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.

Tag: Rants

And kvetching, too

DMM Probe: QC Fail

Clearing off the Electronics Bench unearthed the probes for my fancy Siglent SDM-3045 bench meter, which had been producing erratic readings. I isolated the problem to the red probe, which had an irregularly variable resistance ranging upward from a few ohms.

The probe being a non-repairable thing, I used the lathe to cut it apart and eventually found the problem:

Failed Siglent DMM probe

The probe tip on the right originally had no solder on it at all (*), with the curved part of the soldered wire fragment resting around it. The plastic pieces originally molded around the tip and wire applied enough force to hold them together, but the wire fragment fell out as I dismantled the probe.

Apparently the assembler didn’t get enough heat on the wire-to-tip joint to melt the solder on the probe tip, but the plastic shell got it past whatever QC might have happened between assembly and the shipping department.

A few years back, I refurbished all my failing alligator clips (using the Siglent meter and its test probes!) and no longer believe increasing my spend for such things will increase their quality. I’d love to be proven wrong, but the evidence is definitely stacking up the other way.

(*) I tried soldering the pin just to see if it was solderable: yes, it was.

2023-08-16
Thanks for the Notification

This year’s MVP health plan has a different “OTC Benefit” than last year, even though MVP is contracting with the same company to provide what seems to be essentially the same benefit.

This arrived half a year after the new OTC benefit card showed up:

MVP OTC Card Expiry

I suppose somebody noticed MVP hadn’t gotten around to telling us they were cancelling the old card, despite its Valid Thru 12/26 notation. Well, the card isn’t exactly cancelled, it just stopped working when all the money evaporated.

This not being my first ride in this particular rodeo, I spent all those sweet OTC benny bucks days after they become valid on the first day of every quarter-year, buying up my stock of overpriced OTC stuff.

In theory, you could buy the stuff elsewhere, but you had to scan each item in the retail store using the worst app imaginable to determine its eligibility and coverage. If the store was in a no-wireless-data phone zone: too bad, so sad.

This year’s program is simpler: you must buy everything from the sole-source supplier, even though it costs four times more than the comparable item at, say, Walmart or even Amazon.

2023-07-25
Kenmore 362.75581890 Oven Igniter: Third Contestant

Although the oven igniter I just installed worked, its 3.0 A current fell below the gas valve’s minimum 3.3 A, which, based on past experience, suggested it would fail in short order. Just to see what happened, I sent a note to the seller, who offered a warranty swap and, after a bit of fiddling, the replacement arrived:

Oven Igniter B – 3.3 A initial current

This one draws exactly 3.3 A, so it just barely meets both its product description and the gas valve’s minimum current.

We’ll see how long this lasts …

2023-07-18
Guardian Angel vs. Physics

A new wreck appeared at the corner gas station:

Guardian Angel at Work – overview

The black plate on the front may be a door panel from the other contestant, because it obviously does not match the vehicle. Perhaps the wrecker crew strapped it on to hold the debris in place?

The front end submarined under the obstacle and stopped just before the passenger compartment reached the excitement.

A view of the windshield and top of the dashboard:

Guardian Angel at Work – dashboard

The fan may have been tucked in there by the wrecker crew, along with assorted chunks of plastic and metal.

A closer look at the medallion resting on the dash, rotated for your viewing convenience:

Guardian Angel at Work – medallion

The steering wheel airbag had deployed, so perhaps the driver emerged relatively undamaged, but, as always, guardian angels seem unconcerned with property damage.

The last three years have pretty conclusively shown the various gods do not care about individuals and, in fact, their presumed acts closely resemble epidemiology in action.

Drive to stay alive …

2023-07-04
Kenmore 362.75581890 Oven Igniter: That Didn’t Take Long

So the oven igniter I installed in January failed to ignite the oven when its current draw fell far enough below the valve’s 3.3 A minimum:

Oven Igniter – 2.3 A current

Of course, the seller no longer offers that particular igniter.

I described the problem:

The igniter just failed. The oven gas valve requires 3.3 to 3.6 amps to open, but this igniter now draws only 2.3 amps, as shown by the clamp-on current meter.

Because of the low current, the valve does not open and the oven does not heat.

The igniter should last more than five months!
How do I go about getting a replacement or a refund?
Thanks …

Which generated pretty much the reply you’d expect:

We are very sorry, because your product is 5 months from the date of purchase, we cannot offer you a refund.
Please purchase another replacement.

Which made me a bit salty:

” the best quality for greater power connection, higher load and longer service life “

” We stand by our products, and our customers are our focus as a business. If you have any quality problem, please contact Funmit customer service team in time, and we will try our best to solve your problems “

So five months is “longer service life” with “the best quality”.

Bonus: now I understand what “try our best” means, too.

But to no avail:

Have a nice day! We are glad to serve you.
We are very sorry that you are not satisfied with our products.
Amazon.com Return Policy:Amazon.com Voluntary 30-Day Return Guarantee: You can return many items you have purchased within 30 days following delivery of the item to you. Our Voluntary 30-Day Return Guarantee does not affect your legal right of withdrawal in any way.
However, the product has passed the return and exchange period, so it cannot provide you with a warranty.
If you have other questions, please contact us in time, we will serve you wholeheartedly. Thank you.
Sincere wishes,
–By Funmit

So I bought a slightly more expensive igniter from a different randomly named seller that draws a slightly under-spec but entirely typical 3 A:

Oven Igniter – 3.0 A initial current

This one, however, allegedly comes with a one year warranty:

Quality you can Trust – All Snap Products are made with premium materials and are tested so they last
Buy with Confidence – Snap Supply Parts always come with a 1 Year Warranty

Which surely requires the seller remaining in business until then.

We shall see how this works out.

2023-06-30
LED and CFL Bulb Reliability: Another Data Point

Spotted in a soon-to-be-rebuilt rest area on I-87 north of Kingston NY, a chandelier stuffed with old-school CFL bulbs of various vintages:

NYS I-87 Rest Area – CFL chandelier

The yellowish dome on the far right might still house an incandescent bulb, but I can’t tell from here.

Judging from the high color temperature and even illumination, the chandelier next to it has 16 newish LED bulbs:

NYS I-87 Rest Area – LED chandelier

What’s of interest: both chandeliers have two dead bulbs and, perhaps, the center floodlight of the LED fixture had died, too. We don’t know how long they’ve been in place, other than that the LEDs are certainly more recent, but a 6% failure rate is nothing to brag about.

From what I’ve seen, the reliability of both CFL and LED bulbs is greatly overstated and certainly do not justify preemptive replacement of a working bulb of any vintage.

2023-05-25
They’re Paying for This?

Another problem with the same monitor as before:

Broken image link

This one looks like an ordinary broken link:

Broken image link – detail

Mary has some opinions on their software testing process, but AFAICT that entire department is missing in action.

Having spent entirely too much time on the road and not nearly enough time in the shop, things will be quiet around here for a few days.

Drive to stay alive …

2023-05-17