Glasses manufacturers - a moan.

<MOAN>

I have a moan...

I've been a spectacle wearer for 35 years, and almost every pair I've ever owned has had the same issue... an issue I'm sure many of you can relate to.

There you are, going about your business, then, with no warning ... *thunk*

One of your lenses falls out ...

You pick the lens up, only to find the microscopic screw that held it in has, of course, vanished (or at least, due to your now compromised vision, you can't find it)

Now, I appreciate the need for a fixing to hold the things together. I also appreciate said screw is under a lot of stress, the glasses twisting as you take them on and off, the heating and cooling that goes on etc, so that poor little screw works loose. I get that...





So why in god's name put the screw in from the bottom? Just WHY?

It comes loose, falls out, followed a few seconds later by the lens... 

Why not put it in from the top? It may work loose, but at least it's got less chance of falling out?



Also, have you people never heard of locktight? Boeing have been gluing aeroplane wings on for years... can you not find a suitable adhesive?

It's not like these things are cheap to buy (aeroplanes or glasses)....

So, if you're a glasses wearer, or you partner is, take a moment today to check your screws. Stick a bit of nail varnish on the threads. You're welcome...

</MOAN>

Bush NE-2105 DAB Clock Radio repair.

 Mrs Doz stuck her head round the workshop door...

"The kitchen radio's stopped working. It's just making rude noises."

I went to inspect it ...

Sure enough it's just sat there, with it's LCD display flickering and making raspberry noises..
It's a Bush NE-2015 DAB radio with FM and a now long-obsolete iPod dock. It's put in Sterling service for 9 years...

Anyway... let's get it apart. Bush (or whoever makes their stuff these days) have carefully marked the fixings I need to remove with an arrow ... it's almost like they want someone to repair it...

Four screws on the bottom along the front....

... and two on the back, hidden under a plastic cap which just pops out...

There's a knot in the aerial wire, undo it...

Slide the back off, and undo the mains, auxiliary input connectors, and put the back to one side...











 It all looks rather nicely made. I'm pleasantly surprised.












Even if they didn't *quite* manage to get the switched mode supply IC in straight!

There's no sign of capacitors having blown their tops, no leakage...

5 Screws sees the main PCB lifted so I can gain a bit of access..

There's some signs of that nasty glue, that turns brown and goes conductive... it's scraped off before it gets worse.

Now a hunch tells me the power supply isn't starting up. The supply is started up in the usual manner, by a voltage fed from the mains rectified voltage, via a resistor chain, and a small capacitor. I check the (two) mains reservoir capacitors are dischanged with a 10K resistor (and they were holding a charge, enough to give the unwary engineer an unpleasant zap!) . The small start-up supply capacitor is removed. It's 47uF at 25V... 

 The ever-reliable Jingyan MESR-100 ESR meter shows an ESR of 6.67 ohms... 

A new one measures 0.34 Ohms, much better..

I also check the two main reservoir capacitors... They're 10uF at 400V each...

ESR is acceptable.









As is the measured capacitance. I'll pronounce those fit, and re-fit them, along with the new start-up capacitor...










A quick re-assemble, and, ace ... it all works!

Another saved from land-fill. I'm always surprised by the audio quality from this little radio, and now I'm impressed by it's build-quality too... a rare thing in this day and age. Well done Bush!

Garrard Zero 100 Plinth cosmetics.

After the Zero 100 was repaired (here and here) I was left with a very tatty homemade plinth.

The plan is to tart it up and make it something that Mrs Doz will tolerate...

Let's remove the old existing veneer.

First up is to steam the veneer with a clothes iron, and a damp cloth. This should soften the glue. You can then start to work a knife blade under the veneer and slowly remove it. Try to work along the veneer, not splitting it, warming and working your way along as you go.

This veneer is obviously held on with some synthetic (rather than animal) glue, as it was quite tough. Nice thick veneer too... pity it was poorly done. This didn't aid removal!



So after a couple of hours work, we've not got a tatty plywood box. At least it's square...











Now I did consider some black and white plastic laminate, but initial experiments weren't very successful.. wood it is ... but I still want something "different" for a very different turntable...

I experiment with a strip of the available veneer, and some water based stains. I like the ebony, but a straw poll of Mrs Doz, and my neighbours, Suzie and Steve, and anthracite comes out top...

The stain comes from eBay seller letspack_uk , and comes as a small sachet you mix up with hot water, and allow it to cool before applying.





The plinth is veneered, and stained in 4 coats of the anthracite.











This is after 4 coats of stain, and 2 coats of finishing oil with many more to come! After each coat, the finish is flatted back with some fine wire wool.

About 20 coats of finish are applied, carefully flatting back after each one. The result is a lustrous finish. 

The Turntable is mounted solid, as the suspension is missing it's foam dampers (probably long since rotted away), and unlikely to help. 

Rather pleased with the end product :)