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  1. alfa88

    non conductive adhesive choices

    You're asking for trouble using the general purpose silicon. The type they use for fish tanks is safe.
  2. alfa88

    I'm serious!

    Ask Santa for a temperature controlled model this year.
  3. alfa88

    Buying stuff from China.

    You did okay. I've gotten components that were supposed to be new but were scorched or green with corrosion and out of spec. I'll never learn. Some wall warts I got were shockingly (no pun intended) of inferior quality. It seems like most electronics stuff is made in China so what are we to do?
  4. alfa88

    some damaged gadget chargers

    Take a good close look at the traces for opens and bad solder joints. Otherwise the power transistor might be blown. Again, if you're lucky there is a standard part number on it. The sparking is sort of a good sign. Indicating the transformer is doing it's thing. It doesn't look overheated. A...
  5. alfa88

    What is this??

    Why do you need replacements? The pic shows an apparently healthy part. If, in fact, the inductor is bad it looks like you could rewind the coil with the same diameter magnet wire with the same number of windings wound in the same direction and recovered with shrink tubing. Just a thought.
  6. alfa88

    Looking for easy Breadboard projects

    I made some demo projects for a teacher last year using those clips. Retro-tech still works pretty good. The reason I mentioned them is that those '101' kits use springs or some propitiatory scheme for connections.
  7. alfa88

    Looking for easy Breadboard projects

    I think the easiest solution would be to go to a local electronics store and pick up a '101 electronics projects' and skip towards the end to find something interesting. Then, if you have to make several, use Fanstock clips on boards and order more parts.
  8. alfa88

    Problem Tinnning Very Small Stranded Wire

    Wire wrap wire (coated 30 AWG solid core tinned copper) works for me most of the time for this kind of thing
  9. alfa88

    Help identifying this fuse please....

    I never knew about the 'T' designation. Those darn details get me everytime.
  10. alfa88

    Help identifying this fuse please....

    It looks like a regular 5A/20V fast blow to me. A thermal fuse, I would imagine, would have temperature specs printed somewhere. Be on the lookout for bulged electrolytics.
  11. alfa88

    some damaged gadget chargers

    Bad capacitors. Primarily the ones with domed tops. The electrolyte boiled and puffed up the can. If you're lucky nothing else went bad and replacing the capacitors will do the trick
  12. alfa88

    Zener Diode ID & Specs help needed.

    The lazy man's answer: Mouser has a 7.5V@5W Zener and it's pretty darned inexpensive
  13. alfa88

    Help with a circuit question

    Why not lay it out on a protoboard and end the argument with yourself?
  14. alfa88

    Electromagnet and Quarters

    Question: Does a magnet show attraction to the coin? My only experience with a Canadian 25 cent piece is annoyance (no offense intended) of them being rejected in a US coin slot.
  15. alfa88

    Microscope cable

    Flexible Flat Cable maybe? Not sure if this would work but maybe use a section of old floppy drive/ hard drive cable?
  16. alfa88

    De-soldering wick, pump, or gun type?

    Boards are made from either fiberglass or phenolic. Both materials hold up to high temps pretty well but will burn if you hold the iron in the same spot too long. Before that happens the glue holding the trace to the board will fail. The idea is to be quick and gentle when soldering and desoldering.
  17. alfa88

    Panel meters.

    If you bought the meters that were specifically specified for said ranges they should already be set up.
  18. alfa88

    Blown Capacitor on Washing Machine Board

    Hats off to V1. It did what it was supposed to do and gave it's life so we wouldn't see a total meltdown.
  19. alfa88

    computer not booting

    RIP, you are not alone. A strange thing is that last weekend my spare computer started exhibiting similar behavior. Turned out to be a sick hard drive.
  20. alfa88

    LEDs in glass rocks

    A word of caution on selecting silicon. Alot of readily available formulations use acidic acid and will eat up the copper leads. Use a formulation that's safe for aquariums.
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