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Yesterday, I dumped my Stanley 25-foot metal tape in very sandy mucky water. The tape didn’t work at all after I retrieved it from the bottom of the stream. I took the tape apart last evening to cleaned it. When I rewound it and put it in the housing it want’s to shoot out of the housing. I know I am rewinding something wrong anyone got suggestion as to how I can fix it?
Thanks
Replies
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You're winding the spring backwards. Item next, buy a new tape, or wear safety glasses... loosing an eye while friggin' with a $10 item is nuts.
*Now lets not be too hasty here George.Why,with the money saved by repairing old tape measurers a person could buy 3 tubes of caulk. Then think how much money could be saved by carefully storing the last unused 3 inches of each tube.Sorry Kerry,I couldn't resist.The first 3 0r 4 feet tape always rust out and break on me while the rest of the tape is still good.I just throw it out and buy a new one cause changing the tape isn't worth it to me( I am the most mechanically inept moron you could ever hope to meet)Stephen
*When the first part of a tape rusts or breaks, try to capture the end before it retreats into the case. Then cut off the damaged part of the tape with tin snips and pop rivet the hook onto the remainder of the tape.
*BABE How does this technique of shortening the tape 3 or 4 feet at a time affect its ability to measure acurately or in harmony with the other tapes on the crew.Or are you just riveting the hook back on till you can replace it later.
*This is no problem. My tape has been shortened twice and now lacks 7' 3 and 13/16". I just have my crew burn that amount, except for one guy whose tape is 2' 7 and 1/2" short. He just burns 6' 5 and 3/4".
*kerry I think the best way to repair your tape is what Stephen and George suggest. The only thing I would add, is buy a Craftsman tape, that way the next time you send it for a swim you can just trade it in no charge.(haven't paid for a tape in 3 or 4 years this way.)Babe. Wouldn't it be easier to trim everyones tape each time one on the crew breaks, just in case you forget which guys tape is trimmed where. I guess this would help to speed you up a little,(not that I'm saying you are slow or anything, wouldn't even think of it)JIM at GW
*Jim,Babe is just yanking your chain.Yesterday I had a chance to imagine myself putting Babes suggestion into action......." As the tape broke my cat-like 37 year old reflexes sprang in to action.I grabbed the tape before it succeeded in its cowardly attempt to retreat into its shell. I ignored the laceration of my hand and as my blood dripped on the roof I calmly shot a 1" zip screw into the end of the tape to act as a new hook.I reward myself for a job well done by smoking a cigarrette as I pose near the ridge in Marlboro splendor(the camera pulls back here and circles from a distance for a panoramic shot....My beer belly is edited out,my bald head disguised and a rugged manly tan is inserted).The missing 3' of the tape is of no consequence to me,after all I am a roofer,used to hardship.Besides + or - 3' is close enough right?"
*Hey! You could just take the metal tape out of the body and use the body itself - What are they 3" or something? Lay the body on one edge, mark the other side, shift body and repeat in 3" increments across item to be measured!Plus, you'd be lightening that tool by removing the heavy guts of the tape! I'm goin' out right now...
*Babe,Your procedure of having the rest of the crew burn 7' 3 & 13/16 (or some other amount) is prone to error. You should insist that everyone else break their tapes off at 7' 3 & 13/16 and re-rivet the hooks.Jim Crazy Legs,I think the really good tape bodies are 3 & 3/16". You could speed up measurement if you used a longer item, say a (near) empty caulk tube. For the tail end of the measurement, you could scribe 1" markings on the tube... wait, you could duct tape a 1' piece of broken tape to the outside of the tube! Don't trash those broken off pieces. --jim x 3
*StephenDUH REALLY!Thanx for setting me straight.Jim
*Jim,don't be insulted. I assume everyone labors under the same handicaps I have,that is ...a very small I.Q. and a big sense of humour. Maybe the ratio is different in your case.but I could be wrong,stephen
*Stephen No offense taken, just having fun with the rest of you fellers !Jim
*Stephen, my wife just reminde me that all caps is like yelling(screaming) at you,sorry 'bout that. By the way she did L way OL at your first post, great story.jim
*buy a CRAFTSMAN tape.....i havent bought a tape for 7 or 8 years. as they wear , just return it. its not the best tape on the market , but its FREE , and just as accurate as any stanley for 13 bucks. i prolly returned 50 or so to date , also use thier 100 ft tape too.
*Fair dinkum, what a load rubbish! Hands up (less a couple of fingers) all those who have had their tape loose the last 400mm. OK, keep your hands up if you have successfully repaired the tape, replaced the tape with a new tape in an old housing and got it to work or replaced the tape, got it working and then haven't lost the lot. I don't see too many hands up.I always thought the "old tape grave yard" was when you pulled the housing apart and used the tape as a measure on the feed side of the radial arm saw bench.Short of that, cut the tape into 8" lengths and mark the runner beans next spring
*...there goes the neighborhood...
*My tape broke first thing in the morning as we were starting a frame job on a new block foundation. Sent my helper into town for coffee and a new tape for me. He not only brought back flavored coffee (hazelnut for chris sakes!)he came back with a refill for my tape instead.The first problem was trying to get the old tape apart, seems that Stanley choose to use a #1 size phillips to hold the cases together. After breaking the tip of my pocketknife using it as a screwdriver, I got it reassembled and it actually was working pretty good.Within an hour,as I was laying out the sill to drill for the anchor bolts, I knocked the tape down into the block core. I could hear it rattle all the way to the bottom.I went to town and bought 2 tapes.
*Kerry:I hope you find all the above stories and information as fascinating and amazing as I do; what a rich folklore our trades have. About 20 years ago I actually took apart a tape measure---never again. I see you also have have found what evil lies inside that box. Now, if the tape itself breaks and you can actually catch it, you might be able to replace just the tape,if you can pull it out far enough with out breaking the spring. Do you see where I am going with this? One thing leads to another. I tell you there is something mysterious inside that box, don't go there. Get a new tape measure.
*I remember the evil that lurks inside Ross. When I was a youngster and thought I could save a little money by rewinding that spring inside. Well I spent about 1 hour or so taking the tape apart rewinding the spring and putting it back together again. Just as I was tightening the last screw in the case I heard that tell tale whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, so I threw it in the trash can and went to the store and bought a new one,never to open a tape case again.Jim
*triple jims - or better yet, measure the diamater of the tube with your broken tape (you might have to burn something here) then put a mark on the side of the tube and roll it along counting each time the mark is top dead center...you might have to adjust timing occasionally, but you could even use several colored marks and put a stobe light on it and...oh far out man, I'm goin' out in the shop right now to start makin' mine!
*Oh hell, I used to buy 16' replacement kits (around 10 bucks) and put them in old 25' cases instead of buyin' a new tape (around 10 bucks) since that left more room ion there for dirt and crud in the winter. I guessed I showed them, huh?
*Tapes what the heck at those? I gotz me one of dem sticks dat fold out. No sharp edges to cut your fingers on. No springs attached. They even make on that is exactly 36inches long. You can only fold that one once be sure to do it at the end of the day.Thank you thank you...I be here all week. Be sure to tip the waitresses.
*I once had a Stanley 25' that I happened to break at about 17' (5 meters to you, Mark). I managed to punch a new hole in the broken end and reattach it to the spring. I'd loan this tape, then wait for the reaction when the borrower discovered he had a 17 rather than 25 footer.I'm surprised that this topic still has life. Since there is so much interest in tape repair, I've decided to quit my day job and go into the tape repair business. You can send your broken tape to me, postage paid, together with a check for $24.99 plus $6.99 shipping and handling. Since you need your tape FAST, I'll do rolling repairs. So you won't get your original tape body back. But I will gaurantee equal or greater total length and stand-out length. What do you guys think?jim x 3
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Yesterday, I dumped my Stanley 25-foot metal tape in very sandy mucky water. The tape didn't work at all after I retrieved it from the bottom of the stream. I took the tape apart last evening to cleaned it. When I rewound it and put it in the housing it want’s to shoot out of the housing. I know I am rewinding something wrong anyone got suggestion as to how I can fix it?
Thanks