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

Post by JR. »

got a replacement fan on order (digikey) so we'll see how long it lasts this time... ordered a ball bearing model, but don't know what the old one was... couldn't get the same exact model but same voltage and similar current.

old fan doesn't feel bad turning it by hand.

JR
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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JR. wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:23 pm OK... New aerator showed up and works perfectly...


JR
I dislike fixing things multiple times.... same sink started smelling bad again... I unscrewed the aerator and put it in a clorox solution... at first not much but about 20 minutes later the solution turned solid black.... I am pretty sure it didn't have a carbon filter inside. I am almost tempted to just leave the aerator off... a little redneck, but will probably smell better, longer.

I am starting to think I need a whole house sediment filter, but those are a PIA too... Here it would probably constantly load up. Reminds me I need to change the filters in my under sink RO unit. I bet the sediment filter is solid red.

From time to time I smell what seems like clorox or something similar from my tap water, so I suspect the town water system, knows they have issues.

JR

PS: I found a several years old water quality report and they list chlorine and TTHM as disinfectant byproducts used for microbe control. :oops:
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

Our water has gotten very bleachy-tasting in Dallas.
We drink bottled water but make coffee with Brita-filtered water.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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mediatechnology wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 2:21 pm Our water has gotten very bleachy-tasting in Dallas.
We drink bottled water but make coffee with Brita-filtered water.
Maybe if they used more bleach in my water supply my faucet aerator wouldn't be smelling so bad.

I installed a RO unit last century and have no regrets. The town water with too much bleach will kill beer yeast so no bueno for home brewing. :o

The coffee nuts claim you need to add some minerals to purified water but nah.... :lol:

JR
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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JR. wrote: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:28 pm got a replacement fan on order (digikey) so we'll see how long it lasts this time... ordered a ball bearing model, but don't know what the old one was... couldn't get the same exact model but same voltage and similar current.

old fan doesn't feel bad turning it by hand.

JR
Replacement fan arrived today and my peltier dehumidifier is back together and in operation.

New ball bearing fan is a bunch quieter... nice. :D

I was pleasantly surprised that when I took it apart the insides were only clogged up with years of light tan/grey dust from near constant operation, and not the telltale black mold that infested my bathroom before. Maybe my low humidity strategy is working. 8-)

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

I opened the case of my bench "test and measurement" PC recently and discovered I had some capacitors to replace.

Two of the really bad ones sit next to the memory and three are sitting next to the graphics connector.
You can see them domed.

I ended up replacing about 10 caps in this machine as well as the original battery.
This motherboard is getting close to 10 years old and for a long time at the other house ran in an un-airconditioned garage.
I used to run Win XP SP3 on this machine for months at a time without reboots.
Before I finally got around to replacing the capacitors I was lucky if it would run 24 hours without locking up.

Image

I have two more motherboards just like this one, running Win 7, and one of them based on visual appearance also needs a recap.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

Good one... I have a very old HP that I still use, that scared me the other day when it wouldn't boot up.

The computer cartel want you to buy new software when you upgrade computers but I'm cheap... (have I mentioned that before?).

Need to open that puppy up and inspect for something obvious. I have bought two newer PCs since then but don't use them as often (different software on each).

JR

PS: It is really nice now that I have my bubblers gas tight. I have two batches of beer brewing right now and I can gauge how finished they are by CO2 pressure in the bubblers.
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

Speaking of gas bubblers I forgot to mention that I recall hearing one of the capacitors pop one day.

We get a lot of dull thuds on the roof when squirrels jump from trees or acorns fall onto the roof but this one had a metallic sound.
It seemed like it either came from my wife's PC or the bench PC and at the time I thought "hmm that's not good."
Both continued to run...
I had forgotten about that episode until I saw the "domed-up" "pooched-out" caps.

Knock on wood hers has no stability issues.
I've got more caps coming in today to do 2 more machines.

I'm likely going to load Ubuntu on the bench machine and dual-boot.
Did that on another legacy XP machine and I haven't looked back yet.

I could try and run T&M under Win 7 but the only license I have left is an OEM and it gets married to the motherboard.
I'd rather use that copy on a new motherboard and I'm not sure that the internal converter I use will run under Win 7.
Plus Win 7 has issues with unexpected sample rate conversion so the SR you think you have may not be the one you're getting.

I'm reminded of Jerry Pournell's "Chaos Manor" as this thread unfolds.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

mediatechnology wrote: Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:29 am Speaking of gas bubblers I forgot to mention that I recall hearing one of the capacitors pop one day.

We get a lot of dull thuds on the roof when squirrels jump from trees or acorns fall onto the roof but this one had a metallic sound.
I've trimmed all the tree branches close enough to my roof for squirrels to jump from. Then I see the suckers climbing down the power line to get onto my roof. :roll:

Since i sealed up my air conditioner housing and the hole in my siding the squirrels used as a door into my attic, the squirrels have been less interested in my roof. :D

Today I did pop one with my BB gun, but I didn't drop him... close enough he did quickly exit the area. :lol:

JR
It seemed like it either came from my wife's PC or the bench PC and at the time I thought "hmm that's not good."
Both continued to run...
I had forgotten about that episode until I saw the "domed-up" "pooched-out" caps.

Knock on wood hers has no stability issues.
I've got more caps coming in today to do 2 more machines.

I'm likely going to load Ubuntu on the bench machine and dual-boot.
Did that on another legacy XP machine and I haven't looked back yet.

I could try and run T&M under Win 7 but the only license I have left is an OEM and it gets married to the motherboard.
I'd rather use that copy on a new motherboard and I'm not sure that the internal converter I use will run under Win 7.
Plus Win 7 has issues with unexpected sample rate conversion so the SR you think you have may not be the one you're getting.

I'm reminded of Jerry Pournell's "Chaos Manor" as this thread unfolds.
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

I ended up getting more capacitors from Mouser to replace ten in each machine.

All three motherboards were purchased at the same time and have been run essentially continuously for just under 10 years.

Two of the machines had identical lot codes.
Of the 20 capacitors removed 6 were bad in one machine and 4 in another.
10 of 20 of the 820 µF caps measured less than 10 µF.
If they looked pooched they were bad.
Flat top ones were all good.

The third motherboard, which had always been used indoors, had a later lot code.
None of the capacitors were pooched in this machine and all of the ten that were replaced measured >700µF.

The garage machine that was not environmentally-controlled had 2 more bad caps than the indoor machine with the same date code.
In this case it looks like environment was less of a factor than the production lot.
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