Repaired 1 of 2 Rod Elliot P101 amplifiers. Its been about 2 years since they failed but just felt like repairing recently. Had them running with parallel Outputs @ ~55v and blew 5 of the eight output devices (between both boards) and took out the front ends with them of course 
while playing Magnepans. I now know Maggies get so loud and no louder but continue to suck all current available and current not available as well.
I got a used set of Outputs from a member here and installed them along with a new front end and all is well again. I ran out of devices for the second board to replace its front end so have a Mouser order saved, in case I remember something else to add which I usually do.... after placing the order.
I need to find and stock up on the Exicon Latfets since they are no longer made and getting hard to find.
while playing Magnepans. I now know Maggies get so loud and no louder but continue to suck all current available and current not available as well.I got a used set of Outputs from a member here and installed them along with a new front end and all is well again. I ran out of devices for the second board to replace its front end so have a Mouser order saved, in case I remember something else to add which I usually do.... after placing the order.
I need to find and stock up on the Exicon Latfets since they are no longer made and getting hard to find.
50 mm carbon rear wheel drive side aero spokes replacement (road bike)
broke a total of 3 spokes over a 2 year span and couldn’t figure out the reason
they all broke right at the spoke cross point (2X) and wore just enough there to break at this junction
whoever laced these at the factory didn’t notice the dt Swiss hub has a slight offset as the spoke leaves
the hub so they never touch each other to the rim. The wheel builder laced them on top of each so they touched
and presto bang!
sounds like a rock hit the frame when they break and it’s seriously loud and distinct
bought all new aero spokes on the drive side and retensioned every spoke on the wheel with .005” runout
what a pain..,
broke a total of 3 spokes over a 2 year span and couldn’t figure out the reason
they all broke right at the spoke cross point (2X) and wore just enough there to break at this junction
whoever laced these at the factory didn’t notice the dt Swiss hub has a slight offset as the spoke leaves
the hub so they never touch each other to the rim. The wheel builder laced them on top of each so they touched
and presto bang!
sounds like a rock hit the frame when they break and it’s seriously loud and distinct
bought all new aero spokes on the drive side and retensioned every spoke on the wheel with .005” runout
what a pain..,
One of the World's worst ripoffs is fitting a new battery to your wristwatch, IMO! I like wristwatches since they allow me to be aware of time even without my mobile phone.
These charlatans charge £12 for fitting a new one to your watch. Which is surprising since a new battery costs about 10p.
I have ordered a repair kit for £10 from eBay. This contains the simple tools to unscrew the back of my wristwatches and replace the battery. I can see a new career here!
Further fixes follow. My Rotel RA-931 MK.2 audio amp blew up for some reason:
Looked like this inside, with a toroidal transformer and NE5532 op amps and a discrete output stage:
My new replacement in the second-hand market:
An internal inspection of the Cambridge Audio Topaz AM1 reveals a poor buzzy square-frame transformer and indifferent old JRC 4558D op amps and an integrated one chip output stage.
But sounds OK for a 20Wpc amp at £30.
Happy with that.
These charlatans charge £12 for fitting a new one to your watch. Which is surprising since a new battery costs about 10p.
I have ordered a repair kit for £10 from eBay. This contains the simple tools to unscrew the back of my wristwatches and replace the battery. I can see a new career here!
Further fixes follow. My Rotel RA-931 MK.2 audio amp blew up for some reason:
Looked like this inside, with a toroidal transformer and NE5532 op amps and a discrete output stage:
My new replacement in the second-hand market:
An internal inspection of the Cambridge Audio Topaz AM1 reveals a poor buzzy square-frame transformer and indifferent old JRC 4558D op amps and an integrated one chip output stage.
But sounds OK for a 20Wpc amp at £30.
Happy with that.
A DCC model loco controller I designed.
A customer said his wouldnt run his loco's.
So got him to send it back.
Tried it with my loco's and worked fine.
So did some more investigation.
I spotted the digital zero was only 50uS when it should be 58uS.
So quick tweak of software and spot on now.
A customer said his wouldnt run his loco's.
So got him to send it back.
Tried it with my loco's and worked fine.
So did some more investigation.
I spotted the digital zero was only 50uS when it should be 58uS.
So quick tweak of software and spot on now.
Excuse my 'new to the forum' stupidity, but has your Rotel faceplate changed colour from picture 1 to picture 2?
Never had to buy a watch repair kit.
Previous watch that had screw-on back, made a wrench from Meccano.
Current has snap on back so a small knife does that.
Replaced my bro's glass with an anvil turned from MDF & drill press as a press.
Why are you surprised shops charge for the service? You would need to replace quite a few watch batteries to make a living.
Previous watch that had screw-on back, made a wrench from Meccano.
Current has snap on back so a small knife does that.
Replaced my bro's glass with an anvil turned from MDF & drill press as a press.
Why are you surprised shops charge for the service? You would need to replace quite a few watch batteries to make a living.
I was "fixing a hole where the rain gets in" as Macca sings. The hole(s) are in the roof of the equipment room at the theater. The room where all the amps, dimmers, computers and such are housed. In 2020 it got so bad down there that everything was covered in mold, even the spiders! We lost about 11 amplifiers. I've been chasing leaks for years and may have finally fixed them. I'll know in about 30 minutes, we just had a torrential downpour. 
Sorry I forgot to finish my story.
I recently upgraded my PC and had to reinstall Windows 11 and MPLAB X.
Doing this installed latest version of PIC16f1788 XC8 compiler.
I suspect the new compiler had different optimizations or code generation and so messed up my code timings a little.
Today I changed the code to use timer0 which is timed by micro clock and doesnt rely on padding out code to get right timing.
Which is of course what I should have done in the first place.
I am in the process of repairing a broken Class A/B power amplifier at the moment. First diagnostic is that the power supply has blown fuses on the +/- 35Volt rail.
Not even a power light!
You can see the black marks on the 20 mm slow blow glass fuses, and they are open circuit on the ohm-meter. I have got some new ones, 10 x T4AL 250V for £2.99 with free postage.
Frankly, I suspect the damage will be more substantial, involving the entire transistor output stage, but here's hoping!
Just to build up my confidence with minor success, I have fixed my wristwatch battery. Noting that a new battery is £12 from the High Street every 6 months, I wondered if I could DIY it with a £10 wristwatch repair kit from eBay:
The trick is to have the tool to get the back off the watch as I understand this dark art, thing is some of them need a special triangular unscrew tool:
I found I had used up all my 1.45V AG4/377 Alkalines ( A mere £1 at Poundland for the lot, but currently out of stock) on easier watches that just needed a penknife to flip the back off, but found some Silver Oxide 377 cells at Boots the Chemist for 0.99p.
I call that a success! Cost me £10.99 for the fix. As opposed to £12 at the shop. And I have the superior Silver battery which should last for ages!
(Caution, wristwatch batteries are terribly non-standard. There are all sorts of diameters and thicknesses and voltages and tendencies to leak and explode. But I'll worry about that when I get to it.)
(Handy Tip: Never overtighten screws, after all, you may have to loosen them later.)
BTW, the kit includes tooling to change straps too. A mere £3 on eBay. Why pay more?
Not even a power light!
You can see the black marks on the 20 mm slow blow glass fuses, and they are open circuit on the ohm-meter. I have got some new ones, 10 x T4AL 250V for £2.99 with free postage.
Frankly, I suspect the damage will be more substantial, involving the entire transistor output stage, but here's hoping!
Just to build up my confidence with minor success, I have fixed my wristwatch battery. Noting that a new battery is £12 from the High Street every 6 months, I wondered if I could DIY it with a £10 wristwatch repair kit from eBay:
The trick is to have the tool to get the back off the watch as I understand this dark art, thing is some of them need a special triangular unscrew tool:
I found I had used up all my 1.45V AG4/377 Alkalines ( A mere £1 at Poundland for the lot, but currently out of stock) on easier watches that just needed a penknife to flip the back off, but found some Silver Oxide 377 cells at Boots the Chemist for 0.99p.
I call that a success! Cost me £10.99 for the fix. As opposed to £12 at the shop. And I have the superior Silver battery which should last for ages!
(Caution, wristwatch batteries are terribly non-standard. There are all sorts of diameters and thicknesses and voltages and tendencies to leak and explode. But I'll worry about that when I get to it.)
(Handy Tip: Never overtighten screws, after all, you may have to loosen them later.)
BTW, the kit includes tooling to change straps too. A mere £3 on eBay. Why pay more?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/z7APsANMwqHYFvPg7
I had the first start up of my old BMW r80 gs restoration today. Very gratifying.
I had the first start up of my old BMW r80 gs restoration today. Very gratifying.
This pop out is part of my kitchen. It had been leaking water a long time ago. Leak was fixed but of course the damage was done. Two layers of siding and soggy sheathing came off. We put it back together with insulation and mold/mildew retardant. Will finish sheathing tomorrow (hopefully) and then Tyvek. Then I'll have a siding guy come in and finish it. My buddy wouldn't take any money for helping me.
