https://www.facebook.com/1031294900056593/

Edwin Sweet Repair, St. Thomas, Saint Thomas, ON (2026)

08/29/2026

Portable Heater Repair – Power Failure

This portable heater was brought in after a power outage left it completely unresponsive.

After troubleshooting the power supply, the cause was traced to a blown fuse and a failed varistor. Both components serve as protection for the appliance, and in this case, they did their job by helping protect the rest of the power supply from the electrical event.

For many people, a failure like this can mean the end of an appliance and the cost of replacing it.

Here at Edwin Sweet Repair, we don't always assume an appliance is finished just because a circuit board has failed. In this case, the damaged components were identified, replaced, and the power supply was successfully repaired.

The heater is back in operation and ready for many more hours of service.

If you have an appliance, electronic device, or other equipment that stopped working after a power outage or simply isn't working like it should, reach out. It may be repairable rather than replaceable.

08/27/2026

Back in action! 🔧

This KitchenAid stand mixer came in with a complete no-power condition. The culprit was the motor brushes not making proper contact with the motor.

After repairing the issue, it's back up and running through all of its power levels as it should.

Another repair complete and another good machine saved from replacement! 👨‍🍳

08/26/2026

19 buttons replaced, and this DVD player is back to working perfectly! 🎬

Sometimes the smallest parts cause the biggest problems.

Another repair complete and another piece of technology saved from the landfill. 🔧♻️

08/26/2026

Today I was working on two Nintendo Wiis.

Both came in with faulty disc drives, so replacement drives were ordered.

After waiting over a week for the parts to arrive, one of the new drives was installed and tested.

Except... it didn't work.

The drive wouldn't fully load a disc. Instead, it made some pretty nasty clicking sounds before ejecting the disc.

Bad out of the box. How frustrating!

There's nothing quite like waiting over a week for a part to arrive, only to install it and discover that the replacement itself has a problem. It can turn what should be a straightforward repair into an entirely new troubleshooting exercise.

Rather than assuming the new drive was simply defective, I compared it against a known-good drive and started looking for what was different.

I noticed that the plastic slide mechanism wasn't moving freely along its track. Something was causing it to bind.

After further inspection, I found the culprit.

Part of the metal cover had been damaged during shipping. It appears the box had taken a drop, denting the metal just enough to interfere with the plastic mechanism underneath.

A little reshaping of the metal was all it needed.

The slide was moving freely again, the drive loaded and ejected discs properly, and the Wii was back to normal operation.

Another 20-year-old gaming system saved! 🎮

This is a good reminder that even when you install a brand-new replacement part, you still have to test it and sometimes troubleshoot it just like the original.

A new part doesn't automatically mean a good part.

Sometimes the repair isn't finished when the replacement arrives—that's when the next problem begins.

If you have an older gaming system, electronics, or other equipment that isn't working properly, don't assume it's ready for the trash.

There's a lot of life left in some of these old machines, and I'm always up for the challenge of finding out what's actually wrong.

08/26/2026

I love buttons!

Electronic buttons, that is. 😄

I've talked about these little push buttons before, but this DVD player gives me a chance to actually show why they eventually fail.

This player came in because some of the buttons worked while others didn't. After testing, the decision was made to replace all 19 buttons.

So what's actually inside one of these little buttons?

They consist of four main parts:

• The button
• The contacts
• The contact strip
• The click pad

The button is the part you interact with. The click pad gives you that satisfying *click* when you press it.

But underneath is where the important work happens.

The contact strip moves down and bridges the two electrical contacts, completing the circuit and telling the electronics that you've pressed the button.

Over years of use, those contact surfaces can become dirty, worn, oxidized, or "glazed." They may no longer make a reliable electrical connection even though the button still feels perfectly normal and gives you that familiar click.

That's why you can sometimes press a failing button harder and suddenly it works.

The mechanical part is working. The electrical part isn't.

In the last photo, I've labelled the four components. The black circle with the three red arrows points toward the two electrical contacts inside the button.

Those contacts should be a clean, bright metallic colour. Instead, these have become dark and contaminated.

Exactly what caused the contamination in this particular player? It's difficult to say. Age, environmental contamination, smoke, moisture, electrical arcing, or simply years of use could all potentially contribute.

Whatever the cause, all 19 buttons are being replaced and this DVD player will be back to reliably responding to its controls again.

It's another good example of why something that still **clicks** isn't necessarily working properly.

Sometimes the failure is hiding inside one of the smallest and simplest components in the entire device.

And that's what makes troubleshooting so interesting. 🔧

If you have an electronic device, appliance, or other item that isn't responding properly, reach out. It might be something much simpler than you think.

08/24/2026

A part broke. Replacement parts aren't available. Is this food processor destined for the landfill?

Not so fast!

A small plastic component broke on this food processor, and unfortunately, the manufacturer no longer offers a replacement.

That doesn't necessarily mean the machine is finished.

With some reverse engineering, careful measurements, design work, and a 3D printer, I was able to create a replacement part and get this food processor back in service.

One small broken piece could have meant replacing an otherwise perfectly good machine.

Instead, we made the part.

Another appliance saved from the landfill and another good machine given more life.

This is one of the reasons I'm excited about adding 3D printing to my repair work. When replacement parts are no longer available, we sometimes have the ability to make our own.

If you have something with a broken or unavailable plastic part, don't automatically assume it's done for.

Send me a message. Let's see if we can make it work again.

08/23/2026

**Sometimes the smallest repairs are the ones that matter most.**

This baby gate came in after the hinge had broken, leaving the gate unable to close properly.

The failure was in the thin metal and small welds holding the hinge together. Unfortunately, the design didn't leave much room for a conventional repair. The metal is very thin and coated in plastic, making welding impractical.

So we went with a simpler solution:

**A strip of metal and some rivets.**

The broken sections were securely joined back together using the reinforcement strip, creating a strong new connection without having to replace the entire gate.

The gate was then reinstalled and is back in service.

For the customer, this meant avoiding the cost of replacing an otherwise perfectly good baby gate—and, just as importantly, preserving the existing mounting hardware in the doorway.

Not every repair needs to involve complicated electronics, circuit boards, or specialized equipment.

Sometimes it's just a matter of looking at what's broken and asking:

**"How can I make this work again?"**

That's the kind of problem solving I enjoy.

If something around your home has broken and you're not sure whether it's repairable, reach out. It may be worth taking a closer look before replacing it.

08/23/2026

**This week, a little piece of history came through the door.**

Actually, two pieces of history.

I had **two 8mm film projectors** brought in by a customer who was going through some things and wanted to revisit some old family films—and potentially have them digitized for the future.

The problem?

Neither projector was working properly.

To make things a little more interesting, the films weren't all the same format. Some were on **Regular 8** reels, while others were **Super 8**.

One of the projectors could only accept Regular 8 film, meaning the Super 8 reels couldn't even be mounted on it.

That's where the 3D printer came in again.

After taking some measurements, I was able to design and print an adapter that allows the Super 8 reels to be used with the Regular 8 projector.

And now, at least one of these projectors is ready to bring those old films back to life. 🎞️

There's still one more projector to diagnose and repair, but we're one step closer to getting these pieces of family history playing again.

I really enjoy repairs like this. It's not just about getting an old machine running—it's about **what that machine allows someone to experience again.**

Technology changes, formats change, and sometimes the equipment we need to access our own history becomes harder and harder to find.

But with a little troubleshooting, some creativity, and occasionally a 3D printer, we can sometimes keep that history accessible for another generation.

If you have an older piece of technology that isn't working, don't assume it's too old or too unusual to repair.

**Bring it to me. Let's see what we can do.**

08/21/2026

**Sometimes the replacement part doesn't exist. So you make one.**

This week, a bread maker came in after taking a tumble and snapping the hinge that holds the lid.

Unfortunately, the original hinge isn't available as a replacement part. And looking at the broken hinge, it was clear that the original design wasn't particularly robust.

So instead of writing the bread maker off, we looked at what was left and started reverse engineering.

📏 Measurements were taken from the remaining pieces of the original hinge.

💻 A new hinge was designed based on those measurements, with improvements made to the design to address the weaknesses of the original.

🖨️ The new parts were then 3D printed and assembled.

The result?

**A working bread maker with a brand-new hinge.**

This is one of the reasons adding 3D printing to the repair business has been so exciting. When an original part is no longer available, we're no longer limited to saying *"Sorry, they don't make that anymore."*

We can sometimes **design the part ourselves.**

And in some cases, we can do more than simply recreate the broken piece—we can make it stronger.

By looking at *why* the original part failed, we can make changes to the replacement that improve its durability or eliminate the original failure point altogether.

So don't automatically assume that a broken plastic part means the end of an appliance.

**If the part doesn't exist, sometimes we can make it.**

And sometimes the replacement can be better than the original.

If you have something broken that you think is beyond repair, send me a message. Let's see what we can come up with.

08/20/2026

The shop is closed this morning, I will be open again later today around 3pm.

It has been a very busy week.

Edwin Sweet Repair

08/29/2026

08/27/2026

08/26/2026

08/26/2026

08/26/2026

08/24/2026

08/23/2026

08/23/2026

08/21/2026

08/20/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request