On this blog, I like share tales of "Fixing Stuff". Now, we want to hear yours.
One comment / story is going to earn a $100 bounty, a glorious Amazon.com gift card from our friends at Crucial Vacuum! (update: Contest over)
Over the years, I've taken advantage of the internet's easy accessibility to repair parts and educational resources to fix stuff that I would have either thrown away and replaced or paid someone the big bucks to repair for me. It's become my first reflex to tear stuff apart and fix it. I've saved tons of money in the process.
Replacing the cord on the dust collector.
Of course there's risk involved. I've attacked a repair, casually ignoring the "no user serviceable parts" label only to find that not only was I unable to fix the item, I couldn't even hope to put it back together. I am embarrassed to admit I did the walk of shame to the trash bin with an armful of plastic, electronics, tubes and dangling wires that had once been a beautiful Keurig Platinum coffee brewer.
We lost a $130 coffee brewer in that debacle, but it was busted and out of warranty anyway. I'm not going to do a brake repair job on my wife's car in the driveway, because I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not going to risk my family to save any amount of money. I leave that one to the pros.
I've had my successes as well. Here's a rundown of some of the highlights...
- Remember the dealership challenge? It saved almost $100 and it took only a few minutes of my time to replace the auxiliary audio jack in my truck. No mechanic!
Plug and play!
- I repaired our front loading washing machine when it tried to self-destruct. Success is 100% due to internet videos and parts schematics. No repair man!
This one took three hands
- I've repaired our aging irrigation system countless times. It keeps finding new place to fail. I plan to replace all the tubing at some point. No repair man!
- Recently, I rewired a lamp rather than chuck it. It's a cheap lamp, probably worth about $20 but we like it and didn't want to add it to a landfill. No landfill / No replacement!
- The pool vacuum spends it's life underwater in a chemically charged environment. Of course stuff breaks and wears out. I rebuilt this $300+ piece of plastic wizardry with parts and instructions from the internet. No repair shop!
- Speaking of the pool, I again reached out to the internet for parts and instructions to repair our aging DE filter in "You will go to the Dagobah System"No Service Technician! I did later hire a company to replace and upgrade the whole system.
I've had plenty of other fix-it successes like an XBox controller, a vacuum cleaner, a clock, countless toys, some light car repairs, and general household plumbing and electrical repairs. Other stuff, I've had to chuck in the trash when it's simply outside its useful life or just not worth the major surgery to attempt a repair, like televisions, a pool motor, a toaster, and etc.
The Contest!
How about you?
What have you done to save the family budget and keep stuff from the landfill? What's the one thing you're most glad you fixed rather than throwing away? What fix-it job are you most proud of? What do you wish people would stop throwing out and start fixing?
Share your story in the comments below, email it to me ( john@azdiyguy.com), or even send it to me through a Facebook message. A few sentences is fine! Send photos if you like. I'll feature the winner in a future post.
The winner gets a $100 Amazon gift card from Crucial Vacuum ! I'd be honored if you'd follow me on Facebook ! I slip plenty more good DIY content and humor in over there. (Don't forget Twitter, Google+, Hometalk, and Pinterest too!) Have fun!
This contest is complete. We have a Winner
Thank you everyone!
From Crucial Vacuum:
"Crucial Vacuum supply vacuum cleaner parts and supplies, so we're always interested in ways we can encourage more people to fix appliances rather than throw them away. It's great to find bloggers like John, who get more people repairing, recycling, and taking care of things, so we thought it might be fun to see what his readers have been fixing!"
I've looked over their website and loved the how-to videos for installing replacement vacuum parts. I really like the fact that they plant a tree for every 1,000 filters they sell. I also like the price match guarantee, free shipping, and free returns.
Crucial Vacuum is currently running a special coupon code for 20% off a $40 order though March 2014 (Coupon code: POLARVORTEX)
Read the ole' fine print below before entry:
- Relationship: AZ DIY Guy's Projects (Host) has no financial relationship with Crucial Vacuum (Sponsor) and has received no compensation for hosting. They originated the idea for this contest, thinking my readers would enjoy it and would appreciate their products and services. I'm hosting this contest as a way to engage and reward my awesome readers as well as meet new ones. Amazon, Facebook, and other third party social media outlets are not affiliated with the contest.
- Duration: The contest runs through March 26, 2014 at 11:59 pm, Phoenix, AZ time.
- Location: The contest is open to the US and Canada only. Participation is void if any a participant's local authority having jurisdiction deems this contest to be illegal in any way. Participants are responsible for verifying their legal eligibility.
- Eligibility: Only individuals over 18 are eligible, no company or organization. Bloggers are welcome. Employees and family members of AZ DIY Guy's Projects and Crucial Vacuum are ineligible. Entries or comments that are deemed profane, hateful, discriminatory, or otherwise distasteful will be removed and are not eligible.
- Entry: Participants enter the contest via a written commentary / story. Entries are accepted via: 1.) comments on this original blog post 2.) Facebook message to the AZ DIY Guy page 3.) Email to john@azdiyguy.com
- Winner: The winner will be chosen editorially and subjectively at the discretion of the host and sponsor. Following or subscribing to the host or sponsor of the contest on social media is not required for entry (although it is greatly appreciated!). Photographs are not required, but would be great to post on the winning announcement.
- Notification: A good-faith attempt to contact the winner will be made via the contact information provided at time of entry. The winner has 48 hours to respond, before forfeiting and an alternate winner is chosen.
- Prize: The sponsor is responsible for providing the prize, a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate to the winner. This certificate may be digital or physical at the discretion of Crucial Vacuum.
- Release: Participants allow their story, comments, and identity (as supplied) to be shared.
- Errors: The host and sponsor are not responsible for any potential, technical errors into the contest. An best effort will be made to resolve any errors fairly. If a legal error is discovered, adjustment to the contest will me made to ensure compliance or the contest can be cancelled.
- Acceptance: By entering the contest, participants accept the terms and agrees to hold the the host, sponsor and any social media used harmless in the event of an error or omission.
- Spam: Spam will be deleted. Seriously. Shame on you.
Want to win that $100 certificate?!! Let's hear your story!