Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Fun With TE: 101 Misuses for a Hot Air Rework Station

   

So... when the HVLP I bought off Amazon turned out to be made of utterly unmitigated craptonium, I decided to push through the achilles tendonitis misery and went to the Horror Fraught recently opened aboot 8 minutes from home to get the $16 prrple one I know works halfway decent. While I was there I picked this up; part of a automatic tank drain kit I plan to install on the compressor, and while I was fiddling with it on the bench I noticed the handle just kept spinning on the valve; useless.

For this sort of tinkery, usually I'd just grab my butane torch or even my bigger Berzomatic; but of course, couldn't lay paws on fuel for either. 

But wait... can I maybe get enough heat out of my 30 dollah 858D cheap Chinesium hot air rework station to sweat that thumbscrew back together...?



The answer is a unqualified yes. Hadda crank it up to 450°, but it heated that big mass of brass up in about 90 seconds; more than hot enough for the acid flux I keep for this kind of work, and the solder wicked in slick as buttered tile. 

I wonder what else I can misuse that thing for...   

mnem
you may now torment me with your favorite "what, no dwagon-fire?" jokes...

[mnementh]

LOL! I didn't know Ferengi had been verbed. I like it.

This might help explain another use of Ferengi, I have to admit I had been endeavouring to work it myself and then suddenly I stumbled this site https://medium.com/@bluecrescent/the-ferengi-rules-of-aquisition-bd8b926d96cc

Yeah, they stole that list from Memory Alpha, and then polluted it with politics. Ugggh. 

mnem
there's also a CCG for the real Trekkies...   

My bad, never really got into Star Trek, seen a bit here and there and that's it... I know, I'll get my coat and see myself out......

      Here ya go; what's yer hurry...? 

Don't worry aboot it. Only hardcore SciFi nerds even know aboot Memory Alpha; while trekkers (fans of the show) and trekkies (those fans who have a need to become the show) would never consider quoting any other source for something so Trek mainstream, most of us won't hold it against ya for not knowing.

It was the "polluted with politics" part that made me go "uggghh..."   

mnem
*toddles off to spray sumthin'*

[mansaxel]

But wait... can I maybe get enough heat out of my 30 dollah 858D cheap Chinesium hot air rework station to sweat that thumbscrew back together...?

I keep a 250W unregulated soldering iron for these things, if ICBA to fire up the blowtorch, and since it's a vintage kerosene one, with 3-step startup procedure consisting of alcohol pre-pre-heat, small blowtorch pre-heat, LARGE torch heat-heat, the threshold for running it is pretty high.

[Cerebus]

Ha! We used to have two of those at home. To say they are fussy to get going is like saying a prog-rock band's rider was undemanding. The worst mistake you could make was to turn them up too quickly when you'd got to stage 2+, resulting in the flame going out and choking clouds of white kerosene vapour which you then stank of for the rest of the day.

[bd139]

Yeah horrible things. TBH as I lost my craft heat gun the last time I did heat shrink I used my trangia burner. It stank of meths for a couple of days. I’m sure that couldn’t put out enough energy to melt anything though as it takes two hours to cook some beans 

[mnementh]

But wait... can I maybe get enough heat out of my 30 dollah 858D cheap Chinesium hot air rework station to sweat that thumbscrew back together...?

I keep a 250W unregulated soldering iron for these things, if ICBA to fire up the blowtorch, and since it's a vintage kerosene one, with 3-step startup procedure consisting of alcohol pre-pre-heat, small blowtorch pre-heat, LARGE torch heat-heat, the threshold for running it is pretty high.

Yeah, the problem with a large iron is the threads. My GT7 would do it, but there's no way to not get 3-4 threads contaminated with solder. I wanted to put the solder just there at the joint, not on the visible side of the thumbscrew and not enough to clog the threads. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

All cleaned and assembled. Took ~20 minutes; I so should've just done this in the first place. 




This is something I can work with... I dunno what I was thinking even looking at a gun without a separate pattern knob.

Hmmmm...

I have this strange urge... to paint something blue. med, have you been sneaking over here and peeing in my iced tea...?   

mnem
*hides all the rope just to be on the safe side*

[Specmaster]

Yeah horrible things. TBH as I lost my craft heat gun the last time I did heat shrink I used my trangia burner. It stank of meths for a couple of days. I’m sure that couldn’t put out enough energy to melt anything though as it takes two hours to cook some beans 

I use my hot air station for heat shrink as well, I also have a heat gun for paint stripping which does a pretty mean job on large heat shrink.

[themadhippy]

To say they are fussy to get going is like saying a prog-rock band's rider was undemanding

Really ?think the most demanding rider for prog ive had to deal with was a di  for electric spoons

[mnementh]

That's a good question for the group... How much dragon-fire do you keep on tap?

Soldering stations, any kind of jet-flame type torch (no, not flashlights you scone-eaters), hot air guns including hot air rework...?

On my bench right now I have 2 Hot-air rework, a big paint-stripper heat gun, my Ungar heat-shrink tubing gun, and the cheapie cylindrical hot air gun I bought to get by with in Canuckistan. I have My Aoyue soldering station (also Hot air rework #2), my T12-OLED station, my Metcal, my Weller GT7 in a drawer under the bench, a couple-three Bernzomatic propane and one of their oxy-propane torches, and a couple butane crack-pipe torches. That I know of right now.

I know I have a bin in back of the racks full of soldering iron bits; doubtless enough to make 2 more, plus there's my old Weller WTCPN, my old ATTEN, and at least a couple Radidio Shack type firestarters for travel. I would literally have to open up at least 3 bins and rummage to get a accurate count. 

I also have squirreled away ~90% of my once daily-driver Smiths Oxy-acetylene torches, but they needs new hoses and I can't find the threaded collar for the brazing tips. Prolly need the regs rebuilt by now.

mnem

[Cerebus]

To say they are fussy to get going is like saying a prog-rock band's rider was undemanding

Really ?think the most demanding rider for prog ive had to deal with was a di  for electric spoons

I wish I'd kept my collection of paperwork from my live days, there's a lot of amusement to be had from how ridiculous some riders were. e.g. Yes demanding separate limousines from the airport for each member of the band - I guess they weren't talking to each other the week that rider got drawn up. Excessive food and drink demands were routine, masseurs, doctors and hairdressers on standby weren't unusual. The list goes on. I never saw a rider for ELP but they were rumoured to contain demands of legendary extravagance.

Electric spoons sounds more like Fred Wedlock than prog.

[Zoli]

LOL! I didn't know Ferengi had been verbed. I like it.

In which way: financial or earlobe way? 

[tautech]

That's a good question for the group... How much dragon-fire do you keep on tap?

Soldering stations, any kind of jet-flame type torch (no, not flashlights you scone-eaters), hot air guns including hot air rework...?

On my bench right now I have 2 Hot-air rework, a big paint-stripper heat gun, my Ungar heat-shrink tubing gun, and the cheapie cylindrical hot air gun I bought to get by with in Canuckistan. I have My Aoyue soldering station (also Hot air rework #2), my T12-OLED station, my Metcal, my Weller GT7 in a drawer under the bench, a couple-three Bernzomatic propane and one of their oxy-propane torches, and a couple butane crack-pipe torches. That I know of right now.

I know I have a bin in back of the racks full of soldering iron bits; doubtless enough to make 2 more, plus there's my old Weller WTCPN, my old ATTEN, and at least a couple Radidio Shack type firestarters for travel. I would literally have to open up at least 3 bins and rummage to get a accurate count. 

I also have squirreled away ~90% of my once daily-driver Smiths Oxy-acetylene torches, but they needs new hoses and I can't find the threaded sleeve for the brazing tips. Prolly need the regs rebuilt by now.

mnem

Very nice but beginning to think you're just a token dwagon without much in the fire breathing basket at all. 

Not even bothering to show the Oxy set just one of the LPG kits we have, the unconnected flame thrower and its larger tip is what vinyl and BUTYNOL layers use for thermal forming.
The little handle gets most use here however after captures of wild hogs the big torch tips come into their own for singeing the hair off them prior to processing for the freezer.

Never seen a shrink sleeve so large we can't handle. 

[mnementh]

Ohh, fudge... I forgot aboot the rosebud. There should be one o' dem in the same bin as my Smiths. That was forgotten in my driveway by roadcrew in Houston.  Looks like yer big 'un only on the end of a 3-foot wand. You know, for when your marshmallows are all the way over there...

mnem
One of these days I'll need to tell you aboot the fire-breathing dragon I did for Trunk-or-Treat when the boi was 6...

[mnementh]

   Jeebus... is there anybody left selling on fleaBay who isn't a complete muppet...?

I just had to poke this seller with the PM stick because 10 days after I paid, it is supposed to be delivered no later than tomorrow, yet still only shows "Label Created" and not in FEDEX possession.   Do they really think nobody is gonna click on the TRACK PACKAGE button...?   mnem   fleaBay: all they actually have now is fleas.

I finally have a delivery date from FEDEX after it spent a day and a half in "damifino where it is" limbo somewhere within in a 6 mile stretch of I-84. I suspect the truck broke down. 

So, maybe some TE joy tomorrow... almost 2 weeks after it was aspoda be here. 

mnem

[med6753]

Shed load of old 'scopes anyone?
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204058466649
£300

If that were here they would already be gone. And I would have to move to a bigger place. 

[bitseeker]

LOL! I didn't know Ferengi had been verbed. I like it.

In which way: financial or earlobe way? 

LOL! The shrewd merchant way.

[tautech]

Be afraid.....tautech has wielded the soldering iron today and made a VNA SMD test fixture inspired by Chris Grossman's video testing components with his SVA1015X.
As I had plenty of SMA>PCB fittings, veroboard and some SIL turned pin sockets I made it a little different to his so to do without one SMD cable and it swept S21 ~7dB high in places and nulled out just fine with a Through Cal.
The furthermost right turned pin is the coax center conductor while all those to the left are connected to the braid and a # are used so to be able to match most components you might like to sweep.

Not played with it much just yet as need to dig out a few more caps and crystals and although we do have a pile of pretty cool toys I'm pretty green at this.

[bitseeker]

That's a good question for the group... How much dragon-fire do you keep on tap?

Soldering stations, any kind of jet-flame type torch (no, not flashlights you scone-eaters), hot air guns including hot air rework...?

Not a lot. I'm no dwagon. Hakko 926. No-name combo hot air and iron. Pace MP-1 desoldering station. And a Weller 8200 (yeah, the big black phaser-looking one ).

[Saskia]

Hakko FX 951 (but that is technically already ferengied)
Hakko FM-202
Hakko FM-2024 w/ handpiece
Hakko FM-2027
Hakko FM-2032
Weller WD1M / WMRP, WMRT, 80, 150W handpiece
Metcal
TS-100
Quick 861 DW
Hakko GT-5150
Atten 862 (held for the lover of bat shit crazy red heads)
2 handheld butane blowtorches
1 larger handheld butane blowtorch w/ 11 kg can ...
assorted "to not look into w/ remaining eye) gizmos
chinese Hakko T12 knock off

[vk6zgo]

am gonna name mine ethel.

It will obviously need a genus in Latin.

although i appreciate the suggestions.......was actually going for a different ethel.

as in "fred and ethel".   (maybe my ass is just too old?)

I picked up on it, and immediately thought of finding two pieces of gear to name Ricky and Lucy, but was too lazy to do so.

-Pat

Maybe it's just me, but I have never had the urge to name inanimate objects.  Mrs GreyWoolfe on the other hand, loves naming things.  Her personal protection items, her car (thankfully, not mine) and the new tree we just planted in the front yard.  Back before Mrs GreyWoolfe came along, I had a female friend who used to name my cars.  I had a white Chevy she named ghost and an old tan convertible she named Costello.  I asked why and she just said the name fits.

Only ever named one car and that was almost inevitable, the registration mark began OSR, which to all us used to rattling off that sort of thing in the NATO phonetic alphabet becomes "Oscar Sierra Romeo", and Oscar sounds vaguely like someone with a Midlands accent  saying "our car" ("Uz car") so "Oscar" just stuck.

Our car rego begins "1ASP"so it, inevitably, became known as "the Asp"!

[Saskia]

spare STTNG Alpha ramp received (150€) ... now waiting for ramp protectors and replacements for broken plastics before I can continue.

[bd139]

Be afraid.....tautech has wielded the soldering iron today and made a VNA SMD test fixture inspired by Chris Grossman's video testing components with his SVA1015X.
As I had plenty of SMA>PCB fittings, veroboard and some SIL turned pin sockets I made it a little different to his so to do without one SMD cable and it swept S21 ~7dB high in places and nulled out just fine with a Through Cal.
The furthermost right turned pin is the coax center conductor while all those to the left are connected to the braid and a # are used so to be able to match most components you might like to sweep.

Not played with it much just yet as need to dig out a few more caps and crystals and although we do have a pile of pretty cool toys I'm pretty green at this.

Interested to see what happens when you poke a crystal in it 

I’d love to see an S21 sweep of a crystal with 1Hz span.

[BU508A]

Before we got our first real espresso machine, we had a Bialetti coffee maker (the kind you put on the hob) known as Theresa. As in "Could you please ask Theresa to make us some coffee?"

Words of wisdom:
"Never yawn in the presence of a coffee machine. They sense this and first make you fill up and descale everything possible."

Wondering, which sensors they are using for sensing a yawn ...

[bd139]

Before we got our first real espresso machine, we had a Bialetti coffee maker (the kind you put on the hob) known as Theresa. As in "Could you please ask Theresa to make us some coffee?"

Words of wisdom:
"Never yawn in the presence of a coffee machine. They sense this and first make you fill up and descale everything possible."

Wondering, which sensors they are using for sensing a yawn ...

This discovery lead me to discarding the machine and using a French press. I suspect the sensor is of supernatural origin similar to the fear sensors built into most computers which sense my presence and magically start working again.

The real question is what sensors do tants have which collectively decide on a singular suicide immediate amongst the species after you have closed a case around them?