RandomStranger wrote on 2021-10-23, 09:28:

Problem is, let's say I fix it. What next? Electric tape the whole thing together? Or should I buy some big ass shrink tube as thick as my wrist?

And to this day, all power bricks are made like this.

At this point, I'd grab a $20 unit off amazon or hope to get lucky for $5 or less in the thrift stores. But maybe a decade hence when we don't see them around anymore because of everything going to USB C charging, and I got one that was "special" I'd probably try to find a cheap project box it fit into https://www.allelectronics.com/category/490/p … ct-boxes/1.html

RandomStranger wrote on 2021-10-23, 09:28:

I'm sure someone had already brought it up, but I really hate laptop power bricks. Today I've decided to fix the brick for the docking station of my laptop. The thing is glued together instead of screwed. I sawed one side then pried it open with a flat head screwdriver. Fuck yeah' glued on shielding! pried it off, I see the seemingly only a single capacitor blew. It would be an easy and cheap fix, but the whole thing is basically a brick of glue.
Problem is, let's say I fix it. What next? Electric tape the whole thing together? Or should I buy some big ass shrink tube as thick as my wrist?

And to this day, all power bricks are made like this.

Most of the time you end up with two halves, so one just uses some zip ties to keep the shell together. That or black duct tape.
the most annoying thing I find is actually finding the exactly correct capacitor that fits in the allocated space. dimensions need to be correct and sometimes ordering a part that should fit, due to tolerances doesn't. Argh.
Also, that silastic tends to be easy enough to remove. Looking at your photos, I've seen worse wrt the use of glue. The fully potted C64 power brick jumps to mind :-p

RandomStranger wrote on 2021-10-23, 09:28:

I'm sure someone had already brought it up, but I really hate laptop power bricks. Today I've decided to fix the brick for the d […]
Show full quote

I'm sure someone had already brought it up, but I really hate laptop power bricks. Today I've decided to fix the brick for the docking station of my laptop. The thing is glued together instead of screwed. I sawed one side then pried it open with a flat head screwdriver. Fuck yeah' glued on shielding! pried it off, I see the seemingly only a single capacitor blew. It would be an easy and cheap fix, but the whole thing is basically a brick of glue.

Problem is, let's say I fix it. What next? Electric tape the whole thing together? Or should I buy some big ass shrink tube as thick as my wrist?

And to this day, all power bricks are made like this.

It used to be worse. Have you ever opened up a C64 brick?

Or... Or an Amiga brick. 😒

One option is to buy a new case (enclosure) for it from a company like Hammond Manufacturing and use a heat gun or hair dryer to remove the sticker in order to reapply it to the new case . This is probably what I would do.

Another option is to use heavy duty cable ties to use cable ties to keep the old case closed. I have no idea if this would actually be safe, so I am not actually recommending it .

darry wrote on 2021-10-23, 15:17:

One option is to buy a new case (enclosure) for it from a company like Hammond Manufacturing and use a heat gun or hair dryer to remove the sticker in order to reapply it to the new case . This is probably what I would do.

Another option is to use heavy duty cable ties to use cable ties to keep the old case closed. I have no idea if this would actually be safe, so I am not actually recommending it .

I was gonna suggest dunking it in a bucket of flex seal. Should make it waterproof, though might get a bit sticky 😁

appiah4 wrote on 2021-10-21, 16:13:

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-21, 16:06:

TechieDude wrote on 2021-10-20, 21:35:

the surprisingly passionate anti-repair few that I wouldn't expect to see here of all places,

Yah it's weird to come across that in a forum like this. Makes me wonder if I should assist them in abiding by their strongly held principles by adding them to my ignore list, so that I don't accidentally help them when they should be grovelling at the feet of MS or Apple etc for succor.

There are people on this forum who think the ipad is the ultimate PC. I would like to think most apple fans are just elaborate trolls but I know enough of them in real life to realize this isn't the case 🙁

Now that's a ridiculous claim. Nothing against the iPad in particular, but this is like saying a mobility scooter is the ultimate car. It's laughable at best, and deeply concerning at worst, especially if it's here of all places. Like, how even...?

Shreddoc wrote on 2021-10-21, 19:12:

Anti-R2R attitude indicates a belief system founded around the Appeal To Authority , a very polarising philosophy.

And not one that can be altered by logical argument.... because in their eyes, participants in conversations with them are not Authorities, therefore all arguments except, strangely, their own, are deemed by them to be uninformed.

It really seems like yet another cult. Haven't we had enough of that crap already?

Errius wrote on 2021-10-21, 03:20:

Repairing computers is like prostitution. At first you do it for fun. Then you do it for a few close friends. Finally you do it for money.

Hahahahahahaha couldn't say it better myself!

null

Anders- wrote on 2021-10-25, 11:58:

Errius wrote on 2021-10-21, 03:20:

Repairing computers is like prostitution. At first you do it for fun. Then you do it for a few close friends. Finally you do it for money.

But no matter how much you get paid, you'll never completely get rid of that dirty feeling afterwards 😁

You guys seem to know much 😂

For me, repairing old/retro computers is like helping an angel get its wings . 😉

Beyond that, repairing modern computers is something I mainly do for family, friends and the occasional co-parishioner (I also do help people with confessions/beliefs different from mine, including agnostics and atheists, in case anybody is curious). I currently do not charge for labour (I have a day job), but encourage a donation in money or kind to a charity or good cause of the helpee's choosing .

I never feel dirty because I do my best to, so to speak, "pay it forward". Kindness begets kindness and the world definitely needs more empathy, understanding and openness.

I have no enemies, only future friends/allies that are yet to be convinced of my earnest good will and desire to help them and/or to learn from them.

I feel that repairing computers (for others, especially those with limited means) helps make the world a better place . Consequently, I strongly believe in the right to repair .

We are all in this together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rph_1DODXDU

RandomStranger wrote on 2021-10-23, 09:28:

I'm sure someone had already brought it up, but I really hate laptop power bricks. Today I've decided to fix the brick for the d […]
Show full quote

I'm sure someone had already brought it up, but I really hate laptop power bricks. Today I've decided to fix the brick for the docking station of my laptop. The thing is glued together instead of screwed. I sawed one side then pried it open with a flat head screwdriver. Fuck yeah' glued on shielding! pried it off, I see the seemingly only a single capacitor blew. It would be an easy and cheap fix, but the whole thing is basically a brick of glue.

Problem is, let's say I fix it. What next? Electric tape the whole thing together? Or should I buy some big ass shrink tube as thick as my wrist?

And to this day, all power bricks are made like this.

I have over 1/2 a dozen of those things in servicable condition laying about. No idea where they came from.They seem to multiply like rabbits.

Jaycar and other good electronic shops have plastic contains from the size of a match box up that you can put those repaired laptop psus in. Even specialty plastics shop may well have a suitably sized container.

RandomStranger wrote on 2021-10-23, 09:28:

I'm sure someone had already brought it up, but I really hate laptop power bricks. Today I've decided to fix the brick for the d […]
Show full quote

I'm sure someone had already brought it up, but I really hate laptop power bricks. Today I've decided to fix the brick for the docking station of my laptop. The thing is glued together instead of screwed. I sawed one side then pried it open with a flat head screwdriver. Fuck yeah' glued on shielding! pried it off, I see the seemingly only a single capacitor blew. It would be an easy and cheap fix, but the whole thing is basically a brick of glue.

Problem is, let's say I fix it. What next? Electric tape the whole thing together? Or should I buy some big ass shrink tube as thick as my wrist?

And to this day, all power bricks are made like this.

Yeah, and if they were made to be serviced, the price would easily double or triple. Plus the OEMs would also open themselves up to all kinds of lawsuits when people who don't have a clue end up killing their devices or themselves or other people or starting fires that burn down buildings.

However, the best way I have found to open these and be able to glue them closed again is to carefully cut the plastic seam with an exacto knife. Takes a while but you end up with a decent cut and it will fit back together well enough to be glued back together.

There is this thing called.. profitability as well as consumers wanting the cheapest possible price as well as most consumers not caring about being able to repair. They don't even ant to learn how to repair things. For that matter, most people don't even know how to check the fluid levels or tire pressure in their vehicles... or even hook up a computer.

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-10-26, 14:24:

Yeah, and if they were made to be serviced, the price would easily double or triple. Plus the OEMs would also open themselves up to all kinds of lawsuits when people who don't have a clue end up killing their devices or themselves or other people or starting fires that burn down buildings.

I call bullshit. All it'd take is 4 screws like on other smaller and power bricks. I think the prices would even drop. If it's easily serviceable, it's harder to sell the new bricks overpriced. Also there are a lot of electric devices that are serviceable and not many accidents and lawsuits. Like computer PSUs for example. Even the non-standard ones for prebuilts. I just recapped one from an Acer desktop. I fine FSP power supply which only needed a recap. Fixing stuff is also easier on the environment than throwing them away and buying another unserviceable crap.

Fven small sealed psus can be easily opened with a scarple/small jewlers screw driver and careful use of a heat gun 😉 The plastic casing becomes quite plyable and fasy to work with.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-23, 14:53:

Or... Or an Amiga brick. 😒

eh? the amiga power supplies are surprisingly easy to open, held together with screws and open internals, and enough room to just replace with a modern switching PSU inside if it can't be saved.

the C64 PSUs are just potted in resin, impossible to fix.

There are two styles of Amiga PSU. One of them is more like the C64 version.

edit: this is the "solid" version most common with the A600 and A1200, but may have come with late A500+ in some areas also I believe ...

huh, interesting, all the amiga PSUs I've come across so far have been open designs.

RandomStranger wrote on 2021-10-26, 15:23:

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-10-26, 14:24:

Yeah, and if they were made to be serviced, the price would easily double or triple. Plus the OEMs would also open themselves up to all kinds of lawsuits when people who don't have a clue end up killing their devices or themselves or other people or starting fires that burn down buildings.

I call bullshit. All it'd take is 4 screws like on other smaller and power bricks. I think the prices would even drop. If it's easily serviceable, it's harder to sell the new bricks overpriced. Also there are a lot of electric devices that are serviceable and not many accidents and lawsuits. Like computer PSUs for example. Even the non-standard ones for prebuilts. I just recapped one from an Acer desktop. I fine FSP power supply which only needed a recap. Fixing stuff is also easier on the environment than throwing them away and buying another unserviceable crap.

1. The casing would have to be a bit larger to accommodate the extra space for the screws. the plastic casing would need to be higher quality to keep the casing from breaking or pulling the screws out when the adapter is dropped. This only addresses the ability to open the casing. You would also have to ideally have the main circuit board held into the casing by screws.
2. Easily serviceable....
---a.The components would need to be not as crammed close together. This would necessitate the board(s) being larger and thus the whole adapter being larger.
---b. The shielding would need to be easily removable instead of having to desolder it from the board in multiple places. Spade connectors on the board that the shielding plugged into would take care of at least part of this but would also add to assembly time and a few more parts and a much more robust shield where it plugs into the connectors.
3. Because of the additional parts and size and thus increased shipping cost, this would all end up being passed onto the customers.

And even if these changes were made, 99% of these "easily serviceable power adapters would never be opened just like the ones being made now. Unless the market overwhelmingly demands this change, it won't happen. It doesn't make business sense to make changes such as these. Recyclers aren't going to do anything different either. It would just end up adding to the cost and then also to the waste.

As for it being worth it to repair old power adapters vs buying a used or new one off of eBay, it really makes no sense to even bother unless the power adapter is either very very expensive or cannot be found for purchase.

When I can purchase a good power adapter for $10-$20, it is not even worth my time opening it up, much less troubleshooting it and then obtaining replacement parts, waiting for those parts to come in and then installing those parts and hoping that fixes it. By that point, I might as well have purchased 2-3 replacement power adapters and also have been back up and working much faster.

This power adapter discussion is a red herring.

Its like saying your car's fuel tank cap should last longer and be user serviceable.

luckybob wrote on 2021-10-27, 14:54:

Its like saying your car's fuel tank cap should last longer and be user serviceable.

which it is?
can even easily get spare parts for pretty much all models.