How to Fix a Broken Tape Measure 

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 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 🤠

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 🤠

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 🤠

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

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?

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!

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 🤠

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.

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.

Glad it helped you sort it out I had fun making this video

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 !

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. 🤠

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.

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.

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 :)

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 🤠

Good to know 🤠

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 very neatly did….. a couple of times :) Stanley used to make excellent tools Not so much any more

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!