Designed to be hit with a hammer

Jun 03, 2026 Last reply: 1 month ago 36 Replies

I bought mine in a fairly poor condition. I stripped it all down (including the engine; many mangled screws, replaced with Allen screws. I had the frame professionally resprayed, and a fellow Honda owner was an upholsteree (he'd already done his). I fotted Maserati air horns to it.

Had it for years, even when I got a car.

And you think you have a problem ?

In my garage theres a box containing 28 (yes- 28 !!) assorted wall wart power supplies and laptop chargers

Watch out, they might procreate if left alone in the dark...28 becomes thirty...

But you never have the one you need, do you? I have a label printer needing 9V centre negative, and another device wanting 6V. I have no spares for either, though I do have a huge Maplin switchable one for emergencies.

Well my mild OCD makes things worse, I have a series of boxes:-

  • PSUs < 5 volts * 5 volt PSUs * >5v <12v PSUs * 12 volt PSUs (full to the brim!) * >12 volt PSUs

(mild??)

I get that as well, along with a few of them which have an AC output, but with a connector which fits loads of DC "things" :-\

Look on it as being well organised :-)

As an aside, I recently bought a second hand external disc drive - just the drive with no power or signal things. On the label it had helpful things, including DC 12V 1.5A. I too have a box of "too good to throw away" bits, and in there was a collection of wall warts. Two of them were 12V 2A with the right sized connector on the end. I know that when I put them away they were both working so I tried them both, and neither brought the disc to life. Near the bottom of the box was a 12V 5A box and all I needed to find was a mains lead with the figure-of-8 connector. I had one in another box. I connected it to the disc and it burst into life and worked perfectly. Obviously the 1.5A on the label is the running current and the starting current requirement is higher.

Don't mock your series of boxes. One day you might be grateful for it.

I have four such categories, with a 24L Wham storage box for each:

5V adapters 12V adapters laptop PSUs Other (including international mains plug adapters)

like others here I am sure, I have well over 28 in total...

It is a well known truth that the day after you throw something away is the day you really need it.

On 04 Jun 2026, Tricky Dicky wrote

There's also the sheer and unrestricted satisfaction when your significant other asks if you can take a look at something, and you not only think "I held on to precisely the right gubbins/tool/cable for that", but you're able to put your hands on it at first go.

Doesn't happen often, but when it does...

I too used to have a girt big all-flavours PSU, with switched output voltages over a wide range, and a range of plug-in output barrel connectors (which could be reversed for cases where you needed positive or negative centre contact. I decided it was a device destroyer - since the chances of accidentally shifting the voltage switch, or getting polarity wrong was too high for comfort.

How about a new box for PoE switch PSUs? (48-54VDC)

Don't tempt me! :-)

I did, however, actually throw away a TP-Link PoE supply which had got wet and corroded inside.

I raise you a 2.3mm drill bit in my small toolbox... . . . . . . . . . ... it's for instant checking whether a socket is 2.1mm or 2.5mm. Sometimes it's not obvious from looking.

Most people are 'forced' to chuck out valuable 'stuff' that might come in handy one day to satisfy the minimalist and ordered life of the other half.

We live in a small house that is roughly 200 years old. Given a working time machine, it would be interesting to see how much furniture and 'stuff' there was in this house during that whole period. Ditto how many more people there were in the house - more than the two who live here now. I have started to 'chuck stuff out' because otherwise there is simply no room for more stuff. It ain't minimalist, just survival.

I have a lock up garage a few streets away for that exact purpose.

SWMBO knows of its existence, but doent know exactly where it is, or where I keep the key.

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