design – Fix It Workshop

Inside The Real Repair Shop 13

This time, Matt discusses false-friend eco products…

One lives and learns and if there’s one thing I definitely know now, it’s that the good people of Worthing (at least) really do love their bread makers!

Back in August, in the spirt of light-hearted environmental consumer advice, I offered my thoughts on what I deemed to be ‘pointless products’ and crumbs, did I rattle a few bread bins! Almost 4 amiable souls took the time to share their thoughts on the subject too, extolling the virtues of their trusted kitchen friends. Some even shared a few photos of their finest loaf creations; the most exquisite that I have ever seen, it must be said. At yeast, most of you saw the funny side I think, but others thought that I was being a little childish. So this article will be a little more proven, I hope.

To those who rose-up, a little browned-off by my distaste for these machines, I say this; it was only a bit of half-baked fun. You’ve really got to roll with it!

Turning to more serious matters. When it comes to our current environmental issues it seems more than ever that some campaigns, propaganda, even official advice, must be taken with a pinch of salt. Of course, I too am a consumer of online adverts, original articles and general broadcast media and I find myself increasingly starting to doubt that one can have one’s cake and eat it. Right, enough of the baking buns, sorry, puns.

Despite the typical British Summer we’ve been enjoying here in the UK, it’s been Armageddon on the continent. And, if you’ve been watching any mainstream news these last few months, you would have seen European reports showing newly designed weather maps with splashes of ferocious oranges, blood-reds and deathly maroons, possibly designed by The Terminator, telling us the World is boiling.

Is it all part of a ‘big plan’ to discourage would-be travellers from taking polluting flights to far-away, warmer climes? Are all the ‘wild’ fires, naturally occurring? Whatever your views on climate change, it would seem that broadcast messaging is nudging us to stay home, stay indoors and don’t move. Remind you of anything?

Anyway, assuming you’re still with me (thanks by the way), I certainly don’t claim to have expert knowledge on environmental change, CO2 emissions, the latest breakthroughs or Government policy. However, I do have a sprinkling of knowledge on most of these things, enough to say that we have a global population of over 8 billion humans (and rising), many living in or gaining ‘Western lifestyles’ (food production, transport, devices to state a few), so it doesn’t take the mind of Einstein to realise that we’ve had an effect on our environment since we began farming, and that effect is probably speeding up in a way that evolution hasn’t seen before. So, before you rush out to buy the latest energy saving, connected device made far, far away, I urge you to consider something else too.

In The West, we import thousands of tons of electrical items, well anything with a plug on it, from The Far East. Phones, tablets, toasters, kettles, pop-corn makers (to name a handful) are all made thousands of miles away, and are sold at affordable prices for us to enjoy, the very next day if you like! Also, you can’t seemingly buy any of these things without it being Internet connected, not even a bread maker! This is good news for retailers, but are items made at a price (not quality), in far-away, out-of-sight factories, shipped all around the world, really a good thing for us? Is the latest ‘online ready’, eco-device, always better for the environment? Is it ever a smarter, greener choice to ditch what you have, in order to do the ‘right thing’ by our planet.

Combine the complicated product route to market ‘journey’ with a short life expectancy (or very planned obsolescence), with a lack of in-country repair support, and the whole thing starts to sound like an environmental disaster. Doesn’t it? Some say that the average smartphone’s life is comparable to a pair of jeans, scary when you think about it. And what about the giant computing power; Petabytes of storage, precious metals, the air conditioning, and land that the data warehouses around the world use to make all the connectivity possible? It’s all starting to sound a bit bleak, really.

Years ago, when I was a young BT apprentice, Dave, (a wise colleague and friend of mine) once said that the trouble with the world now is that it’s ‘gone global’. We all laughed at the time, but now I’m older (and maybe a little wiser), I actually see what he meant.

Our thirst for the latest and best has generated a throw-away culture for sure, and if we carry on, deep down, we all know where it’s headed. But the tech stable door is well and truly open, and you, nor I, would favour heading back to 12^th Century lifestyles. No one I know would want to turn off YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter (to name a few).

Social media is a great way to keep in touch, but don’t forget how the platforms pay the bills. As a brand, or if you have the cash, social media gives virtually instant connectivity to the minds of folk most likely to part with their hard-earned money. It’s a powerful conduit to nudge minds, to influence behaviours and to extract pound from your pocket. Judge me as you will, but I suspect that many people, with a specially targeted, guilt-inducing, tear-jerking, warm-hug, ‘we’ll make it all better again for you’, advert could be made to ‘do the right thing’ and buy just about anything today! Dial-in some world-poverty, environmental damage, and little war, and buyers are putty in the brand’s hands. As with all sales pitches, there’s always a catch… don’t believe the hype!

Back in workshop-land this month, it’s been a right-old assorted bag of customer requests! I’ve had quite the mix of items in for repair. Lamps, toys, vacuum cleaners and a CD/ radio to name a few, but despite the variation, there are common themes that link all these items together, in a good way.

Spares were easily available, the item’s design allowed for disassembly and reassembly and I could see individual components with my own eyes! The technology was not out-of-date, it didn’t need an upgrade and it was all still as relevant today as it was at the time of purchase.

A good talking point with friends for sure, but a ‘connected toaster’ that links to your smartphone is probably not a good idea. The Internet bit inside will no doubt fail before the rest of the appliance, and how many WiFi devices do you think will exist in even 5 years? It’s therefore likely that something like this probably won’t last longer than a smartphone. And in my experience, these things are rarely supported by the manufacturer in terms of spare parts. If they have any kind of post-guarantee support, it’s usually not economically viable to bring the item back from the brink.

How to wrap this up then? More than ever, it seems, we all lead busy lives and the vast majority of us are connected to various platforms via our phones, at some time. Indeed recently, on our family holiday this summer, I saw many people from all countries, busy on their phones, by the pool, at mealtimes and even in the sea, throughout the day. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t check my phone, but social media can be like a sugar-rush, addictive for many, and advertisers know this. This means that now, more than ever, it’s possible to link your likes, news, political interests, friends’ network and viewing habits to new products likely to match your spending profile.

If you’ve watched environmental content on YouTube, or have bought solar energy for example, Google knows that you’re likely to be concerned about climate change. Many of us are.

I’m an aspiring optimist, and as a big believer in new technology and global, visionary projects, if delivered by our best engineers, I think we can at least help curb the negative effect we’re all having on the planet.

Eco-inspired, connected-products can make us feel like we’re doing our bit, but clickbait purchases of short-sighted lithium powered gadgets and cars, with limited or no support, can only be bad news.

If it works, and is useful, don’t chuck it out. Maintain your stuff and enjoy all the life an item has to give.

The most environmentally sustainable and cheapest products out there, are probably the things you already have.

Matt.

PS, don’t forget to check out Retro Electro Workshop on UKTV Play.

Inside The Real Repair Shop 11: Lego, Radios and Allegros

This time, Matt talks about cars on fire, tinkering and repair education.

Festive greetings from the workshop and well, hasn’t the year flown by?

As some of you know already, repair work is a bit of a side-hustle for me, and it’s something I’ve enjoyed since I was a child. Seriously, I would dismantle my parents’ vacuum cleaners, radios, clocks and later, the family car’s engine. Things sort of got out of control when I set fire to my uncles’ Austin Allegro though by muddling up some dashboard wires. Fortunately, the Allegro was made of stronger stuff and survived my handy work, despite a few scorch marks. Anyway, what were they thinking, letting an 8-year-old work on a car unsupervised!

For me, a long-long time ago now, a Fisher Price handyman set turned into Lego building and craft play using old washing up bottles and loo rolls. This turned into blowing up electronics kits, which then moved on to building bikes and cars. As a late teenager, I then got an apprenticeship with BT and studied while I learned about telephone exchanges and communications technologies. All of this might explain why I was never picked for the school team. You can’t have it all, I guess.

Playing with Lego and kits from Tandy (remember them?) for me as a kid definitely helped me to have a positive approach to repair and to not be fearful of getting it wrong. We only really learn from mistakes, of course. And I was lucky to have people around me at the time who were (mainly) happy with me dismantling household things with real tools, taking risks with real appliances and building weird inventions in the kitchen. But it wasn’t all good-humoured in our house! I still remember getting a stern telling off for dismantling a Mini carburettor on the draining board, next to the family’s drying crockery. My mum was upset with me for some reason.

Where’s all this going anyway? Well, as an adult who sometimes acts all grown-up, I’ve since had time to reflect on this maybe unusual set of circumstances, which ultimately lead me to where I am now in Worthing, at 44 years of age. I make no apology for being a pushy parent to my two daughters, encouraging them to create and build stuff; from toilet rolls and sticky tape to their increasing collection of Lego sets, or are they really my Lego sets? I want my kids to learn as I did, the joy of building, testing and usually failing to solve problems. It doesn’t always work like that, but you know what I mean.

I get a wide range of repair enquiries in my inbox, from Kenwood Chef restorations to lamp re-wires to kids’ toy repairs, many enquiries with interesting back-stories too. But sometimes I just can’t take on a repair if I feel that it can be done by the person enquiring. For example, fitting a new plug to an appliance, which I feel, if needed, should be attempted by most folk. The main issue affecting many people, and therefore preventing them from tacking the job themselves, is a lack of confidence. I see it all the time, from vacuum cleaners that just need minor adjustments or cleaning, to lamps that only need a new bulb. When people ask me to do repair work like this, I’ll always give them the option to do the work themselves first, with some guidance – which probably isn’t good for business, but will ultimately help that person to maybe help themselves.

Of course, as adults, there are local repair cafés, DIY college courses and YouTube that can help any budding diy’er, but to be truly repair savvy, I believe that one must start their learning younger and begin through play and the classroom.

In this article, I wanted to share some of my educational thoughts on repair. Appliance repair and general household maintenance isn’t covered as a subject at school (in the UK) to my knowledge, and as we make it to adulthood, we’re just expected to figure it out for ourselves or ask someone else. The closest we get to repair work in secondary school is in Design Technology, but hoover teardowns and rebuilds are not covered. Is this because it’s perceived as unglamorous, basic, simple work, I wonder? Perhaps it’s something I’ll take up with the current Education Secretary, although I’ll have to be quick, as it may all change next week! In all seriousness, our education system needs to encourage practical self-reliance, encompassing repair, if our government is truly serious about sustainability and our environment. In the same way that secondary school mathematics should include topics on mortgages and loan applications, technology subjects should also encompass domestic appliance fault-finding and furniture assembly education, alongside more classical topics so that our children today turn out as adults tomorrow, who can, at least, wire a plug.

Until the next time…

Inside The Real Repair Shop 5

Why do people get things repaired? Some thoughts shared. One day, I’ll write a book on the subject.

What makes something cool and just maybe worth hanging on to? Is it good design? Is it great functionality? Is it celebrity endorsement? Is it scarcity? Is this a list that could go on forever? Yes, probably.

Some stuff is just cool and loved from the off, and some things take a while longer to enter the hall of fame. But why is that? Why does it happen?

FixItWorkshop, Worthing, September 2021, the mug

I was pondering this while going through my workshop enquiry inbox recently, and began wondering what motivates people to get something working again or restored to its former glory. The subject is probably a study in its own right, but I thought I’d share my own thoughts on the subject here. Now might be a good idea, assuming you fancy a drink, to grab a cuppa. Please come back as soon as possible.

FixItWorkshop, Worthing, September 2021, Guess the theme

One of the things I get asked to repair frequently is food mixers, especially Kenwood Chefs. Like the original Mini, AEC Routemaster London Bus and K6 Phone Box, the Chef in its many forms has become a design icon. It also helps that the mixer excels in function and is timeless in design. Many Chefs that I receive come with an interesting family backstory. Recently, one such example involved a 1964 machine which had travelled the world, after being originally purchased in South Africa. It had accompanied an army family each time my customer’s husband had transferred to start another tour. The Chef had grown up with her family making cakes, treats and dinners for over 60 years and had visited over 15 countries and was now worth way more to its owner than the sum of its parts. After the mixer was repaired and returned, I was told that the Chef would be passed down to the next generation to enjoy, when the time came. This particular Chef was, quite literally, one of the family.

FixItWorkshop, Worthing, September 2021, An example of an early Kenwood Chef A701

Luckily, many Chefs new and old have spare parts readily available with straightforward access to technical information, making repair possible, and I was able to fix this one which only needed a motor overhaul and gearbox re-grease. Not bad service really, considering its age and life!

Old toys are another ‘workshop favourite’ enquiry. Many toys from the 1970s and 1980s have seemingly survived playtime to then be laid up in attics and cupboards for many years, only to be rediscovered when children move out or something similar is spotted, while browsing eBay! Toys from this era which take batteries, tend to have traditional electro-mechanical parts (switches, motors and bulbs etc) which if broken, can be repaired or replaced. By comparison, later made toys with microprocessors and micro components are sometimes very difficult to reboot without donor parts. A few months ago, I repaired a motorised ‘Tomy Kong Man’ toy for a customer who had found it in his parents’ loft. The toy was in good condition, but wasn’t working. The Dad wanted to get it working for his kids as he remembered having so much fun with it, when he was their age. After a good hour of dismantling, cleaning, re-lubricating and a touch of soldering, the toy was working well once again, ready to be enjoyed by the next generation.

FixItWorkshop, Worthing, September 2021, a picture of the 1980’s Tomy toy, Kongman

The great thing about the repairs recalled here is that the owners all had a connection with their item and were prepared to preserve it for future generations. For whatever reason a strong bond had formed between item and owner, established over many years and incorporating many shared experiences. It’s programs like BBC’s The Repair Shop and Drew Pritchard’s restoration TV which draw out those backstories to bring tales of product ownership to life.

Sustainable is probably an overused word at the moment, but in order to really live more sustainably and reduce our impact on our environment, we need to buy less stuff, love the things we already have for longer and lobby decision makers to assist when repair barriers exist. So, the next time you’re thinking about binning your old Hoover, just think about all the fun memories you’ve had together and consider repairing it.

FixItworkshop, Worthing, September 2021, A slightly battered, but perfectly serviceable, Dyson DC14

For ‘The Workshop’, it’s about preserving an item, with its story intact, keeping it going, providing good service and enjoyment for as long as reasonably possible. Until the next time.

Repair, kettles and er, the Citroen 2CV

Less is usually more. Simpler devices can mean repair is more likely in the event of failure.

I keep a model of a Citroen 2CV car on my desk at work. It’s about 30-odd years old and it’s a bit battered due to an incident involving a shelf, my old cat and an 8ft drop, but that’s another story.

IMG_20200704_122535 — FixItWorkshop, Worthing, July’20, The 2CV (AZ series)

The 2CV is there to remind me to keep things simple, to the point.

To me (and many others) the 2CV represents pure function over form. Nothing on the car is superfluous to its function as a capable load lugging, robust, ever-repairable and frugal vehicle. I have a soft spot for these cars. They encapsulate the phrase ‘less is more’.

Not every story from the workshop is rosy and my heart usually sinks when I receive something to fix that has tiny printed circuit boards fitted inside that do ‘something’ and nothing at the same time.

What the Tin Snail do I mean by that? Many appliances and machines manufactured in the last 20 years or so often contain ‘mini’ circuits that control ‘something’.

Take an electric kettle, something that most people have in their homes. Kettles generally are a water holding vessel, a heating system, and an on/off switch with a boiling water state detecting negative feedback loop (it switches off by itself when the water boils). There’s also some wire and stuff.

Electric kettles haven’t really changed that much over the years, after all the basic need hasn’t changed: You put water in, you switch it on, you get hot water to make a drink. Nothing has changed. However, many offered these days are fitted with things like filters, LED lighting and other electronic temperature control systems with bells on.

Trouble is, all these (kettle) gadgets tend to be controlled by a small circuit board which isn’t repairable or even replaceable. It only takes an accidental water spill, some static electricity or bump mishap and that tiny circuitry is toast. Not even a professional circuit repair agent, let along home spanner wielder would have a chance of repairing the broken circuit. When failure occurs, many will just discard the appliance and go and buy another one, quickly. Who wants to be without tea or coffee?!

The tragedy is that the rest of the (kettle in this case) appliance is, nine times out of ten, OK and if it was made with more traditional components that one could see with the naked eye, the appliance would stand far more chance of being repaired easily and economically. Something to think about, next time you’re considering a new purchase.

Hooray for Henry!

A Numatic Henry vacuum cleaner gets the kiss of life…

FixItWorkshop, Worthing, March’20, Numatic ‘Henry’ vacuum cleaner HVA200a (to be exact).

There are times when only no-nonsense suck will do. Other vacuum cleaners offer the moon on a stick, but rarely live up to the repeated abuse of everyday life. Henry on the other hand is tough, no-nonsense and above all, reliable.

Reviewers of this kind of thing, seem to agree.

Make and model: Numatic International ‘Henry’ vacuum cleaner HVA200a

Fault reported: Dead/ not running

Cost of replacement: About £130, give or take

Cost of parts: £17.25

Hours spent on repair: 1

Tools needed: Cleaning tools/ cross-head screwdriver

Sundry items: Silicone spray/ cleaning rags

Repair difficulty: 2/10

Cups of tea: 1

Biscuits: 1 bourbon, I think

I have friends in trades who will only buy and use Henry ‘hoovers’ as they last, always work and are easy to use. And above all, who doesn’t like an appliance with a smiley face?

The example in the picture above had been used by a local Worthing taxi driver everyday for the last 15 years without any problems and was in pretty good nick. The filter was clean and apart from some wear and tear scratches, still looked like the current model.

One day, Henry failed to switch on and after the owner had checked the fuse in the plug, he decided to get in touch with the workshop.

FixItWorkshop, Worthing, March’20, Henry’s on switch.

The HVA200a has two speed settings, one at 600 Watts power and one at 1200 Watts power, selectable by a red switch and indicated in a red tell-tail lamp. When plugged in, nothing was happening.

Time to perform surgery.

Opening up Henry’s casing was straightforward and top marks to the designers for creating sensible parts that fit together logically. Henry is designed to last and be repaired. All very pleasing.

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With the lid removed, all electrical checks were made from the plug to the end of the flex, down to the motor. The flex was in good condition with no snags, shorts or earth faults. The cable winder on this model is a simple handle operating spindle and was a bit sticky. The contacts inside the gubbins were also tarnished, so while it was all in pieces, I decided to clean all of the electrical contacts with cleaner and make sure all the sliding parts of the cable winder were clean and had a small dab of silicone spray for smoothness.

Testing for current around the circuit revealed that the speed control board was where things stopped. The speed control board was dead and required replacing.

To prove this fact, I was able to temporarily by-pass the controller and connect the mains switch to the motor, which revealed that the motor was strong.

A quick bit of shopping with my favourite parts suppliers yielded a replacement (updated) speed control PCB for under £20, which seemed like good value to me. After making a note of the wiring (see slideshow), the new PCB was connected up, the casing back together and Henry was ready to run, once more.

I also decided to give Henry a little polish too, just because.