What "man jobs" have you done today?

RoboCod · 11 Mar 2018 at 07:57

Squid Vicious said:
Antifouled a friends boat before she goes back in the water in a couple of weeks time

That is pretty manly.

Yesterday I painted my skirting boards. Today I'm replacing my brake discs and pads.

Delvis · 11 Mar 2018 at 08:26

I should really get the tools to do my own breaks, particularly for the drums

RoboCod · 11 Mar 2018 at 08:49

Delvis said:
I should really get the tools to do my own breaks, particularly for the drums

All you need are some quality tools that will last: socket set, torque wrench, piston wind back tool, jack/ramp. They will pay themselves back in a year or two. My cheapest garage quoted me £240 fitted for pretty standard front brakes. I got a better set of brembo and pads and saved myself £100 doing it myself.

I'll do the girlfriends car next.

Steedie · 11 Mar 2018 at 16:52

House is now 18 months old, so I've gone and addressed all the hairline cracks up the staircase. Must say, I did a good job given how crap I am at DIY

Sin_Chase · 14 Mar 2018 at 14:04

Britannia Hob Extraction Hood started to go on the blink. Would become harder and harder to power up the extraction fan before it stopped completely. £45 to £80 for a replacement switch/control module online......absolute rip off. Decided I couldn't break it any more so attempted a repair. Glad I opened it up as the money they are demanding for an analogue ONLY PCB and some switches is out of this world.

PCB trace let the smoke out, cleaned it up, prepared a jumper cable, fluxed, soldered (not pretty but effective) and continuity tested. Threw a load of hot glue on for some short circuit and vibration protection. I suspect the vibration form the extraction unit itself has worked loose what was pretty sub-par soldering in the first place. Threw it all back in and works a treat.

Another +1 for the "If it's broke you can't break it more" ideology!

MassiveJim · 14 Mar 2018 at 22:03

Sin_Chase said:
Britannia Hob Extraction Hood started to go on the blink. Would become harder and harder to power up the extraction fan before it stopped completely. £45 to £80 for a replacement switch/control module online......absolute rip off. Decided I couldn't break it any more so attempted a repair. Glad I opened it up as the money they are demanding for an analogue ONLY PCB and some switches is out of this world.

PCB trace let the smoke out, cleaned it up, prepared a jumper cable, fluxed, soldered (not pretty but effective) and continuity tested. Threw a load of hot glue on for some short circuit and vibration protection. I suspect the vibration form the extraction unit itself has worked loose what was pretty sub-par soldering in the first place. Threw it all back in and works a treat.

Another +1 for the "If it's broke you can't break it more" ideology!

Should have resoldered all the other joints whilst you had it out, none of them look particularly great.

Sin_Chase · 14 Mar 2018 at 22:47

Unfortunately my soldering iron is trash, was a chore doing those 2 alone. Relatively easy to get the unit out if it fails again...but I'll have a better iron by then!

Mickie · 14 Mar 2018 at 23:59

mk5 golf gt sport, changed front shocks and springs and top bearings on the front, fixed leaking end cap on 6speed gearbox, repaired snapped brake plug/sensor cable, finished off nearside disc and pads.. Waiting on intake silicone hose, old one wore a hold through it and boost pipe to turbo, should sort bad starts in the morning and emissions for MOT time.. Think i'll also have a look at bushings on lower wishbones, after all that i wanna get the gti bumpers bought.

MassiveJim · 15 Mar 2018 at 13:40

Sin_Chase said:
Unfortunately my soldering iron is trash, was a chore doing those 2 alone. Relatively easy to get the unit out if it fails again...but I'll have a better iron by then!

At least if it starts playing up again you'll know straight away its a dry joint and can fix it before it gets to the state that disaster is in

Sin_Chase · 16 Mar 2018 at 21:17

Fixed leaking washing machine, other half decided to tell me it's done it since she bought it years ago after the fact! Was likely broken on arrival.

Stripped the thing down and found a big crack in the detergent draw receptacle where the inlet water drains into the tub. Did some plastic welding and siliconed it for good measure Isn't a pressurised area so should sort the problem.

BennyC · 17 Mar 2018 at 20:30

Fitted this.

My 18v cordless drill did a bloody good job! Though had to call on a neighbours slightly beefier corded as it was coming up 1cm short for the second bolt. Something ridiculously solid in the concrete garage floor, possibly a stone of somesort as even it struggle briefly.

Kimi · 17 Mar 2018 at 22:44

Serious lock Benny.

Burnt stuff for 8 hours today.

DXP55 · 20 Mar 2018 at 21:25

Gave my Makita 9" and DeWalt 4.5" angle grinders a good clean today - Blew out all the vents and shifted tons of cement dust from cutting groove in concrete floor of garage - cleaned guards and ring nuts - ordered new inner flange for 9" as old one is for dished disks and I have flat ones. Got big job on the horizon.

rexehuk · 20 Mar 2018 at 21:28

BennyC said:
Fitted this.

My 18v cordless drill did a bloody good job! Though had to call on a neighbours slightly beefier corded as it was coming up 1cm short for the second bolt. Something ridiculously solid in the concrete garage floor, possibly a stone of somesort as even it struggle briefly.

Info? Fancy the same for my garage.

mrbazmondo · 20 Mar 2018 at 21:31

Bought some ground anchor bolts from toolstation to stop a gazebo getting blown away. I haven't actually done the job yet, but just going to toolstation - thats a man job right?

DXP55 · 21 Mar 2018 at 07:49

Any job that involves Toolstation is a "Man Job"

BennyC · 21 Mar 2018 at 13:20

rexehuk said:
Info? Fancy the same for my garage.

What info are you after?...

Kimi said:
Serious lock Benny.

Nothing of real value in there, trainer & bikes etc in the house. Largely just a deterrent :cool:

rexehuk · 21 Mar 2018 at 17:06

BennyC said:
What info are you after?

Where you got the garage stopper and lock of course. Looks pretty heavy duty!

Rilot · 25 Mar 2018 at 16:58

Today I wired the shed up for mains electricity and put a light in there. A nice 10M run of armored cable under the patio. I've also put one of those heaters that are used for airing cupboards in there. Dew was forming on my tools causing them to go rusty so hopefully this little heater will keep the shed above the dew point. I need to insulate the walls and ceiling in there long term but that can wait.

Any recommendations for what I can use to insulate the shed?

mrbazmondo · 25 Mar 2018 at 23:44

mrbazmondo said:
Bought some ground anchor bolts from toolstation to stop a gazebo getting blown away. I haven't actually done the job yet, but just going to toolstation - thats a man job right?

Job done. Not as easy as it should be as its on a bit of a slope. Chunks taken out of knuckles, bleeding all over the place like a real man