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The general hardware torture thread

a_unique_person

Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
a_unique_person
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Waiting for the pod bay door to open.
Why should software and customer service afficionados get all the attention. Hardware is worth a big whinge too.


I boughy myself a new six port USB 3 hub with a 2.5 amp power supply. Nothing but problems. I could hook something up and a USB disk just disconnects and reconnects. A camera connects and doesn't work.


I had bought a USB current/voltage monitor and plugged it in.


The voltage would not rise above 4.8V and would drop to 4.2V. No wonder only the miniature keyboar and mouse transmitter worked.


I had a spare power supply and hooked up that instead after hacking the power wires.


Now it works. The other power supply rates itself at up to 4 amps. The voltage now starts at 5.1V and doesn't drop below 4.8V. Things just plug in and work now.


I have read comments about supplied USB power supplies being junk. Now I have had one myself. It was pathetic. Never even supplied 5V at zero load.
 
BigClive on YouTube often tears down things like this. Cheap USB power supplies are often not merely inadequate for the task, but downright dangerous - the worst ones have a direct connection to the mains on the 5V side. It usually tries to be the neutral, but that's a) not guaranteed and b) not safe anyway.

Ikea USB adapters are uniformly good, though. I don't know if they sell standalone 5V supplies.

If you have some sort of multimeter or other tester, it's a good idea to check for continuity between the 5V lines and the plug.
 
Awww, I thought this thread was about using round-the-house hardware for torture...
 
catsmate said:
Awww, I thought this thread was about using round-the-house hardware for torture...
Click to expand...

In theory pretty much everything I have for.use with my 3D Printers would qualify (sharp, hot, pressure, some interesting chemicals) in practice all the pain is self inflicted.
 
P.J. Denyer said:
In theory pretty much everything I have for.use with my 3D Printers would qualify (sharp, hot, pressure, some interesting chemicals) in practice all the pain is self inflicted.
Click to expand...
:D
True. I've had a few solder burns.
 
For me it's normally picking up a lump of plastic before it's cooled, snapping off supports with my bare hands & getting cut or dealing with the hotend while it's hot. Daft corner cutting stuff basically, the serious stuff like ABS fumes & UV resin (I have filament & resin printers) I treat a bit more responsibly! The potentially nastiest was when one of the blades of a cheap pair of snips broke off & litterally pinged off my glasses.
 
catsmate said:
:D
True. I've had a few solder burns.
Click to expand...

As a teenager, I was building a new power supply for my 'base station' CB radio.

It was a hot day and I was working alone, wearing nothing but a pair of football shorts, sitting on the vinyl seats in my caravan.

My dog moved on the floor, and ever so briefly snagged the cable of the soldering iron.

Can you imagine my response as the iron slid across the table, flipped over the edge, heading towards my lap?

I grabbed it mid air, by the barrel.

For weeks I had the nastiest yellow marks across my fingers and palm of my hand, where the soldering iron had burned and melted the skin. At the time, I was quite concerned that it was stuck to my hand, but it actually came off very quickly.

As you can imagine, from that day forward, I've always been careful how I use a soldering iron, and take care to manage cables etc. so that it can't happen again.

It could have been so much worse, but today, I don't even have a hint of a scar to show off.
 
catsmate said:
Awww, I thought this thread was about using round-the-house hardware for torture...
Click to expand...

P.J. Denyer said:
In theory pretty much everything I have for.use with my 3D Printers would qualify (sharp, hot, pressure, some interesting chemicals) in practice all the pain is self inflicted.
Click to expand...

catsmate said:
:D
True. I've had a few solder burns.
Click to expand...

When I read the thread title, my first thought went to tools that punish the user for not showing enough respect.
 
novaphile said:
As a teenager, I was building a new power supply for my 'base station' CB radio.

It was a hot day and I was working alone, wearing nothing but a pair of football shorts, sitting on the vinyl seats in my caravan.

My dog moved on the floor, and ever so briefly snagged the cable of the soldering iron.

Can you imagine my response as the iron slid across the table, flipped over the edge, heading towards my lap?

I grabbed it mid air, by the barrel.

For weeks I had the nastiest yellow marks across my fingers and palm of my hand, where the soldering iron had burned and melted the skin. At the time, I was quite concerned that it was stuck to my hand, but it actually came off very quickly.

As you can imagine, from that day forward, I've always been careful how I use a soldering iron, and take care to manage cables etc. so that it can't happen again.

It could have been so much worse, but today, I don't even have a hint of a scar to show off.
Click to expand...
Not tool related but I once put the pad of my thumb on the hot coil of a car cigarette lighter...

rdaneel said:
When I read the thread title, my first thought went to tools that punish the user for not showing enough respect.
Click to expand...
Well we seem to be heading that way.
 
catsmate said:
Not tool related but I once put the pad of my thumb on the hot coil of a car cigarette lighter...
Click to expand...

I did that too, in the early 70s when we first had a car that came equipped with a cigarette lighter.

Just the once, of course.
 
I’ve mentioned elsewhere how I get anxious watching people doing heavy duty mechanical stuff without adequate precautions. I also get stressed watching some YouTubers solder. I’m not saying I know how to solder: fitting new pickups to my guitars is about my limit. But I do know how not to solder.
 
malbui said:
I’ve mentioned elsewhere how I get anxious watching people doing heavy duty mechanical stuff without adequate precautions. I also get stressed watching some YouTubers solder. I’m not saying I know how to solder: fitting new pickups to my guitars is about my limit. But I do know how not to solder.
Click to expand...

YouTube is very dangerous. You truly have no idea without doing a lot of checking whether the 'tuber has any expertise in anything. When searching how to remove the cover of my outside air conditioner - made of sheet metal - I found one guy doing it wearing sandals and another (claiming to be an air conditioner installer) who had boxed his unit on three sides with about 2" of clearance.

Sturgeon's Law applies. :(
 
novaphile said:
As a teenager, I was building a new power supply for my 'base station' CB radio.

It was a hot day and I was working alone, wearing nothing but a pair of football shorts, sitting on the vinyl seats in my caravan.

My dog moved on the floor, and ever so briefly snagged the cable of the soldering iron.

Can you imagine my response as the iron slid across the table, flipped over the edge, heading towards my lap?

I grabbed it mid air, by the barrel.

For weeks I had the nastiest yellow marks across my fingers and palm of my hand, where the soldering iron had burned and melted the skin. At the time, I was quite concerned that it was stuck to my hand, but it actually came off very quickly.

As you can imagine, from that day forward, I've always been careful how I use a soldering iron, and take care to manage cables etc. so that it can't happen again.

It could have been so much worse, but today, I don't even have a hint of a scar to show off.
Click to expand...

As a teenager I once absentmindedly picked one up like a pen. Very briefly....
 
Ages ago, there was one of the 'cattledogs' or one of the 'teach yourself electronics' books- can't remember if it was DSE, Jaycar, Altronics or Tandy, which had one of the photos showed a young girl, about 10 or so, supposed to be soldering together one of the 'learning kits' and holding the soldering iron barrel, like a pencil...
:jaw-dropp
Given the state of of electronics these days- it was an all too foretelling taste of the future of electronics...
 
Dabop said:
Ages ago, there was one of the 'cattledogs' or one of the 'teach yourself electronics' books- can't remember if it was DSE, Jaycar, Altronics or Tandy, which had one of the photos showed a young girl, about 10 or so, supposed to be soldering together one of the 'learning kits' and holding the soldering iron barrel, like a pencil...
:jaw-dropp
Given the state of of electronics these days- it was an all too foretelling taste of the future of electronics...
Click to expand...

I've noticed recently, that all my irons are at least 40 years old (many are hand-me-downs) and my friends have modern ones that look and work much better. (e.g. no cable on the iron for example, or irons that instantly heat when you press the button).

I may have to upgrade...
 
I got two dating back to the 1980's, a couple of ones from the beginning of the 2000's and one from a few years ago... ranging from a 6w 'soldering pencil' for SMD work, up to the 180w 'monster' I used for automotive work
I was looking at one of those 18650 powered battery electric ones after seeing one on 'Big Clives' channel one time, but for the few times it would be used, haven't bothered (the old butane powered one I got works well enough for the few times I need to do soldering 'out in the field' lol
Been thinking about getting a second 936 iron (the newest one)- only because it is the one I use the most, and its getting to be a pain moving it about on the 'electronics bench'- having one at each end would be easier lol
 
I have a very old Weller which I put together out of spare parts during my technician days back in 1980. Still works perfectly.

I’m using a couple of JBC stations at work, with 210 and 245 heads, for superfine work (VQFN packages). Currently looking around for another one for home use, seems there are quite a few knockoff brands which use the JBC tips, going for around €160.
 
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