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RE: Brother CE-650/EM-411/Xerox Memowriter Electronic Typewriter Teardown

mroggi — Mon, 08 May 2023 14:46:45 GMT

Hi, any update on the proprietary interface of the Brother-CE550? I would be very interested to learn if you have been able to connect to the interface in any way. Thanks, Matthias

RE: Dishwasher Fault Finding and Repair

dang74 — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 16:25:33 GMT

It's always rewarding to fix something. I like the 'teaser' at the end when you suggest the possibility to change out the dish washer's stock electronic controller with a custom design instead.

RE: Dishwasher Fault Finding and Repair

DAB — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 18:55:43 GMT

Good investigation to find the problem.

It is always a challenge to find out what a device should do verses what it is failing to do.

RE: A Beginners Experience With Epoxy Resin

shabaz — Sun, 29 May 2022 14:45:45 GMT

Nice results!

The polishing compound worked really well, as you demonstrated with the T-Cut. It's also possible to use a large polishing wheel (it's possible to stick that in a drill, provided the drill can spin at high speed), along with a polishing block material.

I've always found epoxy resin tricky, there's always something unexpected, e.g. an accidental leak in the mould material, or epoxy resin traveling in places it shouldn't, due to forgetting to seal parts, or capillary action (e.g. on bundles of wires that may be coming out of the mould).

Another cool thing is to try tinting the resin (it's possible to make it cloudy, or of different colours, depending on the requirement).

RE: Brother CE-650/EM-411/Xerox Memowriter Electronic Typewriter Teardown

shabaz — Sun, 08 May 2022 16:14:10 GMT

Nice find!

I believe a lot of office machines were really well made, they were pricey and often with rental or maintenance contracts, so calling out a repair guy was undesirable!

RE: Brother CE-650/EM-411/Xerox Memowriter Electronic Typewriter Teardown

beacon_dave — Sun, 08 May 2022 10:45:07 GMT

The IF-60 interface appears to have been used on at least two other typewriter models, the Brother Pro 440 and the the Brother AX-20.

If you can find documentation for either of these models then it could help.

Here is a video of the IF-60 in use with the Pro 440:

Brother Pro 440 Typewriter and IF-60 PC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJFxAhEMkHQ

RE: Brother CE-650/EM-411/Xerox Memowriter Electronic Typewriter Teardown

mayermakes — Sun, 08 May 2022 10:33:45 GMT

thank you very much for this blog post, it is very interesting to see the inner workings, If I would come across a similar typewriter now , i be much more confident in using it for a project!

RE: A Beginners Experience With Epoxy Resin

kmikemoo — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 15:30:32 GMT

That looks amazing. Thanks for sharing the process. Very helpful.

RE: A Beginners Experience With Epoxy Resin

colporteur — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 15:25:21 GMT

Model railroaders use resin to simulate lakes and rivers. You might want to look at links in that hobby to solve the bubbles in the pour. They know doubt have other tips for working with the material. Might even have an inexpensive supply.

RE: A Beginners Experience With Epoxy Resin

mayermakes — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 13:31:46 GMT

oh that looks smooth!

RE: The Electronics Inside - What Would be Your Dream Teardown?

colporteur — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 23:21:34 GMT

I would prefer a tear down of something I actually have knowledge about. "Hey there is the...." Tearing down sfuff I have no background on is just a task to make room for new stuff.

When I worked for a national telco, tear downs were only done if the space was needed. Tax rules didn't permit claiming the expense of tear downs if it didn't directly relate to the project. The bean counters would not permit just cleanups for the sake of cleanup. I walked around a few racks of abandoned, obsolete equipment because it couldn't be cost justified.

RE: The Electronics Inside - What Would be Your Dream Teardown?

dougw — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 14:07:49 GMT

How about reverse engineering a game controller with enough detail that members could build a custom controller from the info.

RE: The Electronics Inside - What Would be Your Dream Teardown?

xxdeltaxx — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 21:35:41 GMT

Hi, just wondering if you may be interested in an old Alienware monitor? (AW2310)

About a month ago it stopped working after a great number of years of use - it was still detected by the PC, but the screen wouldn't turn on; it doesn't have physical buttons, so I couldn't try any of the recommended Dell / Alienware techniques to try to prompt it to reset / clear the problem... it might just be dead.

I did try looking for any signs of damage and / or replacement parts, but a second problem arose when I opened it up - the insulation on some of the display cables is falling off. I did try looking for replacements, but can't find anything.

It was a great monitor, and the reviews for it were / still are pretty positive, so sending it to the recycling pile in the sky is a bit sad - be nice if someone gets a use out of it.

RE: The Electronics Inside - What Would be Your Dream Teardown?

azurejf — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 10:59:27 GMT

I would like to see a good teardown and analysis of a Metcal RF Soldering Station

RE: The Electronics Inside - What Would be Your Dream Teardown?

mayermakes — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 13:31:09 GMT

While I would love to see what makes an IBM tapedrive work, I'd also besitant to damage it. So I vote for an electric vehicle