| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Kale |
Posted - Jul 23 2003 : 2:38:37 PM
What's the biggest electrical disaster you've ever had?
I forgot to ground the gates on the FETS on an H-bridge I was working on designed to switch 10 amps. I got a short to ground (probably close to 100 amps since I was using a low-V high-I supply) and one of the transistors exploded and the circuit traces on the board peeled up off the board. I also toasted the fuse in my multimeter. It was a credit to the manufacturer that the fuse actually saved the meter; it still works fine after I replaced the fuse...
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| cyclopsitis |
Posted - Jan 05 2007 : 11:16:26 AM
I think your right! My parents go new cars and they have had a lot of problems with the so called "convenience items" Like for example. When you put the car in park and take the key out the door does not automatically unlock like it use too... It's funny because back in the 70's computers and all of these things were supposed to make our lives easier. Instead people have less time then ever before. Like on the news during Christmas there was this lady who started up her own business to buy presents for people who could not do their own shopping because they were too busy!?!? How dumb is that!
I think ABS is useless anyway all you have to do is not panic and thresh hold break and you'll stop in time. If you try slamming on the breaks you'll end up in someone’s trunk for sure. |
| Aaron Cake |
Posted - Jan 04 2007 : 09:05:27 AM
Bare bones is the only way to go. No useless stuff like ABS, automatic butt warmers, power everything, etc. |
| cyclopsitis |
Posted - Jan 03 2007 : 6:36:50 PM
My parents got a new Malibu so that was sweet because it has power door locks and remote key-less entry haha if you have ever driven a tempo or a topaz they come beare bones and convience is nice :D so I didnt mind it all!
talk to you later Mick |
| MC BOB |
Posted - Jan 02 2007 : 7:47:26 PM
Man, you should've sued the service place for damages or gotten your money back. That's just low as man. At least you had an excuse to get a new car!
Cheers,
Mick |
| cyclopsitis |
Posted - Jan 02 2007 : 10:13:55 AM
yeah no kidding, My parents use to have a Ford Topaz or Temp... whatever it was it was a crap car! Anyway it had just been serviced a few days before I was driving it to Hamilton Ontario. About 40 min into the drive the car started to make a clanking sound and was running really rough. I kept on going until I came to a gas station with a service center. The guys heard the car and they were puzzled at first. I told them it was just serviced and that it should be fine. We took a look under the hood and took out the dip stick and found there was no oil in it. It took almost 5 bottles (to the best of my memory) to top it up. I went to the place I originally had it service at and when they looked at their records they did an oil change but forgot to put oil in it after they drained it. Needless to say the car did not sound the same ever again and died a short time later... We had a funeral for the 14 year old ugly crap car... it was sad... NOT! |
| Aaron Cake |
Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 4:08:16 PM
I think you'll find that any engine will die a quick death if you deprive it of oil.  |
| cirvin |
Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 1:39:00 PM
Egads!
It seems to me that these engines can be damaged rather easily, though they never seem to completely die... |
| Aaron Cake |
Posted - Jan 01 2007 : 12:07:57 PM
Tantalums have a habit of exploding much easier then regular electrolytics...
Here's an explosion of a different kind...well, an explosion that could have happened.
On Saturday a friend and I disassembled the 13B turbo rotary engine from his '88 RX-7. It was not actually blown up but several....mishaps....had caused a crack in the rear at the point the oil pressure sender screws in. This meant an enormous oil leak which he and I, as well as a professional welder, had tried to weld up several times. Unfortunately due to the difficulty in accessing the location as well as the challenge of welding on oil soaked cast iron, it didn't work. The only choice was to rebuild the engine.
Disassembly went fine until I took a look at the bearings. I was shocked to find out that they looked like the attached image. Now to everyone who is not familiar with the rotary, those bearings are in the stationary gears that support the entire rotating assembly. The bearings should be perfectly smooth as one would normally expect from a bearing. These however have clearly been eaten away. It looks like due to all the welding and messing about the oil passages, a significant amount of grit got into the engine and the oil passage was restricted at some point (it was continually being welded, ground down, welded again, etc.). This caused oil starvation and ate away at the bearings. The eccentric shaft (which passes through those bearings) is also deeply scored and must be replaced.
Download Attachment:  Front Stationary Bearing Damage 1.jpg
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Download Attachment: Front Stationary Bearing Damage 2.jpg
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Download Attachment: Rear Stationary Bearing Damage 1.jpg
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Download Attachment: Rotor Bearing and Eccentric Damage.jpg
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It could have been much worse if the car was being driven in it's current condition. The engine would have soon seized solid basically destroying the rotating assembly. The last engine I dealt with that had oiling problems required three of us with pry bars and a torch to disassemble, and replacement of every part of the rotating assembly. |
| MC BOB |
Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 8:47:48 PM
Tantalum Capacitors? I'm guessing they are big, but what are they?
Cheers,
Mick |
| SpaceBison |
Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 07:44:00 AM
Two words: tantalum capacitors
Fun times. |
| MC BOB |
Posted - Dec 30 2006 : 5:23:25 PM
Yeah, us Aussie's pack a punch...............Though, if you look at it, our power hurts more because of high voltage, but our standard current is only 10 amps. Your power kills more, 'cause don't you guys push 15 or 20 amps through normal power circuits? Wouldn't get me sticking a fork in the toaster in the USA.....
Cheers,
Mick |
| cyclopsitis |
Posted - Dec 26 2006 : 2:52:54 PM
Nice!! haha ever electronics person I know has stories like this.. Its amazing we are not all dead. I didnt know aussie power was 240 either... cool!
K |
| MC BOB |
Posted - Dec 26 2006 : 03:07:20 AM
HAHA! Ah, electric shocks are fun, aren't they.......sarcasm....
I was repairing a smoke machine for a friend. It turned out to be a clogged heating block, which is frustrating to fix. So there I was, using some wire to bypass the little thermal switch to get the thing to pump at low temperature. I happened to get hungry, so off came the rubber soled boots so I can go into the house. Whilst eating, I had a brainwave of how to fix the blasted thing, so out I ran to try it out. Plugged it in, switched it on and ZAP!!! The full 240V Aussie power went zapping through my body. Lying back in the chair wondering what the hell just happened, I came to realise that in my rush to try my new idea, I forgot my rubber boots......
Cheers,
Mick |
| cyclopsitis |
Posted - Dec 25 2006 : 5:29:02 PM
quote:
Originally posted by sergiosparks
I was happilly repairing my T.V.and finished it
and was horrified too late that it was plugged
all the time..that good time to go to say thank's God even if is not Fryday.
Kind of similar story. It has nothing to do with exploding things but one time i was working on a fender tube amp. The problem was that the speaker jack had become loose and shorted out the output stage of the amp. Destroyed everything from the preamp onward. The guy had deep pockets and just wanted it fixed so I removed the burnt circuit board and wired it point to point by hand. I tested it and it had a hum problem. I narrowed it down to one of the out put tube grids. I took to tubes out again to fix it and while talking to a friend I fixed my problems and tried to test the amp again. I forgot to put the tubes back in and I was wondering why there was no sound. I accidentally touched a part of the output section and had 300 and some volts DC go through my hand and out of my foot. The funny part is that I was holding the stupid tubes in my hands and when I flew back they flew with me and broke. It was $200 in tubes, tools, and of course my pride LOL. I think that is my worst ever stupid moment! I only wish it was in front of no one! |
| MC BOB |
Posted - Mar 09 2006 : 03:25:31 AM
Alessandro, I live in Fairfield Waters, and thank god for Air-Con. If you live in Townsville with no Air-Con, you deserve to die of heat exhaustion. Where do you live Alessandro?
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