Over time, tech wears down. Whether it's aesthetically or practically, tech must be maintained to ensure it stays operational and looking clean. So we've designed this bounty to motivate you to look after a piece of older technology you have lying around: either record a video restoring it or take a series of pictures documenting the process, and add some written context explaining exactly what the device is and how you're restoring or upgrading it.
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This reward closed to entries at 1:54pm on November 18, 2024 but you can still reply, react, and join the conversation below! If you’d like to enter other rewards which are still open, click here.
I have in my hands an item that is at least 40 years old haha
This camera belonged to my grandfather and I've seen many moments in photos that this relic has immortalized! My grandfather was an enthusiast of technology, even in times when it was advancing at “small steps”. I wonder how he would be today in this world where technology is making huge leaps forward day after day, he would be fascinated!
We keep these and other relics here at home as a way of keeping a bit of these very special people too. This bounty made me want to rescue it and try to get it working again. I've given it a general clean, and with a change of filter and a new film, maybe I can make some records with this relic!
For a while, I had a popcorn machine lying around. I got it as a gift years ago, but it never worked properly, either not heating up or the fan not spinning. This is a situation when a repair shop asks for three times the price of the device. Throwing away nearly new electronics feels weird and doesn't help the environment.
So, thanks to this bounty, I finally found time to get my hands on it and try to fix it.
After removing all the covers (it was quite problematic due to some weird triangular screw heads) and getting to the engine chamber, I found the problem. The wire clamps were damaged. After releasing them properly to the wires, the machine started to work!
So, even if I'm not getting a reward, kids can now make healthy oil-free popcorn.
I had this old Lenovo office computer sitting around for about two years. A friend gave it to me when his company upgraded their tech, but when I tested it, it wouldn’t even turn on. I thought, "Well, I could sell it for parts and make a little profit".But I never got around to it.
When I saw this bounty, I immediately remembered the PC and thought, "You know what? Let’s take a look". The LEDs weren’t lighting up, so I figured it was either a motherboard or power supply issue. I tested the power supply on another computer, and it was fine. Then I checked the motherboard and discovered the RAM… RIP. For some reason, the RAM was covered in rust - only the RAM?!
Then I bought a 2GB DDR3 stick for R$25 (about $5) and popped it into a clean slot to avoid dealing with the rusty one. Boom! It worked!
It was probably the easiest repair I’ve ever done. Honestly, I wish I were a tech restorer so I could charge at least $50 for this fix and the cleaning I did haha. The total cost was the same as the reward, but it was a fun adventure and now I can even sell the PC to someone. Oh, and I also formatted the system, but that part was straightforward.
I had been planning to upgrade my home server for a while, specifically to install powerful NVMe drives for caching, particularly for virtualization. Since this would involve heavy read and write operations, I chose SN700 WD Red drives, which are rated for server/NAS use and designed to handle such workloads. To accelerate both read and write speeds while ensuring redundancy, I set up a pair of these drives in RAID 1 to protect against data loss.
Knowing that NVMe (or any SSDs) are susceptible to data loss during power outages, I also added a small 360W UPS to provide an extra 60 minutes of power for saving data and shutting down properly. These units are fairly inexpensive—I picked mine up for $60.
After installation, however, I wasn’t entirely happy with the temperatures the drives were running at: 55°C. While this is perfectly within normal operating limits and well below throttling thresholds, I decided to go for a cheap upgrade: heatsinks. I installed aftermarket heatsinks with large heat dissipation surfaces for just $8, and they brought the operating temperature down to 42°C - a significant reduction.
Now I’ve got excellent cache acceleration running at a much lower temperature. Mission accomplished!
=== JA has a bug with connecting Instagram (already reported) so I'm adding a random video, otherwise, it does not allow me to submit
I took my DSLR, which was just going to gather dust, and gave it a new life.
I astromodified it so I could continue using it for my astrophotography hobby.
Basically, I opened up my DSLR and removed one of the two filters in front of the sensor, which is responsible for blocking the reds in photos. This way, I can capture the hydrogen alpha from nebulae.
The video is in Portuguese, but the entire process is recorded there.
When I moved to Germany, I decided to buy myself a coffee machine. After some searching, I found a second-hand La Pavoni Europiccola on Kleinanzeige (a German secondhand market) for only 250 euros. As a lover of lever coffee machines, I bought it immediately.
First look of it
When I received the machine, everything looked fine at first. But when I opened the boiler plug and looked inside the chamber, I was completely shocked. The entire chamber and heating element were covered with a thick layer of limescale. I knew that water quality in Germany is hard, but I didn’t expect it to be this hard. When I detached the base and looked at the data plate, I was even more surprised: the machine was manufactured in the year 2000, making it one year older than me. The scale in the boiler made me doubt whether the previous owner had performed regular maintenance on the machine. If not, sealing parts like the gaskets might already be on the verge of failure due to neglect. I was right—when I removed the steam valve adjustment knob, I discovered that some of the sealing rings had already melted. However, despite the limescale and damaged seals, the machine appeared to be in good general condition, considering it was 24 years old. So, I decided to do some maintenance myself.
Descaling: The first step, of course, was descaling. The limescale on the heating element can greatly reduce heating efficiency and potentially damage it. So, I added citric acid and water to the boiler, screwed on the plug, and turned on the heating switch. Once the water boiled, I turned off the heating switch and left it for about 20 minutes. Then, I turned the heating switch back on. After the water boiled again, I opened the steam valve and let the acidic water clean the steam pipe (remember to use a cup to catch the outlet water). Next, I raised the lever to let the water out. Initially, the water was blue due to the presence of metal ions. I repeated this process until the water was almost clear.
The water looks really weird
Even after several repetitions, some of the limescale on the heating element was still difficult to remove. Additionally, when I wiped the inside of the boiler chamber, it left blue marks on the tissue, indicating the presence of copper ions. While I doubted whether copper could corrode under these conditions, having copper ions in the water I was about to drink was concerning. So, I decided to try acetic acid. I bought "Essigessenz" (a high-concentration acetic acid) and added a generous amount to the chamber, repeating the previous process. This worked perfectly, and the stubborn limescale was successfully removed.
This is how heat element looks like even after several repeat of citric acid bath
Replacing the Sealing Rings: I purchased a set of sealing rings on Amazon, along with some food-grade lubricating grease, costing around 30 euros, and disassembled the machine to replace most of the worn-out rings. I mainly followed these two videos for guidance:
Replacing all the sealing rings was not difficult as long as the instructions were followed step by step. However, if you want to replace the sealing ring at the base of the heating element, you need to remove the base of the machine, disconnect all the electrical wires from the heating element, and remove the element. During this process, make sure the boiler is empty and take photos of the electrical wiring to ensure proper reconnection later.
Disassemble!
Replacing the Piston: Unfortunately, the piston of the La Pavoni manufactured in the early 2000s was made of plastic. Although it appeared durable, I didn’t want a 24-year-old plastic piston to come into contact with the water I drink.
The original 24 years old plastic piston lol
So, I purchased a brass piston from a shop in Hamburg. However, when I tried to remove the piston from the shaft, it was so tightly screwed in that it seemed impossible to remove. I assumed this was due to the hard water seeping into the threads between the piston and the shaft and leaving limescale inside. To solve this, I placed the shaft and piston in my air fryer, set it to 160 degrees Celsius, and heated the piston for 8 minutes (based on ChatGPT’s advice that the melting temperature of the piston plastic was around 165–180 degrees).
Put the shaft and piston inside an air fryer
Afterward, I took it out and used a screwdriver inserted into the pinhole of the shaft as a lever and twisted it. This method worked well, and I successfully removed the old piston. If you use this method, make sure to have heat-resistant gloves to avoid burns.
Use the wrench as a lever. And you can see from the thread that I'm right about the limescale guess.
After these procedures, the machine was restored to a relatively good condition and was capable of making excellent coffee. Since then, I have loved this machine even more—not only because of its well-built, long-lasting design but also because I restored it with my own hands.
If you would also like to refurbish an old La Pavoni, I would strongly advice you to follow the instructions of the two videos above, those should be sufficient. And if your encounter other problems, try search for help on the LaPavoni subreddit.
I have restored and upgraded my old Dell 1300 power edge computer for my personal storage server and it is a rewarding way to bring vintage computer back to life and improve it's functionality.
Cleaned and upgraded (Storage server model, and it's great for this purpose ). reapplied thermal paste, added more RAM, and replaced old hard drives with new ones for more storage and improved performance .
Over time, technology tends to weaken in terms of aesthetics, functionality, and performance. Regular maintenance is essential to keep it running well and looking attractive. However, there’s another approach—upgrading your device with newer technology.
My experience using the Fantech was quite good, as its specs were very worth it for its price. When I had enough savings, I upgraded my mouse to enhance my user experience. Now, I take care of my current mouse by cleaning the exterior to maintain the minimalist look of the Daxa Air IV, which is lightweight and easy to carry anywhere. Its wireless feature also helps keep my desk setup clean and minimal.
Before putting my Fantech back in its box, I also cleaned it and stored it safely to prevent damage. By maintaining and taking care of our devices, we hope they can function and remain useful for as long as possible.
