human
Well-known member
No, I'm not repairing my credit. That's in pretty good shape. Often, when something breaks and needs fixing, I'm all too quick to whip out a credit card and purchase parts or materials to fix it. This time, I did it a little differently. The credit card became the replacement part.
I was refurbishing an Electrolux flippy floor tool and found that the elbow that snaps into the brush had a big chunk of plastic missing that would let air in when the non-bristle side was in use so after looking on eBay to see what a replacement elbow would cost and finding it was basically the same price as a used floor brush, I started thinking about how I could repair the existing elbow. While this was going on, I had the TV on the Velocity (soon to be Motor Trend) channel and they were welding in new sheet metal on a car to replace a spot that had rusted out and it came to me. I just need to glue in a piece of plastic to cover where it was broken. It had to be relatively thin but strong and I thought of a couple of possibilities—an old CD-R disc or maybe the lid to a margarine container—but then I spied an expired credit card that I hadn't yet destroyed and the solution was clear as day. I cut up the credit card as I should have done several weeks ago when the new one came but I first cut out a piece the right size to cover the gap on the elbow. I tried to test fit it on top of the break but it was too thick to insert into the brush that way, so I trimmed it a little more until it would fit inside and then super glued it into place.
It's not pretty but it works for now at least, it's saved me a little money I didn't need to spend. If the repair holds up long term, I will have come out ahead. If not, I can always start looking for a more durable older aluminum replacement.
I was refurbishing an Electrolux flippy floor tool and found that the elbow that snaps into the brush had a big chunk of plastic missing that would let air in when the non-bristle side was in use so after looking on eBay to see what a replacement elbow would cost and finding it was basically the same price as a used floor brush, I started thinking about how I could repair the existing elbow. While this was going on, I had the TV on the Velocity (soon to be Motor Trend) channel and they were welding in new sheet metal on a car to replace a spot that had rusted out and it came to me. I just need to glue in a piece of plastic to cover where it was broken. It had to be relatively thin but strong and I thought of a couple of possibilities—an old CD-R disc or maybe the lid to a margarine container—but then I spied an expired credit card that I hadn't yet destroyed and the solution was clear as day. I cut up the credit card as I should have done several weeks ago when the new one came but I first cut out a piece the right size to cover the gap on the elbow. I tried to test fit it on top of the break but it was too thick to insert into the brush that way, so I trimmed it a little more until it would fit inside and then super glued it into place.
It's not pretty but it works for now at least, it's saved me a little money I didn't need to spend. If the repair holds up long term, I will have come out ahead. If not, I can always start looking for a more durable older aluminum replacement.
