Tackling the ‘Morones’ Thing
Alright, so I decided to finally deal with this old gadget I had lying around. Been calling it the ‘morones’ project in my head ’cause, honestly, just looking at it gave me a headache. It’s one of those things you keep thinking, “I should fix that someday,” but someday never comes. Well, I finally rolled up my sleeves this weekend.
First thing, I needed to actually get inside the darn thing. Found some screws hidden under rubber feet, standard annoying stuff. Got those out. The casing was still stuck. Had to gently pry it open with a flat tool, careful not to snap the old plastic. It creaked like it was complaining the whole time.
Getting Inside
Once open, it was dusty. Like, really dusty. Took it outside and used some compressed air to blow most of it out. Didn’t want that stuff floating around the house. Then I took a closer look at the circuit board.
- Checked for anything obviously burnt or broken. Didn’t see anything major at first glance.
- Looked at the capacitors. None seemed bulged or leaking, which was a good sign, I guess.
- Spotted some fuzzy greenish stuff on a few solder points. Corrosion. Classic.
So, next step was cleaning that corrosion. Grabbed some isopropyl alcohol and an old toothbrush. Gently scrubbed those spots. Some came off easily, others were more stubborn. Had to scrape a little with a pick. Not ideal, but had to be done. Let it dry completely.
Putting it Back and Testing
After the cleaning, I figured I’d put it back together enough to test. Didn’t screw everything down tight yet, just enough to make the connections. Plugged it in, held my breath… nothing. Still dead as a doornail. Typical ‘morones’ behavior, right? Felt like throwing it across the room.
Okay, deep breath. Time for round two. Took it apart again. This time I got out my multimeter to check continuity. Started tracing the power input. Checked the switch, checked the wires leading from the power jack to the board. And there it was – one wire was barely hanging on. The connection looked okay visually, but the meter said no connection.
The Fix (Hopefully)
Got the soldering iron heated up. Tinned the wire end, tinned the contact point on the board, and made a fresh solder joint. Looked much better, solid. Let it cool down.
Put it back together again, still cautiously. Plugged it in. Flicked the switch. And hey! A little light came on! It wasn’t fully working, mind you, the main function was still iffy, but it showed signs of life. That was way better than nothing.
So, the ‘morones’ project isn’t quite done, but I made progress. Found a definite problem and fixed it. It was frustrating, took longer than I thought, but figuring out that one broken connection felt pretty good. Still more to do, but at least it’s not a total paperweight anymore. That’s the process sometimes, just gotta keep poking at it.
