RE: Re: OT: Help Required, don't know where else to look!!

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Specifically, 50% of an engineering department (50 folks) spent
the mornin=
g
looking around for spare keyboards and hammering keys because some bright
spark thought the cleaners should blast the keyboards clean :-("

...and therein lies the problem! The issue is not with the use of
compresse=
d
air to clean a device per se but inappropriate use of a tool (in this case
canned air) by inappropriately skilled staff (generally commercial cleaners
tend to be nightworkers on minimum wage) who are up against a time schedule
determined by some boss who also has no idea what they've been asked to do
but has been given a directive by someone further up the managerial tree
wh=
o
thought it would be a good idea.

Whilst I don't doubt the keyboard cleaning example given, the question from
Simon was about why not to use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust from what
would be a pretty simple PCB - the use of the phrase "vacuum
cleaner" would
imply to me the use of a domestic vacuum cleaner of the Dyson / Meile type
which aren't exactly precision tools and I didn't realise that it would be
assumed that the user would be expected to modify their vacuum cleaner into
something that resembles an Apollo 13-style "square scrubber in round
hole"
type arrangement. However I guess given the UKHA_D mantra of "Let's
not use
the right tool for the job because it's too expensive so let's hack
something up that almost does it then grumble that it doesn't work right
instead" I shouldn't be surprised. After all - if the cleaners had
been tol=
d
to turn their "Henry's" on the keyboards instead of the canned
air then the
engineering department used in your original example may have spent more of
their day hunting for and refitting keycaps and straightening ripped apart
key mechanisms. :-D

In my earlier reply I did specifically suggest that an extension straw can
be used to precisely target areas for cleaning with compressed air - as
extension tubes are typically provided with canned gas and I haven't come
across an airline airgun yet that has the precision or facility to insert a
flexible straw to precisely direct flow and also that for most people their
access to compressed air it down to canned gas rather than having a
compressor handy (yes, for the record I do have a 2hp 50 litre compressor
with both short and long reach airguns - neither of which I would consider
using on any sensitive electronics in the same way as I have a number of
hammers in my toolkit and wouldn't consider using the lumphammer for every
task) then I - obviously mistakenly - assumed that it wasn't essential to
specify that I was talking about canned gas given that that is how probably
at least 90% of people here would have access to.

I shall remember this in the future and try to be much more precise with my
replies and given the "cleaners and keyboards" example I shall
pop
downstairs and tell my landlady that I no longer want her to remap the ECU
in my TVR...

Happy New Year to everyone...

Phil

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of domdevitto
> Sent: 01 January 2012 13:37
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] Re: OT: Help Required, don't know where else to
> look!!
>=20
> Hmmm, but if you put a plastic restrictor on the vaccum, you get quite
> a airflow going, and if you tape that up, I'd reckon it's similar to a
> compressed air can.
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> Why *I* never recomment compressed air is because it can blow - very,
> very hard, things into places you don't want.  Specifically, 50% of an
> engineering department (50 folks) spent the morning looking around for
> spare keyboards and hammering keys because some bright spark thought
> the cleaners should blast the keyboards clean :-(
>=20
> IMO, you need to decide where the crap is going to go, and choose push
> vs pull, but IMO, pulling is less likely to suck crap somewhere bad,
> unlike pushing - though maybe that's related to the hugeness of the
> push you get from compressed air.
>=20
> my $0.02
>=20
> --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Phil Harris" <phil@...> wrote:
> >
> > With compressed air you can get a blast of air from several
inches
> > away that will displace most dust-bunnies (and you can use a very
> slim
> > straw as an extension for hard to reach places) ... whereas with
a
> > vacuum cleaner you basically have to be touching the item (which
> could
> > cause damage) to get enough air movement to shift those wascaly
> wabbits...
> >
> > Phil
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On
> > > Behalf Of Simon Haslam
> > > Sent: 31 December 2011 13:54
> > > To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> > > Subject: Re: [ukha_d] OT: Help Required, don't know where
else to
> > > look!!
> > >
> > > Rob: out of curiosity, why not a vacuum cleaner? In case you
suck
> up
> > > something vital?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > >  From: Rob Iles <rob.iles@...>
> > > To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> > > Sent: Saturday, 31 December 2011, 0:22
> > > Subject: Re: [ukha_d] OT: Help Required, don't know where
else to
> > > look!!
> > >
> > > Simon,
> > >
> > > There's a TV Repair place near me (yes, they still exist!),
if I
> > > have anything analogue / high voltage to investigate, he's
my 2nd
> > > port of call (if I can't fix it).=A0 Happy to be middleman /
pass on
> > > details if it helps....
> > >
> > > Personally, I'd check all solder joints look good. Ensure
there's
> as
> > > little dust as possible in side -- use compressed air, not a
vacuum
> > > cleaner, check fans (if any) are spinning freely. Check for
> > > corrosion on connectors etc.......
> > >
> > > Rob
> > >
> > > --
> > > Rob Iles
> > > Proprietor & Chief Automation Architect Domia Lifestyle
> > > www.domialifestyle.com On 30 Dec 2011 19:32,
"simon"
> > > <simon.millward@...> wrote:
> > >
> > > > **
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hey guys (and ladies of course)
> > > >
> > > > It's been a while since I posted on here, don't know
why. I have
> > > > checked in now and then!!
> > > >
> > > > I'm kinda hoping that someone out there in wonderful HA
world
> > > > could help me with a hardware problem.
> > > >
> > > > I have a cctv Triplexer (GE DVMRe -10ct160) that seems
to have
> > > > given up the ghost. Sometimes I can switch it on for an
hour or
> so
> > > sometimes
> > > > only five minutes and then it just seems to switch off!
> > > >
> > > > I mean I do work with electronics and have had a quick
look but I
> > > > am stressing about it. Everywhere I have been to that
can repair
> > > > it want a ridiculous sum of money, and as I was given
it, I don't
> > > > (and can't) really afford it!
> > > >
> > > > So I am hoping someone could shed some light on the
problem or
> > > > even point me in the right direction to get it fixed
;-)
> > > >
> > > > Many thanks
> > > >
> > > > Simon
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------
> > >
> > >
> > > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------
> > >
> > >
> > > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>=20
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> ------------------------------------
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> Yahoo! Groups Links
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