Bodgery...in the interests of getting our sets going!

[Karen O]

I think most of the bodges described fall into the category of 'ingenuity'.

Any case, bodges aren't bodges; they're sub-prime solutions.

[MotorBikeLes]

I have done some bodges in my time, but I think my finest was a big (house sized) Phillips colour TV. It was about 15 years ago, and the owner had taken it to a Philips agent who said "parts unavailable".
There was an E-W fault which could be set in the software, but any attempt to store would lose it. New Eeprom needed. It looks bog standard, try that. No joy. The original Philips part has a special mask program it seems. Then the lightbulb moment. The original eeprom was refitted, then the "vanilla" item was piggy backed on the top of it. E-W corrected, and it was saved. I think there were a couple of other faults obviously due to open circuit memory cells.
A bodge of which I was proud.
Les.

[mole42uk]

Of course, bodgers are actually people who make things out of green timber, particularly chair legs…

[Refugee]

I was once given a washer/drier with a report that the thermal timer in the door lock had been replaced three times under the 1 year warranty.
When I took it apart the door lock was well toasted.
I bodged it with a 15 amp V-5 micro-switch and the spring in that was strong enough to work the remainder of the door lock. I just chopped the neutral lead from the thermal timer back to a safe location and tape bombed it.
The bloke I sold it to was very pleased with it and had no problem with not having to wait to open the door.

[Richard_FM]

Super glue, Araldite & duct/gaffer tape are other good bodging resources.

[Refugee]

I have lost count of the number of "tape bomb" mains lead extensions if have had the pleasure of defusing.
I have not yet had to do one with a controlled explosion yet though.

There are also professional tape bombs out there too.

[GW4FRX]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

Townies fixed everything with Sellotape, Ruralites used baler twine. Dad, having a garage business, used welding rod.

Londoners use insulting tape. Aviators use gaffer tape and/or Araldite.

[ronbryan]

I came across a Dynatron T69A tuner with an interesting work-around on the audio stage. The HL41 triode had been replaced by an HL41DD double diode triode, with a top cap grid connection. In order to get the grid signal connected to the top cap instead of to a diode, pin 5 had been wrenched from the valve base and pressed into pin 5 of the M.O. socket. A wire had been soldered to the top cap and taken to the pin. The valve would not go fully into the socket, because the pin and grid wire were in the way, but it must have made a good connection once!

Ron

[Electronpusher0]

Nothing to be ashamed of being a bodger, a mate, myself and our partners play each week in our local pub quiz with the team name "The Bodgers"

Peter

[electronicskip]

When I got my first CB "rig" I used to use it in my bedroom.
Major problems with getting the SWR down to 1.1 were solved by a metal shelf with four sheets of tinfoil coming off it and a magmount K40 aerial in the middle. all on my bedroom floor much to my mums annoyance.

Later I improved the situation by having a metal filing cabinet instead of the shelf which tidied up the room somewhat.

[sexton_mallard]

One bodge I recall as a teenager was to dismantle and swap worn out and burned contacts and cams around with less worn ones in a electromechanical Hotpoint washing machine timer/programmer. We got a few more years out of the elderly machine!

[Andy Doz]

A bodge in the name of safety !

https://andydoz.blogspot.com/2016/07...e-failure.html

[vidjoman]

Originally Posted by sexton_mallard

One bodge I recall as a teenager was to dismantle and swap worn out and burned contacts and cams around with less worn ones in a electromechanical Hotpoint washing machine timer/programmer. We got a few more years out of the elderly machine!

I did that several times as well. Also replaced the coil in the motor a couple of times. They really were unreliable programmers.

[The General]

When I lived in London in the 80s, I bought a wartime civilian radio (a KB) in Portobello Road from a chap sat in a doorway who looked like a tramp & probably was one. It cost me £1 & when I opened it up it wasn't in that bad nick apart from the replacement two section electrolytic rolling around inside. The wires from the original duff HT filter caps had been extended, wrapped around the replacement cap which still had the remains of its original solder joints & insulated with pieces of torn off Sainsbury's carrier bag. I wonder if it worked? I still have the radio (properly restored by now I must add).

Repairing a 12" monochrome TV using a screwdriver heated on the stove with solder picked from the floor boards where the plumber left some. The LOPT had a few dry joints.

[CambridgeWorks]

The RSGB produced a handbook supplement (I think it was called) WW2 era with a "vade mecum" full of ideas and suggestions that we would now call "bodges". Could get you out of trouble back in those dark days. Worth a read....
Rob

[Karen O]

I once made a linear power supply that used an audio transformer. It worked fine but I suspect the isolation was dodgy.

[Richard_FM]

The Aphelion globe TV featured here had an odd cut track on a circuit board, which was seemingly done in the factory.

Not something you would expect from Telefunken, which supplied the chassis.

https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/1977-telefunken-palcolor/

[kalee20]

Originally Posted by Karen O

I once made a linear power supply that used an audio transformer. It worked fine but I suspect the isolation was dodgy.

Way back (when 16), I made a radio using a frame output transformer from a scrap TV, as a mains transformer for the valve heaters (HT rectified direct from mains). Voltage suited a PCL82 heater. Insulation isn't a big issue as the whole thing is live chassis anyway.

It's still in use. Was running it last night.

[Peter.N.]

In the '50s bodgery was the order of the day often due to the cost of doing the job properly, I have related this before but some time ago so probably not everyone has seen it.

TV mains EHT transformers.

The cost of replacing one of these was about a weeks wages and out of the reach of many so we devised a cheaper option.

Remove the shorted EHT winding with a hammer and cold chisel - assuming it was on a separate bobbin. We then made up a voltage doubler circuit on a piece of paxolin, consisting of two K3 45 selenium stick rectifiers and appropriate TCC Visconal capacitors, The input was taken from the anode of the LOP valve.

The results were watchable although not as bright as with the transformer but at less than half the price.

Another bodge that our senior engineer did was with a Philips 663? a long and very heavy 9" table model. This was the first set I had seen with electronic picture shift controls which were powered by a 60v winding on the mains transformer, this had gone o/c so he fitted a 66v press stud battery instead, this had to be renewed about every 6 months but was very much cheaper than a new mains transformer which also supplied the EHT.

Peter