Entropy

Relax in southern comfort on the east bank of the Mississippi. You're just around the corner from Beale Street and Sun Records. Watch the ducks, throw back a few and tell us what's on your mind.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

Well my free warranty replacement dehumidifier showed up so I now have 4... actually 3 1/2 since the old 70 pint unit has faulty temperature readings.

I took the bad one apart and unplugged what I think is the thermistor temp sensor. It measures 11k+ which sounds plausible. TB style thermistors are 10k nominal at 25'C Low temp is higher resistance so I'm on the right track looking for an open circuit but need to pull the circuit board.

Pulled the circuit board and found what looked like the smoking gun... a bad solder connection on the thermistor header... resoldered that and re-assembled .... bummer same low temp fault as before...

Perhaps still a bad thermistor but without knowing what it should measure new I am stuck. I don't feel like taking the new dehumidifier apart to measure, or take the old one apart again, so I will stick a fork in this for now and keep it as a back up to use only as needed, by setting the RH threshold about 12 pts high.

I was really optimistic when I saw that header with questionable solder but that's how it goes. :oops:

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

My GE SmartMeter Energy Monitor Gateway died: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=786&p=9243#p9243
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

Just snapped the handle off my carpet steamer. It was a good solid unit but after a few hard weekends trying to clean my carpets the plastic handle fatigued and sheared off.

According to the internet, repair parts are no longer available.

I think my old carpet cleaner was getting tired, didn't suck up all the water from the carpet, so I feel a little better about trashing it. I expect it's replacement to clean better... While researching a new replacement, I read the customer reviews and most clustered around the popular price points reported incidents of either arriving broken or falling apart after little use, which motived me to move a little higher up the price ladder. Maybe they just manage their reviews better at higher price points. :lol:

JR
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Re: Entropy

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Most recent failure, the bottom attachment point for my American flag broke. So now it's just hanging from the top attachement... I'll fix it this afternoon after it warms up some.

JR

[update--- wind stopped blowing and it warmed up, so I fixed it this afternoon...after my bike ride [/update]
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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raf wrote:Well, I have added some Moog synth gear to the studio and wanted to have a separate MIDI network for the 2- Minimoogs, 2- Moog sequencers and 2 drum machines.
So, I dredged up my trusty Peavey MIDIMaster II MIDI patch bay. Definitely my favorite of all of these non PC based MIDI router/patch bays.
Peavey had several midi products that were ahead of their time, and too cool for many Peavey dealers.
Well. it didn't boot up when I applied power so I popped the top and found that the 3.6V NiCad battery had burst. It is soldered in.
I removed the battery and prepped it for a new battery which I ordered from Mouser. Installed that battery and still no workie.
Yup, I recall hearing about those battery PCB killers last century... No doubt cheaper to use a PC mount battery than pay for battery and a separate holder, and then install the battery separately. The batteries probably weren't life rated for multiple decades. When batteries discharge the internal chemistry changes and can make them more likely to leak. If those were rechargeable, they probably had a trickle charge when the product was plugged in, and a small constant current drain when unplugged. Would probably go dead pretty fast if unplugged even for several months.

Modern technology just uses flash memory so no standby current or batteries needed.
I took the unit apart and found that the corrosive goo had run through 5 or 6 through hole via and coated the underside where there were some tiny logic traces.
Were being the operative term here, the corrosion erased 12 or so tiny traces entirely.

Into the dumpster with the Peavey!
cest la vie
I broke out an even older DMC MX8 MIDI router/patch bay and it had a nice snap in coin battery.
Replaced the battery and recapped the power supply, cleaned the header/ribbon connectors with de-oxit and it works like a champ!
The build quality sucks compared to the Peavey, oh well!

I have a couple of other Peavey pieces that I dig a lot, some MIDI faders and especially a Peavey 3.2 second delay/loop sampler.
I am almost afraid to look inside that one! It is the grungiest, darkest, coolest guitar delay this side of analog. I would really hate to lose that delay...
I guess we will see what entropy sez about that!
If they are similar age it might be a good idea. I vaguely recall the products like that could work, with the dead battery removed, but a dead shorted battery may prevent boot-up.

I still see occasional battery damage with modern batteries but never saw a battery with good voltage that leaked... sometimes after over heating from a sudden high current discharge.

JR
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

If the product doesn't have a persistent memory back-up it may not use a battery.

JR
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Re: Entropy

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JR. wrote:Most recent failure, the bottom attachment point for my American flag broke. So now it's just hanging from the top attachement... I'll fix it this afternoon after it warms up some.

JR

[update--- wind stopped blowing and it warmed up, so I fixed it this afternoon...after my bike ride [/update]
Today I found my flag and pole on the ground. :oops: the plastic flag pole mount broke after two of the three screws pulled out, and the plastic base broke at the third screw.

It has been really windy this year.

JR

[edit- old glory has been restored /edit]
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Re: Entropy

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Plastic flag pole mount broke completely (all three screws), can't be fixed. Need to replace. :(
=====
Today I repaired a brand new product Image
I have been brewing beer for decades and refilling my own glass beer bottles. My old bench capper, probably 20 years old or more, had a broken handle and deserved to be retired.

The new replacement had a tragic fail, after capping the bottles would get stuck up in the capping head. A real PIA when bottling 60 bottles in a single session.

I couldn't find a website for the manufacturer Ferrari (also italian). Hopefully not the same Ferrari. :lol:

I did find a replacement capping head from a different brew supply website, so for $3.99 I gave it a try (shipping was 2x that part cost). The original part was a nice looking screw machine part (that was apparently machined out of tolerance.. I hope it wasn't designed that wrong.) The replacement was a cheap stamped/formed steel part, that screwed right on, and works fine.

I don't feel lucky about this capper lasting for 20 Years like my old one did, but probably not a problem. I rather pay $10 to fix it than 2x that to ship it back for a refund.

JR
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

The flag pole mount broke again (windy spring), so old glory is in storage for now.
---------
Just took apart and repaired my hepa air filter when the motor screwed up... When I turned it on the motor just hummed and didn't push any air.

I figured I would investigate the obvious suspects (motor starter cap). It took me a while to find the cap, and get to it... The 15 uF 250V cap measured fine (bummer) :roll:

The wires coming from the motor to the cap (connected using wire nuts), seems a little frayed and not making a very good contact. I re-stripped the wires and reattached the cap/motor wires using the same wire nuts, and presto the motor now starts up and runs properly again. (That was easy and cheap).

So good starter cap but making bad electrical connection.

Check off another one fixed. 8-)

JR

[edit-- oops reports of repair success were premature... :oops: :oops: air cleaner stopped working again. not loose capacitor.. [/edit
Last edited by JR. on Mon May 02, 2016 1:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Entropy

Post by emrr »

Recording session, 6 piece live in same room. Guy thinks he's too loud on B-3/Leslie. He's not showing up in bleed anywhere, but he wants us to iso the Leslie. So we move a bunch of crap get that done, now there's a loud hum. In the process of troubleshooting that, the B-3 is powered on and off so many times the motor start switch breaks in the 'on' position, which ain't so good for a Hammond. End of organ use, hour gone.
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Doug Williams
Electromagnetic Radiation Recorders
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