4 dinky repairs
I had a few things stored away that I thought I might be able to repair if I had a soldering iron.
So last time I was at Harbor Fright I picked up this cheapie; I think it was on sale for $5.
non-sketchy repairs
18650 cell clip
I have a hobby charger from when I used to fly & drive R/C stuff. I needed to charge many different chemistries and cell arrangments with many different connectors and the Tenergy charger and octopus charging harness did it all.
When I started using 18650 for flashlights and stuff I wired up a connector and lead to a 18650 battery clip so I could attach to the Tenergy and charge like mad. After a few years one of the clip’s leads broke off.
Today I repaired the clip and charged up all the 18650 that needed charging.
heated vest
I bought a USB-powered heated vest in 2020 and was surprised at what 10w in a snug-fitting underlayer. I used it with a USB pack when out and about, and off a USB outlet when in the van.
Last winter I noticed the power connection seemed intermittent. Today I opened up the liner and saw the power lead insulation had broken down in one spot and the power wires were shorting. I separated them, cleaned the general area, insulated/wrapped them and added a bit of stress relief. Tested with the USB outlet and it works great again.
sketchy repairs
I had two USB fans with dead USB ports. Bought one from wally world and the other was given to me because of the broken port.
I decided to bypass the USB port. The smart move would have been to leverage the existing wiring coming out of the USB port but the ports were both buried in the plastic housing.
I stripped the end off a USB cable and tested the red/black wires; 5v as expected. I cut off and taped the other two wires, then used alligator clips to see if USB output could run the fans through the battery terminals. They could, at least for now. .
So I drilled a hole in the battery cover, pulled the bare end through and knotted it for crude strain relief. Soldered the USB wires to the battery terminals and retested. Still worked. Buttoned them up an using them now.
Hopefully they will hold together long enough for me to get replacement fans from a thrift store or amazon.