2020-08-29 Virtual Fixit Clinic

Video for August 29, 2020 Virtual Fixit Clinic 560
August 29, 2020 Virtual Fixit Clinic hosted out of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL)
  • When: August 29, 2020 2:00 PM (America/New_York)

Virtual Fixit Clinics bring the world's greatest troubleshooting talent together to address whatever's presented through "virtual" Fixit Clinics using teleconferencing software (Zoom.)

Here's how it works: show your broken item to the global assembly of community repairers and get suggestions for things to try. After all items are presented we assign items/participants and repairers to Zoom breakout rooms to implement the suggestions and, hopefully, fix the items.

We saw:
LAMPS ----------------------------------------
-Heidi From Fremont California US: Standard table lamp Hand made Body was carved of solid wood by my grandfather. Electrical part no longer works so I want to repair or replace it. Have no idea where to start. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=5450
-Kim From Boulder Colorado US: Salt lamp Crystal Salt Lamp 1000 Series 2014 It is not lighting up when I turn it on with the dimmer dial. I already changed the bulb, thinking that it was just a burnt out bulb, but it will still not light up. Changing the bulb, otherwise, I have not known where to begin. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=20
 
-Cheri From US-California-Berkeley: A lamp Not sure (not listed) Not sure (not listed) 2010 or earlier This tall halogen lamp has three sections. Two of them screw together. The third section does not have screw grooves.  Now, I'm using Gorilla tape. I would like to weld or glue it so that it doesn't lean. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=111 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=4887
-Mary Ellen from US-California-Sacramento: small lamp n/a n/a 2010 or earlier the part that holds the lightbulb has separated, so the bulb hangs down sideways.  Also the knob no longer turns it on/off. I bought a kit to replace that portion of the lamp (and maybe the entire cord). I just need to have someone 'at the ready' to help me, if I run into problems. I'm using the Fixit Clinic as my impetus to get this repair done!  (Plus, I know/hope that I'll have guidance, if needed!) https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=193 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=5713
RADIOS ----------------------------------------
-Jacque from US-California-Berkeley: clock radio has bad reception in certain rooms of the house. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=298 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=6016
-Jamie From Canada-Ontario-Brampton: A/V receiver Kenwood VR-407 intermittent cutting out of front audio channels I reset it to defaults but did not fix it. The AC power comes into the unit directly, there is no external transformer so I don't feel safe opening it, I also don't want to make it worse but if I had an idea of what might be wrong maybe we could get our handyman to repair it when he is back from vacation. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=373 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=4409
-Tai-Ran From US-California-Berkeley: Audio Receiver Kenwood KR-3090 2010 or earlier Random loud popping noise. I isolated it to one channel. It appears to get worse after it’s on for a period of time. Yes, I have read many forum discussions about it, located the service manual, opened up the receiver, did some cleaning and testing. Need to pinpoint the exact capacitor or other component that has gone bad. The noise is independent of the volume, the speaker, and the source. It only comes from the right channel.
MISC -----------------------------------
** RETURNING: -Rae From Denver Colorado US: Rae is back with their Black and Decker TRO Toaster Oven, they’ve removed the cover and have a multimeter now so we can test for a bad heating element or look for a loose wire. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=680 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=5529
-Alice From US-CA-San Leandro: Sewing Machine Singer Singer Elegance 9430 2010 or earlier Needle moves but stitch is not formed https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=747
-Rebecca From Santa Fe New Mexico US: Paper shredder Amazon Basics ASIN B00YFTHJ9C, INTERTEK 3194986 2018 The paper won’t feed so that it can be shredded. The motor works and the shredding mechanism works — as evidenced by the shredder working in reverse—only. There are three function settings, only: auto, off, and reverse. Reverse works. Auto does not. (Off, who knows?) it stopped working all of a sudden with no warning and no incident. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=842 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=8617
-Shailesh From US-California-Fremont: Laptop, Lenovo ,e345, windows 10 lenovo E345 2017 
Issue is related to installation of an older version of Quicken and software developer (Intuit) will provide no help for older version. If someone in our group can help me with that, that would be great. I will see you in zoom tomorrow at 11:00 A.M. Thanks, again.- Shailesh. https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=926
-Angela From US-CA-Foster City: Dissemble a fake drawer front under a sink 2010 or earlier Need to replace a new drawer front, but do not know how to remove the existing one. Did some web research but cannot find right help https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=1051 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=5759
-Jacquie from CA-Canada-Ontario-Toronto: Windproof Umbrella with no handle and broken part https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=1142 and report back at https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=6778
-Jingjing from US-California-Berkeley Furnace is broken husband tried to fix the control board and then the blower and it worked for awhile but then stopped: https://youtu.be/3qYnN5PLvg8?t=3833
The Zoom chat is below.
Thanks again to everybody who participated!
See you at an upcoming virtual Fixit Clinic, -Peter
11:08:34 From Mary Ellen, Sacramento CA US : great lamp,Cherie
11:12:27 From Marc near San Francisco, California : She said it worked fine in that location, had static in the kitchen. Electrical interference?
11:13:13 From Bryan McAlley, South East England, UK : This will be interference in her kitchen - probably from a fluorescent light…..
11:13:44 From Bryan McAlley, South East England, UK : Particularly if she is using the AM waveband rather than FM….
11:14:25 From Dany, Belgium : Relais problem?
11:14:30 From Peter Mui Berkeley CA US : -Jamie From Canada-Ontario-Brampton: A/V receiver Kenwood VR-407 intermittent cutting out of front audio channels I reset it to defaults but did not fix it. The AC power comes into the unit directly, there is no external transformer so I don't feel safe opening it, I also don't want to make it worse but if I had an idea of what might be wrong maybe we could get our handyman to repair it when he is back from vacation.
11:14:37 From Phil Sussex UK : LEDs can do the same thing.
11:14:52 From Narayan Tallapaka, Union City, California : To everyone, if you seem to have network issues or we tell you that your audio is lagging, try to turn off your video to see if that makes things better temporarily.
11:16:00 From Peter Mui Berkeley CA US : -Tai-Ran From US-California-Berkeley: Audio Receiver Kenwood KR-3090 2010 or earlier Random loud popping noise. I isolated it to one channel. It appears to get worse after it’s on for a period of time. Yes, I have read many forum discussions about it, located the service manual, opened up the receiver, did some cleaning and testing. Need to pinpoint the exact capacitor or other component that has gone bad. The noise is independent of the volume, the speaker, and the source. It only comes from the right channel.
11:16:09 From David Walcher : I agree. It is not the radio, it is the location. 
11:18:11 From Peter Mui Berkeley CA US : -Rae From Denver Colorado US: Rae is back with their Black and Decker TRO Toaster Oven, they’ve removed the cover and have a multimeter now so we can test for a bad heating element or look for a loose wire.
11:19:34 From David Walcher : Has it ever been oiled?
11:22:54 From CC Clark, Oakland, CA : I’m listening and here just not broad casting
11:23:51 From Doug - Wellesley MA : Amazon Shredder repair guide on iFixit: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/AmazonBasics+B0050BPWBQ+Activation+Sensor+Replacement/60197
11:23:56 From Jacquie Adain (dead window)  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : is it too late to ask about my umbrella?
11:26:07 From Phil Sussex UK : I have the same shredder - there’s a microswitch in the paper path that get clogged with paper.
11:27:40 From chris in berkeley CA : phil in Sussex, can you unclog without dismantling as described in the repair guide?
11:29:46 From Marc near San Francisco, California : about the shredder- a thin implement, even an un-bent paper clip may be enough to clear stray paper out of the switch.
11:30:30 From Marc near San Francisco, California : Don’t forget the wobbly lava lamp (non electrical)
11:30:37 From ratansi  Al   Toronto  ON.  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : may I ask do we have to be certified (electrician) to fix lamps and maybe similar items. ? tks.
11:31:00 From David Walcher : THe shredder iswitch maybe able to be redone
11:31:05 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : Yeah, it's  most likely a clogged microswitch
11:31:17 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : Worst case we can bypass it
11:31:19 From John P, Newton, MA, USA : yeah mine has a little microswitch as well and it can be buggy
11:31:37 From chris in berkeley CA : yah just put all these guys in the shredder closet
11:32:01 From Marc near San Francisco, California : OTOH, I had a shredder that had a bad electrical connection, though it had been treated roughly by someone who had tried to repair it.
11:34:38 From David Walcher : To clarify about the shredder. My micro switch can be pushed out of position and therefore not turn the shredder on.  It required openning the machine, but I agree, a paper clip or some air blown thru it may work. Easy to do the easiest first.
11:34:51 From colby (Massachusetts) : I would like to joint he radio group
11:35:31 From Marc near San Francisco, California : I’ll go in the sewing machine group.
11:38:34 From Kirsten Wahlberg, Saint Paul, Minnesota  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : What happens to those of us who don’t pick a room?
11:38:39 From Kirsten Wahlberg, Saint Paul, Minnesota  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : Hello by the way! :)
11:39:01 From Phil Sussex UK : I’d like to join the radio group
11:39:05 From Gregg San Diego : could you put me with the shredder group
11:39:40 From Ivy Cheng, Toronto  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : Would it be faster to put all coaches into the hallway first, then when you assign clients (people with things to fix) to the breakout room, the coaches can go into whichever breakout room right away?
11:39:51 From Rae Jones (they/she)  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : Hey - A way that I’ve seen this go smoothly in other groups is that they ask everyone to change their name to start with the group that they want to be in and then that allows the host to sort people pretty quickly.
11:39:54 From ratansi  Al   Toronto  ON.  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : I would like to be ipad group please or laptop. tks (observer)
11:40:01 From Wayne Seltzer - Boulder U-Fix-It Clinic : Wayne - co-host; to shredder room.
11:40:25 From Dany, Belgium : Not in the hallway yet...
11:40:29 From John P, Newton, MA, USA : I need to be added to the hallway please :)
11:40:57 From Doug - Wellesley MA  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : I think next time we can have the regular coaches pre-register for a room, and the rest can be done in real time while the room-session can get started immediately.
11:41:24 From Tricia McGillis, Oakland CA : hallway for me, no rush
11:41:30 From Ivy Cheng, Toronto : Do we see breakout room and hallway icons on screen yet?
11:41:54 From Jessika, Malmö, Sweden : it will take a little while. Zoom only lets the host do this - one by one :)
11:42:14 From Dany, Belgium : You were quicker last time, Jessika :-)
11:42:15 From Kirsten Wahlberg, Saint Paul, Minnesota : Howdy is doing a great job!
11:42:23 From Nicole Panditi, Berkeley  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : What we do for large zoom classes at berkeley is have one assistant who would type the requests into a separate google doc, so that the meeting host can ignore the chat and video while they do the executive tasks
11:42:25 From Doug - Wellesley MA : Doug will go to Shredder Room
11:42:40 From Dany, Belgium : Me co-host also,  please
11:42:44 From Doug - Wellesley MA : Please make me co-host too.
11:42:50 From Narayan Tallapaka, Union City, California : And there can't exactly be multiple hosts, so that's cumbersome too
11:43:02 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : Ur doin great, Howdy, just take your time
11:43:06 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : Co-host as well please for computers & laptops.
11:43:26 From John P, Newton, MA, USA : Yeah the issue of breakout room control only being for hosts is annoying...
11:45:06 From Rae Jones (they/she) : It seems like we have enough brilliant people here to write some code to fix that John?
11:45:24 From John P, Newton, MA, USA : hahaha likely!
11:45:24 From Meagan Gilpin : I'll go to computers & laptops as an observer, please
11:46:35 From Erin Walker | Brampton Library : Computers & laptops for me too please. 
11:46:56 From Rae Jones (they/she) : I would like some help with my toaster oven :)
11:47:37 From Tom Johnson : Tom Johnson wants to go into the shredder room
11:48:59 From Shailesh shah : Peter,
11:49:08 From Ivy Cheng, Toronto : can you move me to the hallway?
11:49:43 From Ron, UK : Radios for me, please.
11:50:00 From Erin Walker | Brampton Library : I guess I need to go to the hallway? 
11:50:51 From Shailesh shah : thanks or your help. this is a great platform. If you happen to know how I can get in touch with customer service of Quicken, please let me know with email or text. I will sign off now.
11:54:00 From Phil Sussex UK : Guys, looks like you have enough experts. I’ll catch you next time.
11:54:08 From Phil Sussex UK : Bye bye.
11:55:25 From Peter Mui Berkeley CA US : Unfortunately Intuit sold Quicken to a third party, I bet they
11:55:39 From Peter Mui Berkeley CA US : ‘re trying to get everyone to upgrade to the latest version
11:55:50 From Meg (she/her) - Saskatoon, Canada : I’d like to observe in the Lamp room
12:00:08 From Rotimi Aluko : please, I'll just like to rove
12:02:16 From David Walcher : Is there some way to continue to see the item that is being fixed. Every time one of the fixers or helpers talks, the video goes to them and doesn't stay on the item.
12:04:07 From Peter Mui Berkeley CA US : Three dots…pin video, co-hosts can also spotlight video
12:04:14 From Khadije Houri canada : i would like to go to computer room as observer
12:09:17 From Dave West RC Schenectady  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : put me anywhere
12:09:46 From Khadije Houri canada : i would like to go to radio room as observer
12:12:03 From Dave West RC Schenectady  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : electrical mechanical is my special interest
12:18:30 From Rotimi Aluko : I was unable to see anything in the breakouts room. Perhaps you could reassign me to the mechanical room, as an observer, though.
12:24:13 From Trent  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : I’d like to go to the hallway
12:38:54 From Kim Nelson Boulder CO US  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : Peter, I have to leave now. Thank you. I may be back. It looks like I need to replace the dimmer switch.
12:40:36 From Mary Ellen, Sacramento CA US : HI all, If we’re talking about Rae, who had the toaster oven,  Let'
12:40:50 From Mary Ellen, Sacramento CA US : Let’s honor them by using their preferred pronoun!
12:40:56 From Mary Ellen, Sacramento CA US : THANKS]
12:41:16 From John P, Newton, MA, USA : Hi Mary! Thank you for the note, I believe they were fine with they and she
12:42:10 From Mary Ellen, Sacramento CA US : OK —  THANKS
12:42:18 From John P, Newton, MA, USA : always important though!!
12:42:31 From Mary Ellen, Sacramento CA US : :-)
12:44:15 From Dany, Belgium : What about the compressed air
12:44:36 From Dany, Belgium : if inversed, they tend to freeze stuff temporarily...
12:47:07 From Dave West RC Schenectady : gotta leave folks 
12:47:12 From John P, Newton, MA, USA : Thanks!
12:50:15 From Angelina Y : Thank you!  It is a fun clinic.  
12:50:42 From charliesellers : Thanks all!
13:04:45 From Bonnie Borucki : Hi Jacquie & Frank, this is Bonnie, we do a Repair Cafe in Berkeley and would like to connect for ideas and exchange.
13:06:11 From Bonnie Borucki : good close-up camera seem to be important to understand what’s going on.
13:07:58 From Bonnie Borucki : Calendula oil may help the cat
13:11:07 From Jacquie Adain (dead window)  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : Thanks, Bonnie.  That sounds like a plan.  Google repaircafetoronto to connect with our group.
13:18:02 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : bye bryan, thanks
13:18:11 From Narayan Tallapaka, Union City, California : Hey everyone, I've gotta leave. See you next time!
13:19:32 From Dany, Belgium : Going to leave you for today. See you next time
13:19:40 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : bye Narayan, thanks for fixing with us
13:19:58 From Rotimi Aluko : glad to be back, thanks.
13:20:10 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : bye dany, good to have you join us
13:21:33 From Jacquie Adain (dead window) : Thank you all very much!  It's been great.  Moxie and I will say goodbye for now and see you the next time.  I'm really looking forward to it. 
13:25:55 From Jo MacLeod - East Sussex, England UK : Facebook page - Chailey Repair Café UK. Lots of photos of our mends and videos also. Our founder is Bryan who wason
13:26:07 From Jo MacLeod - East Sussex, England UK : was on the chat tonight
13:27:28 From Doug - Wellesley MA  To  Peter Mui Berkeley CA US(privately) : We have asked Rebecca to take a picture of her shredder's circuit board. If you can forward that to me, Tom Johnson and Wayne, that would be great. 
13:32:26 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : thank U very much Howdy & Peter
13:32:49 From Bonnie Borucki : Thank you, good job in coordinating. Thank you for letting me crash it!
13:34:13 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : yes this setup with the flexibility to wander was better for me
13:35:09 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : https://discord.com/
13:36:26 From Bonnie Borucki : Discord is the gamers platyform
13:36:46 From Bonnie Borucki : But, may be for general use too.
13:40:59 From Bob Walker : I’m willing to help try out new platforms
13:41:18 From Bonnie Borucki : A dedicated server sounds great!
13:41:32 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : okay, so far the Discord work group is Alvin, Erin, Wayne, Peter & who else?
13:41:33 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : I can setup a discord server for us moving forward
13:42:24 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : Great idea Chris, let's assemble a list of those interested in experimenting with Discord
13:42:54 From Wayne Seltzer - Boulder U-Fix-It Clinic : http://boulderufixitclinic.org
13:43:49 From Bonnie Borucki : I’m interested too in the Discord platform. We are planning to work with high school students
13:44:02 From Tomas (NL-EN-FR) from Tienen, Belgium : ++ to Peter!!
13:44:06 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : well said Peter
13:46:13 From Tai-Ran Tseng : Good to see everyone. Thank you all! I am taking off now.
13:46:24 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : See you Tai, cheers
13:46:42 From Bonnie Borucki : Tool library just reopened
13:46:48 From Bonnie Borucki : in Berkeley
13:47:20 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : bye tai, come back next time
13:47:37 From Tomas (NL-EN-FR) from Tienen, Belgium : Ciao everyone! Take care, stay safe and see you later on Zoom or Discord! :-)
13:47:47 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : See you Tomas
13:48:35 From Ivy Cheng, Toronto : Leaving now...ciao. Thx.
13:49:06 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : see you later, Tomas & ivy
13:49:13 From Peter Mui Berkeley CA US  To  Doug - Wellesley MA(privately) : Hi Doug: thanks, I’ll look for that
13:50:46 From Jennifer, Oakland, CA, USA : Thanks Everyone!  Great team!
13:50:46 From Bonnie Borucki : Thank you, next time
13:51:05 From chris in berkeley CA, USA : Bye everyone, thank you Howdy & Peter
13:51:17 From Wayne Seltzer - Boulder U-Fix-It Clinic : My Discord: (suppressed)
13:51:46 From Alvin (ON, Canada) : Cheers!