Global Warming?

[Rob-D]

Rob:
"Once again, a mechanical device will [bold]never out do[/bold] and electronic one for simplicity and low maintenance."

See any qualifiers?

Yes, I do.

"Once again, a mechanical device will never out do and electronic one for simplicity and low maintenance."

What would you rather change, a spindle on a lathe or a circuit board? How about the oil in a gear box? Electronics doesn't require oil, filters or mechanical adjustments.

It still comes down to moving parts and electronics without moving parts, back to the piston going up and down or the transistor amplifying.

You think the piston requires less maintenance and is simpler?

You're wrong.

Rob

 

[Rob-D]

Forty million Japanese in 'extreme danger' of life-threatening radiation poisoning, mass evacuations likely.

This is a hoax.

Japan just shut down its last reactor, that's 54 reactors down. Think they are scared? I do.

They're seeing things on those reactors they never have seen before. The robotics won't work because of the heat and radiation. They have to come up with a completely new technology to address the problems and that takes years.
They thought reactor 3 had ~33 feet of water above the rods, it has 2 feet. Think they are worried, think they want to do everything and say anything they can to stop a mass panic? I do.

Radiation in Seattle for Dai-ichi, what do you think the radiation in Japan is?

You want to move your family to Tokyo? Me, I want to move everyone I love to the opposite side of the planet!

 

[Rob-D]

I work for a company that manufactures control systems for compressors and turbines. Since we keep track about repairs there is pretty good statistic about reliability of our devices. We see that about first 12 years there were very few failures, many of them due to environmental issues such as aggressive gasses, salt, conductive dust etc.
Our devices are made only from components with extended temperature range (mil specs) nevertheless we see increased occurrence of failures after about 12-15 years of constant power on. Usually electrolytic capacitors are the culprit. Needless to say that the percentage of failed devices is still in fraction percent range even after 15 years of power on.
The compressor, steam or gas turbine will be overhauled about three or four times times during the life of the control system. The control system doesn't require much, if any, maintenance during this time.
The control systems I am talking about were made from components (15 years ago) that were not even close to the components we make our systems from today. New components are way more stable. In example new control systems are calibrated in the factory for life of the device.
So I agree with Rob that electronics, if designed right, can outlast mechanical devices several times over. There might be exceptions like in everything in life.

In the past capacitors were always the weak link. With the advent of switching power supplies in the 90's manufacturers had to address high frequency power electronics and they knew that meant different electrolytic solutions. In the last 4 or 5 years caps have really taken a big stride forward.

Enphase microinverters says their electronics have an MTBF of over 100 years. The new ceramic caps in electronics have changed the premature failure problems.

Maxwell Super Caps can now supply 50F caps smaller than a 'C' size battery. That's only possible because of electrolytics. When I went to school I remember being told that a 1 farad cap would be the size of a freight car, now we have 1 F caps smaller than the human pinkie.

Rob

 

[EE_Bota]

Comparing things that move to things that do not is not that handy in my view. We know when we want things to move, and when that is required, movement must happen. I mostly prefer not to use motors as transistors and transistors as motors, as I tend to get home to supper sooner when I don't swim upstream in rivers of gravel.

 

[Rob-D]

Comparing things that move to things that do not is not that handy in my view. We know when we want things to move, and when that is required, movement must happen. I mostly prefer not to use motors as transistors and transistors as motors, as I tend to get home to supper sooner when I don't swim upstream in rivers of gravel.

Depends.

When we're producing energy a windmill with moving parts will have a lot more maintenance than a PV system.

Washing machines are another example. A brushless DC system means no gear box no mechanical reversing systems, etc.

A reel to reel tape deck and an MP3 player, electric house heating and oil heating with a fired boiler.

What I'm doing here is comparing different technologies with the same end result.

I'm not debating that all electronics replace all mechanics, I'm saying when the two can be resolved by either the solid state solution is the simpler, less maintenance involved one.

We can't mow our lawn with a TV and we can't watch movies on a lawn mower. That's a given.

Look at the things in industry where electronics have replaced mechanics, dial telephones, mechanical typewriters, rheostats, etc. Even within electronics, mechanical relays and solid state, the vibrator in a 50's radio and solid state frequency generation.

Rob

 

[Short Game]

For the Japanese people, the Fukushima disaster represents the complete demise of their nation...

I read in a book about Edgar Cayce many years ago that he said in one of his trance readings that in volcanic and seismic events, "Japan would cease to exist as a nation." I never pictured this slow motion, domino toppling, scenario. I thought it would be only natural disasters, not helped along by a technology too cheap to meter.

 

[EE_Bota]

Depends.

When we're producing energy a windmill with moving parts will have a lot more maintenance than a PV system.

Washing machines are another example. A brushless DC system means no gear box no mechanical reversing systems, etc.

A reel to reel tape deck and an MP3 player, electric house heating and oil heating with a fired boiler.

What I'm doing here is comparing different technologies with the same end result.

I'm not debating that all electronics replace all mechanics, I'm saying when the two can be resolved by either the solid state solution is the simpler, less maintenance involved one.

We can't mow our lawn with a TV and we can't watch movies on a lawn mower. That's a given.

Look at the things in industry where electronics have replaced mechanics, dial telephones, mechanical typewriters, rheostats, etc. Even within electronics, mechanical relays and solid state, the vibrator in a 50's radio and solid state frequency generation.

Rob

I am in industry. Do you have a DC powered washing machine?

 

[Short Game]

I read in a book about Edgar Cayce many years ago that he said in one of his trance readings that in volcanic and seismic events, "Japan would cease to exist as a nation." I never pictured this slow motion, domino toppling, scenario. I thought it would be only natural disasters, not helped along by a technology too cheap to meter.

Looks like I dropped the link off that post.

For the Japanese people, the Fukushima disaster represents the complete demise of their nation...

http://www.naturalnews.com/035894_Fu...#ixzz1vAsy6ypS

 

[Rob-D]

I am in industry. Do you have a DC powered washing machine?

Nancy does and I have seen other machines with the technology. Brushless DC motors can turn either direction with variable speed.

Here's the technology:

Consumer Motors Washing Machine Brushless DC Motor | Renesas Electronics

Renesas is a big uC supplier, UC's have changed the way we design circuits. i use uC's (Atmel) in a large percentage of my designs.

Rob

 

[EE_Bota]

Nancy does and I have seen other machines with the technology. Brushless DC motors can turn either direction with variable speed.

Here's the technology:

Consumer Motors Washing Machine Brushless DC Motor | Renesas Electronics

Renesas is a big uC supplier, UC's have changed the way we design circuits. i use uC's (Atmel) in a large percentage of my designs.

Rob

I have brushless DC in the factory. I have seen that site too. I am just attempting to determine if your comments about them being more reliable than conventional have been borne out in reality.