Stuff I've fixed
I don't like buying new stuff if something breaks:
Dell inspiron 7306 2n1 storage upgrade and battery replacement
The battery life on my laptop had been getting worse, so I decided to upgrade it. While I was at it, I also upgraded from a 500GB NVMe drive to a 1TB one. I repurposed the old drive for a Raspberry Pi NAS project.
Opening up my laptop was nerve-wracking, but everything went smoothly. I cloned the drive using Disk Genius, which was the only free tool I found that actually worked without hidden charges—despite many others claiming to be free. Now my laptop runs better than ever, and I’m happy with the results!
PS5 controller motherboard replacement
Recently, my PS5 controller, which I use with my laptop, started overheating and wouldn't charge or connect. To fix it, I bought a replacement motherboard from a listing on AliExpress:Working Great Original BDM-010 020 030 Touchpad Main PCB Board Motherboard for PS5 Controller Controller Joystick Function board - AliExpress 44 .
After desoldering the motor connectors from the old motherboard and attaching them to the new one, I noticed some of the face buttons weren't working. I suspect this was because the pads for these buttons on the new motherboard had been repaired, leaving them uneven in height. To resolve this, I used a small piece of foam to increase the pressure between the flexible face button PCB and the board. This fixed the issue!
Now I have a fully functional PS5 controller without having to spend £60 on a replacement.
Bose 301 II speaker terminal replacement
When I got the speakers, the part that holds the wire down was broken on the left speaker. Genuine replacement parts were really expensive, so I brought one that matched the dimensions form eBay: 2_Wire Way Square Speaker Box Push Spring Terminal Clip Connector | eBay. It turned out to matched absolutely perfectly! I soldered the new connector on and screwed it in and you can barely tell it was replaced.
Stopping Bose 301 II speaker woofers from rattling
I got these speakers for free from freecycle but one of the woofers started rattling as shown in the video. Putting some super glue around the edge of the speaker's spider fixed my problems and the money to by replacement parts. I very happy with this fix and I love these speakers and there strange back firing tweeters.
Mending snapped tent poles
It makes me sad how many people would get rid of a good tent with a broken pole. Getting a new pole of Ebay of the same diameter is cheap and after cutting sections to length, threading the elastic back in is surprisingly easy and quick. Just make sure that you thread in in the end with the smaller hole and not the end with the metal sleaves. Sorry I don't have good pictures for this one.
Bench restoration 2
This Bench was my parent wedding present. It used to have plants growing all over it as well as thickly applied Danish oil which had started to peel. After a lot of hand sanding, a bit of wood filler, teak cleaner and teak oil, it went from looking dark and rough to actually looking like teak. Sadly, one of the beams on the seat was 2 far gone and had to be removed.
HP laptop battery and touch pad replacement.
pretty self explanatory :)
Fixing CD mechanism in old Sony stereos
My family has two very similar Sony stereos, but both had an issue where the CD mechanism couldn't close on their own and CDs wouldn't play. When I opened them up, I found that the rubber bands had degraded. I managed to find replacements on eBay, and now both stereos work perfectly!
Bench restoration 1
This bench used to belong to my grandma before she passed away. When I got it, it was in pretty bad shape—covered in moss and even some paint in places. Luckily, the rot wasn’t too severe because it had been standing away from anything that could drip onto it.
After a lot of scraping, sanding, and washing, I finally got it clean enough to oil with teak oil. The transformation was incredible—it brought out a rich, dark wood colour that looks amazing.
I Pod suffle first Gen battery replacement
My mum had an old iPod that only worked when it was plugged in. Getting into it was a real challenge—after painstakingly scraping away the glue with a scalpel, I was finally able to slide out the internals. I bought a replacement battery from eBay and soldered it in place of the old one. It worked perfectly for a day, but stupidly I used in the rain, and I think this killed it. :(