I Fixed A Thing!

 Which is hard because I don't know how ...

(there is a scene in the movie "Happy Texas" that would be perfect here but I can't find a clip)

I had a twin window fan.  Then, at thrift I bought a "new" one. I tested it in the outlet at the store BEFORE I bought it.  Then stuck it in storage and got rid of the old one that was starting to malfunction and smell funny.

A couple weeks ago things got HOT so I dug out the 'new' used fan.

ALAS it didn't run!  Didn't click.  Not slow.  NOTHING.

So, crap.  I put it in the car to throw out rather than have a dead fan taking up room.

There were no fans at thrift so I checked stores thinking it was late in the season and the fans would be marked down.  They were.  To 30$!!!  Uh, no.  I got the thrift fans for a max of 5$ each.  

So, fortunately I'm forgetful and had forgotten to chuck the 'new' fan.  I got it back out of the car and took a look at it while a video ran in the wee shed one evening.  After taking out about 2 dozen tiny screws (and wisely putting them in a bag) I saw a wire just hanging in space by the switch and the switch dealie also hanging in space.

I stuck the wire in the obvious empty hole and plugged the fan into the solar inverter. IT WORKED!!!  WOOT WOOT.

Dug out the glue.  Picked one that looked like it would work with plastic (could not find electrical tape, may not have any).  Using toothpicks as wedges I glued the switch dealie into the receptical that seemed meant for it.  Then jammed the dangly wire in the obvious hole (I had unplugged the fan) and used a couple of toothpicks as wedges to hold things in place for a couple of days while it dried.  And I was busy.

Tested again...still worked.  

Removed toothpick wedges.  Put all the screws back (no left over parts!! That's a first) and voila.  For about 15 minutes of hands on repair, I saved 30$ on a crap discounted fan from Rite-Aid (the cheapest one I saw...I boycott walmart and amazon so I do concede there may be cheaper new fans, but I won't by them).  

The hourly wage for that repair would extrapolate to 120$/hour.  That's worth the fix.