We’re HomeFixated, so it’s fitting one of our newest advertisers is eReplacementParts.com, a real instigator of fixing things.  We’re excited!  No, not just because they are paying us to be excited (although that doesn’t dampen our enthusiasm).  We’re excited because eReplacementParts.com represents a trend we’ve been noticing in recent years. That trend is in fixing stuff, rather than throwing it away.  And many people are doing these fixes themselves.  DIY, fixing, power tools.  It just doesn’t get much more Home Fixated!
eReplacementParts.com has been providing replacement parts online since 2004. They provide visitors with free tool repair resources and organized parts lists to order from for over 50 name brands. They offer replacement parts for power tools (can I get a “Hurrah!”?), small engines (sorry, no Yugo parts), appliances (you can’t survive without a dishwasher), vacuums (sometimes we like things that suck), and more. In fact, they have over 400,000 parts online. That amount of parts fixes a lot of broken things even at our house, which is a target-rich environment for broken stuff.
eReplacementParts.com even has an iPhone application for finding parts, further proving “there’s an app for that.” Check it out if you need parts in the field or if you’re a DIY’er on the go. The app features the same clean, simple and highly useful part finder interface you can also find on the main site. You can search by model number or part number. If your iPhone dies, you’ll have to wait until you get to a desktop to see if they carry iPhone parts (they don’t, probably because Apple would just prefer you upgrade to an iPhone 4 now).
Not handy? Don’t worry! eReplacementParts has a tool repair forum with licensed mechanics and volunteers who are willing to help with tool and equipment repairs. Need to fix your Kawasaki in Nagasaki? No problem, they ship worldwide. eReplacementParts.com offers a wealth of resources including how to articles, guides, repair videos, and even interactive detailed parts replacement diagrams. Â The site has a treasure trove of new tool accessories too.
Before you start breaking tools and appliances just because you’re so excited to buy parts for them, hold on! Many of us have some poor orphaned tool or household implement that’s collecting dust after something replaceable broke. Now is the time to roll up your sleeves, do a little homework and get that item back up and running. The environment wins because you’re not dumping it in the trash, and you win not only by resurrecting it, but also by being able to brag about how you fixed it (and how generally awesomely handy and fixated you are). It’s a great way to impress your family, friends, strangers on the street, and people that you want to marry.
From their descriptive name, you can probably guess where to find eReplacementParts.com. They also offer Twitter and Facebook pages for support and additional how-to’s and info. Happy fixing! Oh, and feel free to brag (in the comments below) about anything you manage to bring back to life using their parts.
I was a mechanic in the Army, for a couple years after high school, working on TOW missile turrets. At the time I thought that the skills I had learned were not going to be very useful once I got out, there not being very many anti-tank guided missile launchers in the civilian sphere. Turns out though, all the stuff they teach you before you begin the job-specific training is incredibly useful. Basic electronics, circuit theory, and troubleshooting skills. I love being able to *fix stuff*. At work I maintain the company pinball machine. At home I’ve fixed all sorts of things, large & small. One of the ones I’m proudest of is when the pull chain switch on my portable air cleaner stopped working. I was able to disassemble it, fixed whatever it was that had gone wrong, realigned all the parts and put it back together. Works great to this day.
To anyone considering fixing your own stuff but not sure if you can do it, go for it! Take your time, take notes and/or pictures as you disassemble to help you put it back together, and see what happens. Heck it’s already broken, so you can’t make it any worse by trying.
Thanks for the DIY encouraging note Drew! Also, FYI, if my anti-burglar TOW missile system ever breaks down, you’re going to be the first person I contact! Same goes for air compressors! ; )
?’Bout time. if you’ve ever looked for a simple $3 part to repair a $100 tool, you know that the time you waste ends up making the repair a waste of … um… time. I almost look forward to the next time I have to fix something now. (ok, I totally look forward to it. That’s just the sort of person that I am)