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Emily Velasco
Public

Time for some VCR repair in a stupid but fun way

Emily Velasco
Public

The problem with this VCR was that when I took the front cover off to remove a tangled up videotape, I accidentally broke two of these tall tactile buttons. I don't have any replacements in my stash of stuff and I'm not going to order a whole set of them just to get two, so I'm going to replace them something else.

I've taken the two bad ones out and soldered some JST connectors in their place

Emily Velasco
Public

Since I have the VCR open, here's something for folks who haven't seen the insides of a VCR working

Emily Velasco
Public

A couple of cute, colorful buttons to replace those broken ones

Emily Velasco
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Yes!

Emily Velasco
Public

I don't know why, but it's so much more fun to me to repair something in an obvious and crude fashion than it is to fix it to look like new. It's like kintsugi, but for non-pottery things.

The repair gets to tell a story. The VCR has a scar now that speaks to an event in its life. Something happened to it, and it now one-of-a-kind.

Emily Velasco
Public

What are we, after all, but the sum of our experiences? Why should consumer goods be denied the same?

Emily Velasco
Public

Also, I should give credit where credit is due, and thank @ArchiteuthisFlux for sending me the excellent wood-grain dymo tape I used here

Gilles Bonnet
Public

@MLE_online I wasn't expecting metaphysic from a vcr repair!!

Wayne Werner
Public

@MLE_online @ArchiteuthisFlux where did that tape come from? It's amazing 😍

Emily Velasco
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@ArchiteuthisFlux @ketmorco They also have it for sale new, but the new stuff looks less cool

Kevin Santo Cappuccio
Public

@MLE_online @ketmorco Retvrn to 3-color halftoned wood grain.

Kevin Santo Cappuccio
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@MLE_online @ketmorco ooh actually 2 color. I think the stuff Emily has is different though.

Emily Velasco
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@ArchiteuthisFlux @ketmorco that's what mine looks like!

Wayne Werner
Public

@ArchiteuthisFlux @MLE_online I'll deffo have to keep my eye out for some. I don't think I would say that I have a good use for it aside from just having it on hand... at least currently 🙃

RaphMikeyTurtle
Public

@MLE_online Adding more life creates possibilities of more experiences. I just hate the wasteful act of throwing away usable stuff and also wasting the opportunity for creativity.

RaphMikeyTurtle
Public

@MLE_online the object has a greater personal attachment.

Gaëtan Perrault
Public

@MLE_online there are a few people who do YouTube channels with "repairs of random electronics returns".

Thing that jumps out at me with so many repairs is how much stuff is just cheap plastic casing wrapped around some core electronics. Your repair highlights this very well.

Emily Velasco
Public

@gatesvp Newer stuff is very plasticky. It's nice to work with older electronics that have more metal in them

Zodypop
Public

@MLE_online I restore old arcade games and, while it's fun to get them as close to "new" looking as possible, it's also nice to leave the random early 80's cigarette burns on the control panel.

Emily Velasco
Public

@Zodypop oh yea, you gotta keep those

James Akers
Public

@MLE_online YES! I was about to to comment how its an opportunity for way more fun buttons- which you totally did! If your gonna take it apart an repair it- might as well OWN IT! Nice work!

Emily Velasco
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@JamesAkers Exactly! You gotta have fun with it

oisin
Public

@MLE_online If it doesn't look hacked then how can you call it properly "fixed"?

Adam K0FFY ☕
Public

@MLE_online I love this too! Also seeing a toggle switch like this on ANYTHING always has me super intrigued, DYMO label or no.

Mocny Janek
Public

@MLE_online Hey, as long it works...
To be honest this doesn't look that bad.

Sam Swain
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@MLE_online love it. Similar vibes from my USB audio dongle that the phono/line select exploded in. Just repaired yesterday with chunky min toggle, perfect! 😁

Emily Velasco
Public

@ga5p0d3 that looks so excellent