The Blower and the Battery

Duck Dome Airbag

I have a big, inflatable cushion that sits on the patio table and supports the cover - keeps the cover from becoming a lake. Took the cover off last spring and deflated the cushion, fully intending to clean it off, fold it up and put it away. None of that happened, so it just sat there all summer, draped over the side table. You don't suppose the surgeries and the remodeling project had anything to do with that, do you?

Coleman Quickpump

Anyway, it's fall and it's time to cover the table and chairs again, but where's the inflator? We've had a couple of these things. We had a sleeper sofa that had an inflatable mattress, and the kids bought an inflatable bed, but where are the inflators? Turns out Osmany had them. He brought them over. One is a regular, 110VAC powered one, but the other was a battery powered one that was purchased for camping. The battery powered one was broken. Score! A little project for me. 

Amartisan 10-Piece Magnetic Screwdrivers Set

I needed a long Phillips screwdriver to take the screws out, but it seems my long Phillips has crawled off into the weeds, so I ordered a cheap new set from Amazon. Curious thing is the tip on the #1 driver was too pointy to engage with what looked like #1 screws.  The #2 driver worked fine, probably because it was extra pointy as well.

When the screws came out, the grooves on the screw were filled with red plastic from the housing. It looked like the holes were all stripped. I cleaned the plastic off of the screws. It was surprisingly difficult. Trying to get it out using my fingernails didn't work, I had to use my knife and roll the screws along the edge of the table. When I put the screws back in they tightened up just fine. I suppose this is just a feature of self-tapping screws.

Mystery Circuit Interrupter

Check the wiring inside the case and it quickly becomes obvious that the tiny little circuit board in the middle of the charging line is preventing the charge from charging the battery. Take that out, splice the wire with solder and electrical tape because I can't find my box of electrical do-dads, charge it overnight and we're right as rain.

6V 4.5Ah Rechargeable Sealed Lead Acid Battery

I initially figured the battery was dead, so I thought about ordering one ($17 from Amazon), but then I'd have to get rid of the old one. Then I realized there is a battery shop not too far away that would be happy to sell me a new battery and take the old one off of my hands, but they'd probably want $40 for the battery and this stupid blower I am working on only costs $25. Not hardly worth it.

P. S. The magnetic tips on the screwdrivers aren't very strong either. Pretty sad really.