I thought if I put in the line magicrepair 1 in the z.cfg file that the "repair items" enchantment would work on my worn out enchanted items. I enchanted a ruby with repair items, and the UESP article said that the enchantment is supposed to repair items every 8 hours. I have a custom enchanted staff that gives me extra spell points in winter, feather weight, and chameleon when held. But no matter how long I've rested with the enchanted ruby equipped, the staff doesn't get better, it's actually gotten worse. So...is this function broken, and there's actually no way at all to repair magic items?

As far as I know the magic repair enchantment works wthout having to tamper with the configuration file. It's supposed to work on the most damaged item first, then move to the next and so on. And don't repair the repairing item, so you'll want to have two of them so they can repair each other.

I'm not sure why you're having problems, but one of my characters has about five "repair items" on at any one time, and nothing is ever damaged or worn. He tends to hit things a lot, too, so something must be working.

If you've done all the tech stuff (213 patch, added the magicrepair line, etc) right then enchanted items will be repaired with the repair item enchantment. For items that wear out quickly (like something that gives chameleon when held or say casts Sphere of Negation on strike) you will probably need several items with the repair item enchantment.

This, in a way, though I got paranoid and end up trying to get every jewelery with the Repair Enchantment thinking 1, 2, or 3 of them isn't enough.

Try getting more items then just one with that effect.

Alternatively, you could use weaker enchantments and keep your character a _little_ vulnerable

I think I'll try enchanting something else with it...maybe some armor or something. I've tried sleeping for 24 hours...still no change to the staff. It's at "useless" rating right now and I really don't want it to break!

Enchanting is one of my favorite things to do in Morrowind, and the unique options in Daggerfall make it even more interesting, albeit more limited. I like mixing and matching different enchantments on the same item to make unique artifacts all my own.