Macgyverisms

[VinnyKings]

In hindsight my story probably sounds crappy in comparison. Today, the W-key on my keyboard got jammed into it's slot. I tried to take the keyboard apart and empty out the miscellaneous residue of chips, crumbs and what not. After a couple minutes of doing this I realised it didn't even help in the slightest....

So I pried off the / key on the numpad and replaced it. Felt considerably proud of myself for accomplishing such a feat of creative awesomeness...

Have anyone made any cool repairs to something broken or obsolete? If so share your stories below.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I hate it when things get jammed in the slot.

Once i lost the aerial to my tv, but i had this lame science kit, it had some wires in it with plugs on the ends that were meant to go between motors and batteries, but it happened to fit into the antenna slot on the back of the telly. so i sticky taped one end to a coathanger and the other end i plugged into the tv, then i blue tacked the coat hanger to the wall. Great reception.

 

[DanielBrown]

When my first PS2 broke down I decided to fix it... by throwing it in the floor over and over.
Guess how it went?

I didn't fix it, but at least you can laugh at my anti-McGyver moment.

 

[Aitur]

I've made my own cookie cutter using some sheet aluminium and a small rivet gun.
Fixed my laptop using some tinfoil and a lighter.
Fixed the internal light switch in my car with some milliput, a metal rod and a 1000W drill.
Built a jetpack out of toilet rolls and lighter fluid, my test flight is tomorrow from the buildings roof! (it'd work for Macgyver so I'm sure it'll work for me!)

 

[tahrey]

Man, if i have to go into all the bodges I've done, it'll be another full-pager. But I don't think I can do as well as Pickled Soul, there.

I have "repaired" my bro's thief-ruined ignition switch by hooking the component wires into a 3-way lightswitch and hiding it under the steering column for a tiny bit of security...

Done all manner of computer and AV hardware hacks to get things running... you should see the multi-cable/dongle monstrosity I cooked up to connect serial-only interactive whiteboards to usb-only PCs without buying separate USB converters (there were some bespoke ones left over from other models that were scrapped, but the serial board required a 5V line that they didn't provide because the others had their own mains supply...)

A computer with no hard disk that booted off a floppy then loaded windows from a zip drive... with an amber screen monitor.

"etc"

 

[Mordekaien]

I once fixed a boiler.... with duct tape (seriously, that thing's like a blunt swiss knife)

 

[DigitalSushi]

Once i lost the aerial to my tv, but i had this lame science kit, it had some wires in it with plugs on the ends that were meant to go between motors and batteries, but it happened to fit into the antenna slot on the back of the telly. so i sticky taped one end to a coathanger and the other end i plugged into the tv, then i blue tacked the coat hanger to the wall. Great reception.

I hook up my TV's and Hifi's (anything that needs an aerial) to a radiator, turning my heating system and by proxy my house into a giant aerial, perfect reception. FUCK YEAH!

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Not repairs but I really wanted to get a file from one computer to my mini sd card. Of course I had no way to do this because I left my thingy at home so I had to use a roundabout method of putting it in a sim card slot on a phone and connecting the phone to my laptop. I was so proud.

 

[ExileNZ]

I'm fairly certain my last 2 or 3 desktop PCs only held together through constant McGyvering.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Shedloads of repairs to my netbook... with varying differing degrees of success.

 

[SovietPanda]

Was working at a resturaunt a while back, we had these big ass shade umbrellas out on the back deck. One night someone left them set up in a heavy wind storm so when we came in the next day the brackets holding them together were horribly bent. So we did what any self respecting chefs would do in such a situation, we got our black smith on. took the top off our big gas grill, held the pieces in the burners till they were red hot and using a brick as an anvil and our trusty meat mallet as a hammer we bent them all back into shape, put the umbrellas back together and were all ready and in our whites to open for lunch service.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Once i lost the aerial to my tv, but i had this lame science kit, it had some wires in it with plugs on the ends that were meant to go between motors and batteries, but it happened to fit into the antenna slot on the back of the telly. so i sticky taped one end to a coathanger and the other end i plugged into the tv, then i blue tacked the coat hanger to the wall. Great reception.

I hook up my TV's and Hifi's (anything that needs an aerial) to a radiator, turning my heating system and by proxy my house into a giant aerial, perfect reception. FUCK YEAH!

Fuck yeah indeed. I like that.

 

[Aeshi]

I once fixed my PS3 controllers wonky Analog Stick using only a jar of Humbugs.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I've fixed my car by hitting it. Does that count?

 

[Sassafrass]

I've fixed my phone with a lot of tape.

I also botched my old charger on my last laptop with tape, as it had frayed through and unless bent almost 180 on itself, it wouldn't work. It worked for a good 9 or so months before deciding "Fuck this." and catching fire. XD

 

[Blueruler182]

Unpacking boxes at my job (warehouse worker), I've stopped caring about going for my knife to cut the tape. So I hit it. That's more of a Hulk-ism, I guess...

I used to use a cane to hit the buttons on the remote when it was too far away. Oh! The button on my jeans broke one day when going to school so I took out my headphones and tied 'em around to keep the belt up. Worked incredibly well.

 

[teqrevisited]

When the mechanism for my old pc's cd rom drive got stuck I prized it open with a swiss army knife and poked the gears for a few seconds (At the very least I wasn't about to leave Dawn of War in there, and I had a second drive). The front panel never went back on but it worked.

 

[Hamish Durie]

well if by "fixed" you covered every inch of it in ductape.....

 

[Divine Miss Bee]

i once opened my locked front door with a paper clip when i forgot my key. it felt all cool and macgyver-ish in the moment, then i sort of panicked that i could open my front door with a paper clip and no previous lock-picking experience. i mentioned it to my dad, we got the locks changed, and he made me try it again.

 

[Richardplex]

I've fixed my car by hitting it. Does that count?

From my experience of computers and World of Warcraft, that's standard procedure. Using a hammer naturally increases chance of success.