Pet hates ?

Jeff Liebermann wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@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.

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

Jeff, that's just because you haven't figured out how to charge your customers to "run" wireless connections. :-)

Geoff.

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.

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.

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

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

California is different:

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.

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

2. Geoff.

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.

Don't you DARE drop dead on me, I ain't got the room to take all your stuff.

Jeff

You better make room for all MY stuff! About four tractor trailer loads. :(

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.

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.

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.

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.

Geoff.

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

Meaning what, exactly ... ?

Arfa

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.

Geoff.