONG). For most of a year, the majority (95%) were OK and needed to be cleaned. Food that splattered got baked in then carbonized, causing arcing. Then for about 3 months, most were corroded in the cooking area (useless as-is). Only one of dozens needed a new capacitor; have yet to see those other failure modes.

Vacuum cleaners are more prevalent in the dumpster, and only two of dozens were bad. Common problem: previous users just did not clean them. One was so full, that the dust bunnies had dust bunnies (similar to Trouble with Tribbles).

...

My wife once bought a toaster from WallyMart and the cashier asked her if she wanted a protection plan for it (for a fee). She promptly said an emphatic "No- why would I want my crusty old toaster fixed when I can just buy a new one?"

How many wives would use a fixed microwave found at some curbside? How much disinfection would it require to be accepted into her kitchen? :)

Warren.

Some audio equipment with custom ICs are kind enough to inform you with a message like "DSPERR!" on the display so you know for sure the thing's scrap and not even worth pennies on the dollar on eBay.

TTL in a microwave oven? Jeepers was that in the 60s?

Just send cash, the folks running the shelter probably know best whether to use it for an old microwave oven, or not.

If one doesn't have the cash to make a direct donation there are many other important tasks one can spend one's time doing to help others, but most of them don't directly involve electronics design or repair.

I've not found that to be a problem as long as it's cleaned up first.

NT

Not to mention any liability issues.

Apparently dozens. No rejects, no problems. Using one myself; Sharp Carousel II "Half-Pint". Just big enough to hold a dinner plate.