How to Fix a Broken Tape Measure
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
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How to rebuild a broken tape measure.
I found this tape measure in pieces in a skip bin.
As the video explains I'm not dumpster diving! It's a skip bin.
The tape was separated from the roll with no visible signs of damage.
I explain how to reattach the tape, repair and retention the spring.
It's also a lesson in determination :)
www.buymeacoffee.com/davosshed
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Consider subscribing if you haven’t already or simply drop me a comment to say hi or suggest a topic that I may like to cover. 🤠
This is the kinda thing I was searching for. Had to scan through 8-10 bullshit vids before finding yours. My fault for thinking I could get that knowledge in 5 min
Hi Nicholas,
I never know which of my videos will be popular. I had to struggle myself to get it working again.
Determination may be required. 🤠
I’m glad you got something out of it and thanks for letting me know!
I know people harp on about safety stuff but definitely wear glasses and probably gloves when dealing with the spring.
Good luck
Thanks Dave! I was tired of always breaking tapes. I found your vid, fixed my tape, and subscribed just because you provided a fix. I look forward to watching more of your videos Mate!
Thanks for subscribing!
It’s a tough slog to get to 1000 with fixit style videos. Lucky I have fun anyway. Glad you fixed your tape. Was your spring all split up like mine?
It actually didn't break at the spring but the tab that you had custom cut to be received in the tapes end notch.
@P. E. Yates
Well done!
Sorry about the multiple edits to this reply. I should read my own comments first 🤠
This is for sure one of the best films I have seen in a long time. Admire the resilience. Do stick to the end for bonus surprise😂
Glad you made it to the end.
I think I gave up twice and picked it up again.
It’s still working . Just don’t go past 4m 🤠
Loved watching mate, and enjoyed the humour too. Problem solving projects like this are never about the cost of a new one. I’m glad you didn’t let it beat you 😉👏
Thanks! Some people say I’m fumbling around but they don’t get that I’m showing them how to solve thing you don’t already know.
Glad you enjoyed watching 🤠
haha great video Davo, glad I stayed til the end and the bonus footage.
Well done getting all the way to the end
I usually try and something interesting on the end of my videos
I include the animals or wild life.
David
Thanks, I fixed my tape measure! 🤩 And loved the baby birds 😍
It was a bit of a challenge but I was determined!
Thanks for watching all the way to the end.
We had a hollow post near by fall apart recently. I put a new post in next to it and wired the hollow post back together.
I reckon the birds need all the help they can get and the Eastern Rosella’s are just so gorgeous.
Dave
@@DavoShed Yes, and am glad you helped keep them safe. I’m in the uk, Dave. My husband was able to fix things, so I’m quite chuffed I fixed my tape - with your guidance!
Stanlet Fatmax 8m tape destroyed by 6 year old granddaughter. I'll be giving this a go later today. Thanks for the inspiration Davo
Hey Alan, good on you for getting into it.
Be careful of the spring, just in case you missed my casual warnings. 🤠
If it gets away from you it can flick all over the place.
Probably wearing gloves and glasses wouldn’t hurt.
@@DavoShed I exposed the spring, which wasn't broken, but i damaged tge plastic casing in doing so. Superglue to the rescue, then I'll have a go at reassembling thr bits. Cheers mate
I broke the “Do not open” bit as well.
But from memory the screws held it together ok. Glad glue worked for you?
Thanks. I learned a lot, and I’m sure you learned a bit. Grinding the spool ends, or snipping, never occurred to me. I suppose it doesn’t rain much there, otherwise the birds are out of there.
Yes I did learn a lot. 🤠
Part of the reason I do the videos like this is to show, you can also investigate and learn as you go yourself.
It’s particularly dry here at the moment. It’s not always like that though.
Now that’s perseverance.
Rosellas are looking very crowded. Must be due to fly the coop soon. 😊
I actually did give up and then pick it up again. A fail would make for a fairly disappointing video and I probably would have canned it.
It was good to save it with some determination. I had a good lesson on exactly how they work and I hope that others can learn from it.
The Rosella’s left one or two days after I took that video. They nest in that post every year.
@@DavoShed That’s good. I was wondering how those birds were going to get out of there!
@@starshiptrooper7520
Once they are grown up enough they can climb out.
Last year we had a huge down pour when the chicks were 3/4 grown.
I looked in the post and they were up to their necks in water.
I estimated how far down they were and drilled a hole in the post to let the water out.
I didn’t drill any of them! 3 out of the 4 chicks survived. They looked so miserable in there with all the water.
I check again the other day and the shit level is now above my hole again.
Lucky you never gave up
Well you inspired me to give my old favorite tape a chance. I was careful,did the squint as instructed and managed to somewhat fix it. 😆 I don't have as much patience as you do so, I got it back together, I can pull it out about an arms length but it doesn't want to go back in unless I talk nice to it and push it in. For now this is where it will stay. I so don't want to throw it away. Thanks
That’s great, I’m glad you gave it a go. You can always give it another go if you keep it around.
You would have noticed I nearly gave up a couple of times. 🤠
It sounds like you are nearly there and just need a bit more tension on the spring.
You can always review my video another day if you subscribe (please). :)
Thanks !
When Stanley says non repairable they mean it
More to the point Stanley’s quality control has gone down the toilet.
My other Stanley tape is 40 years old. 🤠
Thanks for commenting!
This really help thx you
Glad it helped you sort it out
I had fun making this video
It's great the way people comment how to repair and fix a brand new tape measure that should work right out of the package we ordered a box of them I think they've all broken probably about 8 months trash
I blame China’s zero quality control policy and we keep buying their shit. I bought a petrol generator recently and the guy next to me at the checkout said how far wrong can you go.
It ran for about 10 minutes. I drove 300km all up trying to get it fixed under warranty but Aldi was just dicking me around. There was no repair process at all. Eventually I got my money back. But I still had no generator.
I try not to buy Chinese rubbish but it gets increasingly difficult.
Thanks for commenting 🤠
4 meters that's it 🤣🤣🤣, well done 👍
Half as good as a new one.🤠
Thanks for watching until the end!
Dave
@@DavoShed At the moment I'm having a battle of wills with Stanley's 3.5 meter smaller brother's spring and he's winning 🤣🤣🤣
Stick to it
I almost gave up a few times 🤠
Wear gloves and glasses!
Mine is still going. Lives in my chainsaw kit now. What do I need with logs over 4m anyway. 🤠
Good video, saved me a few wasted hours. 👍 I guess I'll have to buy a new one.
Probably won't be another fat max.
I’m interested to know if your spring has gone the same way? Stanley used to be good quality stuff. I wouldn’t buy one of those now either.
I'm having the same issue on my tape measure (the axle spins without any resistance). I can actually hear it click when I rotate it backwards. How did you end up cracking open the WARNING - DO NOT OPEN - HIGHLY STRESSED SPRING INSIDE cartridge?
I had to review the video as I couldn’t remember what I did. 🤠
At 11:02 I say something like “ I cracked it open”. I think I just forced it open and snapped the tabs off.
When I put it back together the case holds it all together. You just have to be careful the spring doesn’t fly out and hit you in the face which is what the warning is about.
Doesn't say much for Stanley quality control, does it?
Stanley used to be great tools that lasted longer than their owner.
I indeed have a 40+ year old Stanley tape measure. I have replaces the tape once because I wore the numbers off but the case and the spring are still going strong.
According to Stanley’s web site they are manufactured in USA from world wide materials.
A quick Google tells another story about a “Small foot print in North America” and the bulk of things are made in China.
www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/stanley-black-deckers-china-dilemma
I think China has no idea about quality control and don’t give a shit once the product is sold.
I get so many things that are simply not fit for purpose out of China. Frankly I won’t buy from them if I can avoid it.
But that’s just my opinion :)
Davo, great video. I know it's old, but maybe you still get the comments. I'm dealing with a similar situation with a 16" Stanley, and I can't figure out which direction to wind the spring relative to the tape. You say something like "That will make sense if you ever need to do it," but I'm afraid I"m still a bit lost. I've wound it and rewound it both clockwise and counterclockwise half a dozen times each. Winding it in the same direction as the tape makes it want to push the tape out of the case, rather than retract it. When I wind it opposite the tape, the spring buckles and breaks. Ideas? Thanks!
Yes I still get notified for all my videos.
I think when I said it was obvious I meant you can only wind it on the spool one way or it will break like you have found.
From memory you should be able to re-assemble the inner spring section, then wind the tape back onto the reel and put it back onto half of the case.
With a screw driver wind up the spring counting the number of turns in case you need to do it again.
Then put the second half of the case on with out letting the tape spew everywhere.
Don’t forget safety glasses and gloves. I didn’t make that obvious enough in the video. You know how sharp that spring is 🤠
I’ll have to watch the video again but I remember it took me a few goes and some determination to get it right.
Let me know how you go :)
I just watched the first 10 or so minutes again. I think if you watch carefully you can see which way the tape is wound and which way I turn the spring to add the tension. I later discover my spring is in pieces. I removed the broken bits and now only extend the tape about 4M.
It’s still working by the way although my tape from the 80’s is still my favourite 🤠
It winds counterclockwise
Good to know 🤠
I tried to open a tape measure today and the spring was still wound. After opening the roll flew out and the tape flung all over the place. Never am I going to risk opening one of these again.
I hope you didn’t get hurt. I made it very clear on the video that spring can fly out and to be extremely careful.
It probably even has a warning on the inside of the tape measure it self.
@@DavoShed I didn't see a warning but there ought to be one. I had no idea they were wound so strongly and imagined it would be held in place better. I wasn't hurt luckily!
It was a while ago I made that video.
I’m going to watch it again with this in mind.
I recall taking it apart quite a few times before I got it right.
Was yours a Stanley Fat Max?
You can safely replace the tape but the spring is more difficult.
@@DavoShed I mean there was no warning on the measure. I came to this video after wondering if anyone else had the same problem opening one up. The one I had was a cheap one I had from a while back and I've now thrown it away.
Fair enough. I just watched the first 1/2 of my video again and I have mentioned the spring danger 4 times.
I even read the warning aloud inside of mine. I get it that yours didn’t have this warning.
I just wanted to make sure it was clearly mentioned as this video gets thousands of views.
The sad part is that these products are so disposable these days. I have an old Stanley tape I bought 40 years ago. I wore the tape out and replaced it 20 years ago and it’s still going strong. Thanks for commenting
Mine went in garbage…FUBR
Mine very neatly did….. a couple of times :)
Stanley used to make excellent tools
Not so much any more
If you have nothing to do. I suppose rebuilding a tape measure will waste your time for nothing in the end. Just buy another one.
That’s what the bloke that threw it in the bin said. Especially if the boss is paying. 🤠
I like a challenge. I still have it and it’s still working. It’s just a bit shorter.
I could have cut it off at about a metre and used it as a hook rule. That would have been easy.
Inflation makes everything worth fixing. How many hours do you have to work to buy a new one, including taxes?
@sweetpadre
Correct, it also builds your diagnostic skills, saves on land fill and gives personal satisfaction. Not to mention it’s a long way to town :)
It was also free and is now one of my most popular videos. 🤠
Thanks for commenting!