Author Topic: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools... (Read 9778 times)

paulca · « **on:** October 12, 2018, 05:15:15 pm »

So... I just used my hot air rework gun to help defrost my freezer.

Unsurprisingly ice won. It doesn't matter if you hit that stuff with a hot air rework at 450*C or a full on flame thrower ice is self insulating.

All I could do was speed things up slightly, enough to get the top drawer out. Now I have to wait while my food defrosts slowly in the other fridge on full.

sokoloff · « **Reply #1 on:** October 12, 2018, 05:20:18 pm »

I semi regularly use sockets as receivers or pushers for impromptu press operations (press a 3D printer hot end out of the cooling block and into a socket or use a socket as a pusher to evenly press in a bearing).

If your freezer was self-defrosting (and the reason for the repair wasn't "because the heating element broke"), I've used the timer to run multiple back-to-back defrosting sessions to clear the freezer more completely of ice. It does take a long time with the heat gun (I used a paint-stripping sized heat gun and it still took a while-my task was "defrost so I could get in there and replace the failed elements")

sokoloff · « **Reply #2 on:** October 12, 2018, 05:21:52 pm »

Here's a good tip a mechanic showed me of how to get more leverage on a combination wrench.
Use it all the time in the land of rusty crap...

paulca · « **Reply #3 on:** October 12, 2018, 05:24:23 pm »

Unfortunately it's not self defrosting. It does have a folded back door seal that leaks slightly so over months frost forms in the top drawer. Leave it too long and frost forms on all the drawer fronts and then frost pushes the door open. If you don't notice in side a day the whole freezer turns into an iceberg. After a day or so you eventually notice things in the fridge freezing as the compressor is all constantly trying to keep the open freezer frozen.

To make matters worse it has those clever grilled shelves where the cooling pipes run, so they get absolutely clogged in ice preventing the drawers from coming out.

rsjsouza · « **Reply #4 on:** October 12, 2018, 05:37:18 pm »

Quote from: paulca on October 12, 2018, 05:15:15 pm

So... I just used my hot air rework gun to help defrost my freezer.

Unsurprisingly ice won. It doesn't matter if you hit that stuff with a hot air rework at 450*C or a full on flame thrower ice is self insulating.

All I could do was speed things up slightly, enough to get the top drawer out. Now I have to wait while my food defrosts slowly in the other fridge on full.

I tried that once on a POS floorstand Whirlpool freezer (the heating element was fine and it took me a while to find out the temporizer relay was faulty). The hot air station (Aoyue 852A++) did not have anywhere near enough airflow to get things going. My wife's ultra-powerful hair drier was much more efficient.

Regarding the main topic, I have used knifes as flat screwdrivers, car batteries as doorstops, old soldering irons as drills (in plastic), rearview projector pens to draw PCB tracks (as etch-resistant), steel wool as bare PCB cleaner, lighters (or fire in general) to remove enamel from coil wires... You get creative when resources are scarce.

paulca · « **Reply #5 on:** October 12, 2018, 06:45:16 pm »

Actually the best thing I have defrosted this freezer with was the mobile air con unit. Physics baby!

I parked it in front of the freezer with the exhaust pointed into the freezer. Defrosted it, removing all ice, in about an hour. Added bonus of dehumidifying the room and warming it up generally.

But it's upstairs and it weighs a ton (or about 15Kg). Now I wish I'd gone up and got it as half way though a bottle of wine and I can still hear ice falling

I have to reload the freezer tonight, no matter how tired or drunk I am.

cvanc · « **Reply #6 on:** October 12, 2018, 06:46:49 pm »

I've stirred my coffee with a screwdriver on more than one occasion.

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures

paulca · « **Reply #7 on:** October 12, 2018, 06:50:22 pm »

Quote from: cvanc on October 12, 2018, 06:46:49 pm

I've stirred my coffee with a screwdriver on more than one occasion.

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures

More impressing if you used the soldering iron to heat cold coffee up!

That's gotta work, right? Lead poisoning aside of course

jmelson · « **Reply #8 on:** October 12, 2018, 06:55:30 pm »

Quote from: paulca on October 12, 2018, 05:15:15 pm

So... I just used my hot air rework gun to help defrost my freezer.

Unsurprisingly ice won. It doesn't matter if you hit that stuff with a hot air rework at 450*C or a full on flame thrower ice is self insulating.

All I could do was speed things up slightly, enough to get the top drawer out. Now I have to wait while my food defrosts slowly in the other fridge on full.

An ordinary heat gun does a good job of defrosting a freezer. You have to take care to not overheat the Freon tubing or any plastic in the freezer, though.
The heat gun probably delivers a LOT more Watts than the rework tool.

Jon

Macbeth · « **Reply #9 on:** October 12, 2018, 07:13:08 pm »

Quote from: paulca on October 12, 2018, 06:45:16 pm

Actually the best thing I have defrosted this freezer with was the mobile air con unit. Physics baby!

I parked it in front of the freezer with the exhaust pointed into the freezer. Defrosted it, removing all ice, in about an hour. Added bonus of dehumidifying the room and warming it up generally.

This is a bloody good idea!

I've used a paint stripper in the past but it is still a lot of effort, sat in a deck chair blasting away for an hour and trying not to melt the plastics.

My freezer really needs a defrost. I also need to move my portable AC from the bedroom into storage. I guess I am one of a handful of people like yourself in the UK that actually own one, and it was a lifesaver during this summers heatwave!

But yeah, lugging it up and down stairs is a pain.

german77 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 12, 2018, 07:39:03 pm »

I use flat screwdrivers as chisels or brute force case openers. And wrenches to stretch a big spring. Toothpaste as a polishing compound. A drill as universal one time security screw removal. Kitchen oil as a cheap lubricant when drilling holes.

The hair drier removes ice pretty fast.

bd139 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 12, 2018, 07:46:02 pm »

I used a soup ladel as a hammer and a screwdriver to defrost my fridge

capt bullshot · « **Reply #12 on:** October 12, 2018, 07:47:13 pm »

Often enough, I've used a flat blade screwdriver to drill holes in plastic enclosures.

Macbeth · « **Reply #13 on:** October 12, 2018, 08:36:46 pm »

Quote from: bd139 on October 12, 2018, 07:46:02 pm

I used a soup ladel as a hammer and a screwdriver to defrost my fridge

I used this method as a kid way back when. Trying to be clever. The hit that suddenly released freon from a tiny nick left the family fridge to never work again. But worse - I am sure I just took off a few millennia of the Earths eternal struggle for survival as a planet, and also murdered thousands with those escaped ozone gasses.

bd139 · « **Reply #14 on:** October 12, 2018, 09:00:47 pm »

Fluke 87's in California are pretty dangerous too https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-87v-causes-cancer!/

rsjsouza · « **Reply #15 on:** October 12, 2018, 09:06:17 pm »

Or, as AvE would say: "Lead is known by the State of Cancer to cause California."

mathsquid · « **Reply #16 on:** October 12, 2018, 11:48:06 pm »

I needed a large wrench (like 1.75 inch), but didn't have one that big. I did have a small vise that clamps on the edge of my workbench, so I clamped it to a 2x2 and adjusted the vise to fit the nut I needed to turn. It worked reasonably well.

mathsquid · « **Reply #17 on:** October 12, 2018, 11:49:06 pm »

Quote from: sokoloff on October 12, 2018, 05:20:18 pm

I semi regularly use sockets as receivers or pushers for impromptu press operations (press a 3D printer hot end out of the cooling block and into a socket or use a socket as a pusher to evenly press in a bearing).

I do this too!

joeyjoejoe · « **Reply #18 on:** October 13, 2018, 02:52:27 am »

Quote from: paulca on October 12, 2018, 05:15:15 pm

So... I just used my hot air rework gun to help defrost my freezer.

Unsurprisingly ice won. It doesn't matter if you hit that stuff with a hot air rework at 450*C or a full on flame thrower ice is self insulating.

All I could do was speed things up slightly, enough to get the top drawer out. Now I have to wait while my food defrosts slowly in the other fridge on full.

Next time you can use a wine bottle with hot water. The narrow neck will help you get to the back to hit the fins.

drussell · « **Reply #19 on:** October 13, 2018, 10:40:56 am »

For defrosting a freezer I've always found that my grandma's method of putting an electric kettle boiling some water in there for a few minutes works wonders. In a chest-type deep freezer all the ice chunks will just fall off the walls after a few minutes. In a fridge with exposed fins that have frozen over it takes a bit longer but is less work than going after it with a hair drier or heat gun, though that can help to get the last bits with minimal effort.

Of course, you need to find an older kettle that doesn't have an auto-shutoff. Today's plastic crap would probably just melt if you bypass the thermal shutoff switch, even if you didn't accidentally boil it to dryness.

Does anyone else remember a time when appliances were made out of a thing called metal?

G0HZU · « **Reply #20 on:** October 13, 2018, 12:06:45 pm »

I've used my Tek RSA3408A 8GHz real time spectrum analyser as a battery charger via the USB port a few times.

http://www.testequipmenthq.com/datasheets/TEKTRONIX-RSA3408A-Datasheet.pdf

I think you can buy cheaper and smaller battery chargers than the Tek but it does seem to work very well

malagas_on_fire · « **Reply #21 on:** October 13, 2018, 12:20:06 pm »

I use a pole testing neither to screw or test the poles on mains, but it can be used to pry some boxes, test the battery mosquito zapper if is discharged after use or to block something to get loose, like a door.

GeorgeOfTheJungle · « **Reply #22 on:** October 13, 2018, 12:29:08 pm »

I like to peel the wires with my teeth.

GeorgeOfTheJungle · « **Reply #23 on:** October 13, 2018, 12:33:36 pm »

Quote from: capt bullshot on October 12, 2018, 07:47:13 pm

Often enough, I've used a flat blade screwdriver to drill holes in plastic enclosures.

The tip of the iron is good for that too :-)

Kleinstein · « **Reply #24 on:** October 13, 2018, 01:26:09 pm »

I quite regularly use Torx bits for imperial size Allan key screws - works reasonably.

I never tries this:
https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/I-need-help-with-my-cupholder/td-p/784435


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Author Topic: Your best/worst innovative but completely incorrect usage of tools... (Read 9778 times)

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