Are you a guy that can fix things? Like cars. Appliances or anything. When I was a kid, I...

ArishMell · 70-79, M

It is a very good that any man, or indeed woman, can and does repair things rather then throw them away just for simple faults.

Unfortunately it is also easy to become unstuck by trying to rely on the Internet.

Most of the "how to" videos are not by skilled, experienced professionals. They are by keen amateurs who have managed to repair their own possessions, but reflect only the specific model of the item, and can be wrong for any others even with ostensibly the same name and number on the badge.

The working practices of some of these are questionable too, risking damaging the tools, item or worse, the would-be repairer.

So you do need a fair degree of practical ability and experience to be able to judge the quality of the "information" as well as sufficient for the task itself, to have any chance of success.

......
I have tried it for what should be the very simple task of replacing the "cabin air filter" element in my Renault car. Every video I examined was of the correct make and model but not model variant. So although the replacement task itself is simple, to this day I have no idea where the manufacturers have hidden it on my variant of the same model.

Worse, I tried using on-line videos to remove, clean and replace the print-heads on an A3 ink-jet printer. It looked very easy but I had not bargained for considerable internal detail differences despite the same model number. I broke something by following an instruction that therefore proved wrong for my variant, and had to take the whole printer to a professional repairer. He found what seems to have been the world's last spare print-head for that machine, which is no longer made, but it arrived damaged in transport. The upshot was my having to scrap an expensive machine I had hardly used. (That lack of use had let the print head clog with dried ink.)

ArishMell · 70-79, M

I have carried out many repairs on my assorted cars over the years but nowadays can perform only the simplest and most accessible tasks. That's partly because it is very hard to find proper information, very hard physically to identify and reach anything in the very tightly-packed compartments, and partly because it's no fun trying to work at the roadside in a narrow street!

Other than that I can perform reasonbly simple home repairs but would not attempt to turn a faulty appliance into a ruined one!

brian29715 · 51-55, M

Unfortunately yes. I say unfortunately because it took me years to learn to say no to people. I’ve been asked to fix drywall, pinball machines, networks, to vehicles and everything in between.

Rpfun78 · 61-69, M

I can fix some things I used to be able to fix a car or some things in a car but cars have so many computers on them now it’s very hard. I do look up how to fix online and usually about 70% of the time I can fix it.

exexec · 70-79, C

I still fix a few things, but vehicles are too complicated now. I also refuse to do some plumbing repairs now because it hurts too much to get into and out of tight places like under sinks.

Midlifemale · 61-69, M

I can fix most things...always have. I like using my hands and hard work is good for a man's soul

BabyLonia · F

A girl that can 😡

KingofBones1 · 46-50, M

A lot of things yes can I fix a shattered lead casing for Uranium 235 maybe not can I do General repairs around the house or some Contracting and also some improvised vehicle repair absolutely. Hell I can even do some basic rewiring and drive a boat up to 50 ft long in a harbor or an Open Water I can do a lot of shit but I'm I an expert at fixing everything not necessarily

Nightwings · 31-35, F

In Ukraine it's still like this, all men have to know how to fix stuff. I think a lot of stuff is often done poorly though, probably because only few men actually have any real interest in this stuff.