Retro-Futuristic lamp upgrade

For many years I've liked these Retro-Futuristic lamps that are floating around in the family house.

They were collecting dust because each used a 40 Watt E14 incandescent light bulb, plus the cables didn't seem to make correct contact. However, the bulbs could not be replaced easily with LED bulbs because they have a mirror surface, really adding to the looks and design.

But luckily I found these nice looking LED bulbs (tad pricey) in a Saturn electronics warehouse in Vienna some time ago. Only the cords with a switch were in a really poor state. It seemed a certain tinkerer (very well known to me) had a habit to put some solder on the wire ends. However, with age this tin will start to oxidise heavily on the surface, make contacts really bad! (always use press/crimp ferrules instead!)

Also the plug style wasn't up to current standards so replaced it with a new transparent style Klopp Euro style cord. https://www.conrad.nl/p/kopp-140310090-snoerschakelaar-tr-1403922

Comments

ADR modules part 1

This is a restoration project I’ve been procrastinating around since about 2015. This will be quite some work, but then if one doesn’t start at least it will not happen at all. This will be a step by step project, and see how far we get with this Kaizen like approach. So first a short intro of the four audio modules made by Audio & Design (Recording) Ltd, in the mid 70s based in Shinfield Green, Reading, Berkshire UK. The company still exists to this date and is still active in pro-audio and is now in a different location but still in Reading. These modules can be dated to the mid 1970s, more precisely found the E900 Equaliser unit quality checklists to be dated 12 November 1976. There are two E900 equaliser modules, and two F760N Compressor/Limiters. A picture of the now dismantled mixing desk with the four modules. The mixing desk was in a quite dusty and sorry state. The desk was too space consuming and heavy to keep and many other parts were sold as separate items. ...

A Story of Repair (SoR): Electric Kettle

One or two weeks ago, during the day, the RCCD (residual-current circuit breaker) tripped. The root cause was very unclear at first since no equipment was switched on or off during the event. Also the weather was quite humid and sticky after a thunderstorm, so that could be a factor as well. By unplugging some usual suspects one at a time, we could trace it to the culprit. First I unplugged the coffee maker from the mains, but again the RCCD tripped after some minutes. Next the electric kettle was unplugged, and bingo! The RCCD did not trip again. This Kettle, a Tristar HL-108B, has a base piece. This base did have my suspicion, since the inner wires became visible from where there should be a cable strain relief. Opening the base required special spanner or ‘fork’ style screws. Somehow they want to discourage repair, but they are wrong. With a suitable long bit style drivers it was fairly easy to get access to the wire terminals. The multimeter did not show any problems, but these kin...

More cheap trick tool alternatives (Remove Stuck/Seized/Frozen Bottom Bracket Fixed Cup)

Many bicycle tools can be quite expensive for an average tinkerer. On the other end some parts can be so hard to remove, that they do require some investment in tools to get the job done. E.g. to remove the fixed cup of an old road bike. Found this neat trick on Youtube for that exact problem, by "RJ The Bike Guy". Note he starts with an expensive electric impact wrench which works wonders if you own such a thing, but watch the video to the end where he shows a bit cheaper way where he uses some long breaker bar.

Algemeen's Electronics and Bicycle Tinker Blog

Search This Blog