Well done.

I know these things take time to get approved.

DAB

Mike - that  fix on the UPS is amazing!!!!!!!!

Neil

Yes, I agree with you Dubbie, things happen that are still unexplainable for science, for example, have you noticed how with a couple of well-given shots to the TV remote control you can charge the batteries? ... I haven't bought any batteries for 10 years, unfortunately the remote control has some bumps ...

Carlo

Carlo,

I'm not sure it was the cleaning that fixed it, everyone knows that a sharp bang/tap or thump with a hammer fixes most electronics objects. I have tried and tested this method for many years and found it (almost) infallible. Plus, no special tools required.

Dubbie

Now for the fail.  Got a Sony 42" LCD TV with a picture problem from my boss.  A used video board on eBay isn't that expensive.  I'll give it a try.  Hey. it works!  I put the TV back together.  Set it on the floor.  Turn.  Trip.  Kick the TV.  Now it has a 12" blooming crack in the lower left corner.     Rimshot, please.

My best electronics "repair" involved a mobile mammography trailer.  This particular hospital owned two and the older one worked flawlessly.  The newer one... not so much when it ran on generator.  The voltage was either too high or too low for the UPSs (two) - causing the units to trip offline and forcing the mammograph to have to be reset and recalibrated - multiple times a day.  You can imagine the havoc that this caused with the scheduling.

The hospital forced the trailer manufacturer to replace the generator - and experienced the same issues as with the first generator.  Both generators made solid 240VAC at 60.0Hz to 60.2Hz.  This was within acceptable limits for the UPSs.

The hospital was furious so I volunteered to help repair the relationship.

Long to short, it was a power quality issue caused by the UPS units.  The harmonics were causing a phase shift in what should have been split-phase 240v.  Why did the old trailer work?  Incandescent lighting.  The new trailer had LED lighting.  The solution?  Two 500w halogen work lights.

Just this past Summer, I was able to put this solution to work again on a mobile LED movie trailer.  They couldn't get the unit above 75% brightness without it freaking out.  One $20, 1500w milk house heater later and the system goes to 100% output with not even a flicker.

Thanks!

I now have five patents, although I really feel that my work on this project while creative is not really worthy of being listed as an inventor. My role was more of an implementer and less as an inventor.

genebren  wrote:

 

Side note:  about a month ago, out of the blue, I was notified that my recent patent was approved.  This client (which I had not heard a peep from in the past 18 months) had named me as a co-inventor on a patent for his product (still not shipping).

That's awesome! Congratulations, Gene!

Also very legit of the client to include you in the patent

My side job during my retirement has been as a consultant, developing prototypes (hardware/firmware) for my clients.  I had one client that wanted to build a prototype for a medical product in which he intended to use multiple lab power supplies to 'tune' his product.  In his write-up he showed three different power supplies attached to the prototype to set the drive voltages for a piezo transducer.  During my initial write-up/quote, I suggested building in a couple of adjustable power sources that were adjustable step-up converter, using the USB input as a source.  He initially thought that this was too much complexity to build into his project and that it would cost too much.  I did a quick break down of the quote and explained that the total cost per unit (parts) was less the $15.00 and that the incremental cost in my quote (labor) was less than $100.00.  He immediately agreed to the changes, after he found out that the cost of the multiple power supplies (plus control boards and software) was over $750.00.  The delivered prototypes ran great, and he even decided to keep the variable power supplies in his final product, as it would allow him to 'tweak' units as necessary during final assembly and testing.

Side note:  about a month ago, out of the blue, I was notified that my recent patent was approved.  This client (which I had not heard a peep from in the past 18 months) had named me as a co-inventor on a patent for his product (still not shipping).

Since I was a child I have always tried to repair broken electrical or electronic objects, from tube televisions to amplifiers or car radios. The results were almost always disappointing but this way I always had recycled electronics for my lab!

The most important repair I think I did in a company where I worked years ago.

The tape backup drive where we did the daily website and email backups had failed. It was an HP tape library worth several thousand euros.

While the purchasing department was looking for a new one to replace it with the utmost urgency, crying for the expense to be incurred, my curiosity prompted me to "see" the fault. In reality I was very curious to see this splendid machine that I had always seen inside a rack and had never taken apart (taking things apart is one of my fixations ...)

Opening the top panel was great, it was a really gorgeous, beautiful device!

A mix of top-level electronics and precision mechanics. Seeing the tapes and sleds used to move them up to the heads was a dream.

I went back to being a child and I thought about the opening theme of a Japanese cartoon in which the robot pilot arrived at the cockpit after a journey made of shifts, rotations and other movements.

It must have been my admiring glances or the cleaning I did to the slides and gears but, as soon as the panel was closed, the tape library started working again and even today, after years, it still does its job.

Carlo