Pet hates ?
N_Cook
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure why it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some gets on my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.
Lab1
Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.
One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.
Arfa Daily
"N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ih6u0j$hqi$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Me and white heatsink goo have a very bad working relationship. I only have
to walk into the workshop when there's something on the bench using it, and
all of a sudden, I'm covered in the rotten stuff, without even going near
the bench. At least it seems that way ... :-\
Arfa
N_Cook
news:ih6ugq$mee$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never organised a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for UK and
Japanese kit
William Sommerwerck
Arfa Daily
"N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ih744h$odu$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was a big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy
asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...
Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering, and had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically the
same language ... :-)
Arfa
Lab1
> I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
> for a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there
> was a big difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the
> much more direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the
> designers of a piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked
> the guy if he could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as
> they were a thread that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I
> knew exactly what size they were so I replied, quick as a flash,
> thinking that I was being funny, "I guess that they are round about
> 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...
>
> Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
> boss's office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this,
> thinking that it was a slur on what he considered to be good American
> engineering, and had called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to
> show how easily offence can be caused between nations, even when they
> speak what's basically the same language ... :-)
While on vacation in the Dominican Republic we ran into a really nice
group from the UK who were there for a wedding. We would hang out and
talk with them down at the in-pool bar almost every evening. I never
quite got used to them asking me to bum a fag. I'm from the US and I
smoke cigarettes, not fags.
--
-Scott
William Sommerwerck
for
> a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was a
big
> difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
> direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of a
> piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
> could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
> that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what size
> they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being funny,
> "I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy
> asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...
> Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
> office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
> it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering, and
had
> called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily offence
> can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically the
> same language ... :-)
It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an intentional insult. I
can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous sense, anyway.
Meat Plow
Overuse of that stuff is worse for thermal conductivity than none at all.
I've clean up gobs of it since they started using it decades ago.
--
Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse
Michael A. Terrell
Can't afford $5 for a set of security bits?
--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.
Michael A. Terrell
William Sommerwerck wrote:
>
> Poodles.
Puddles. Under Poodles. ;-)
Lab1
>
> Lab1 wrote:
>>
>> On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
>>> Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally conductive
>>> surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure why it is
>>> even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts between. I
>>> always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some gets on my
>>> clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.
>>
>> Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.
>>
>> One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.
>
>
> Can't afford $5 for a set of security bits?
Yes, but given the frequency that I run into those I find my punch set
and hammer tend to do the trick - security torx to just torx! ;)
--
-Scott
Lab1
>> Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
>> conductive surfaces.
> Overuse of that stuff is worse for thermal conductivity than none at all.
> I've clean up gobs of it since they started using it decades ago.
This is something I'm currently wondering about. I have a fridge-like
thermo-electric cooler than has two sections, top and bottom, with
different temperatures. The top suddenly stopped getting cool at all, so
I took it apart to figure out why. The fans and voltages were all there
so I broke down the heat sinks on the bad one to get to the Peltier
device. With it isolated, I powered it up briefly and much to my
surprise the Peltier device got hot real quickly with the opposite side
getting cooler. So the device works, it has to be something with the
heat sinks?
They did use white goop on both sides, but very little and it was
already dried. The heat sinks are milled flat where they make contact
with the Peltier device, so my thinking is they need new goop.
Looking around I found that Star heat sink compound is about the best
you can get, so I ordered some. It just arrived the other day so I'm
planning to clean up the old goop, put on some new goop and hope for the
best. I don't think too much would be an issue in this case, I want it
as cold as possible.
--
-Scott
Michael A. Terrell
As long as there is no liability involved. If someone else opens it
with a 'just torx' tool and is hurt or killed, you could be sued. I
just carry the security tools in my toolbox and and ready for a loot of
different hardware. I even keep Posidrive in the same toolbox.
whit3rd
> Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally conductive
> surfaces.
Worse, hotmelt glue or cyanoacrylate on a solder joint. Hit it with
the iron,
and the tip seems like it'll NEVER get clean again.
Lab1
Oh yeah, GM delco car radios, IMPOSSIBLE to work on those circuit boards
due to some resin/glue coating on everything.
--
-Scott
Phil Allison
"Nutcase Kook "
>
> Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
> conductive
> surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure why it
> is
> even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts between.
** Err - because there are always large areas between fasteners that have
air gaps.
> I always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some gets on
> my
> clothing
** When you separate the metal parts - cover them both with " Glad Wrap".
It later peels off easily and leaves almost all the white grease behind.
Anyone here remember the Bose 1800 /1801 amplifiers ??
Discovered this trick when servicing those horrible POS.
..... Phil
Ron
>
> Anyone here remember the Bose 1800 /1801 amplifiers ??
>
Remember them! I've still got one, still works too. Not that I would use
it for anything other than a door stop mind.
Ron
Allodoxaphobia
>
> The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never organised a
> stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of course,vice
> versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for UK and
> Japanese kit
Here in the colonies, whenever I have a piece of unrepairable Made in
Japan, Made in Tiawan, Made in Korea kit, or Made in China POS that is
going to the landfill, I use some of my 'mental health' time to
disassemble the thing and toss all the screws, nuts, washers, shaft nuts
and washers, etc. into a bank of 'metric' jelly jars.
WFM
Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
38.24N 104.55W | @ config.com | Jonesy | OS/2
* Killfiling google & XXXXbanter.com: jonz.net/ng.htm
Arfa Daily
"William Sommerwerck" <grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ih7bqe$ajf$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
There ya go then ! Anyone from the UK would see it as a quick-fire
throw-away line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be
'barbed', but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe form of
humour that is quite prevalent over here.
Arfa
Michael Kennedy
"Arfa Daily" <arfa....@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:kzMZo.214$%p6...@newsfe03.ams2...
We have that kind of humor in the US too.. But only amongst friends or
people you know fairly well. If a stranger uses sharp humor with me (some
do) and It gives the feeling of you dont know me well enough to be poking
humor at me, and we also usually take the fact there is ususaly truth in
humor.. And honestly you probaly think the US standards are idioic and
stupid to still be using when the rest of the world is using the metric
system. Thats the feeling I get here in Japan at least. People cant
understand why the US uses the old system still.
Anyhow.. Just my $0.02
Michael Kennedy
"Lab1" <.@...> wrote in message
Too much of the stuff will be a problem whether you are trying to heat or
cool. I have some major doubts that a thin coating of that stuff would be
enough to make any major difference in the performance of peteler junction.
Now on the other hand, if the heatsink is loose... That could give you some
real issues.
Dave Platt
Michael Kennedy <mike@com> wrote:
>> They did use white goop on both sides, but very little and it was already
>> dried. The heat sinks are milled flat where they make contact with the
>> Peltier device, so my thinking is they need new goop.
>Too much of the stuff will be a problem whether you are trying to heat or
>cool. I have some major doubts that a thin coating of that stuff would be
>enough to make any major difference in the performance of peteler junction.
>Now on the other hand, if the heatsink is loose... That could give you some
>real issues.
Michael is quite correct.
The thing about heatsink compound, is that you should only use a
*very* thin layer, and use it between surfaces which are already flat
and well-fitting. Adding a thicker layer of heatsink compound than is
necessary, will actually reduce thermal conductivity.
You want as much direct metal-to-metal or metal-to-ceramic contact as
you can get - enthusiasts who "overclock" their PCs will often flatten
and polish the top of the CPU and the bottom of the heatsink to
increase direct contact. A *thin* smear of heatsink compound is
appropriate... just enough to fill the remaining gaps between the
heatsink and the heat-sunk :-). You almost want to smear it on, and
then wipe most of it off gently with a single-edged razor blade, so
that there is no excess buildup between the two surfaces.
And, yes, if the heatsink actually comes loose from the Peltier
junction (e.g. if it was originally spring-clipped in place, and the
clips are loose or have fatigued and lost pressure) then you've got
problems... you'll get a layer of air between the two surfaces, and
thermal conductivity will become quite poor. Adding a thicker layer
of goop to try to fill the gap isn't the right thing to do - instead,
fix whatever caused the devices to become loose, clean the surfaces,
reapply a *thin* layer of compound, and secure the devices back
together with the proper amount of pressure.
If there was (apparently) nothing holding the two surfaces together -
no clips or retainers - then you're probably dealing with a "thermally
conductive adhesive". Some of these are good, some are poor... and
you'll have to strip off all of the remains, and then reapply (again)
a very thin layer of a suitable thermal adhesive, and fasten the parts
back together with appropriate pressure until the adhesive cures.
--
Dave Platt <dpl...@radagast.org> AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!
N_Cook
news:KPGdndudDvPFJKrQ...@giganews.com...
I got the impression that was where Ricky Gervaise went wrong, last week, at
the latest Hollywood bash
Mark Zacharias
Probe slips.
People begging me to work on stuff which I used to turn away, but now have
to take in because business is slow.
Mark Z.
Arfa Daily
"Michael Kennedy" <mike@com> wrote in message
news:KPGdndudDvPFJKrQ...@giganews.com...
>
Yes. Knowing the U.S. and its people much better now, as I tend to visit
twice a year and have now for many years, I would say that was pretty much
spot on. Although I've found that American people are much more friendly in
general to strangers, than people over here are, I also find that they are
much more 'reserved' in actually getting to know them as a friend. Here in
the UK, if you are just in the same business as one another, you tend to
automatically think in terms of communicating with a 'kindred spirit'. So
even on a first contact with someone, if you appear within a few sentences
to be speaking the same language, it becomes quite acceptable to introduce a
degree of 'chuminess' into the conversation such as calling the person
'mate' and such-like. Barbed humour between you is then immediately
accepted, and is likely to get thrown back at you by the other person, and
often gets deflected onto the company that you, or the other person works
for. Having made the 'APF' comment to the guy, in my naivety, I was
expecting him to just throw back a similar comment like " so what, then ?
Your British threads are better than ours, are they ? :-) "
Like I say, easy to cause unintentional offence, if you are not familiar
with the country, and it's people and their cultural differences, even if
they appear to speak the same basic language. Many countries in Europe speak
English as a second language. If you speak it to a German for instance, in
general, he will not understand British humour. Not likely to be offended by
it. Just won't understand it. A Frenchman, will understand it, and be
offended - or at least pretend to be ... OTOH, a Dutchman will both
understand the humour, and give back as good as he gets. They seem to have a
very 'English' understanding of the English language. I don't know why that
should be, but I was once told by a Dutch guy that I had dealings with, that
it was because they easily received UK television over there, so tended to
watch a lot of British made drama and comedy programmes. I wonder if this
will change now analogue TV is almost now all gone. I bet that they don't
receive the digital multiplexes across the water, anything like as well as
they did the high power analongue transmissions. Any Dutch people reading
this care to comment ?
Arfa
JW
<mark_za...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in Message id:
<4d381c8b$0$19215$c3e8da3$aae7...@news.astraweb.com>:
>Packing peanuts.
There's a good one. Especially when the humidity is very low, and the
peanuts are all broken up in pieces!
Michael A. Terrell
Low humidity is rarely a problem in Florida. :(
William Sommerwerck
>> insult. I can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous
>> sense, anyway.
> There ya go then!
Please don't semi-quote Ronald Reagan. It's not becoming.
If I'd been in a debate with Ronnie, and he'd pulled that "There you go,
again" crap with me, I would have ripped him a new one, even if it cost me
the election.
(This is way OT, but remember last year when Barney Frank ripped into a
stupid woman who was griping about Obama being Moslem? I was proud to be
queer. If all politicians -- conservative or liberal -- were that
intelligent and quick witted, the level of political discourse in this
country would be at a much higher level.)
> Anyone from the UK would see it as a quick-fire throw-away
> line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be 'barbed',
> but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe form
> of humour that is quite prevalent over here.
I admire someone who can come up with quick throw-aways -- but unless they
make them all the time, it's hard to tell they're supposed to be humorous.
I offended people with "innocuous" wisecracks so many times that I gradually
became careful about what I said. A word to the wise...?
If you cut yourself on barbed wire -- you're cut, regardless of how you came
in contact with the wire.
Lab1
> And, yes, if the heatsink actually comes loose from the Peltier
> junction (e.g. if it was originally spring-clipped in place, and the
> clips are loose or have fatigued and lost pressure) then you've got
> problems... you'll get a layer of air between the two surfaces, and
> thermal conductivity will become quite poor. Adding a thicker layer
> of goop to try to fill the gap isn't the right thing to do - instead,
> fix whatever caused the devices to become loose, clean the surfaces,
> reapply a *thin* layer of compound, and secure the devices back
> together with the proper amount of pressure.
I agree. The assembly goes like this:
Small heat sink (cold side) - square plastic gasket with embedded rubber
seal that doesn't physically touch anything - square block of Styrofoam
with a square cutout in the middle - Peltier device - foam tape around
the styrofoam - large heat sink. To screws go through everything on
either side of the Peltier to sandwich it all together.
And oddly they hot-glued the ends of the screws and nuts.
This is obviously made in China, everything is pretty crudely
manufactured and assembled, heat sink fins were mashed together in
spots. I didn't think to check the tightness of those two screws when I
took it apart, but I bet you are right and they weren't nearly tight
enough. I'm going to rebuild the 2nd one while I'm at it and will check
the tightness after I pry off all the hot glue...
--
-Scott
Chuck
I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck
Michael Kennedy
Its actually funny the fact that we speak almost the same language. Although
I am an American, I currently live in Japan. The fact our languages are so
different, provides some kind of cushion for misinterpretations, well
usually.. I try to take things people say without getting offended, even if
they seem to be offensive in English. I understand that there is a language
barrier and also a culture barrier. Many people mutually understand that
when I am talking to them in Japanese as well.
So my point is we are so alike, Brittish and Americans, that we assume that
nothing is different.. :)
Mike
Dave Plowman (News)
N_Cook <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:
> The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never organised
> a stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit.
Have a look in a classic car mag. A few companies sell selections of UNF
and UNC nuts and bolts. Or sell individually.
--
*Proofread carefully to see if you any words out or mispeld something *
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
N_Cook
news:51989cd...@davenoise.co.uk...
This is a useful resource near me, stainless steel only and tend to be
larger sizes.
One man band , now internet only but no minimum order so worth bookmarking.
http://www.a2a4.com/acatalog/
Last time I talked to him, late 2010, he mentioned he was starting a range
of "classic car" nuts and bolts , whatever that is, cannot find mention on
his site though
Dave Plowman (News)
N_Cook <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:
> Last time I talked to him, late 2010, he mentioned he was starting a
> range of "classic car" nuts and bolts , whatever that is, cannot find
> mention on his site though
In the UK, modern cars use metric threads. Ones from about after WW2 to
the '80s mainly UNF and UNC. Pre WW2 BSW and BSF. BA was common for
electrical stuff.
A classic car is really just any which isn't recent and not defined under
the strict headings of vintage etc. It isn't restricted to any make - just
over 20 years old. Although that age isn't agreed by everyone.
--
*Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt.
Ron
> In article<ihbg6q$ot5$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> N_Cook<div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:
>> Last time I talked to him, late 2010, he mentioned he was starting a
>> range of "classic car" nuts and bolts , whatever that is, cannot find
>> mention on his site though
>
> In the UK, modern cars use metric threads. Ones from about after WW2 to
> the '80s mainly UNF and UNC. Pre WW2 BSW and BSF. BA was common for
> electrical stuff.
>
> A classic car is really just any which isn't recent and not defined under
> the strict headings of vintage etc. It isn't restricted to any make - just
> over 20 years old. Although that age isn't agreed by everyone.
>
classic car restorer, their free catalogue is a good read
Ron
N_Cook
In the UK it probably means BSF and BSW threads perhaps brass or cyclo as
well
b
> This is obviously made in China, everything is pretty crudely
> manufactured and assembled,
Most consumer electronics stuff these days is made in China! From low
end kit to decent, so you can't generalise that something made in
China is automatically shoddy.
Although a fair proportion is indeed cheap and disposable, that is the
case because they are responding to a demand. They only supply what
the west is prepared to pay for anyway!
Pet hates: excessive amounts of screws holding covers of TVs etc.
together. this seems to have got worse with flat panels.Often you
spend as much /more time assembling and re-asembling than the repair!
-B
Michael A. Terrell
Some large color TV consoles built in the '60s had 20 to 30 screws.
Arfa Daily
"William Sommerwerck" <grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ih9d1s$o32$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>> It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an intentional
>>> insult. I can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous
>>> sense, anyway.
>
>> There ya go then!
>
> Please don't semi-quote Ronald Reagan. It's not becoming.
I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually haven't a clue
what you are talking about ...
>
> If I'd been in a debate with Ronnie, and he'd pulled that "There you go,
> again" crap with me, I would have ripped him a new one, even if it cost me
> the election.
And again - I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually
haven't a clue what you are talking about ...
>
> (This is way OT, but remember last year when Barney Frank ripped into a
> stupid woman who was griping about Obama being Moslem? I was proud to be
> queer. If all politicians -- conservative or liberal -- were that
> intelligent and quick witted, the level of political discourse in this
> country would be at a much higher level.)
And again - I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually
haven't a clue what you are talking about ...
>
>
>> Anyone from the UK would see it as a quick-fire throw-away
>> line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be 'barbed',
>> but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe form
>> of humour that is quite prevalent over here.
>
> I admire someone who can come up with quick throw-aways -- but unless they
> make them all the time, it's hard to tell they're supposed to be humorous.
Not at all. As I said before, over here it works between people who don't
know each other, provided that the circumstances of their encounter are
correct. The whole point that I was making, and which you seem to have
missed, is that I now know that that isn't the case, when it's cross-culture
between the UK and the U.S. That's why you, like the original guy 25 years
ago, see it as being offensive, I guess.
>
> I offended people with "innocuous" wisecracks so many times that I
> gradually
> became careful about what I said. A word to the wise...?
Not needed. As I said in the first place, this was a long time ago when I
was much younger, and my first encounters with Americans were on the
telephone rather than face to face, and before I had the slightest
understanding of what subtle cultural differences were, as opposed to the
'obvious' ones that I had encountered up to that point, which involved other
European countries with a different language, vastly different food, a
totally different outlook on life, and so on.
>
> If you cut yourself on barbed wire -- you're cut, regardless of how you
> came
> in contact with the wire.
>
Hmmm. Not sure that I really understand the under-meaning of that one,
either ...
Arfa
Arfa Daily
"Chuck" <c...@deja.net> wrote in message
news:f6ggj651ckeefgqju...@4ax.com...
He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA
Arfa
Arfa Daily
"Dave Plowman (News)" <da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5199017...@davenoise.co.uk...
I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and 80's ,
that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and AF ?? That
would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts including HA, HB
and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords including Escorts and
Cortinas and Sierras.
Arfa
Arfa Daily
"Mark Zacharias" <mark_za...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:4d381c8b$0$19215$c3e8da3$aae7...@news.astraweb.com...
Yep. Amen to that one ...
Arfa
Michael A. Terrell
AKA: The land of Fruits and Nuts! ;-)
Arfa Daily
"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.t...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:O-SdnUSCo8VTp6fQ...@earthlink.com...
Now now, Michael - that's no way to talk about that nice Mr Lieberman ....
:-)
Arfa
Michael A. Terrell
But, but, he likes to DESTROY things!!! ;-)
Michael Gross
>
> I'm from the US and I smoke cigarettes, not fags.
>
Michael Terrell's from the US and he smokes fags, not cigarettes.
Dave Plowman (News)
Arfa Daily <arfa....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and
> 80's , that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and
> AF ?? That would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts
> including HA, HB and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords
> including Escorts and Cortinas and Sierras.
AF is the spanner size - across flats - and those fit UNF and UNC. Which
are basically American Fine and Course. Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread. All the above cars would have used UNF and
UNC.
Some post WW2 cars were basically pre WW2 designs - or used major
components from them, and may still have had BSF or BSW threads in use.
Nuffield products sometimes used a peculiar metric thread with BSW heads
just to confuse things.
--
*Succeed, in spite of management *
Peter Twydell
<arfa....@ntlworld.com> writes
I'm not Dutch but I do spend several weeks there every year and watch
some Dutch TV almost every day.
BBC1 and BBC2 are available on cable, but without teletext, apart from
subtitles, so many viewers are exposed to British attitudes and humour.
I imagine that that will continue after the digital switchover.
There are also a lot of UK programmes and films on their own channels.
Most keep the original soundtrack and are subtitled (not always
accurately). Documentaries such as David Attenborough's tend to have
Dutch speech when the presenter is off camera.
Dad's Army was very popular there, to my surprise as I thought it was
too British. Several other programmes have been made in Dutch versions,
but not always successfully. The Dutch version of East Enders flopped,
and their versions of Only Fools and Horses and The Kumars at No. 42
were simply dire. Their QI, HIGNFY and Who Do You Think You Are? have
turned out well.
In return for our sending them excellent programmes, they then sent us
The Generation Game and Big Brother.
Apart from having a basically different sense of humour, the Germans are
not exposed to British humour to the same extent because their foreign
programmes are almost always dubbed. I can't comment on how they
correspond to the original soundtracks as I have never watched any
British comedy on German TV, apart from the Monty Python German special
years ago.
Don't know about the French, but who cares about them anyway?
--
Peter
Ying tong iddle-i po!
Arfa Daily
"Dave Plowman (News)" <da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5199845...@davenoise.co.uk...
Aha ! Now I come to think of it, I knew somewhere in the dim recesses of my
tired old brain that "AF" stood for "Across the Flats". Never really
considered how that allied to the actual thread size. Thank you for
enlightening me !
Arfa
Smitty Two
"Dave Plowman (News)" <da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
> Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
> spanner fits a 5/16ths thread.
Unless it doesn't. We often use "small pattern" hex nuts, which have
thinner walls, hence driven with a smaller wrench. (lay Americans have
no idea what a "spanner" is, but when used here it usually quite
specifically means a very thin open-end wrench, often just made of
stamped steel, designed for tight quarters.)
Dave Plowman (News)
Smitty Two <prest...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
> > spanner fits a 5/16ths thread.
> Unless it doesn't. We often use "small pattern" hex nuts, which have
> thinner walls, hence driven with a smaller wrench. (lay Americans have
> no idea what a "spanner" is, but when used here it usually quite
> specifically means a very thin open-end wrench, often just made of
> stamped steel, designed for tight quarters.)
Not come across those on UK cars. Where you need a smaller head than
standard, normally allen, torx or even one with curved sides which is an
exact fit to the next size down bi-hex socket. Basically to make the head
round or as near as possible to give maximum strength.
A wrench in the UK usually means an adjustable spanner of some sort, so
only used by amateurs. ;-)
--
*Great groups from little icons grow *
David Nebenzahl
> "William Sommerwerck" <grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:ih9d1s$o32$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
>>>> It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an
>>>> intentional insult. I can't imagine what it actually means --
>>>> in any innocuous sense, anyway.
>>
>>> There ya go then!
>>
>> Please don't semi-quote Ronald Reagan. It's not becoming.
>
> I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually haven't a clue
> what you are talking about ...
"There you go again!" was Reagan's annoying pet reply to his critics
(read "typical for a Commie pinko socialist bleeding-heart ...").
Good to read that not everyone here reveres this simple-minded wrecker
of what he invariably called "guv'mint" ...
--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:
To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.
David Nebenzahl
> He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
> down the Interstate from LA
OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:
Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
"turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
know what an "interstate" is ...
In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.
But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)
Smitty Two
David Nebenzahl <nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote:
> On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:
>
> > He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
> > down the Interstate from LA
>
> OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:
>
> Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
> Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
> they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
> them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
> "turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
> know what an "interstate" is ...
>
> In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
> near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
> usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
> Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
> road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
> number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.
>
> But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
> much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
> instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
> down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
> refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)
I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and
is the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest,
as well. I'm not going to say unequivocally that it's widely used all
over the U.S., because I don't know for sure, but I'd bet money on it.
In cities with many freeways, they have to use more specific terms, but
when there's only one, who needs a number?
BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that
are meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.
David Nebenzahl
> In article <4d3b9067$0$2378$8226...@news.adtechcomputers.com>,
> David Nebenzahl <nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote:
>
>> But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
>> much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
>> instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
>> down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
>> refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)
>
> I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
> or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
> words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and
> is the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest,
> as well.
Yup, my bad; thought of it shortly after clicking "Send", of course.
> BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that
> are meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
> "Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.
Forgot about that too. Our freeways also have names, but they're
(mostly) unused: one occasionally hears 880 called "the Nimitz" or 80
"the Eastshore", but more often not.
Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
Cutoff" ...
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
> Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
> Cutoff" ...
My favorite Israeli highway story is about route 1, the road from Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv is a little over 100 years old, the original
city of Jaffa (aka Yaffo) has been there since biblical times, and this is
at least in spirit, that road.
Meanwhile Israeli's are big fans of acronyms. The Hebrew abreviation of
airport is N T and the main one here is named Ben Gurion. So the name of
the airport on road signs is written in Hebrew NTBG, which is pronnounced
"not bog".
About fifteen years ago in a refurbishment of route 1, someone decided
that there should be English signs on the road for tourists who could not
read Hebrew. So a set of signs went up for the airport "NATBAG 1km". :-)
Yes, they were later changed to "Ben Gurion Airport 1km".
Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.
N_Cook
news:slrnijnqf...@cable.mendelson.com...
I wonder what visitors to the UK make of official roadsigns, imagining a
country infested with triffids , that say
Large Plant Crossing
Michael Kennedy
"David Nebenzahl" <nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:4d3b9067$0$2378$8226...@news.adtechcomputers.com...
California is strange..
Michael Kennedy
"David Nebenzahl" <nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
In Florida many people call the "Interstate Highways" by its number.. For
example Interstate 4 is just I4. Other examples are I95 I75.. But it is
perfectly normal to hear take 75 or Take 95, although take 4 seems a bit
rare.
We have a turnpike as well. It refers to the first large toll road in
Florida.. (I believe it was the first.) Because it's officail name is The
Florida Turnpike or The Ronald Regan Turnpike.. It has 2 names..
Anyhow, I have wasted enough of your time now..
Mike
Allodoxaphobia
>
> California is strange..
It's only January and we have
the winner for The Understatement Of 2011.
Arfa Daily
"David Nebenzahl" <nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:4d3b9067$0$2378$8226...@news.adtechcomputers.com...
> On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:
>
>> He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
>> miles down the Interstate from LA
>
> OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:
>
> Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
> Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
> they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call them
> that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as "turnpikes" in
> some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even know what an
> "interstate" is ...
>
> In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
> near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in usage
> between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San Francisco and
> thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a road (highway,
> interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road number, as in
> "the 405", "the 101", etc.
>
> But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
> much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
> instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get down
> to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who refer
> to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)
>
>
> --
Thank you for that enlightening dissertation ! However, as you say, it's not
actually *wrong* to call them Interstates - for that is what they are, as
evidenced by their designation "I" xxx - just 'not quite right' in your neck
of the woods. It's been a while since I was last in California, but I'm sure
I recall the I5 being referred to as 'The Interstate' by the guys in the
factory that I used to visit. Maybe in 20 years, or whatever it is now, the
usage of the term has changed. I could be wrong, but I thought that the big
road running just to the west of the Las Vegas strip was referred to locally
as 'The Interstate' or 'The Freeway', likewise the I75 and I95 in Florida,
although I have seen this term 'turnpike' over the that side of the country.
Perhaps Michael can enlighten us on the usage of the words over there in
'gator country ... ?
Arfa
Michael A. Terrell
David Nebenzahl wrote:
>
> On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:
>
> > He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
> > down the Interstate from LA
>
> OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:
>
> Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
> Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
> they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
> them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
> "turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
> know what an "interstate" is ...
>
> In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
> near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
> usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
> Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
> road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
> number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.
>
> But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
> much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
> instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
> down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
> refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)
The midwest and southeast do call them either Interstate or
abbreviate it to 'I'. This is a good thing, since they run a thousand
miles or more. In fact, I lived about 15 miles from I-75 in Ohio. It's
about the same distance from me, in Florida. I can't recall anyone not
using this terminology in the 20+ years I've lived here, or the 30 +
years I lived in Ohio. The only place I've been with no Interstate
Highway was in Alaska. Everywhere else, they used the same terminology.
Michael A. Terrell
Why do you think it's called 'The land of Fruits & Nuts'?
Michael A. Terrell
Michael Kennedy
"Allodoxaphobia" <knock_you...@example.net> wrote in message
news:slrnijonj3.2as3.k...@shell.config.com...
I was trying to have some restraint and hold back.
Michael Kennedy
>
> JW wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:29:16 -0600 "Mark Zacharias"
>> <mark_za...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in Message id:
>> <4d381c8b$0$19215$c3e8da3$aae7...@news.astraweb.com>:
>>
>> >Packing peanuts.
>>
>> There's a good one. Especially when the humidity is very low, and the
>> peanuts are all broken up in pieces!
>
>
> Low humidity is rarely a problem in Florida. :(
>
>
> --
> You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
> Teflon coated.
Yeah.. One time I was going to paint something. The can of spray paint said
to only use it in 50% or less humidity. I laughed when I read that and
thought there must be less than 20 days a year that would have low enough
humidity to paint this thing..
Michael A. Terrell
That's when you dig out the heat lamps to dry the surface, before you
paint. :)
Jeff Liebermann
<reveren...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Pet hates: excessive amounts of screws holding covers of TVs etc.
>together. this seems to have got worse with flat panels.Often you
>spend as much /more time assembling and re-asembling than the repair!
>-B
Screws are fine. I can live with having too many screws because half
of them are usually stripped out and the remainder hold things
together. What bugs me are snap together clamshell cases, such as LCD
monitors and TV's, where you have to remove a mess of screws *AND* pry
the case apart. While snap together plastic is probably easier to
assemble because it doesn't require much fixturing to position the
robotic screwdriver, it does suggest that the case was never intended
to be opened or the unit repaired.
I recently repaired a Yamaha P70 electric piano. I didn't count, but
I'll guess about 60 large "sheet metal" type screws holding it
together. I don't use an electric screwdriver, but this is one time
that I wish I owned one. Even with switching hands, my hands ached
after I as done. The problem with such "sheet metal" screws is that
they offer high frictional resistance on every turn, while more
conventional screw threads, only offer high resistance when tight (or
smeared with thread lock).
My guess is the large number of screws was to prevent mechanical
resonances in the plastic case or to keep them from falling out from
vibrations. Still, metal thread inserts, screw threads, and steel nut
plates, would have been much easier to handle.
On the silicon grease front, I agree with most of the comments. Thin
works much better than globs of silicon grease. One should remember
that the purpose of silicon grease is NOT to bridge gaps. It's to
fill in the surface roughness, groves, and crevasses. Most of the
heat transfer is metal to metal contact, not through the silicon
grease.
In a past life, I used to design marine radios. The problem was that
the power xsistor packages of the day (1970's) were generally thermal
disasters. Either there was insufficient contact area to obtain
sufficiently low thermal resistance, or they were not flat. I solved
the first by building pyramid like structures of copper washers to act
as a heat spreader. I solved the latter by polishing the mounting
base of the power transistors on fine emery cloth. I hated to polish
away the gold plating, but that's what it took to get the heat out. I
made numerous tests and measurements trying to determine the optimum
amount of silicon grease, and eventually concluded that ultra thin is
best. Instructions were to smear a tiny amount onto the area, and
then wipe ALL of it off with a plastic scraper. What remained was
silicon grease in the remaining surface roughness, which was all that
was necessary.
I recently repaired an IFR-1500 service monitor. The power supply
section was intermittent. The 0.062 aluminum power supply case, was
butted up against the large aluminum heat sink that covered the entire
rear panel. In between was a huge amount of silicon grease. The
sandwich was held together by two large 10-24 screws, which probably
explains the silicon grease overdose. Two screws is not going to bend
the aluminum case so that it lays flat. So they tried to fill in the
lack of flatness with silicon grease. That doesn't work.
It took me considerable effort and alcohol to clean up the mess, but I
still managed to get it all over everything on the bench. After the
repair (large copper wires on torroids were not soldered properly), I
reassembled it with only a little silicon grease around the two large
screws, and left the rest to it's own devices. Works fine with no
obvious overheating (checked with an IR thermometer and thermocouple
probe). My guess is all that silicon grease did nothing useful.
--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Jeff Liebermann
<arfa....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>"Mark Zacharias" <mark_za...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
>news:4d381c8b$0$19215$c3e8da3$aae7...@news.astraweb.com...
>> People begging me to work on stuff which I used to turn away, but now have
>> to take in because business is slow.
>> Mark Z.
>Yep. Amen to that one ...
>Arfa
Not much of a change here. Most of my work is fixing computers,
networks, and printers. That part of the business has decreased
substantially. However, I've always done 2-way radio, audio,
electronic music, cell phones, home theater, monitors, power tools,
test equipment, HP calculators, kids toys, and whatever the customers
need fixing. The only recent change is that I'm doing less computers
and more of the other stuff. However, I don't think it has much to do
with the global economic situation. The preference of the American
consumer for cheap junk, usually made in China, has displaced most of
the higher reliability, but also higher priced, better quality
products. After discovering that the cheap junk replacement is no
better than the original cheap junk device that had failed, they start
looking to me to help them keep the cheap junk alive. It's possible,
but since they'll often pay more than the device is worth just so that
they don't have to deal with the vendor, I can make money on such
repairs. Often, nothing more than a thorough cleaning is all that's
required. I also fix bicycles, chain saws, and optics, but since I
don't really know what I'm doing, I avoid major challenges. If I had
concentrated solely on computer repair, I would have been in serious
financial trouble, but by offering my services to fix almost anything
(i.e. diversification), a drop in one area, won't wipe out the
business.
Oh, there is one area that I won't do any more. I'm no longer able to
the construction work necessary to run CAT5 all over a building. I
contract that out to younger and more suicidal kids, who are usually
grateful for the work and money.
John Robertson
>> insult. I
>> can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous sense, anyway.
>>
>>
>
> throw-away line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be
> 'barbed', but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe form
> of humour that is quite prevalent over here.
>
> Arfa
We'ed only be confused in Canada. We have to deal with both UK and US
humour....
John ;-#)#
--
(Please post followups or tech enquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."
John Robertson
Here in BC, Canada and (it appears) the Pacific Northwest states the US
highways are called Ixx - I5 being the main north-south one.
Jeff Liebermann
<nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote:
>But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
>much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
>instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
>down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
>refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)
Ahem. I beg to differ slightly. In the People's Republic of Santa
Cruz, it's called "Highway 9", "Highway 17", and "Highway 1". They're
never referred to by their correct name of "US Route 9", "State Route
17", and "Calif State Route 1".
In Smog Angeles, Hwy 1 is called "Pacific Coast Highway", State Route
90 is the "Richard M. Nixon Freeway", and Interstate 5 is called the
"San Diego Freeway".
When I lived over the hill in San Jose in the late 1970's, the
numerical designations were rarely used. Interstate 880 was called
"the Nimitz". These days, nobody remembers Admiral Nimitz so it has
become "880".
Caltrans seems to be making a concerted and expensive effort to add to
the confusion by numbering all the freeway exits and onramps.
Unfortunately, they didn't plan it very well, so some of the numbers
are already out of sequence and there are postfixes such as "Exit
11c". I have yet to hear anyone refer to a specifically named exit by
its numerical equivalent.
When one visits the People's Republic of Santa Cruz, the point of
entry is what is called "the fish-hook" because of a 270 degree tight
turn. It's been greatly improved by an expensive rebuild 4 years ago,
but it still offers a fair approximation of a roller coaster ride:
<http://we.got.net/~mapman/streets/SantaCruz/Fishhook/fishhook.html>
My office is adjacent to this abomination. I would estimate we lose
one large truck to the tight turns every 2 weeks.
David Nebenzahl
> Michael Kennedy wrote:
>
>> In Florida many people call the "Interstate Highways" by its number.. For
>> example Interstate 4 is just I4. Other examples are I95 I75.. But it is
>> perfectly normal to hear take 75 or Take 95, although take 4 seems a bit
>> rare.
>
> Here in BC, Canada and (it appears) the Pacific Northwest states the US
> highways are called Ixx - I5 being the main north-south one.
Well, they're actually called that everywhere in the US, at least
officially and on maps. But what do *people* in that region actually
call them? I thought that's what we were talking about here.
N_Cook
news:f21qj69nksr8pclj1...@4ax.com...
I suspect we are as engineers are just as likely to be mislead by
manufacturer's claims as joe public and general ads. I could not convince
myself that silipads were better than mica (no patents so litterally dirt
cheap) - so experiment called for. These days I own a matchbox size remote
IR pyrometer and would use that to compare device body temps in before and
after situations , not fingertips
Mica versus Silicone pad insulators
I was not convinced that for an existing used amp with 4x TOP66 power output
devices that the silipads were better than mica.
Each of the 4 white insulating pads had shrunk about 5mm at the tops
(hottest)
compared to bottoms , ruffling the original outer edges, heat damage ?.
I'm wondering if they can chemically change over time and/or excessive
temperature , downgrading to be more of a thermal insulator.
They are not discoloured or hardened or anything different in the
ex-compressed area by sight or flexing, just permanently deformed , the
ruffling is permanent.
I replaced all 4 with mica and thin films of thermal grease.
Before doing so I powered up the amp with 400 Hz continuous sine giving 20
watts in a dummy load. No fan cooling for this amp, just
convection/radiation.
Laid a brass barrel protected thermometer on the heatsink and took
measurements. Stabilised at 33 deg C over ambient after 50 minutes.
Replaced with mica and redid the load test.
For same ambient , same testing position/attitude, power in load etc it now
took 30 minutes to stabilise at plus 32 deg C over ambient.
More graphically , but less scientific, - the finger test.
After half an hour of heating with the mica setup I could hold a fingertip
on each tranny for about 5 seconds before finding it uncomfortable.
Previously half a second of fingertip touch was enough.
I think I will rely on the evidence of my own observations and not
performance tables produced by the manufacturer's with an obvious vested
interest.
I've no reason to believe the original silipads had aged, been affected by
WD40 or anything.
I will assume they are , all manufacturers, all generically bad until a
similar personally conducted experiment, in a real situation, proves to me
to be otherwise.
N_Cook
Another goo production failing , on a 1 to 2 yearold Fender Amp on my bench
at the moment. Uses intermediary Al block between immediate o/p h/s plate
and chassis. White goo on both surfaces is still as placed, not splurged
out. Failure to fettle/de-burr the post machining raised rims around the
machined holes so acting as thin washers so heat just going through the 3
bolts not body of Al. Amp failure nothing to do with this poor heatsinking
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
> Oh, there is one area that I won't do any more. I'm no longer able to
> the construction work necessary to run CAT5 all over a building. I
> contract that out to younger and more suicidal kids, who are usually
> grateful for the work and money.
Jeff, that's just because you haven't figured out how to charge your customers
to "run" wireless connections. :-)
Michael A. Terrell
"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote:
>
> Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>
> > Oh, there is one area that I won't do any more. I'm no longer able to
> > the construction work necessary to run CAT5 all over a building. I
> > contract that out to younger and more suicidal kids, who are usually
> > grateful for the work and money.
>
> Jeff, that's just because you haven't figured out how to charge your customers
> to "run" wireless connections. :-)
Some people don't want wireless for security, and other reasons. it's
ok for a small home network, but not a large business with a lot of
computers.
Jeff Liebermann
<g...@mendelson.com> wrote:
>Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>> Oh, there is one area that I won't do any more. I'm no longer able to
>> the construction work necessary to run CAT5 all over a building. I
>> contract that out to younger and more suicidal kids, who are usually
>> grateful for the work and money.
>Jeff, that's just because you haven't figured out how to charge your customers
>to "run" wireless connections. :-)
>Geoff.
I don't get many calls to "install" a wireless router or bridge.
However, almost all my wireless work is cleaning up the mess made by
someone else. Commodity wireless is sufficiently simple that almost
anyone can do it if they follow instructions. Making the decision
whether wireless is appropriate is not so simple. Wireless for
laptops, PDA's, game consoles, some printers, and wi-fi phones are
appropriate. Tivo, Netflix, Blue-Ray players, desktops, and other
high bandwidth devices are not. The nice part of this cleanup type of
work is I can charge almost any fair price. I can't do that on an
initial install.
Incidentally, the reason I didn't want to run wires any more is that I
was taking statins to reduce cholesterol for the last 8 years. The
side effect was ever increasing back aches. They were tolerable for
the first 5 years, but continued to get worse until I was unable to do
many things. I stopped taking statins about a year ago, and had to
wait 6 months for the back aches to mostly go away. I'm now trying to
get back into shape so I can again crawl around under houses running
wires. Meanwhile, it's a good excuse to not get dirty.
Arfa Daily
"Jeff Liebermann" <je...@cruzio.com> wrote in message
news:724qj6dm5bqhhs0jn...@4ax.com...
Interestingly, here in the UK, the exits from the motorways - loosely
'freeways' equivalent, I guess - have always been numbered, and have always
been referred to by number. So someone giving directions might say "take the
M1 north, and exit at junction 15 onto the A508", 'A' being the
designator for a major road, but without motorway status.
Arfa
Arfa Daily
"Jeff Liebermann" <je...@cruzio.com> wrote in message
news:qu2qj6h0vu59khrip...@4ax.com...
As part of our new government's financial rescue measures, to drag the
country back from the brink of bankruptcy where the previous government had
left us, VAT (the national sales tax) has just been raised from the
ball-breaking level of 17.5%, where it had been for some years, to an
eye-watering 20%. This seems to have started improving the situation in
terms of repair business, as repair over new re-purchase, is now a little
more viable than it was. I definitely think that I am seeing a slight -
albeit slow - upturn in business. But as you say, diversification is the
key. My mantra on this front has always been "I ain't proud. If it's got
wires in it, I'll fix it". I have recently started to get involved in the
repair of DMX lighting equipment. There seems to be little true expertise in
the field, beyond the poor attempts to rectify problems, that are carried
out by the theatre lighting techs.
Arfa
Jeff Liebermann
<arfa....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>Interestingly, here in the UK, the exits from the motorways - loosely
>'freeways' equivalent, I guess - have always been numbered, and have always
>been referred to by number. So someone giving directions might say "take the
>M1 north, and exit at junction 15 onto the A508", 'A' being the
>designator for a major road, but without motorway status.
>
>Arfa
California is different:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Numbered_Exit_Uniform_System>
<http://www.cahighways.org/num-exitnum.html>
A suffix letter A, B, C, D or E is used on multi-exit
interchanges, or on multiple interchange exits within
the same exit number zone.
As a former member of the Anti Digit Dialing League and fan of The
Prisoner (I am not a number...), I find the whole effort amusing.
<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827416,00.html>
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
> As a former member of the Anti Digit Dialing League and fan of The
> Prisoner (I am not a number...), I find the whole effort amusing.
><http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827416,00.html>
Here in Israel beef cuts are sold by number instead of name. I always make a
point of asking my wife to buy a number 6 for dinner.
I was always amused by the re-imagined Battelstar Galactica, where they
bad guys had numbers instead of names. Their main character was number
6.
Mark Zacharias
> On Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:49:04 +0000 (UTC), "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
> <g...@mendelson.com> wrote:
>
>>Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>snip
> Incidentally, the reason I didn't want to run wires any more is that I
> was taking statins to reduce cholesterol for the last 8 years. The
> side effect was ever increasing back aches. They were tolerable for
> the first 5 years, but continued to get worse until I was unable to do
> many things. I stopped taking statins about a year ago, and had to
> wait 6 months for the back aches to mostly go away. I'm now trying to
> get back into shape so I can again crawl around under houses running
> wires. Meanwhile, it's a good excuse to not get dirty.
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Ooh, Jeff. Get that liver looked at. My brother just died of liver cancer.
His symptom for at least a couple years prior - worsening back pain.
Mark Z.
Jeffrey Angus
>> was taking statins to reduce cholesterol for the last 8 years. The
>> side effect was ever increasing back aches. They were tolerable for
>> the first 5 years, but continued to get worse until I was unable to do
>> many things. I stopped taking statins about a year ago, and had to
>> wait 6 months for the back aches to mostly go away. I'm now trying to
>> get back into shape so I can again crawl around under houses running
>> wires. Meanwhile, it's a good excuse to not get dirty.
>
> cancer. His symptom for at least a couple years prior - worsening back
> pain.
>
> Mark Z.
Don't you DARE drop dead on me, I ain't got the room to take all
your stuff.
Jeff
Michael A. Terrell
You better make room for all MY stuff! About four tractor trailer
loads. :(
Jeff Liebermann
<mark_za...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>Ooh, Jeff. Get that liver looked at. My brother just died of liver cancer.
>His symptom for at least a couple years prior - worsening back pain.
>Mark Z.
Thanks. No back pains now, after I stopped taking statins. Not to
worry. I've been running hepatic function blood tests since I started
taking statins. The bad news is that statins seems to have done some
permanent muscle damage in my back and arms. Also, liver cancer is a
potential problem for me as I had prostate cancer in 2006, which tends
to spread to adjacent organs. I'm also watching that with irregular
PSA tests. Still, this is all a good excuse for not running wires
under floors and above ceilings.
None of this worries me as I already know how I'll meet my end. It
will be in a supermarket parking lot, run over by some hurried shopper
going diagonally across the parking spaces, thinking that all the
rules of the road are suspended in the parking lot. I've come closer
to meeting my end in such parking lots than from any medical or
military condition.
Jeff Liebermann
<jan...@suddenlink.net> wrote:
>Don't you DARE drop dead on me, I ain't got the room to take all
>your stuff.
Relax. The instructions in my will are to burn everything to the
ground in a giant funeral pyre. That makes the final distribution of
property rather simple. If there's something you want or need, please
ask before my demise so that I can inform the appropriate tax agency.
The good news is that the first $12,000 is tax free. The bad news is
that the various tax agencies are using eBay prices for appraisals and
don't care if it's working or broken. My guess is that I have a few
more years to live, so your request might be a bit premature.
Mark Zacharias
Good to know you're keeping up on stuff. There are different results with
different statins, but I quit taking them myself.
My brother had hepatitis C for 35 years and was diabetic as well, but even
though they kept an eye on his liver enzymes, the cancer was only diagnosed
after he had been complaining of swelling and bloating for a few months. By
then it was too late. The back pain was probably an early symptom, but he
had already had back problems, so they were looking at that as an isolated
problem.
Seems like a CAT scan every few years, when he had known risk factors, would
have been appropriate. Damn insurance companies...
I have low-option HMO insurance, with all kinds of deductibles and co-pays,
and it still costs me and my wife over 16,000 per year. Went up 22% the
instant Obamacare passed. Not going to be able to keep it up. I don't care
about any mandate. I'm dropping the insurance, and changing my focus from
health insurance to asset protection for when I have to declare bankruptcy
the first time one of us gets really sick.
Sorry for the rant...
Mark Z.
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
> I have low-option HMO insurance, with all kinds of deductibles and co-pays,
> and it still costs me and my wife over 16,000 per year. Went up 22% the
> instant Obamacare passed. Not going to be able to keep it up. I don't care
> about any mandate. I'm dropping the insurance, and changing my focus from
> health insurance to asset protection for when I have to declare bankruptcy
> the first time one of us gets really sick.
You don't have to answer the question, but are you Jewish? If not, was any
of your (or your wife's) grandparents Jewish?
Depsite what Jeff said about Israel in the 1970's, it's actually a booming
hi-tech country, with full socialized medical care. Instead of the doomed
national health plan they use in the UK, here the goverment collects a
"health tax" and pays for an HMO (there are 4).
The minimum coverage is regulated by law, and each HMO tries to offer better
coverage to compete. Since basic coverage is universal, there are many options
for low cost extra insurance if you want it.
New immigrants and returning citizens get into the system with pre-existing
conditions covered.
If you emigrate and don't work (for example, live off your savings, or other
assitance), the State of Israel pays your first year premiums. If you start
working before then, you pay the health tax like everyone else.
Chuck
<mark_za...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Mark, I know how you feel. My wifes's insurance company Blue X won't
pay for a PET scan to see if her liver cancer has returned. Death
panels indeed. Chuck
Arfa Daily
"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrnik09k...@cable.mendelson.com...
> Mark Zacharias wrote:
>> I have low-option HMO insurance, with all kinds of deductibles and
>> co-pays,
>> and it still costs me and my wife over 16,000 per year. Went up 22% the
>> instant Obamacare passed. Not going to be able to keep it up. I don't
>> care
>> about any mandate. I'm dropping the insurance, and changing my focus from
>> health insurance to asset protection for when I have to declare
>> bankruptcy
>> the first time one of us gets really sick.
>
> You don't have to answer the question, but are you Jewish? If not, was any
> of your (or your wife's) grandparents Jewish?
>
> Depsite what Jeff said about Israel in the 1970's, it's actually a booming
> hi-tech country, with full socialized medical care.
> Instead of the doomed
> national health plan they use in the UK,
Meaning what, exactly ... ?
Arfa
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
I wrote:
>> Instead of the doomed
>> national health plan they use in the UK,
Arfa Daily wrote:
> Meaning what, exactly ... ?
Until the UK figures out a way to separate the National Health from the general
budget, it's going to be "asuterity"'ed into nothingness.
Since it is funded from the same fund as everything else, and has no
competition, it just spends and spends and provides less services as money
dries up.
For example, according to a large cancer support organization around 90% of
all cancer patients EVER see an oncologist (cancer specialist). This is up
from less than 80 10 years ago.
I'll give you an example I read in Reader's Digest. Currently when a tube
gets partially used it is impossible to squeeze the medicine out. Someone
in the UK invented a new tube with a knob on the bottom, costing about 1.5 UKP
each. This was going to save the national health millions.
My wife goes to the "dollar store" and buys a set of plastic clamps which
do the same thing. We use them for toothpaste, but you could use them
for anything in a tube. If you had them made to order and shipped in bulk,
they would cost a few pence.
Dave Plowman (News)
Geoffrey S. Mendelson <g...@mendelson.com> wrote:
> Until the UK figures out a way to separate the National Health from the
> general budget, it's going to be "asuterity"'ed into nothingness.
> Since it is funded from the same fund as everything else, and has no
> competition, it just spends and spends and provides less services as
> money dries up.
Am I right in saying you consider the various private schemes in the US
the model of efficiency?
The only way to fund a system designed for everyone - rich or poor - is
out of general taxation.
Personally, I've been lucky in never needing much in the way of expensive
medical treatment - yet - but what dealings I have had with our NHS have
been favourable. Although it does take some time to get into the system if
it's not urgent. In some ways, no bad thing.
But I've got friends and relations who have needed major treatment. And
all of those are grateful to the NHS.
I have private insurance for my dog. And car. And house. None of those
provides the sort of perfect service those who are opposed to a state
system say they do.
--
*Remember not to forget that which you do not need to know.*
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
> Am I right in saying you consider the various private schemes in the US
> the model of efficiency?
No. You are completely off base. I think ObamaCare is a disaster. It goes
too far in requirments and too short in providing things. Because it now
limits the amount a company can raise premiums to 30% several people I
know have had their payments raised 29.9%.
>
> The only way to fund a system designed for everyone - rich or poor - is
> out of general taxation.
Agreed. But it's how it is spent. I disagree with the whole NHS system.
And no, I am not in the US. I am in Israel which has a much better system.
As for your relatives, I hope they don't have cancer. If they live in a big
city such as London, there is a 95% chance they will see a specialist ONCE.
In the country the chance goes down to 50% or less.
Second or recurring visits are also not as frequent, even in London.
I did not make this up, here is some historical data:
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1116372/>
You can get current data from:
<http://www.macmillan.org.uk/>
Dave Plowman (News)
> big city such as London, there is a 95% chance they will see a
> specialist ONCE. In the country the chance goes down to 50% or less.
A pal of mine has had bowel cancer and also has prostrate cancer. Lives in
London. This is quite the reverse of his experience.
> Second or recurring visits are also not as frequent, even in London.
> I did not make this up, here is some historical data:
> <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1116372/>
Historical being the pertinent point - it's quoting data gathered over 20
years ago.
> You can get current data from:
> <http://www.macmillan.org.uk/>
I'm not saying things can't be improved. Especially with unlimited money.
But nothing is ever perfect. All one can reasonably expect is the best
compromise.
--
*I must always remember that I'm unique, just like everyone else. *
William Sommerwerck
I could spend several posts discussing this. However...
The logical way to do it would be to throw out the insurance companies and
tax everyone -- individuals and employers -- specifically for health care.
People could then select whatever doctor or hospital they wanted (thus
encouraging competition), and the government would pay the bill. There would
be a deductible for both treatment and medications proportional to an
individual's income.
Of course, such a system would become an open feeding trough for hospitals
and physicians. (Note the amount of Medicare abuse and fraud.) The truly
tough part of such a system is... How do you regulate costs? Regulation
/necessarily/ includes denial of treatment (ie, rationing) when a patient is
"too old", or the condition so severe that it wouldn't be worth the cost.
If the US were truly a "Christian" country, this problem wouldn't exist.
Arfa Daily
"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrnik1vm...@cable.mendelson.com...
Considering that you neither reside in the UK, nor have cause to make use of
the facilities of our health service, I find it a little presumptuous of
you to feel that you are qualified to pass comment on its continuing
viability, or otherwise. One thing that you need to understand, is that
NHS-bashing is a national sport here, and articles such as that which you
are quoting as being read by your wife, appear every week in the daily and
Sunday press. The Readers' Digest is no more separated from this practice
than any other press offerings, despite the way it tries to present itself.
As far as the content of the story goes, with the ongoing restructuring of
the health service, I very much doubt that medicines are being wasted in the
way described, as an 'across the board' event. For sure, somebody has
probably seen this being done in some health establishment somewhere, and
extrapolated this into common practice. The truth is probably much removed
from that. The people 'on the ground' in the health service are ordinary
folk like you and I, and I don't suppose they like to see waste in their
working lives, any more than they do in their personal ones. I'm sure that
if there is a way to get the remaining medicine out of the tube, the vast
majority of employees are doing so. Apart from that, we don't actually know
that there are not valid operational reasons why sometimes, medicines left
in containers may be thrown away. There could be contamination issues, or
maybe the medicine starts to deteriorate as soon as it is opened, and then
has a very short ongoing shelf life. Whilst there may be some truth in this
story, I think it needs to be considered with a degree of scepticism. These
stories are told in a way as to be deliberately provocative and to cause
outrage at supposed 'waste in the NHS'.
For the most part, the NHS delivers a first class service to patients and,
whilst there are errors made - and you will always be able to find someone
that has got some outrageous claim about how they or their uncle Willy or
their friend down the street was badly treated - the vast majority of people
are perfectly satisfied with the treatment and service that they receive,
and are glad that it is there for them 24 / 7 / 365, without having to worry
about who's going to pay. You must also remember that it is a huge
employer - I think I recently read somewhere that it is the largest employer
in the whole of Europe - and for that reason, if no other, there is going to
be issues with overstaffing and waste from time to time. This is true of any
large organisation, so is sure to be of a mega one like the NHS.
As to your comments about percentages of cancer patients being seen by an
oncologist, I'm not sure that I follow exactly what you were trying to say
there. With UK NHS patients, 100% of people will be referred to an
appropriate consultant (highest level of hospital-based specialist doctor /
surgeon in any particular field) if their general practitioner deems it
necessary. Patients suspected of having cancer are referred immediately, and
often seen within a few days. It is not unusual for treatment - either
medical, nuclear, surgical or all three, to be started within a week of
confirmed diagnosis.
So no. I think, as a resident of the UK, and a user of the NHS for the whole
of my life, you are quite wrong, and the health service is no more 'doomed'
than it has been at any time in its now quite lengthy existence. The current
round of financial austerity measures that have had to be implemented by
this incoming government to try to clear up the mess we are in, are sure to
have some impact on a very heavy tax-spender such as the NHS, but it will
certainly not be "austerity'd into nothing" as you so quaintly put it. The
hospital managers will have to learn better control of their finances, as
they have had to in the past. The only reason that they have forgotten how
to do this now, is that the previous government was of a socialist flavour,
and they thought that the way to improve everything, including the NHS, was
to throw money at it. This has resulted in a top-heavy management structure,
and a lot of internal waste. Once this has been addressed, the NHS will
again be able to deliver cost-effective high quality care, as it has in the
past.
Arfa
Arfa Daily
"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <g...@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrnik2j7...@cable.mendelson.com...
I'm sorry, but this is absolute nonsense, being quoted out of context, by
someone who has no direct knowledge or experience of the NHS.
Arfa
Dave Plowman (News)
Arfa Daily <arfa....@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> > I did not make this up, here is some historical data:
> >
> > <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1116372/>
> >
> > You can get current data from:
> >
> > <http://www.macmillan.org.uk/>
> >
> > Geoff.
> >
> I'm sorry, but this is absolute nonsense, being quoted out of context,
> by someone who has no direct knowledge or experience of the NHS.
I only glanced at them. The first makes reference to statistics gathered
over 20 years ago. The second is a charity specialising in cancer care -
so obviously has a slanted view.
There's also a lot more to a health service than treating cancer -
important though that may be.
--
*I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met *