Speaking about toasters. I volunteer at a couple of repair cafes, one of which where we can carry out electrical appliances repairs (well attempt to anyway) and we dread the faulty cheap throwaway toasters that turn up in the hope they can be fixed.
They aren't built to last, parts are unavailable and some of them are so flimsily made that even taking them apart damages them... absolute rubbish!
The toaster is one of those products, where you can say "they dont build them like they used to"
They aren't built to last, parts are unavailable and some of them are so flimsily made that even taking them apart damages them... absolute rubbish!
The toaster is one of those products, where you can say "they dont build them like they used to"
Me and spongebob are always "repairing" the LED's . I have such an LED fetish. ESP32 + WLED/Arduino fulfill these obsessions.
SO many colors and eye candies. Wish we had this stuff in the 20'th century !
can't wait till Xmas with a spare ESP 8266 + 100 RGB's. the heck with walmart lights.
SO many colors and eye candies. Wish we had this stuff in the 20'th century !
can't wait till Xmas with a spare ESP 8266 + 100 RGB's. the heck with walmart lights.
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I once had a young man coming to a Repair Cafe with a toaster that looked similar (though not identical) to this:
He explained that it was his girlfriend's toaster, that the mains cord had accidentally been toasted and had caused a short circuit, and that he had replaced the cord, but it didn't work anymore.
I checked if he had used the correct type of mains cord and if he had connected it properly, which was indeed the case. After that, I tried to do some resistance measurements and first measured an open branch, because I hadn't turned on the switch on the back. I said, 'Silly me, I forgot to turn on the switch on the back'. He said, 'Then I'm equally silly, I didn't even know there was a switch.' Switched on, it worked perfectly.
He explained that it was his girlfriend's toaster, that the mains cord had accidentally been toasted and had caused a short circuit, and that he had replaced the cord, but it didn't work anymore.
I checked if he had used the correct type of mains cord and if he had connected it properly, which was indeed the case. After that, I tried to do some resistance measurements and first measured an open branch, because I hadn't turned on the switch on the back. I said, 'Silly me, I forgot to turn on the switch on the back'. He said, 'Then I'm equally silly, I didn't even know there was a switch.' Switched on, it worked perfectly.
I'll bet nothing would have heppened in Canada - 120V is low, and raisins have low moisture content... It might have got warm though...
I've cooked wieners using forks and 120V
The toaster in post 3667 looks similar to the one I grew up with. It had hinged sides but I don't remember having to flip the slices around or not.
As I tell everyone who will listen, the same devices I grew up with were all still working in the house when I left in my early twenties, refrigerator, stove toaster, blender, cake mixer, lawnmower, stereogram, clocks you name it. The only thing I remember changing was the purchase of a color tv at some stage to replace the b&w set since, well we now had colour tv and my fathers car a few times.
There was a repairman for every device type too, no throwing away of perfectly serviceable items. I remember going with my father to get the clothes iron repaired and also clocks. He also took shoes to the cobbler for resoling (his Clarks lasted forever).
Nowadays its just replace it, very little repairs.
I guess I am just getting old.
As I tell everyone who will listen, the same devices I grew up with were all still working in the house when I left in my early twenties, refrigerator, stove toaster, blender, cake mixer, lawnmower, stereogram, clocks you name it. The only thing I remember changing was the purchase of a color tv at some stage to replace the b&w set since, well we now had colour tv and my fathers car a few times.
There was a repairman for every device type too, no throwing away of perfectly serviceable items. I remember going with my father to get the clothes iron repaired and also clocks. He also took shoes to the cobbler for resoling (his Clarks lasted forever).
Nowadays its just replace it, very little repairs.
I guess I am just getting old.
Yup Andrewbee, I remember those days, a repairman for just about everything, coin-op tube testers in every convenience store. Knife sharpener on a truck. Going back a bit past my birth, my mom told me you would often have new immigrant tradespeople go door to door asking if there were any odd jobs they could do in their trade.
Today was a "just don't give up too soon" repair. A friends' door lock was so uncooperative the key would not even go to full depth. After a COPIOUS amount of graphite, it was fully operational.
Today was a "just don't give up too soon" repair. A friends' door lock was so uncooperative the key would not even go to full depth. After a COPIOUS amount of graphite, it was fully operational.
Saltana (ics) - same grape but prepared differently.I'll bet nothing would have heppened in Canada - 120V is low, and raisins have low moisture content... It might have got warm though...
I've cooked wieners using forks and 120V
A very simple model railway DCC controller.
It was in for repair as power supply had blown up.
I tried it with another supply and it worked ok so must have been duff power supply.
I then tested it and noticed loco speed wouldnt go to zero despite display saying it was zero.
Had a look at DCC signal on scope and it was badly distorted.
I hadnt seen that before in my other design.
But my other design didnt use a current limiting resistor.
So I shorted out current limiting resistor and it fixed it.
According to datasheet calculations it shouldnt have been cutting out because the current was too low.
So a bit of a mystery.
It was in for repair as power supply had blown up.
I tried it with another supply and it worked ok so must have been duff power supply.
I then tested it and noticed loco speed wouldnt go to zero despite display saying it was zero.
Had a look at DCC signal on scope and it was badly distorted.
I hadnt seen that before in my other design.
But my other design didnt use a current limiting resistor.
So I shorted out current limiting resistor and it fixed it.
According to datasheet calculations it shouldnt have been cutting out because the current was too low.
So a bit of a mystery.
The charger for my SRAM gearchange battery. Went intermittent, closer examination showed that one of the three small spring loaded pins was wobbly. Took the labels off the back, single screw and got the circuit board out. Sure enough top of the pin was loose and the holder slightly spread out at the top
.
A few gentle squeezes with some fine needle nose pliers to close it up and it was (almost) as good as new... Saved roughly $50
A few gentle squeezes with some fine needle nose pliers to close it up and it was (almost) as good as new... Saved roughly $50