Evolution of the Apple Mouse

[Charlie Carothers]

On 10/3/2010 1:03 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
>> I do worry sometimes about all the appliances we have with IMHO
>
> Not a microwave oven, but for washing machines :
>
> Old washing machine ran for 40 years. In that time it needed one repair
> to its electromechancal timer, something which involved me cutting about
> 1" of brass strip and screwing it in place. Of course in those 40 years
> it's needed new hosesm seals, etc, but I am only considering the timer...
Been there, done that, though it has been quite a few years.  I would 
still be glad to fix things that way if possible.
>
> New washing machine : After about 4 years, the motor control module
> failed. And it was the custom microcontroller chip. I have the wiring
> diagram, but not of course schematics of the module, but I could prove
> the relays, triac, etc were fine. And they won't sell just the chip :-(.
> Result : Over \punds 100 for the motor controller.
I had exactly the same thing happen.  By that I mean I had clothes 
washer board/s fail after only about 5 years.  I kept the bad boards but 
have not yet tried to delve into exactly what is wrong with them.  When 
the washer needs replacing I'd love to get one with a simple 
electromechanical timer.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that is possible 
any more.  The guy at the Fixit Shop where I usually buy my appliance 
parts did not think so when I mentioned that idea the last time I was in 
there.  This crazy washer we have now has two motors: a pump motor which 
runs at line frequency, but the main mechanism drive motor is PWM'ed at 
varying frequencies up to I think a few KHz.  Who needs it?  Not me! 
Washing clothes is not rocket science!

>
> Now which do you think I prefer?
>
>> unnecessary electronics since we don't have a whole house surge
>> supressor.  e.g. Clothes washer and dryer, range, refrigerator.  The
>
> Our new ovens do have electronic timers, but the thermostat is still the good
> old bulb + bellows type. And it's fairly obvious how to bypass the timer
> if it fails so you can still cook manually (which is all we ever so anyway).
>
Yeah, us too, as far as manually cooking goes.  But so much of the 
control stuff is electronic I don't think it would be very easy to 
circumvent.  At best, it would probably look pretty bad I think.  I 
should probably really get serious about a whole house surge suppressor, 
though I realize that still does not remove 100% of the vulnerability.
Later,
Charlie C.

> -tony
>