The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Author: Ed

OpenOffice 3.2 Graphic File Link Hackage
OpenOffice normally stores graphic file links relative to the location of the ODT document file. It’s an option at Tools -> Options -> Load/Save -> General, where you check Save URLs relative to file system.

That generally works well, as long as you keep all the graphics either in the same directory or in a subdirectory, which is our general practice. Note that this doesn’t apply if you embed the image files into the document, which works fine for one-pagers and dies horribly for lengthy graphics-intense documents.

(Yes, I know OOo is not a page layout program. Sometimes other considerations get in the way. Work with me on this, OK?)

It’s easy to confuse the program: copy the ODT file somewhere else and, shazam, the links either break or get weird. In a recent case, the links somehow wound up holding the entire path from the root directory through /home, down through an NFS mount, and out to the actual file. Not only was it un-pretty, the links basically didn’t work from any other account on any other machine because you really can’t reach through another user’s account to your files.

This is tedious, at best, to fix up within OpenOffice, because you can’t do a find-and-replace on the file names.

So.

In OOo, click through Tools -> Options -> Load/Save -> General. Uncheck the Size optimization for ODF format option to force the XML file to become human-readable. Otherwise, OO stores everything as one huge line. While you’re there, make sure Save URLs relative to file system is checked.

Save the file again to get readable XML.

Create /tmp/work, copy the ODT file therein, apply unzip to it. That extracts the contents, including the all-important content.xml containing your document’s text & links.

Edit content.xml with the text editor (not a word processor like OOo!) of your choice. Bulk-change the garbage paths to something meaningful. For example, we had all the images in Tweaked, a subdirectory below the document directory, so the desired file links looked like ../Tweaked/image-file-name.jpg.

Save the file and stuff it back into the ODT file using zip -vi document.odt content.xml

That produced some odd error messages that didn’t seem to have any effect:
```
	zip warning: undefined bits used in flags = 0x0808: layout-cache
	zip warning: undefined bits used in flags = 0x0808: content.xml
	zip warning: undefined bits used in flags = 0x0808: styles.xml
	zip warning: undefined bits used in flags = 0x0808: Thumbnails/thumbnail.png
	zip warning: undefined bits used in flags = 0x0808: settings.xml
	zip warning: undefined bits used in flags = 0x0808: META-INF/manifest.xml
updating: content.xml
	zip warning: Local Entry CRC does not match CD: content.xml
	(in=54496) (out=7765) (deflated 86%)
total bytes=91294, compressed=17644 -> 81% savings
```
OOo stores the file timestamps within the ODT file in UTC, confusing the daylights out of zip, which assumes they’re in local time. Being at UTC-4 right now, I couldn’t simply freshen or update a recently created ODT file.

Copy the modified ODT file back where it came from, make sure the graphic files are where you promised they’d be, and open the document.

Everything should be just fine.
2010-07-25
Useful, Albeit Incorrect, Sherline Wrench Sizes
My Sherline mill has inch sized fittings, but a couple of metric wrenches from the junk box reduced the workbench clutter …

Double open 10 + 11 mm:
- 10 mm = 10-32 nuts for step clamps (really 3/8 inch)
- 11 mm = small drawbar bolt (really 7/16 inch)
Combination 13 mm:
- 13 mm = large drawbar bolt (really 1/2 inch)
Now, I know full well that applying metric wrenches to inch fittings is a terrible idea, but y’know what? At the torque levels appropriate to Sherline fittings, they work just fine.

One of these days, I’ll be at a garage sale offering some double wrenches in the correct inch sizes …
2010-07-24
Virgin Mobile Customer Service

Got an email from Virgin Mobile:

From: Virgin Mobile <virginmobile-service@my.vmu-mail.com>
Date: Today 14:34:24

Hi ED,

Top-Up now to save your service!

Since you haven’t added money to your account in the last 90 days, your phone has stopped working. If you don’t take emergency action and Top-Up now, you might lose your phone number and any balance remaining in your account.

Given that I have the account set to recharge itself every 90 days and it’s been doing that for a couple of years, I thought perhaps my credit card had flipped past the expiration date on file. Fighting my way through VM’s craptastic website, noooo, that’s not the case.

Nay, verily, the account had topped itself off at 11:34, exactly three hours before that email went out.

So I asked the obvious question, doggedly using the impenetrable Customer Service form:

The phone seems OK.
What’s going on?

Which produced this missive:

Response (Rommel) – 06/23/2010 08:32 AM
Hello Ed,

Thanks for contacting Virgin Mobile Customer Care.

I really appreciate the time you took to provide us with the information requested. I reviewed your account and found that indeed you have the auto payment set up correctly in your account. What happened is that the system always sent this alerts to keep the customers aware of their account status but since you have the auto payment option, please ignore this alerts, you don’t have to worry about it. The system charged your card for $15 on 6/22/2010.

Now, your account will be active until 9/20/2010. You don’t have to worry about the alerts, if you have credit on your card the system will always do it automatically. I apologize on behalf Virgin Mobile for any misunderstanding.

Perhaps it’s just me, but formulaic cut-and-paste obsequious fawning grates on my sensibilities. What I really want is action that resolves the problem, not just having VM’s Customer Service team blow it off. So I fired off a reply:

> please ignore this alerts,
> you don’t have to worry about it.

So, if I understand your advice correctly, when VM sends me a warning message like this:

——-
Since you haven’t added money to your account in the last 90 days, your phone has stopped working.
——-

I should just ignore it. Is that what you mean?

That’s stupid advice. You do not want to train your customers to ignore email from VM, particularly information saying their phones are “not working”.

The correct response is that you will take steps to ensure that VM never sends a bogus warning. The people responsible for sending that message must fix their own problem, at the source of the problem, where it happens.

Your customers should not be required to ignore anything from VM.

Let me know when you’ve taken effective action to prevent this from happening again.

Thanks…

No answer to date. I suspect VM doesn’t monitor incoming email. I wonder why?

2010-07-23
Epson R380 Printer: External Waste Ink Tank

Side cover latch and external tank hose

Having reset the waste ink counter on my Epson R380 printer, I finally got around to installing the external waste ink tank that will prevent the printer from drooling all over its innards.

Fortunately, rerouting the waste ink hose out of the printer doesn’t require the complete teardown mandated to remove the waste ink tank itself: you can do it by removing the cover, drilling a hole, moving the hose, and abandoning the tank in place.

The recommended way to remove the right-side side cover (as you face the printer) involves jamming a steel ruler into the “vent” (it’s actually a decorative feature) and shoving a latch out of the way. I trimmed a bit of stainless steel strip, shoved it in, and it worked fine. The cover latch is the complex central feature in the vertical gap between the case and the cover. The hose is routed out through a new hole down in the lower right corner.

With the cover off, it turns out that the “tank” is actually a “tray” (which is what it’s called in the maintenance manual) filled with absorbent fuzz. There’s no lid, so it appears they’re counting on evaporation to keep the total volume under control and surface tension on the fuzz to keep the ink from leaking when you tip the printer. I suspect if the printer spent a lot of time on its ear, though, things would get messy.

Internal tank and OEM hose

Removing the hose from the barbed fitting goes easier with a small screwdriver pushing it along; you (well, I) can’t just pull the hose off. It’s a very flexible silicone rubber (?) hose with an internal liner: very nice stuff.

The hose seems to drain only the head-cleaning station, not the long waste ink tank / tray across the width of the printer that catches overspray from borderless printing. That counter is at 5% of its rated maximum, so I’ll let it slide.

The ink, being adsorbed in the fuzz, won’t leak back out of the tray, so there’s no need to plug the barbed fitting.

Hole in case and rerouted hose

I used the 1/4-inch tip of a fat step drill to poke a hole at the very bottom of the plastic case, behind the pillar holding the white printer mechanism. The far end of the hose connects to a pump somewhere back in the bowels of the printer and that hole position freed up the longest amount of hose.

Much to my surprise, the tube wasn’t full of ink and didn’t bloosh blackness all over everything. Perhaps the hose drains back to the pump between head cleanings?

Then it’s just a matter of buttoning up the case, joining the hoses with the supplied barbed fitting, sticking the external tank’s hook-and-loop strip to the printer, and trimming the hose to fit. It Would Be Nice If the new tank hose were the same flexy silicone stuff as the OEM hose, but it looks to be ordinary Tygon-ish tubing and is a bit stiffer than I’d like.

External waste ink tank in place

No ink has reached the new hose yet, but I’m sure the next few head cleaning cycles will push out some oodge.

The tank vendor suggests “recycling” the waste ink by diluting it with black ink, but I’ll just discard it. Bulk ink isn’t all that expensive, compared to OEM ink cartridges, and I’d rather not borrow trouble.

2010-07-22
PTT Switch Contact Corrosion

Corroded Pushbutton Switch Contacts

The PTT switch for the amateur radio on my bike got erratic: pushing the button didn’t seem to be producing reliable RF. I’d have sworn when I bought the switches that they were washable-during-PCB-assembly: at least moderately sealed.

Wrong.

Turns out there’s only the seal you get from snug-fitting mechanical parts. I carved off the square aluminum bezel and found an ordinary dome switch underneath, with contacts that actually looked better than you’d expect after half a decade on a bike. But, yes, I could see why it was erratic.

Lacking anything smarter, I installed another one, just like the other one, with a square of Kapton tape over the button. Not a great seal, but maybe it’ll be Good Enough.

Here’s what the button looked like in happier times…

PTT Button

Memo to Self: Tape up the other PTT buttons?

2010-07-21
Sears Kenmore HE3 Washer Teardown: Tub Damage Assessment
After removing the concrete weights from the tub, I saw where the piddle of water was coming from: the stainless steel drum (formally: Basket) had been chewing on the plastic Tub for quite some time. That’s most likely the strange new sound Mary heard, but it’s impossible to see the affected area without gutting the entire washer.

The top left section, below the detergent dispenser.

Outer Tub Damage – Top Left

The top right section.

Outer Tub Damage – Top Right

I assumed the damage was limited to the top section, because the drum would pivot downward under load. That turned out to be incorrect, as I realized when I looked behind the lower concrete weight: the Tub was scored through all the way around.

Here’s a view of the interior, taken after I removed the Tub from the washer and pried off all the clamps that secure the Front Tub to the Rear Tub.

Outer Tub Damage – Inside View

And a closeup…

Outer Tub Damage – Inside Detail

The drum has a ridge around the front circumference where the round perforated shell joins the convoluted front piece that necks down into the opening behind the door. That ridge contacts the plastic Tub and, even though it’s smooth, generates enough friction to burn through the Tub.

Now, this is the point where the repairman turns to you and says that, although he (it’s always a he) can replace the drum and Tub, the total cost will be more than a whole new washer.

Sticker price for the parts, direct from Sears, looks like this:
- Stainless Steel Basket: $364
- Front Tub: $150
Onto that, reports from various forums indicate that you will have incurred some labor charges:
- Labor: $120+ to this point
- Parts Service Fee: $50 (I don’t know what that is, either)
A new HE3 washer is $850, more or less.

Ah, you ask, isn’t there a Lifetime Limited Warranty on the Stainless Steel Drum? Why, yes, there is, and that’s a story all in itself …
2010-07-20
Sears Kenmore HE3 Washer Teardown: Tub Grounding Connection

Tub Grounding Connection

Before you pull the tub out of the washer, you must disconnect the ground wire from the bearing behind the pulley. This isn’t impossible… it just looks that way.

There’s a notch molded into the pulley that provides access to the ring terminal. IIRC, it’s a Torx T15 screw and there’s just barely enough clearance for a magnetic tip holder in there.

For some unknown reason, the tapped hole on our washer was filled with steel filings that clogged the threads. I ran the screw in until it stopped, backed it out, cleaned off the filings, and repeated until it came out mostly clean.

The picture is after a few cleaning passes; the screw came out covered with filings the first time!

Magnetized Screw

The magnetization comes from the holder I used for the Torx bit, but it certainly was handy.

2010-07-19