Exactly one month ago I was in a traffic accident. For a month I drove a car with no rear passenger tail light so I couldn’t signal right turns properly. That was not cool. My 16 year old Toyota went through a lot but it was time to retire her. Last night, instead of regular project work I went car shopping which was not something I was looking forward to. I didn’t find my new car until after it was dark and when I took the picture below this morning the sun hadn’t come up. As of writing this I have never seen my car in sunlight.
My new car with some night glare
When I got home it was too late for any real project work but I owed it to myself to do SOMETHING. The 3D printer has been malfunctioning lately so I fixed that. The problem was the extruder head was not heating. I traced the problem to a small connector which may have been subject to too much flexing or perhaps it wasn’t suited to the current flowing through it. A voltage reading across the supply side showed 12VDC while the load side showed an even 4Ohms. I was confident the supply and load were working properly.
Problematic connector, black
A part of my brain doesn’t like cutting into products. Weird for a hacker, right? So I considered methods of stuffing tiny metal shims into the connector to rig a good connection. I considered buying a new connector which would have meant buying a crimper too. My mind went through all kinds of ways of making this look exactly how it did earlier. Honestly, I don’t know why it’s such a big deal that it remain effectively unchanged. After deliberating for days without a printer I finally arrived at the obvious solution of just replacing the easy 2-point plug connectors with a 2-point screw terminal. Unlike the original this won’t disconnect in a couple seconds without tools but that’s not important. I mention all this because it’s a blind spot I know I have, I could have saved myself days of worrying if I had arrived at the obvious solution quickly and just cut and stripped the factory wires. Knowing it’s a blind spot, and writing about it publicly save me time in the future.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1.
Completed projects from year 2.
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com/
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information in this blog, or linked by this blog, are not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of f
functionality, money, property or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
2015-10-20 (Tu)
When I got home it was too late for any real project work but I owed it to myself to do SOMETHING. The 3D printer has been malfunctioning lately so I fixed that. The problem was the extruder head was not heating. I traced the problem to a small connector which may have been subject to too much flexing or perhaps it wasn’t suited to the current flowing through it. A voltage reading across the supply side showed 12VDC while the load side showed an even 4Ohms. I was confident the supply and load were working properly.
A part of my brain doesn’t like cutting into products. Weird for a hacker, right? So I considered methods of stuffing tiny metal shims into the connector to rig a good connection. I considered buying a new connector which would have meant buying a crimper too. My mind went through all kinds of ways of making this look exactly how it did earlier. Honestly, I don’t know why it’s such a big deal that it remain effectively unchanged. After deliberating for days without a printer I finally arrived at the obvious solution of just replacing the easy 2-point plug connectors with a 2-point screw terminal. Unlike the original this won’t disconnect in a couple seconds without tools but that’s not important. I mention all this because it’s a blind spot I know I have, I could have saved myself days of worrying if I had arrived at the obvious solution quickly and just cut and stripped the factory wires. Knowing it’s a blind spot, and writing about it publicly save me time in the future.
Replacement connector, white
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1.
Completed projects from year 2.
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com/
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information in this blog, or linked by this blog, are not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of f
functionality, money, property or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
2015-10-20 (Tu)
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