20 Crazy Tech Fixes That Worked Against All Odds

There’s something to be said for the unconventional approaches to troubleshooting tech issues. Just because you have an instruction manual telling you to do things one way, doesn’t mean that you could save a ton of money by taking your own route. These instances of ingenious tech solutions to irritating problems are certainly in a league of their own.

1. “I didn’t have an ethernet cord long enough so I used the air vent as a shortcut.”

2. “Wanted to use an old phone as a second display, but it was getting too toasty for my liking. Old heatsink to the rescue.”

3. “Printer says ink is too low but there’s quite a bit of ink left. So I tape over the sensor.”

4. “A PC builder’s life isn’t complete without an SSD taped to the back of the case.”

5. “Made a motor brush and brush spring out of a battery and a beer can because replacement is $300.”

6. “This atrocity fixed my overheating issue.”

7. “Phone was heating up when gaming.”

8. “Had an important test in university and solar only would have been too risky to run the calculator.”

9. “I made an iPhone 13 mini to work with external batteries.”

10. “I broke my LCD 1 hour before my class. Only had a fried ThinkPad x250 laying around.”

11. “Yes, there’s a built in fan now.”

12. “To block IR signals from getting to my Apple TV.”

13. “Gen 1 Chromecast with mod still going strong.”

14. “Powering on a very old laptop without the original adapter.”

15. “No more with the proprietary batteries.”

16. “My 10 meter USB C charging cable made out of three wire mains cable.”

17. “This is the final iteration of the USB, I swear.”

18. “It was overheating, alright.”

19. “My cheap SSD was stopping being recognized and I noticed it was really hot, now it’s working fine.”

20. “Cooling the power brick that is powering the peltier module cause it’s getting slightly too hot to be comfortable.”