Fixing my Ryobi leaf blower…

At times, advice and “How to” found on YouTube can be very deceptive and their step-by-step recommendations are a far cry from reality. This week, I finally got the part I ordered to repair my leaf blower and without wasting one minute, began changing the defective part. The first problem sprung up when using the special Torx T15 insert to get the screws out. 

My shaft (1) was too fat to get inside the narrow guides of the plastic housing, whereas the slender insert used on the video was long and narrow (2). That forced me to drill larger diameter holes into the housing to allow the bit to make contact with the screw. Then, there was the wire routing that was delicate and tricky and if I had to do it again, I would have enlarged its paths (3) in certain areas by cutting with an Exacto knife. 

Same thing for cutting the wires at the right length and reconnecting them near a cavity where the closed-end crimp connectors could fit into. Finally the battery contacts (4) and the switch (4) had to be held in place securely enough to allow the other half of the housing to close without disturbing their precise location. The solution would simply consist in dropping a bit of hot glue to hold these components in place while the other half-shell is closed in. 

While the video makes the whole operation look very easy, reality might be quite different, if the individual isn’t particularly handy or technically inclined, if the right tools aren't available (long enough thin bits for screws) and the job of precisely re-routing the wires, the contact assembly, as well as re-assembling the two halves isn’t well thought-out. In fact, reassembly is by far the most complicated job in the entire operation. 

A good idea would be to "prepare or warn the patient" accordingly, otherwise some of the YouTube viewers might embark into a task that will cost them a full day’s work or can’t be completed at all, leaving them with frustration, a completely broken blower and a useless replacement part!