Obscure screw added so appliance cannot be disassembled - eviltoast

Basic blender went bad (motor ran but spindle wasn’t rotating). I wanted to disassemble to see if it could be repaired. Three of the four screws were Phillips head. I had to cut the casing open in order to discover why I couldn’t unscrew the fourth. It was a slotted spanner.

  • MuchPineapples@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Just a basic security screw. It’s so kids (and people who don’t know enough about repairing appliances to know about security screws) don’t disassemble the dangerous machine.

    • uis@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Comon, do some reading:

      I had to cut the casing open in order to discover why I couldn’t unscrew the fourth.

      • MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 months ago

        Phone camera; $30 digital microscope; $30 Endoscope. There are just so many better ways available to look down a hole to see what’s at the bottom than to tear apart the space around it.

        Spanner bits are available in sets starting as little as $7. They are anything but “non-standard”.

          • MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de
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            6 months ago

            Is that new blender going to help them fix other things around the house? $30 endoscope plus $8 screwdriver is still cheaper, and now they’ve broke the one blender, they’ve given themselves the excuse to just buy a new one anyways. Sure, applaud them for it, here of ald places.

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I think the concern is that you would re-assemble it with the safety bypassed, not that you would harm yourself while disassembling the appliance.

      • Cris@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Seriously. I’m not sure why people think it’s so dangerous. Unplug it and remove the blades. Its just a motor for God’s sake

    • Sethayy@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      Though it should be noted this does raise the bar above most people, especially on a budget, single use tools are hardly ever worth it.

      Arguably more dangerous things have easier screws too, like electricity outlets

        • Sethayy@sh.itjust.works
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          7 months ago

          I can’t say personally any of my appliances have had this screw, so again relative to someone not doing this for a living it very well could be

        • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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          7 months ago

          I have a set of these that was part of a larger set of precision bits I was buying anyway. I’ve only ever used one of the security bits in like a decade of having them. I wouldn’t have bought the security bits alone.

          • Dultas@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            That’s more than some sockets or crescent wrenches I have from sets. I don’t know that I’ve ever used an 11mm of either.

      • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        Grinding a notch into a flathead screwdriver is annoying but it’ll still work fine as a flathead even afterwards. I would probably just grind the bulge out of the screw though.

        • lemmyhavesome@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          In this case the screw was at the bottom of a narrow slot, and they only found it after breaking things.

          • MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de
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            6 months ago

            They didn’t find the screw by breaking the blender. They were able to reach it with a screwdriver before that, just not the right one. They broke it because they were too impatient to find a way to look into the hole and then find, make, or buy the right tool.