#Repair & maintenance

[fox-guardian]

[ID: Two digital drawings of Swansea from Mouthwashing with his wife, who is drawn as a stocky woman wearing rockabilly fashion. The first image shows him kneeling in front of her, hugging her hips with a heart near his head, while she glares down at him saying "Get off the floor, you sap". The second image shows them both younger, with Swansea now dressed like a greaser, leaning against a bar while she sits on a stool blowing bubblegum. He's smiling at her, as though flirting, and she looks unaffected. end ID]

~~~~

did a couple quickies of my own idea of what swansea's wife might be like. personally i think she's gotta match his freak. i think she's a huge bitch (affectionate) and he loves that about her. she's his firecracker. and he's her right hand arm. man. her silly rabbit. (she doesn't call him that)

[bitchesgetriches]

NEW POST!!!

It shouldn’t cost $64 to change a lightbulb.

Yet that was the quote they gave me when I took my 10-year-old Volkswagen Golf to the dealership for service. Along with another $4,824.56 in repairs of varying urgency. I met this estimate with cool and queenly disdain, declined the repairs, and left with an oil change on the house. (They knew what they did)

Because I know I can get my car repaired for cheaper! Like… way cheaper! All it requires is a little time, elbow grease, and good sense.

What some dealerships and mechanics charge for car repairs is, frankly, obscene. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Today I’m going to talk about my recent experience with the service department of a car dealership and explain, step by step, how I went on to pay significantly less for car repairs outside the dealership… and how you can too.

Gird you loins, people. It’s about to get reeeeeeal fuckin’ spiteful up in here.

How To Save Money With Affordable Car Repairs 

Video Version 🍋 Audio Version 🍋 Text Version

[kieraoonadiy]

Another teardown video! This time, this machine is going to a new owner! The new recipient of this well loved machine will be @theshitpostcalligrapher for their future sewing shenanigans!

Watch as I go through parts, try to locate where a mystery part goes, and strugglebus through taking apart a Singer Esteem II, and putting it all back together, while adjusting the needle arm for smoother stitches!

[rblxmaxxing]

📂 BM DUMP havent done one in a While

stuff that was Done around the first week of may or so C: (this made me realize how awfully inconsistent i am with drawing him good Lord)

[probablyasocialecologist]

The industrial world is aging, and the sheer quantity and geographic extent of transportation, water and energy infrastructure presents an unprecedented challenge at the exact moment that climate change forces us to rethink material use. More robust maintenance practices could help preserve modernity’s finest achievements, from public transit systems to power grids to insulated homes. But first maintenance has to be valued outside of austerity, and right now it’s unclear if our current economic system is capable of that.  Maintenance could serve as a useful framework for addressing climate change and other pressing planetary constraints that, if left unaddressed, could recreate on a global scale the localized austerity of a cash-strapped transit agency. Indeed, maintenance as a concept could encompass both the built environment and the so-called natural world. Perhaps maintenance, rather than sustainability, is the more useful framework for a green transition, because it can account for how human infrastructure is now deeply entangled with the environment in the age of the Anthropocene. 

[...]

Maintenance is about keeping things — sometimes large, intensively built things like skyscrapers and subway cars that might be difficult to imagine in the biodegradable utopias of the most gung-ho environmentalists. Ultimately, reduction is prioritized. We must not hold onto things. We must let go like good Buddhists, as industrial civilization becomes merely a painful, transient phase in human history, passing out of us like bad karma.  There is tension in the question of whether to build objects more intensively, so that they last longer, or to recognize that some things cannot endure and thus should be designed that way. There’s no hope for a paper plate in the long run, for example. It’s designed to enter the waste stream as cheaply and easily as possible. Conversely, a toaster could last for decades if maintained properly, assuming the manufacturer hasn’t built obsolescence into it (as is often the case).  More complex objects and built environments, like a transit system or a housing development, compound questions over what should last and what cannot. How do we create systems that can address these questions on their own terms? 

[noncredible-naramon]

deeply funny to think about the Drifter trying to interact normally in the Origin system while their consciousness is ping-ponging back and forth between Duviri (time loop) and 1999 (time loop).

They have no compunction about being completely honest with people because they are used to everyone forgetting everything they say when the loop resets. They don't treat their own possessions with any care because they absently assume they will pop back into existence tomorrow. They forget to eat or sleep for long stretches because (you guessed it!) their physical well-being would usually reset too. They cheerfully abandon any task they're undertaking to satisfy their curiosity because "it'll be there next time."

What a weird little freak. I love them.

[clearmytrack]

wahoo stexsona!! this is bones hes me but train.

bones is a ✨catenary maintenance vehicle✨ i wanted to do something similar to a repair truck because i see the repair trucks as like. medical personnel for the engines and whatnot. and i work in the medical field! so i did some lookin around and i found amtrak’s catenary maintenance vehicle and yeah.

the main part of the design is meant to look like he’s wearing scrubs (bc medical) the sleeve details are supposed to look like the vehicle’s windows, and the knee pads, belt, and elbow pads take their design from one of the references. i tried to do a belt similar to the bochum costumes (i was looking at electra specifically). the shoulder boxes are the vehicle itself and the one on the right has a pantograph, the one on the left has the lift thingy idk what it really is and i couldnt draw it well. anyway.

the makeup is meant to look like the amtrak logo since i used the amtrak vehicle as inspiration, and the eye part of the makeup is very much inspired by my one true love krupp the armaments truck.

anyway i think this guy would get along with wrench. actually i think they’d get along with most of the components (can i selfship with krupp is that allowed) and possibly electra. bc electric. he fixes the catenaries, electra and co have to be nice to him.

anyway yeah :]

[sexhaver]

why does so much robotfucking hornyposting on this site revolve around opening up a computer/robot/android and rooting around in its internal wiring WHILE IT'S ON? do yall not value your fingers? at least integrate proper lockout/tagout procedure into your fantasies. and then there's the issue where letting someone literally open you up and stick their hands in your organs carries a pretty high risk of straight up dying, especially if that person's only medical/technical qualification is being horny about it. that's like letting a grindr hookup with a surgery fetish but no medical education whatsoever perform an appendectomy on you

[wachinyeya]

Junior Brown- Thu 3 Apr 2025

With millions of solar devices failing, the African solar repair movement is training local technicians to extend their lifespan.

Africa’s solar energy boom has changed lives, bringing power to millions without electricity access. However, as solar equipment ages, a growing number of systems are breaking down. Without repair services, communities risk losing their only source of power.

A growing network of solar repair entrepreneurs is working to fix this problem. Known as the African solar repair movement, this initiative trains local technicians to restore broken solar devices, extending their lifespan and keeping power accessible in off-grid areas. Experts say this approach is crucial for creating a sustainable solar economy.

Solar energy has expanded rapidly across Africa over the past decade. In 2014, the continent had just 1.67 gigawatts of solar capacity. By 2023, that number had grown nearly tenfold to 13.48 gigawatts—enough to power 100 million lightbulbs.

Africa is an ideal location for solar energy. According to the International Energy Agency, the continent has 60% of the world’s best solar resources. In many areas, solar is already the cheapest way to generate electricity.

However, as more solar devices are installed, a new problem has emerged: maintenance and repair. Solar products such as home lighting kits and mini-grids are breaking down; without proper servicing, they become waste.

According to SolarAid, a nonprofit focused on solar access in Africa, over 250 million solar energy kits worldwide have fallen into disrepair. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 75% of all solar products—an estimated 110 million solar lights—no longer work.

Most of these devices could be fixed with simple repairs. However, because there is little infrastructure for solar maintenance, broken systems are often discarded.

This creates three major problems. One is the loss of access to electricity. Many communities depend entirely on solar power. When systems fail, families are left in the dark.

Two, electronic waste accumulation. Non-repairable solar devices contribute to Africa’s growing e-waste problem.

Finally, there is economic loss. Solar products are expensive for African households, and replacing them frequently is not sustainable.

To address this crisis, organizations like SolarAid have launched programs to train local repair agents. These entrepreneurs, often called “solar repair agents,” learn to diagnose and fix common solar equipment failures, such as faulty batteries, wiring issues, and broken switches.

Father Vincent Ngwira, a Catholic priest in Zambia, is one of these repair agents. He has been involved in solar energy distribution since 2017 and recently completed a three-day training program to repair solar devices in his community.

“In the past, people used candles for light, and that led to house fires,” says Ngwira. “Solar changed everything, but now many of these devices are breaking. Learning to repair them has been empowering.”

In September 2023, he fixed a faulty solar panel and a broken flashlight switch. The flashlight repair cost just 20 Zambian Kwacha ($0.75)—a price that makes solar maintenance affordable for even the poorest households.

The African solar repair movement does more than keep the lights on. It also provides economic and environmental benefits: Repair technicians and solar entrepreneurs gain new income opportunities. Repairing solar devices prevents unnecessary e-waste, and keeping money within communities instead of spending on new imports strengthens financial resilience.

In Zambia, 10 repair agents and 7 advanced technicians are now fixing more complex solar failures. SolarAid teams in Zambia and Malawi have repaired over 2,400 solar products in the past year.

“We’re creating a sustainable solar economy,” says Fred Mwale, project manager for SolarAid in Zambia. “Repairing devices instead of replacing them benefits both people and the planet.”

Despite its success, the African solar repair movement faces several challenges.

One is that spare parts are limited. Many solar batteries and components must be imported from China, which can take months. Manufacturers also limit access to repair information to protect their designs.

Two, repair shops must be centrally located in rural areas to be accessible. Some people still have to travel long distances to reach them.

Finally, Zambia alone has 72 spoken languages, making communication difficult for technicians working in remote villages.

Mwale believes that the movement can overcome these obstacles with better support. “We need manufacturers to make spare parts more available and governments to support repair-friendly policies,” he says.

Other renewable energy sources, such as wind power, also face maintenance challenges. However, large-scale wind and hydroelectric projects are usually managed by corporations with dedicated repair teams.

Solar, on the other hand, is often distributed through small-scale systems to individual households. This makes community-based repair models like the African solar repair movement even more essential.

The future of the African solar repair movement looks promising. With better policies and funding, experts predict that solar repair could expand across the continent.

Innovations like 3D-printed solar components and community repair hubs could make repairs even more accessible. Governments may also introduce policies that require manufacturers to provide repairable designs and spare parts.

With Africa’s demand for solar energy increasing, a strong repair network will be essential to powering the continent.

The African solar repair movement is proving that renewable energy isn’t just about installing new systems—it’s about keeping them running for generations. As Africa pushes toward sustainable and affordable energy for all, repair initiatives will play a crucial role in shaping the future.

[feroluce]

For me, as much as I adore the theme of travel companions, henghill is more of a "someday" thing in that regard. I love Boothill being a weird loner Galaxy Ranger rather than a Nameless- man is undomesticated and belongs sleeping in the cargo holds of supply ships, threatening silence out of anyone that tries to report him. Let him be wild and free!!

I would LOVE it if Boothill just hitched a short ride off Asdana to whatever the Express' next destination is, though!

Like maybe the Express decides to stick around Penacony for a while, the same way they do other destinations, and Boothill is there anyway to investigate Oswaldo Schneider. It's rare to find a planet where the IPC is present, but doesn't actually have a lot of power; he can't pass this opportunity up!

And in that time, he sees a lot of Dan Heng.

Boothill gets text messages asking him to the quieter parts of the Dreamscape (he threatened and made a scene - it's called standing up for your rights, Dan Heng was given a room with a Dreampool by The Family for helping root out The Order) or mostly to the Express, where Dan Heng curiously asks him about Paths, about aeons and Emanators, The Rangers, all the worlds he's seen and places he's been.

Boothill isn't really surprised the first time they spend an entire night talking and discussing- after all, they'd chattered a lot that first day they met at the bar in the Reverie! But in talking so much, of course the topic of home comes up.

Dan Heng asks about Boothill’s homeworld.

Boothill tells Dan Heng it's gone now, and changes the subject.

Boothill asks about Dan Heng's past, before the Astral Express and the Nameless.

Dan Heng freezes up and closes off, and changes the subject.

In yet another moment of tacit understanding, neither of them ask again.

But this continues, all throughout their stint in Penacony, finding each other and seeking the other out for no reason other than good company. Dan Heng adds ridiculous amounts of data to the archives that Boothill dictates to him. They both know he could get that information elsewhere if he really wanted. Boothill finds he's kinda happy he doesn't.

And Boothill is someone who's hard to keep up with. He knows he is, and he has no problem with it. It's part of what makes him excel as a Galaxy Ranger. But there's something fun about how Dan Heng just rolls with it, and so effortlessly! Boothill finds something shady going on, grabs a guy who was preying on people, and has this dude held up by the collar with his feet swinging while he cackles right in his face, when Dan Heng shows up.

Boothill says they're just having a friendly chat. He makes zero effort to hide what he's actually doing. Boothill's new friend pleads for Dan Heng to help him, please! This guy's crazy!

Dan Heng materializes his spear.

The guy apologizes even harder, tells them he won't do anything shady ever again, promise, promise! Boothill's jabbers at him and shakes him around some more before Dan Heng taps the pole of his spear against the covered metal of Boothill's leg and tells him come on, he's already scared the man witless, they have a date to keep. Boothill drops the guy and watches him scurry off like a cockroach.

"So, now it's a date, huh?"

"...Come on, let's go."

They go to the Dreamflux Reef after that, because Boothill just so happened to totally by coincidence find that shady guy's wallet (read: robbed him blind) and he wants that money to go back to the native Penaconians before anyone else. Dan Heng follows, and stuffs all of the man's credits into the tip jar of the bar they go to.

And even when the Express embarks anew from Asdana (with Boothill hidden away in some corner or compartment, because the IPC finally got pissed enough to start looking for him under The Family's noses skzikske) this continues. The next planet is difficult to get to because of Stellaron activity; so they have to fly manually part of the way instead of warping. Boothill doesn't get his own room since he's only hitching a ride, but Pom-Pom graciously allows him to sleep on a couch-

("Thank ya, Fluffy. No hard feelings about before, right?" "You're lucky my other passengers like you. And no shoes on the couches!!")

-in one of the cars. And it becomes normal commonplace to find Boothill telling stories, and Dan Heng rapidly writing them all down, at obscene hours in the parlor car while Himeko and Welt ask if either of them even slept.

Boothill teaches Dan Heng all about his favorite drinks and liquor in general, how to aim and shoot a gun, how to hunt and track prey. Dan Heng teaches Boothill about a lot of the teachings of Lan and The Hunt from the Xianzhou, what it's like there, some of the culture, some of the fables and old tales.

Boothill still leaves when it's time to go. He's still got things to do and people to kill, after all.

But it never feels like he's very far. The archives are full of him, even if he's never mentioned by name. The article on the Galaxy Rangers is several times longer than it was before. There's new data on multiple planets and worlds.

There's one that's still just a header and title. Boothill doesn't know about it yet. Dan Heng hopes he can fill the page on Aeragan-Epharshel someday and show it to him.

And even if he doesn't stay, he does return. Boothill breaks in stops by any time he happens to be nearby. He's used to traveling without much rest, and only takes what he can easily carry on him- nothing that can slow him down or hinder him. He can't put a bullet between Oswaldo Schneider's eyes if he gets himself killed over something as stupid as being weighed down in a fight, after all.

Dan Heng is similarly sparse. He still sleeps in the archives, with nothing but his futon and old suitcase to mark the space as his.

But there's an old wooden guitar carefully propped in the corner, just waiting for its owner's return.

[bogpetri]

The Dying Autumn

[pixiesbored]

having multiple a/c's down across all three of my properties has me fantasizing over a savior complex.

a hvac savior. specifically.

and the other side of this is me finding big strong men of war deal with normal civilians and human anger over accommodated technology.

hvac task force 141 x saving my fuckin sanity bc they fixed all the down ac's and single handedly knocked it out with no sweat.

if you can't tell I'm having writing thoughts. might actually elaborate further. but we know how that goes guys.

me who hasn't written even since the last idea...

[bitchesgetriches]

hey bitches! I may have messed up. I've known for about six months know it's Time to buy a New(er) car than my duct-taped 2012 baby, but I hate car research and I don't know what I want other than four wheels and a backup camera.

and now the president is doing *gestures wildly* all this.

do I suck it up and pay the you-snooze-you-lose extra tariffs? or do I take my current car to a shop and see if we can get a few more years out of her?

Repair the car. It won't be cheap, but I'm willing to bet it's cheaper than buying another right now.

And fortunately for YOU, we just released a whole guide on how to get your car fixed as affordably as possible! You can listen on our podcast, read it on our blog, watch the video on YouTube, or do all of that at the link below:

How To Save Money With Affordable Car Repairs

And for anyone looking to buy a car, buy USED, obviously. Here's our guide on how to do that...

Buying a Car with the Bitches, Part 1: How to Choose Your Car 

Buying a Car with the Bitches, Part 2: How to Pay for Your Car 

Did we just help you out? Join our Patreon!

[spooky-fubuki]

Naomi's Auto Clinic #1: The importance of inspecting your automobile. And spark plug and wire replacement.

Hello my friends this is going to be the first in a series of posts about DIY auto repair and maintenance. Today we have two topics! Why you should regularly inspect your vehicle and replacing spark plugs and wires.

So.... Why should you inspect your vehicle regularly?

well, so you dont end up like this:

Last weekend I was driving home from my parents house when my Miata stopped idling and died at a traffic signal, I started her again and she immediately wanted to die unless I had my foot on the throttle, I went and quickly pulled off onto a side road and opened my hood. I looked around the engine bay until I found the culprit.

The bundle of wires for the Mass Airflow Meter (MAF) had abraded through and caused a short, I spliced and wrapped it in electrical tape and she runs fine once again.

But while I was looking for the problem I found a different unrelated one, which we will get too later!

Alright so what should you inspect?

First you should pop open you hood, the hood release is usually on the underside of the dashboard on the drivers side in most cars.

Now that you have it open I would just do cursory glace over everything. Does anything seem super out of place?

Open the radiator cap and check the fluid level and color, in my case I can see the fluid and it looks nice and green as it supposed too. Word of caution only check this with the vehicle is cold and hasn't been ran for ~30 min or so.

Check your engine oil. Most cars have a pretty obvious dipstick. In my case it has a yellow handle with a loop on it. With a paper towel pull out the dipstick and wipe off the oil, then put it back in all the way and pull it out again. it should be somewhere between full and empty. Take note of the color, if it is very dark you should change your oil!

Check your brake fluid reservoir. As you brake fluid gets older and used it absorbs more water from the humidity in the air. The fluid gets darker as it gets more water content in it. This reservoir is usually in a translucent container near the firewall at the drivers side of the car. As you can see mine is bit dark, so I should replace it soon. I have a future part in this series planned for this already so we will go over it then.

Outside the engine bay take a quick look at your tires. How deep is the tread depth? is there any cracks.

Look for this DOT code, this tells you the month and year that the tire was manufactured, I personally would not drive on any tire older than 10 years old. So if they are I would replace them. The first two digits are the month, and the second two are the year. So my tires were manufactured in the 28th week of 2023.

Back to the engine bay! Take a quick look at your belts to see if you see any cracks or fraying.

Take a look at the wires and rubber hoses. Do you see any cracks if so they need to be replaced, and UH OH. look at what we have here. The spark plug wires are falling apart! lets replace them.

So, I've decide to replace the spark plugs at the same time, simply because I do not know how old they are. And here are the new parts! Along with the tools needed to install them!

First off remove the wires from the plugs, I leave the rear hooked up to the coils so I know where they go.

using the wrench and socket is loosen all the of the spark plugs all the way, then retrieve them using my magnet.

Here are the new plugs! These are pre-gapped so I don't have to set it myself.

I put some anti-seize on the threads to the plugs so they wont corrode into the engine. That would be a pain to extract if they were.

Then I lower the new plugs into the hole with the magnet making sure not to drop them hard.

I always like to start them in the threads by hand so I can make sure the threads are not cross threaded before snugging them the rest of the way down with the wrench.

Alright lets move onto the wires! I like to replace these one at a time to make sure I put the right wire in the coil, its easy to find out what plug each wire is for as they all have different lengths

And they are all in!

Finally take it for a test drive to make sure everything is working properly!

I came back and she ran great! :)

I hope I was able to relay some good information for y'all! I plan on making more of these as I come across more things to do on this Miata. Up next is the brakes or replacing the AC compressor as it is bad.

Stay safe my friends!

[moghedien]

honestly I encourage everyone to get comfortable opening up their electronics. game consoles. computers. phones. keyboards. headphones. whatever. like obviously don't start with the most difficult thing to open up and don't just mindlessly pop open something and lose all the screws and don't do it while its on. but get comfortable looking inside your stuff yourself

its not hard to open up most electronics that don't have an apple logo on them (and even a lot of those are easier than you'd think) and it DOES NOT VOID YOUR WARRANTY.

Companies will try to scare you from learning how to care for your own stuff because they get money that way. Warranty stickers are technically illegal in the US but just isn't enforced, and a company can't actually void your warranty if you repair something yourself, so long as you don't break something else in the process.

like I look at threads all the time where people express fear about just opening up a console and looking at the internals to see which version they have but don't be! its easy, its safe, its free! get comfortable with your electronics and learn how to clean and repair stuff yourself, it isn't scary, companies just want you to think it is!