Not a Thing of the Past
Do you remember the days when a little percussive maintenance (a hard smack) to the side of the TV set cleared the screen? Or if the flashlight batteries gave out, a good shaking or just slapping it a couple of times got it glowing again? I do. And I thought these were a thing of the past in these days of modern electronics.
Twice this week percussive maintenance has bailed me out.
Headlights and Compressors
I was backing out of the garage Thursday night, 23 year old grandson in the passenger seat, flipped on the headlights. The driver’s side was out. Without thinking, I got out of the Jeep, balled up my hand and one carefully measured thump dead centre on the lamp … just one, and it was good to go. Grandson was impressed, “Never would have thought of that”!
Yesterday I awoke for the second time this week to a flooded kitchen floor. Two days earlier I had forked out a few hundred dollars for a new relay switch on the compressor. Did I mention I have a short fuse?
Reflex took over and I landed one solid, satisfying kick with the ball of my soggy, stockinged foot to the bottom right corner of the fridge door. Voila! The compressor kicked in immediately.
Doubting the long term effectiveness of percussive maintenance, I called a different appliance repair service and related my sad story and the angry, iffy solution. After he stopped laughing, he advised compressors sometimes seize up and when they do he gives them a gentle slap with his hand, which will usually dislodge whatever got it stuck. “You don’t need my help.”
Fingers crossed! But I know who to call if it breaks down again.
10 comments
26 March 2012 at 10:49 am
Booksphotographsandartwork
Ha! Permission to smack things that don’t work!
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26 March 2012 at 3:49 pm
Cheryl
A ‘feel good’ remedy for dealing with inanimate objects!
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19 March 2012 at 8:46 pm
Heart To Harp
Love the term percussive maintenance! When I was a kid my dad drew a big X with magic marker on the side of the television, which was the exact place you had to hit it to make the picture stop rolling. And I always had a hammer with me when I drove my 1972 Toyota – the starter would hang up, and I’d have to raise the hood and whack the top of the starter with the hammer. I sort of miss the days when things could be persuaded to work with some deftly applied whacking! I hope the compressor continues to behave, now that it knows it’s in for a good whacking if it doesn’t.
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20 March 2012 at 6:04 am
Cheryl
I used to travel with a long handled screw driver when the butterfly clip on the carburetor of my old Barracuda used to stick but I never thumped it around. Some things are just too delicate. The compressor has run steadily since the well-placed kick. I think its safe to stock up on the frozen goods and goodies again. I’ve really missed my daily bowl of ice cream.
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18 March 2012 at 10:52 am
Madhu
Great title! We used to have a transistor (remember them?) a zillion years ago, that needed the same treatment sometimes!
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18 March 2012 at 10:56 am
Cheryl
Oh yes, Madhu, I do remember those transistor radios … memory tied to the beach …
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16 March 2012 at 7:09 am
Pix at Under the Oaks
Percussive maintenance. I like it!
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16 March 2012 at 7:32 am
Cheryl
Fancy name for an ordinary fix!
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15 March 2012 at 6:23 pm
Mary
Oh boy. I can see it all now.
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16 March 2012 at 7:33 am
Cheryl
Well, I know from hard learned experience, percussive maintenance does NOT work on laptops or PC’s!
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