Hickeys

Funny you should say that. I didn't make the cut at the F-14 Simulator shop on NAS Miramar because I didn't have bubble memory experience, having just graduated from Coleman's Computer Electronics Technology course. I'm very glad I didn't make it.

It has to be fun driving after that, too. Silicone is messy and nasty. That was one of the things I hated about the car wash guys using ArmorAll on the _steering_wheels_ before I test drove the repaired cars at the body shop. I asked them if they were trying to drum up new business for the shop.

On 11/01/2016 7:43 PM, snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote: ...

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Excepting if the vendor doesn't take cards...

I could have essentially unlimited line on them but wouldn't make any difference for what I need to do.

I don't know how well it may work but that would be one of the first things I would try if I had one :)

Now that I know of them, I keep watch for a good deal on one. Something like Dan's scrap yard find. I like those kind of prices!

[ ... ]

This was before bubble memory came (and went). :-) The simulator was for the LTV A7-A -- a carrier based light attack aircraft.

And I did not have to worry about being stuck with it for long. As soon as it was accepted by the Navy, it would get shipped off to wherever they wanted it, and we were done with it.

[ ... ]

I'll bet.

We used to use it to insulate some HV trigger coils for flash lamps in lasers. I hated to work with that, too. I never did find a way to clean it off quickly and easily.

Who would have paid for the repairs after that? (You-- or was it that the owners would not be expecting the slick steering wheel? :-)

I didn't know what ArmorAll was a silicone oil/grease.

Enjoy, DoN.

You find out real quick when you try to paint something that has had ArmorAll sprayed on or near it. The fish-eyes never end!!!!

Of the ArmorAll products only Natural Finish Detailer Protectant is silicone free

That was the only instance I heard of bubble memory to this day. It didn't exist in the real world. ;)

Nor did I.

Thread drift. I expanded the thread to include all silicones since I haven't worked that much with the com cable goo. I did work with automotive silicone dielectric goo products. Another nasty product is the heatsink goo for CPUs.

The shop, once the owners sued. One idiot put it on the brake pedal, too. Talk about fun!

The painter refused to let the car wash idiots anywhere near the paint shop. And the only fix for fish-eyes in paint is to add silicone to IT before spraying. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

I actually *had* a bubble memory for a while. I picked it up at a hamfest, planning to find some use for it -- but before that happened, I encountered someone desperately looking for one of the same type to repair something -- so I sold it.

I had read about it before, and thought that it sounded interesting.

[ ... ]

Thread drift is common enough here. At least this did not drift in a political direction. :-)

Not just for CPUs, but for *any* power semiconductor device. (There are actually goo-free heat-sink pads used in some CPUs, including some that Sun made.) A silicone rubber pad with a lot of embedded silver to conduct the heat well.

The old white goo has something in it which I suspect to be beryllium based -- nasty stuff without the silicone grease to keep it from blowing around. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Years ago was between real jobs and had the misfortune to be working in construction. Large remodel job that lasted for months, full basement finish with wet bar, huge deck, new sunroom and fire place... One day large white spots and foot prints suddenly appeared in his concrete driveway. The sunroom and fireplace were both in progress at the time and the home owner blamed our stucco sub contractors. Partially based on the size of the foot prints, "They must have spilled acid or something!"

Turns out it was his car detailers had spilled a whole bottle of ArmorAll in the driveway. I occasionally did 'handyman' type work for him for several years afterwards and even after several pressure washings and applications of sealer the white spots were still visible.

Silicone can be nasty stuff.

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote: >

No, I couldn't. They only had one roll of each color. They couldn't be bothered to order more. It was interesting that right after I bought the wire and a few other items that a building inspector showed up and tried to shut down the project. He had no idea about industrial electrical work, and he turned pale when I tossed him my copy of the NEC and asked what he knew about the industrial and theatrical areas of the code. He yelled, "I'm going to get a cease and desist order!" as he ran out of the building but he never came back. I guess that the filings with the FCC and FAA construction permits stopped him.

You don't know that area. (Destin/Sandestin, Florida) It is full of expensive condos, and no one wants to sell supplies to anyone except the big contractors who order things in advance. I had a hell of a time finding some 3" copper pipe, and I had ended up buying some materials from a scrapyard that had bought the leftover materials for a canceled nuclear power plant.

I used the Brady printed labels, and covered them with clear heat shrink.

The new FAA building at Ft Rucker, Al. had a phone room on each floor, with 1200 pairs, and walls covered with 66 blocks. That was over

40 years ago. 20 years later, they would have needed under 100 pair, each with a SLIC for up to 16 lines.

The color coding was easy to learn. I repaired a lot of 1A2 phone systems. I still have a few hundred feet of 25 pair cable, somewhere around here. :)

We had a Texas Instruments IBM clone with bubble memory for billing at the Cincinnati, Ohio 'United Video' CATV front office. It was supplied by the data processing supplier. More than once, it was dead when we started the day's business. Their service tech would have to come out, and reload the operating system into the bubble memory, so I have no love for the stuff. That replaced an older, NCR terminal with a tape drive where the payments were entered, and transmitted at the end of the day.

Brady wire markers that matched the terminal numbers, and covered with clear heatshrink. I ran a repeating color pattern, as I ran three conductors at a time through some expandable wire looming. I also formed the leads so that it was obvious where each wire was meant to go. It took three full days to make the replacement for the early '50s rubber covered wire that RCA had used in the original harness. You could hear the rubber cracking, when the old harness was moved. They had lost the original 1 KW transmitter stages to an electrical fire, so I wasn't going to chance another fire. Thar transmitter was used in at least three different sites. The fire was two locations before I moved and rebuilt it.

When I made cable harnesses for the batch of electric cars [the customer] paid to have us label each wire with printed heatshrink labels:

I've used a fine Sharpie on paper labels for home projects but the writing diffuses and fades under clear adhesive tape.

--jsw

I switched to clear heatshrink, before the mid '80s. I was using it on my shop cables, to stop people from claiming that they had brought cables with equipment, when they didn't. I would type on address labels, then trim and wrap them on the cable before applying the heatshrink tubing. The labels had a description, and the date that they were made.

Clear heatshrink is fine when you are making the cable but not so easy afterward, or to add to commercial cables with molded connectors.

I've used these but they snag and not everyone can do draftsman-quality lettering.

--jsw

You wouldn't be using that in Bell System (Verizon) central offices. You wo uld fail inspection. According to Bellcore standards, ALL cables must be la beled at each end with flag-type labels which can be read from any directio n without disconnecting the cable. I spend a few years designing and super vising the installation of colocation equipment for AT&T. I watched as two cages full of equipment were relabeled at one site.

Good idea? Maybe, maybe not. But it's their building, and if you're gonna p ut your stuff in it, it has to follow their rules.

You wouldn't be using that in Bell System (Verizon) central offices. You would fail inspection. According to Bellcore standards, ALL cables must be labeled at each end with flag-type labels which can be read from any direction without disconnecting the cable. I spend a few years designing and supervising the installation of colocation equipment for AT&T. I watched as two cages full of equipment were relabeled at one site.

Good idea? Maybe, maybe not. But it's their building, and if you're gonna put your stuff in it, it has to follow their rules. ===============================

I never designed or built equipment that had to operate 24/7 for 20 years like theirs. Mine was more likely to be modified within a few years to follow changing requirements. Every connection was supposed to have enough slack in the wire to be cut off, stripped and resoldered or crimped three times.

--jsw

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All that said, these are pretty nice and make for a clean installation. htt ps://goo.gl/q2RiJo They have a write-on (or laser / inkjet print) area, the n you peel them off the carrier, wrap the printed part around the wire, and continue wrapping the clear part around the print. They call it self-lamin ating.

Advantage of the shrink stuff is you don't need a special printer, you can do these in your regular office printer. You also don't need to shrink them , and can apply them after the cable is connected.

You can also apply them as flags - just don't wrap the printed part around the wire - fold it over instead.