My cord on my expensive hair straightener has an exposed wire right by the base of the straightener. I know it is cheaper to get a cord replaced than to buy a new straightener....any advice on WHERE to go?

5/29/2010 12:30:45 PM

cut the cord off another device, take your straightener apart, identify where the wires connected inside the straightener, then attach the wires of the replacement cord, put the straightener back together

done.

5/29/2010 12:32:03 PM

I wish it were that easy. The aerospace teacher at my school was all about taking it apart and replacing the cord and all that good stuff....until he figured out you cannot take it apart without a triangle shaped screw driver.

5/29/2010 12:36:32 PM

We got all the screws out except for one little asshole screw near the base.

5/29/2010 12:59:44 PM

Quote :

"I know it is cheaper to get a cord replaced than to buy a new straightener"

It also reduces waste/landfilling.

Quote :

"triangle shaped screw driver"

Yeah, I need to get one of those. I've got the square, the square star, the hollow hex, and some others -- but I need them all!




But anyway, I really fucking hate that most commercial products are so proprietary and disposable.
People used to repair their shoes and clothes, fix appliances with spare parts, and reuse materials from broken items. Now, nearly everything is plastic or screwed together with obscure screws, or fastened in some way you can't open without breaking it.

Something broken?
Then: Don't worry. You can fix it, and if not, the parts are useful for something else. You still own a lot of the value.
Now: You're fucked. Throw it away, wasting the material. Then buy a new one, wasting resources and your money.

5/29/2010 1:46:39 PM

electrical tape

Or, McMaster-Carr has the bits you're looking for: 5941a11, 5941a12, 5941a13, 5941a14

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5941a11/=7aw57c

[Edited on May 29, 2010 at 1:59 PM. Reason : ]

5/29/2010 1:49:04 PM

Then: Inefficient energy usage, expensive products
Now: Efficient appliances, $10 toasters


The fasteners you are bitching about are easier for automated equipment to use, thus lower prices and higher overall part/product quality, plus with proprietary designs, makers can make better smaller designs

5/29/2010 2:03:40 PM

Quote :

"Then: Inefficient energy usage, expensive products Now: Efficient appliances, $10 toasters"

Yeah, also:
Then: stone tools and caves
Now: computers and condos
Your point is not relevant.
You can make and sell modern efficient appliances with more standard parts -- that can be fixed.
Increased technology doesn't and shouldn't always lead to cheap proprietary crap.

Quote :

"The fasteners you are bitching about are easier for automated equipment to use, thus lower prices and higher overall part/product quality"

Wow. You're either trolling or you must of taken a HUGE gulp of the corporate kool-aid.
I mean, damn. I really, really feel sorry for you if you actually believe that bullshit. (I'm not gonna be trolled by you. Say what you want -- you're still wrong.)

Quote :

"plus with proprietary designs, makers can make better smaller designs"

:facepalm: I swear. I don't have time for you. In my experience, people like you are mostly hopeless -- brainwashed by the mainstream corporate take on technology and intellectual property. In short, you're wrong, but I'm not taking any time to help you because you'll likely never care to see the truth. (enjoy your money, you culturcidal tool.)




Good luck with your hair straightener, pawprint. Remember that corporate tools like HaLo are the enemy of progress.

[Edited on May 29, 2010 at 2:20 PM. Reason : ]

5/29/2010 2:19:46 PM

Alternatively, you could spend a couple of bucks and buy the tool.

5/29/2010 2:40:50 PM

Chit Chat Response:

I will fix it for a blowjob


The Lounge Response:

I will fix it for a 12 pack of Coors Lite

5/29/2010 3:17:42 PM

^^^hit a nerve did I?

I guess I don't get what you're so damned pissed about. you can still buy spare parts for small appliances and replace them yourself.

Quote :

"Wow. You're either trolling or you must of taken a HUGE gulp of the corporate kool-aid. I mean, damn. I really, really feel sorry for you if you actually believe that bullshit. (I'm not gonna be trolled by you. Say what you want -- you're still wrong.)"

how about you actually respond to the argument I made rather than make the ad hominem attack and then just say I'm wrong, when in fact fasteners like torx, allen, etc... are in fact better for mass production than flat or phillips head drives

Quote :

":facepalm: I swear. I don't have time for you. In my experience, people like you are mostly hopeless -- brainwashed by the mainstream corporate take on technology and intellectual property. In short, you're wrong, but I'm not taking any time to help you because you'll likely never care to see the truth. (enjoy your money, you culturcidal tool.)"

i'd love to respond to your argument here, unfortunately you never actually made one, just belittled my point

[Edited on May 29, 2010 at 4:05 PM. Reason : .]

5/29/2010 4:04:12 PM

business decisions are always made as part of a larger global conspiracy, not because of sound engineering and economic analysis.

5/29/2010 7:30:53 PM

facepalm

Seriously, help me fix my hair straightener so I don't look like a homeless person.

Quote :

"Alternatively, you could spend a couple of bucks and buy the tool."

Which I cannot find. I made this thread because I have no idea where to even begin. Lowes, Home Depot, and the like don't have the tool or have never heard of it, and I don't know where else to go.

Quote :

"electrical tape"

Wires are completely broken in half and the straightener will not turn on unless you bend the cord a certain way and the electrical tape is dangerous.

I got a cheap straightener at WalGreens using coupons and ended up only paying $1.18 for it so I plan on just chopping off the cord from it and using it with mine...If I could get this damn screw out.

5/30/2010 8:01:38 AM

just break the son of a bitch open and wrap some tape around it when you put it back together

it's a fucking hair iron, not a damn space shuttle

[Edited on May 30, 2010 at 8:10 AM. Reason : you could probably get the screw out with a screw extractor or a left handed drill bit]

5/30/2010 8:10:08 AM

Quote :

"you could probably get the screw out with a screw extractor or a left handed drill bit"

Neither of which I have....which explains this thread.

5/30/2010 8:29:57 AM

HAHAHA VICTORY! I got the screw out! I had to melt a BIC pen into the screw and then it broke...but the extra plastic gave my pliers some traction and I was able to unscrew it using one side of my needle nose pliers. YES. Now what...? lol

5/30/2010 8:32:42 AM

That's some ghetto rigging if I've ever heard Glad you were able to get the screw out

5/30/2010 9:15:21 AM

these screws are proprietary because if they weren't stupid rednecks would take their hair straighteners apart to try to fix them and wind up hurting themselves or starting a fire.

liability motherfuckers

5/30/2010 10:38:17 AM

Ghetto rednecks. Wow. You really have a lot of free time, don't you?

5/30/2010 11:20:36 AM

well, actually not really, as evidenced by the fact that I'm not spending 3 days melting bic lighters into the screw of a $40 hair straightener.

5/30/2010 11:22:03 AM

Wow, and not only judgmental but you exaggerate greatly as well.

If you'll notice, my first post requests a place I can take it to pay to have it fixed but there are no such places that I have found. I called a few and got a few quotes. Anyhow, if taking it apart myself and having an engineer solder in a new cord makes me a ghetto redneck, well then, slap me on the back of my overalls and give me a chew of tobacco. Yee haw. At least I wouldn't be a troll.

5/30/2010 11:32:07 AM

well its a good thing I never said you were a ghetto redneck then isn't it

5/30/2010 11:32:54 AM

What's that you said troll? Ohhhhhh..stupid redneck. My fault.

5/30/2010 11:35:42 AM

And I didn't call you that either. Not my fault if you want to lump yourself into that group.

[Edited on May 30, 2010 at 11:39 AM. Reason : s]

5/30/2010 11:39:15 AM

^Thanks for all the free bumps, troll.

To get back to my issue of frizzy hair, I got the screws out and I opened up the cheap flat iron I bought for the cord and the cords are different. Anyone know if I can still use the cord on the right to splice into the flat iron on the left?

5/30/2010 11:47:02 AM

oh snap - is that a CHI straightener??

5/30/2010 11:58:05 AM

Isn't that the $120 one? I wish! Mine is a Ceramics.

5/30/2010 12:01:04 PM

lame. I thought you said it was expensive.

you should throw that crap away and buy the CHI

5/30/2010 12:11:12 PM

Quote :

"Which I cannot find. I made this thread because I have no idea where to even begin. Lowes, Home Depot, and the like don't have the tool or have never heard of it, and I don't know where else to go."

Since you apparently missed it the first time (even though you commented on the electrical tape in the same post):

Quote :

" Or, McMaster-Carr has the bits you're looking for: 5941a11, 5941a12, 5941a13, 5941a14 http://www.mcmaster.com/#5941a11/=7aw57c"

Those are McMaster-Carr part numbers for triangle bits.

Not that it matters anymore since you got the screw out, but still....it always peeves me a little when you take the time to find someone the answer and they apparently can't be bothered to read it. Incidentally, the "buy the tool" comment was directed at indy.

[Edited on May 30, 2010 at 7:08 PM. Reason : afalkfjlkdsav]

5/30/2010 7:03:04 PM

Quote :

"it always peeves me a little when you take the time to find someone the answer and they apparently can't be bothered to read it."

^Yeah, it kinda peeves me too when you take the time to make a thread asking for an answer and people can't be bothered to read the original post and reply to it. You will notice that this thread began in an effort to FIND A PLACE TO REPAIR IT...which, apparently, these places do not exist in Raleigh. I did search for the proper tool but could only find it. Thanks for doing all the leg work for me. Want to come solder it too?

[Edited on May 30, 2010 at 7:32 PM. Reason : add]

5/30/2010 7:30:25 PM

Yeah, you're right. I'm the asshole.

5/30/2010 7:36:43 PM

Wait, so did you get it fixed? I'd read all that but I'm lazy. I've got bits for removing screws that are stripped out, that might be your answer.

5/30/2010 8:16:33 PM

I will solder it for you

5/30/2010 9:49:56 PM

+1 for pawprint

5/30/2010 9:55:54 PM

It's pretty ridiculous to recommend a tool after someone discusses taking an item apart and not having the right tool for an unusual screw.

I don't know what I was thinking.

[Edited on May 31, 2010 at 7:40 AM. Reason : ]

5/31/2010 7:39:33 AM

Quote :

"global conspiracy"

[straw-man]

5/31/2010 9:48:56 AM

^Ahh strawman and slippery slope - I remember that from communication ethics.

^^Pfft, what were you thinking? Thanks for suggesting the tool. I was unable to find said tool but the good news is my hair straightener is in 8 billion pieces and I look like I got electrocuted...haha...until Tuesday at least.

^^^

5/31/2010 12:16:35 PM

you should follow my advice and just buy the CHI ok I mean seriously... perfect excuse

5/31/2010 12:26:08 PM

Since when did The Lounge become Chit Chat 2?

5/31/2010 8:00:53 PM

The one on the right in your pictures is not going to be easily adaptable to the one on the left. The expensive one actually just uses a regular cable with a strain relief. The other uses some kind of odd breakaway connector. If you can get a hold of a burned-out hairdryer or some other device that uses a similar styled cord, swapping it in would be fairly trivial.

6/2/2010 4:10:30 PM