Entropy continued

[JohnRoberts]

For an update on my dehumidifier drama, since my air conditioner has been cooling at full tilt due to 100+ weather, it has been naturally pulling moisture from the air inside my house (the condensation drains outside).

I have two compressor/cooling coil de-humidifiers and the one new Peltier (electronic cooling) dehumidifier. For about the last week I have not even run my old school compressor based dehumidifiers but I ran the new electronic one in my back bedroom just to check it out. It has a 1 liter water storage tank and has been running 24x7 since 2 weeks ago last friday. It just filled up and shut off. In night time mode the fan runs at a slower speed, but it still isn't completely silent.

For now this peltier based unit is mostly a novelty that doesn't extract much moisture. If the air conditioning continues to keep me dry enough (I need to keep house < 60% RH to suppress black mold), I may leave them turned off.

The dehumidifiers have the bad side effect of throwing off heat, so getting free dehumidification from the air conditioning is a win-win-win.... I like those.

This reminds me of another old Peavey story (a good one) but maybe later.


JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

OK, old Peavey story about humidity and air conditioning. Back last century while I was working at Peavey we were making our own single sided PCBs in house. The PCB panels were something like 24" long. The minimum traces and spaces were 20 and 20 mils, crude by todays standards and even crude for purchased double sided boards back then. But the in house PCBs were very cost effective (good for profit margins). The PCB patterns were silk screened onto the PCB stock.

The PCB fabrication area was in the middle of plant 3 (a building that is 1/4 mile long). There was no air conditioning in the factory, so the temperature and the humidity in the PCB fab area varied quite a lot between early morning and mid day afternoon heat. I forget exactly how I got sucked into solving this problem. The expert consultant advice was that Peavey needed to invest in a fancy factory environmental control management system (read expensive).

One of the other directors, who wanted to just buy the boards from his favorite PCB house, argued that his friend's PCB house doesn't use any fancy environmental controls and easily holds finer tolerances than our 20 and 20 on similar sized panels. Suggesting that the Peavey factory people were just sloppy or incompetent.

I had my layout artist, get me the specifications for the film and silk screen material. Then I asked the PCB fab area supervisor for his morning and afternoon temperatures. It was obvious using simple math that over 24" the film could grow or shrink a bunch more than the 20 thousandths minimum tolerance .

Digging a little deeper, it turns out that the commercial PCB house that managed to hold tight tolerances without dedicated environmental control systems, was located in central FL and used air conditioning 24x7 most of the year.

Peavey was able to stabilize their in house PCB tolerance issue simply by air conditioning the PCB fab area. The air conditioning both stabilized the temperature change and reduced the humidity swings. The air conditioning only cost hundreds not tens of thousands of dollars.

I didn't win any points with that other director who blamed the factory workers and wanted to just purchase the boards from his friend's fab. The in house PCB factory guys who now had air conditioning liked me a lot better than that other director.

JR

PS: When trying to negotiate corporate politics it isn't smart to makes enemies of other staff level directors, even if you made friends with some of the factory workers.

 

[MicMaven]

Ya know, JR, old man ... all this talk about entropy and stuff breaking is bringing me down. Last night our deep freezer died, and now the fan inside our kitchen refrigerator is making a hot-potato noise, so I suppose it will be next to bite the dust.

Of course, I JUST KNEW SOMETHING was a-gonna happen this week, because last week I sold three guitars and one of my amplifiers for good money - and given the Yin and Yang of Dharma, and Karma, and Feng Shui, etc. - it is ordained that: Every unexpected bonus in life, is surely followed and offset by an equal and opposite tragedy.

I fear my car or computer will be the next to choke if I continue to follow this thread !!

Signed: Worried. (James)

PS -- Reinforcing and cementing the connection between my calamitous situation and yours ... the amp I sold was a Peavey Special 130 . . . coincidence? Perhaps not!

 

[JohnRoberts]

Today I replaced my red neck fuse in my battery charger cigarette lighter dongle with a proper 15A fuse (made in Taiwan).

JR

 

[scott2000]

Today I replaced my red neck fuse in my battery charger cigarette lighter dongle with a proper 15A fuse

I know I was a little on edge when temporarily subbing in some wire for one of my truck's fusible links

 

[MicMaven]

One does what one can with what one has and sometimes that is the best one can do.

I feel better knowing those were just temporary fixes ... James

 

[JohnRoberts]

I know I was a little on edge when temporarily subbing in some wire for one of my truck's fusible links

One does what one can with what one has and sometimes that is the best one can do.

I feel better knowing those were just temporary fixes ... James

I try to set a good example when I can....

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

Today's Entropy rant is about the failing rubber gasket in my osterizer blender

after much internet searching I could not find single piece sales. I ended up buying 3 of them for $4 so a fair part price, but too many spares.

This was purchased with free shipping so I can only ASSume that bundling 3 together gets the price up high enough to cover shipping and handling.

JR

PS; I did find one merchant selling singles with free shipping for $1.42 but that makes me even more suspicious.

 

[JohnRoberts]

For today's entropy event, my kitchen sink side sprayer started dripping/leaking... These cheap POS fixtures only last for a couple years at a time. I already had a new replacement sitting in a kitchen drawer.

I just ordered another replacement to replace the spare.

JR

damn the service life of these is getting shorter and shorter...

The sink side sprayer that I replaced less than 6 months ago is already getting squirrelly (doesn't stop spraying when you release the trigger).

I just ordered a metal one for 3x the cost... this one better last longer. According to the reviews the primary complaint is that it gets hot when spraying hot water... I can live with that.

JR

 

[scott2000]

I just ordered a metal one for 3x the cost... this one better last longer.

Moen has lifetime warranty.... Pretty sure it applies to all their stuff. Tried replacing a leaky valve stem in my shower valve and it was so old it snapped and stuck in there. They sent me a new valve just from me telling them the proof of purchase was the 17yo builder papers that had all of the fixtures listed. They didn't even ask for them.

Of course the labor sucked replacing it but I did it so it didn't cost....

They'll send out free stems I'd imagine before replacing stuff like valves but idk....

 

[JohnRoberts]

I found a metal (stainless steel) sink side sprayer made by moen for about 33% more than I just paid... It has a 1 yr limited warranty

Moen products have been manufactured under the highest standards of quality and workmanship. Moen warrants to the original consumer purchaser all parts of this product to be free from defects in material and workmanship during normal use, for (1) year from date of purchase. A replacement for any defective part will be supplied free of charge for installation by you. Defects or damage caused by the use of other than genuine Moen parts are not covered by this warranty. This warranty shall be effective from the date of purchase as shown on the purchaser's receipt. Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitation may not apply to you.

We'll see,,,,

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

Two nights ago one of the LED bulbs in my bedroom ceiling fixture did not light, since I was on my way to sleepy time I thought to myself, I'll deal with this mañana. I proceeded to forget about it and the light has been working properly since.

JR

 

[MicMaven]

I proceeded to forget about it and the light has been working properly since.

Hmmm..... another case of "less is more?" Perhaps a corollary of the old adage: "If you fix something long enough, you will, eventually, break it." - So doing nothing assures it fixes itself?

James

 

[JohnRoberts]

since there were two bulbs in the fixture and one was still working, there was no urgency to change it. The next morning and ever since it has been working properly so I will continue to wait and see...

I have seen lamps where a bulb was loose and just need another twist tighter.

JR

 

[MicMaven]

I have seen lamps where a bulb was loose and just need another twist tighter.

Right! This happens all the time at my house. Similarly, many ham radio antenna problems are solved just by tightening all patch cable connectors.

My own tale of woe ...

Last Summer my MINI Cooper S died whilst I was driving across Alabama (I am from Michigan) because the winter storage facility failed to properly secure its battery terminals when I got it out for the sports car driving season. The loose connections sparked and arched until carbon accumulated to the point where the batter failed to charge. It was a very inconvenient situation. The service tech wanted me to wait four days while he ordered a new cable ... but I finally convinced him to burnish the terminals and cable connector, and tighten them down, so I could be on my way. Sheesh!

So, now you know why I go through my whole house and radio station twice a year (when we change the clocks) to properly seat all cable, light bulb, and other connections. Happy trails, y'all. James

 

[JohnRoberts]

Right! This happens all the time at my house. Similarly, many ham radio antenna problems are solved just by tightening all patch cable connectors.

My own tale of woe ...

Last Summer my MINI Cooper S died whilst I was driving across Alabama (I am from Michigan) because the winter storage facility failed to properly secure its battery terminals when I got it out for the sports car driving season. The loose connections sparked and arched until carbon accumulated to the point where the batter failed to charge. It was a very inconvenient situation. The service tech wanted me to wait four days while he ordered a new cable ... but I finally convinced him to burnish the terminals and cable connector, and tighten them down, so I could be on my way. Sheesh!

So, now you know why I go through my whole house and radio station twice a year (when we change the clocks) to properly seat all cable, light bulb, and other connections. Happy trails, y'all. James

The battery cable story reminds me of the time back in the 1970s when I helped some girls get their car started in a bar parking lot after closing time. The starter solenoid didn't even click so it wasn't a dead battery. I speculated on a corroded battery cable connection. I MacGyver'ed it by poking the blade of my pocket knife in between the soft lead battery post and the battery cable connector completing the circuit. It started.

I told the girls to make sure it didn't stall out and get it looked at the next day. A red neck fix is to screw a self tapping sheet metal crew into the connector and battery post.

JR

 

[Mr. Moscode]

So, now you know why I go through my whole house and radio station twice a year (when we change the clocks) to properly seat all cable, light bulb, and other connections. Happy trails, y'all. James

If the inconvenience quotient is high enough I'll do prophylactic maintenance BUT on the other hand, if it ain't broke . . .

And LED bulbs DO NOT last 50,000 hours, especially the old timey clear led "filament" type. I had to replace candelabra sockets in 2 ceiling fans to take an E27 bulb because the smaller based led lights went "disco light" on me. And of course no one would honor the warranty.

Here's to the dear departed past . . .

 

[JohnRoberts]

My one time intermittent LED bulb has been working again since that one incident.

Thinking about it, I can't recall the last time I replaced a failed LED lamp....

Back in the bad old days replacing incandescent bulbs was a weekly ritual.

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

today's entropy reminder is my smart temperature controlled kettle. The precise temperature makes better (pour over) coffee, but has developed a leak... while pouring the hot water some dribbles from the bottom of the kettle. Not a huge issue since I keep all my coffee gear right next to the sink, but clearly a failure.

Looking at a perhaps slightly more expensive replacement they all look pretty similar. One that is promising claims a SS water tank, but with a glass level viewing glass? Not sure how they manage that, I might have to buy it to see.

A feature I like is one touch temperature select button, a time saver vs the multiple click step up to the desired temperature. Since these are all using embedded controllers they could easily program it to remember the last temperature you used, but nooooooooo

JR

 

[MicMaven]

And LED bulbs DO NOT last 50,000 hours,

Right. They are good, but not as good as claimed. And yet, the energy savings is substantial, and they do last longer than incandescent bulbs. Once LEDs stopped causing RFI and EMI in my radio shack, I put LEDs throughout the house. James