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Läs mer om artikeln Time for a new power tool
My old and my new power tool.

Time for a new power tool

My old and my new power tool.
My old and my new power tool.

About 9 1/2 years, two moves and renovating one kitchen – this is how long I was able to enjoy my power tool ”Alpha Tools BAS 14,4-1” from Bauhaus. I guess that’s even more than I could have expected from such a no-name – oh, sorry, let’s call it no-brand tool. But now the battery has reached the end of its lifetime.

The inside of the battery pack of the old power tool: 12 sub-C NiMH cells.
The inside of the battery pack of the old power tool: 12 sub-C NiMH cells.

At first I tried to just get the battery replaced. But after such a long time it appears impossible to get a new battery pack. Even if I would buy the 12 sub-C cells inside the battery pack directly from China over the internet I would pay more than for a comparable new power tool at one of the local hardware stores.

After realizing this fact I spend a couple of days browsing the selection of the local stores Bauhaus, ClasOhlson, Biltema and Jula. I finally decided to go for a new 18V lithium-ion powered tool from Jula’s own label Meec – i.e. another no-name product. I hope it will serve me well for the next 9 years, but who knows…

On the old power tool even the original manufacturer left its name and adress.
On the old power tool even the original manufacturer left its name and adress.

As expected the new tool is made in China.
As expected the new tool is made in China.

On the label of the old power tool even the name and address of the original manufacturer is given – a medium-sized company in Germany. The new tool – as expected – tells you that it was made in China.

And apart from the battery pack I will not throw away the remainders of my old power tool. I can imagine a couple of uses for a strong motor with gear box and a variable chuck.

Fortsätt läsaTime for a new power tool

Dark Samsung?

Ever seen a seemingly ok, quite new 24″ Syncmaster SA300 LCD monitor from Samsung – which refuses to show an image, but can display its own system messages?

Try a firmware update! I found this solution in the PC Help Forum.

A firmware update for a computer monitor you wonder? Yes! Obviously you need a second working screen on your system, e.g. you can connect the Syncmaster as a second screen to your laptop. You then download an executable program from Samsung’s homepage and run it. The program will tell you not to switch off the monitor or disconnect the cable while it moves the new firmware over the VGA cable onto the monitor. During this update the animated error message on the monitor will freeze and at the end the monitor will switch itself off.

Now comes the exciting moment – switching the monitor on: will it work…. Well in my case it did! Showing the cloned copy of my laptop screen.

Small sidenote: of course I had first disassembled the monitor, but I couldn’t find a trace of an electronics fault inside…

Fortsätt läsaDark Samsung?
Läs mer om artikeln Good and bad wires
A close-up of the tips of the pins. The order is the same as in the pictures above: worst solder joint to the left, good solder joint in the middle and crimped connector to the right.

Good and bad wires

I am a big fan of solderless breadboards and we use these also for our students at Uppsala University. For quite a while I have been using solid-core wire for…

Fortsätt läsaGood and bad wires
Läs mer om artikeln Magic lights in Uppsala
23rd UNT fireworks in Uppsala

Magic lights in Uppsala

Today the art festival ”all lights on Uppsala” ended and Christmas season officially started with the 23rd annual fireworks by the local newspaper UNT.

23rd UNT fireworks
23rd UNT fireworks in Uppsala
All lights on Uppsala - Gillbergska genomfarten
All lights on Uppsala – Gillbergska genomfarten

During the festival, the artists and the city officials wanted to emphasize why LEDs will be the light source of the future. At one of the installations the efficiency of the humble incandescent light bulb was compared to the LED. There everyone passing by could read that the incandescent light bulb ”converts 75% of the energy into heat and only 25% into light”.

The Uppsala incandescent light bulb - 25% efficient!
The Uppsala incandescent light bulb – 25% efficient!

I tried to reach the responsible people already in the first week of the festival, but only got a reply after 2 1/2 weeks. At that time it was considered too late to correct it to the correct number: an incandescent light bulb is much better than pointed out. Not only 75% of the electric energy is converted into heat, but rather 97.5%. Only about 2.5% of the electric power is converted into light!

But in the believe of their 25% efficient incandescent light bulbs it is probably understandable that the city of Uppsala even this year continues to use incandescent lights in their Christmas illumination – while Stockholm has abandoned the use of incandescents for this purpose two years ago.

Incandescent Christmas lights in Uppsala 2012
Incandescent Christmas lights in Uppsala 2012.

I myself continue to use LEDs in my Christmas decorations. Last year the LED conversion bulbs for the 7-lighted window decorations were only sold in packs of 4 – kind of stupid, unless you had enough of these decorations or wanted to take apart some of the bulbs. This year at least Biltema is selling packs of 7 in two different versions: one with two 3mm LEDs inside the bulb, and one with a single diffuse 5mm LED inside. Both of them appear to be even better than last year’s versions – both in light color and manufacturing quality.

A 2011 vintage Christmas LED light bulb.
Biltema 88-723 – a 2012 Christmas LED light bulb (6 lm version).
Biltema 88-721 – a 2012 Christmas LED light bulb with two 3mm LEDs inside (12 lm version).

LED-bulbs from Biltema
LED-bulbs from Biltema

Fortsätt läsaMagic lights in Uppsala

City of Stralsund flogs unique library collection

Money has to be saved everywhere these days, but should a public entity be allowed to flog the family silver? The city of Stralsund, UNESCO world heritage site, has recently silently and covertly sold off a unique library collection.

An online petition was started with the aim to revoke this action:

https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/rettet-die-stralsunder-archivbibliothek

Rettet die Archivbibliothek Stralsund

Fortsätt läsaCity of Stralsund flogs unique library collection