AM returns to the Prius radio

More than three years ago, the AM reception on the Prius's (2005) radio failed, no stations could be found; all I got was static. As an avid listener to the BBC World Service (648kHz in Holland), this was annoying, but after the local garage had told me the costs of discovering the problem (and more than likely having to replace the radio) I came to 'kind of' accept it.
I write 'kind of' because I searched the internet and quite a few posts mentioned that it was nothing other than an aerial or coaxial cable (between radio and aerial) problem. Unfortunately accessing the rear of the radio means taking the dashboard apart.
Well, a couple of weekends ago, I was sat in the car, waiting for Sophy's swimming lesson to end. With a small hour to spare and nothing to read (I'd forgotten my book) I gingerly started taking the dashboard apart.
My initial discovery was that with a bit of force, you soon discover which sections have to come out first and which of the three fastening methods are employed: screw, plug or bolt (only for the radio and monitor). So when Sophy returned from the swimming, a bit of the dashboard was lying on the back seat (to Sophy's surprise).
The day after (Sunday), I decided to continue (otherwise nothing would have been gained). The result:

Note that my excuse to the family ("oh no, Dada's taking something apart, again") was Christina's discovery that the CD player had stopped working as Sebastian (at a younger age) had inserted coins in the CD slot. So after taking the radio module out I managed to get the coins out (not through the slot but the bottom of the unit):

(I'm rich !!!). Unfortunately this didn't solve the AM reception problem. Bearing my maxim in mind that most electrical failures are caused by mechanical failure I tried the obvious; the connection of the coaxial (antenna) cable to the unit .. unfortunately powering the radio up didn't make any difference. (Here's the rear of the module, note that not all of the connectors are used (unfortunately I didn't make a note which one wasn't used (presumably for a telephone)):)

Anyhoo .. I traced the coaxial cable (which head's out to the passenger side and up the A pillar (behind the airbag) under the roof to the aerial. It's there that I noticed the bolt which holds the aerial in place and which also (presumably) earths the aerial (sharp teeth on a ring under the bolt) to the roof and thus the car (view is looking forward from the boot, under the roof lining (which is held in place with three plugs)):

Tightening this bolt made a big difference !! (Note that the reception still isn't as good as it was originally, I have to crank the volume up, but I can once again listen to the World Service).
While I was at it, I also took the aerial apart (see if this was all wired up OK) and was surprised by the electronics there (see where the white core of the coaxial cable comes up and the copper wire is connected to the body of the aerial):

Note that after putting everything back together caused a slight panic as the (auxiliary) battery seemed to have drained (I'd had the radio on (loud) for quite a time ??) and after recharging the monitor displayed a warning 'Problem' with no further context. (The car could still be driven, but it left me worried). After dinner though, I went for a test drive and the problem / warning had disappeared .. phew. (I can only think that the charger I use for the auxiliary battery is too powerful .. possibly overcharging the battery ??).
Anyhoo .. said the preacher: don't be afraid, a lot can be achieved and learned by taking things apart.

The Japanese t-shirt folding technique

Eeyup,

Everyone must have seen the video's by now .. of how to fold a t-shirt really quickly and easily. Well, I had to go and try it myself; is it true or is it faked:

Conclusion: it really works (oh, I'm so happy).

Sebastian's first day at school

A new era has arrived, all the kids are at school: today is Sebastian's first day (proper) in "groep 1A" with "juffrouw" Renske (the teacher).

He was fairly relaxed about it all .. and in fact over the past month we've noticed a change in his attitude; he's a big boy now (in his words). He's definitely become more cocky, more outspoken.
Last night, he awoke once, presumably because of slight anxiety. That said,  all of us left him behind in his class and he was quite happy:

(The only telltale sign that he's slightly anxious is him sticking his fingers in his mouth).

(Now, what am I going to do with all my spare time ?).

Along the Kromme Rijn

Had a nice stroll along the Kromme Rijn this morning and was surprised to see this duck:

A quick check on the internet learns that it's a Mandarin duck (Dutch: Mandarijneend), which is fairly rare .. but more importantly rather pretty.
A few metres further, I spotted two Cormorants sunning (Dutch: Aalscholver), unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a photo with their wings extended:

And on another note, just spotted the "Gemeente" gritting our street (a first !). Having said that it is an ice rink at the moment and getting the kids to school this morning was quite an adventure (Sophy had two small falls ..).

Power to the DS !

Back again, with more tales of repair.

Timothy's Nintendo DS Lite had stopped working .. no reaction to the power button with both screens remaining dark (and no sounds). Rather than treating it as a disposable electronics item, I gambled that I could successfully take it apart and fix it: I believe in one simple truth:

In my experience, 95% of all electronical / electrical failures are due to a mechanical problem. Mechanical problems can be found and possibly repaired.

Fortunately their are quite a few sites showing how to take the Nintendo DS Lite apart, the only annoyance being that you need a special 'tri-wing' screwdriver to do it.
In the end, I managed to remove two of the three tri-wing screws using a regular flat screwdriver, unfortunately one resisted and had to be removed 'less elegantly' (damaging the casing). So this is what Timothy's DS looks like inside:

I'd found a site telling of a standard fault of blown fuses, but checking those found no error. Then I decided (with multi-meter ready) to check the circuitry. After a short while, I noticed that the power switch was broken: a small tab which connects to the power slider within the casing had broken off (i.e. another example of a mechanical failure):

(The strange thing is, that when testing the DS (still intact), the lack of return spring on the power slide was not noticed .. although it was late when I was working on it ..??).

Anyhoo. I read somewhere of someone fixing the switch by jamming / smelting a bit of paperclip into the switch, and of someone wiring up an external switch, but I decided to just replace the switch (at a cost of only EUR 3,39 (excl. shipping)).  Just to make sure that the problem was the switch, I switched the DS on, using a wire bridging the points. In my experience, switching on, relies only on connecting point 1 with the ground:

I had read (on a Flickr photo report) of the problem of removing the old switch without damaging the circuit board, but even with my fairly large soldering iron I managed to remove the switch, albeit in pieces (I had a quick experiment with a mechanical removal with the Dremel but this was way too destructive).

Having said that I did manage to remove all solder from the right point 2 and point 3, but that didn't stop the new switch from operating properly: installed below:

Putting it all back together was a bit of a fiddle, but I managed .. and now Timothy is the happy owner of a working DS (thanks Dada):

Self-Repair Manifesto

Now here's a good cause (that suits me to a T):

iFixit Manifesto

Go to the iFixit/Manifesto site; print the poster and place it in the window.

Tinkerers of the world unite !

Mr Fixit - The epic saga continues ..

Right, received two new carbon brushes for the washing machine last week and I've just finished installing them. I've checked the bearings on the electric motor (can't feel any looseness) and I've polished the commutator (I can see the reflection of my sooty face in it).

Now .. how long will it last till the dreaded F6 error message (motor problem) reappears ?