Saturday, December 12, 2009

Nothing To Lose

A few months ago, I got a great online deal on a hair straightening iron. It was marked down from $169 to just $29 because it was being discontinued.

This is my first straightening iron and I love it. So much so that if I could travel back in time to my high school days, I wouldn't take my cell phone or my MP3 player or even my computer...I'd take my straightening iron!

I was understandably disappointed when, yesterday morning, it kept turning itself off when I tried to use it. It was fine while sitting on the bathroom counter, but would turn off when I picked it up. There was obviously a short or a disconnected wire in it somewhere.

I knew I could not get the same model anymore, and I knew I was not likely to find ANY model or brand for just $29, so I asked Shane to tear into it and see if he could find and fix the problem. He took it apart this morning and found all of the circuit board connections were fine. The problem ended up being in the power cord just a couple of inches from the body of the iron. He removed the damaged part of the cord, spliced it back together using electrical connectors and wrapped the connections with black electrical tape. You can tell where the repair was made, but who cares? No one sees it or uses it except me.

There was nothing to lose by having Shane open the iron to see if it could be repaired before just throwing it away and buying a new one. At the worst, he would have not found the problem or not been able to repair it. But because he was able to fix it, we were able to save anywhere from $30 to $170 (or even more) on a new iron and kept a good item out of the landfill. It was definitely worth 30 minutes of his morning.

7 comments:

Dawna said...

That's great! Before reading that you got it fixed, I was going to suggest taking it to a beautician friend, if you have one. My sister was a beautician and we were forever having to make repairs on her irons. We also had tons of irons at home that looked really funny, as they were made up of parts from all sorts of irons. Anyway, glad you got it fixed.

www.akissandapeck.com

Heidi said...

You are lucky it could be fixed. I had some really cool curlers that used steam and tried to fix them and ended up shocking myself!

Unknown said...

I enjoyed reading this post. I have recently been exposed to hair straighteners by my 11 year old daughter who suggested it for a hair style I was trying to achieve. Who knew they were so wonderful? It sounds like there isn't much your husband can't do. Lucky you!

Unknown said...

I love being able to fix things, especially when they last for ages and ages after the repair. I already have a hair dryer with a spliced cable (had to stand on the bed before that because it only worked when the cable was pulled taut) and my irons have a hole drilled through the hinge and a big nut and bolt through them. Still works though:)

Tug said...

That's AWESOME! I need a Shane...electrical scares me, & my daughter divorced our electrician. *sigh*

A.Marie said...

Your hubby sounds like a true handy man. What a guy! :)

I love it when my hubby is able to fix things...that old song is so true, "It's so nice to have a man around the house!" :)

Sonya Ann said...

He is great! My theory is make sure it is really broken before you pitch it! You can't break broken anymore.