Entropy

Relax in southern comfort on the east bank of the Mississippi. You're just around the corner from Beale Street and Sun Records. Watch the ducks, throw back a few and tell us what's on your mind.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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Yes based on the definition of "entropy" batteries surely apply.

Speaking of batteries, I purchased new 9V to replace my chirping smoke alarm, but since the cold weather has not returned my old VOM battery I swapped in remains chirpless and my new 9V batteries remain unpacked.

JR
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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Gold wrote:I put a two micron water filter made by 3M on the well. It only has enough throughput for a sink. Whole house filters were all five micron and up. Everything I read said that a UV stage wasn't necessary for well water, but I don't really know. Perhaps I should bring a microscope to look for critters? The well water tastes fantastic. It's actually the best water I've tasted. We are using bottled water this winter because I didn't drain the system in October. When we cam in November everything was frozen. We are burying pipes in the spring so it should be good for next winter.
It looks like I now have a spare UV filter. It looks like the replacement bulb the water filter guys sell now is a complete assembly including the starter (around $25). The first time my UV bulb burned out (they only estimate 1 year lamp life) I ordered a bulb replacement and they just sent me a bare bulb (I had to solder it in myself). Since I could buy these lamps elsewhere for a fraction of the cost I just did that for several years, until this last time when the new bulb didn't fix it.

Since I have been unable to source a loose starter that looks like the original bulb in series I have ordered a couple can starters, that I bet have a bulb inside when I take them apart... I believe the real starters have a bulb and a cap across it to damp noise.

We'll see, I have can starters on order. Not sure what to do with a second UV water filter if/when I get it working. Perhaps I could put two in series for marginally more effective germicidal action (2x the UVc exposure time).

JR
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Re: Entropy

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Well my cheap chinese can fluorescent starters arrived today. I took one apart and sure enough there was a bulb inside with a cap across the bulb. Wired in place of the old burned out starter bulb and presto the my UV fluorescent lamp now starts.... :D

The new starter bulb is about 2x the size of the old one, so will be a tight fit inside the filter housing.

Now I have a spare working UVc filter... I'm set the next time the bulb (or starter) fails. (only expect 1 year).

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

The Neon bulb inside the starter is a snubber isn't it?
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Re: Entropy

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mediatechnology wrote:The Neon bulb inside the starter is a snubber isn't it?
I have heard of snubber circuits with LED lighting, this bulb starter seems unique to fluorescent lamp starters.

The "glow igniters" are filled with inert gas ( neon, argon, helium), a bimetallic switch that is normally open serve as electrodes to light up at first, but after that warms up the bimetallic contacts they short together and pass a full current pulse to the fluorescent lamp to start it. After the lamp starts conducting the glow lamp stays dark and the bimetallic switch returns to its normally open state.

Knowing how these starters work now, it is logical they they too would fail over time, but in my application they are rarely cycled and run 24x7.

https://www.osram.com/media/resource/hi ... tarter.pdf

this link above has a good description of how they work...

JR

PS: The cap across the glow starter is reportedly to prevent RF but might help switch contact life...(like a cap across ignition points).
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Re: Entropy

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OK this episode of Entropy should be called, "Don't try this at home"....

Last night after a full day of yard work and a couple beers I sat down to watch a movie... I watch a lot of old movies from 30s-40s so often there is squat for rear channel content but the movie last night was from 2014 so I looked for another reason. The power LED on the amp driving the two surround speakers was dark... So I checked the obvious suspects, power switch on, plugged in etc... no love that easy.

The cheap amp was not very old, so I disconnected it and carried it to my bench. I tried to remove the fuse, but the whole fuse holder turned (not good). It took exactly 8 screws to remove the metal amp top cover. Grabbing the fuse housing I was able to remove the fuse and determine it was open circuit. It was a modern smaller size fuse than I was familiar with so of course I didn't have any spares around.

Looking at the amp OM it said it was a 1.5A fast blow... I doubt the amp draws anywhere near 1.5A (only 10W or so audio output power).

Since I felt like watching the movie with the surround channels working I decided to hot wire the fuse... The smallest strand of wire I could manage was one from inside some stranded 22ga wire. I tack soldered the single filament of copper wire to the outside of the fuse casing and presto the amp fired up and works. Since it didn't get hot or release any smoke I ASSumed the fuse was faulty (it happens) or fault was transient (?).

I watched movies for several house last night without burning my house down... Today I decided to go on the WWW (I love the WWW) and determine how much current my jury rigged fuse would deliver.

It appears my 22ga wire was made from 7 strands of 30ga.... 30ga copper wire has a fuse current of just over 10A. :o :o I think I'll order some replacement fuses today. If i want to be safer while waiting, I can swap my 10a DIY fuse with one from one of the other identical amps, so the suspect amp will have another 1.5A fuse, and a not-suspect amp can rock the 10A fuse. [edit- I swapped the DIY 10A fuse for a good 1.5A fuse from another amp and no complaint. My house should not burn down before my replacement fuses come in... :lol: [/edit]

JR
Last edited by JR. on Sun Apr 02, 2017 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

Was it a GMA size fuse?
Other than my sprinkler system its been awhile since I needed a 3AG-style fuse.

Well at least you didn't wrap the fuse body in Aluminum foil... :shock:
While you were at it did you cut off the third pin on the AC cord? :shock:
That would be consistent with most of the power amp "repairs" I found doing PA work.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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mediatechnology wrote:Was it a GMA size fuse?
Other than my sprinkler system its been awhile since I needed a 3AG-style fuse.
apparently it is a 2AG 5x15mm

bzzt wrong... it's 5mm x 20mm good thing i checked again
Well at least you didn't wrap the fuse body in Aluminum foil... :shock:
While you were at it did you cut off the third pin on the AC cord? :shock:
That would be consistent with most of the power amp "repairs" I found doing PA work.
The amps don't have a ground pin to cut off... :?

Here's a true story about ground pins... I recall being at a huge dealer meeting/seminar last century for our Mexican Peavey dealers down in central Mexico. They nicknamed the Peavey CS800 "el burro" because it was strong like a mule... :D Regarding the line cord ground pin, that's how dealers could tell if an amplifier in Mexico was brand new or used. If the ground pin was still intact it was new and was never used. :lol:

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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

it's 5mm x 20mm good thing i checked again
A GMA size: http://www.cooperindustries.com/content ... Series.pdf
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Re: Entropy (that was easy)

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After my surround system fuse drama, I noticed that my center channel was lacking in definition. Its using a single coax driver so I feared maybe the tweeter was faulty.. I was going to test it by swapping out for one of my other 5 full range speakers. My first suspicion was that it was somehow connected to my fuse drama but completely different amp.

When I started poking around behind it, I found one of speaker leads was floating loose... I was losing more than definition from the center channel, no center channel at all!

Apparently the speaker lead worked loose from my multiple fiddling around with the backs of the amps. The center channel speaker sits on top of the amp rack so it was moved multiple times.

That was easy... :lol:

JR
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