That trip to the electronics recycling center changed how I look at dead gadgets

I dropped off a broken gaming laptop at our local recycling center in Tulsa last Saturday. While waiting, I saw this guy pick a toaster out of the e-waste bin, plug it in, and it worked perfectly. He just replaced a 50-cent fuse inside. That got me thinking, I tossed my old hair dryer last year without even checking the fuse. Now I'm going through my junk drawer with a multimeter before I give up on anything. Anyone else had a cheap fix on something they almost threw away?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewp521mo ago

Respecting the idea, but that saved fuse is the exception not the rule. Most e-waste is dead because the main board fried or a motor seized up, not a 50-cent part. Pulled a vacuum cleaner apart last year, spent two hours testing every component, only to find the winding had melted inside the motor housing. No fixing that. A multimeter is good for checking continuity on wires and fuses, but once silicon starts smoking you're just sorting trash into different piles.

mark_hernandez121mo ago

Yeah I was right there with you @matthewp52 for a long time. I figured once a gadget stopped turning on it was just junk and not worth my time. But seeing that toaster work with a 50 cent fix really got me. I found an old coffee maker in my garage that I'd given up on a few months back. Took the bottom off and found a blown thermal fuse. Cost me maybe a dollar and 10 minutes with a soldering iron and now it makes a perfect pot. Still not gonna dig through a melted vacuum motor but I'm definitely checking fuses first now.