A few weeks ago I got to learn basic electrical repair at Repair Kopitiam - diagnosing the problem from plugs, wire inspection and then dismantling the whole appliance. It felt like doing surgery, not that I have done it before!
The Difficult Parts
- I had a bit of trouble with the science of it all. I think what got me was having to remember the Ohms Law, which is important in electrical repair. Without Ohms Law, you wouldn't know if there was anything wrong with your appliance, well, you could use the multimeter. Help, I need to refer to my notes!
- Drawing the circuit diagram was tough too as it was hard to see where all the wiring went from the plug.
Fun Bits
- The "aha" moment - dismantling my toaster and finally realising how it works!
- Fixing the toaster with other repair coaches - apparently the earth and live were touching each other causing entire flat to trip! I now can make toast!
- Using the soldering iron and worrying whether I was being poisoned by the fumes (I was reassured that it was non-lead solder!)
Have you tried repairing appliances? I'm a bit more confident now that I have some basic skills but I think I will need practice and someone guiding me when it's more than the fuse or wiring that's the issue!
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| Soldering |
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| Fixing my 15 year old toaster |
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| The lever was the most difficult to take out! |
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| I didn't know that a toaster had a circuit board! |
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| My friend's circuit diagram of the toaster |
This is so cool, Agy! We live in such a throwaway society that it would cost more to have a toaster fixed than it would to buy a new one. It's so awesome that you learned to fix one yourself.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Am impressed!! Your kids will sure be a DIY with your great learning skills! : )
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