Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

I'm not so sure that's the real reason. I suspect much of it is taking advantage of the situation under the guise of "lockdown". The reason? Stock of this stuff is good. You can hardly go into any store today and not trip over a huge stockpile of toilet paper or paper towels. The only thing I notice in my local grocery still in short supply is cleaning products. But other than that my local grocery seems fully stocked.

And there's no shortage of lumber either. Now maybe in the UK that's true but not here. 

Edit, and also for the first time in almost a year the price of gasoline in NYS is approaching $3.00 USD/gallon. It did get as cheap as just above $2.00 USD. Apparently the spec market sez people are gonna vacation this year.

I was told that everybody decided to renovate at the same time and its driving the demand up. At the same times I guess wood producer decided to not increase production and they are currently cashing in.

The problem with lumber is not some fucking price-gouging scheme... it's the simple logistics of handling these materials, which have no disposable packaging, in a manner which is safe and consistent with even the most basic of disease vector minimization tactics. It is difficult to deliver it safely, and lumber production is an industry that is notoriously Luddite in nature.

I mean, yeah, sure... there is going to be the usual supply & demand; but there is a real bottleneck in the supply: the fact that people have to handle this shit, and they are primarily the sort of people who are not ummmm.... accustomed... to taking any sort safety precautions which require more thought than than a pair of gloves and a hardhat.

mnem
Quick show of hands... How many digits do you have left...?

[mnementh]

don't inhale, don't get it on your skin. Small quantities = blindness, large quantities, well ...

Yes, you have to be more careful with it than with IPA. The flip side is that it does a better job prepping a print surface than crappy diluted IPA which is often all you can get under COVID restrictions.

I expect anyone in here to read the label, FFS. But for those playing along at home, yes it is DANGEROUS. More toxic than IPA, and similarly flammable...

Lethal/blindness volume as little as 10ml if ingested. DO NOT DRINK THIS SHIT. DO NOT INHALE CONCENTRATED VAPORS.

mnem
 

Yeah I prefer to dilute mine with cranberry juice before using it.

Oh, please... do not even joke aboot that in here... 

mnem
 

[bd139]

Yeah I prefer to dilute mine with cranberry juice before using it.

Quite partial to some methanol and cranberry here.

[AVGresponding]

don't inhale, don't get it on your skin. Small quantities = blindness, large quantities, well ...

Yes, you have to be more careful with it than with IPA. The flip side is that it does a better job prepping a print surface than crappy diluted IPA which is often all you can get under COVID restrictions.

I expect anyone in here to read the label, FFS. But for those playing along at home, yes it is DANGEROUS. More toxic than IPA, and similarly flammable...

Lethal/blindness volume as little as 10ml if ingested. DO NOT DRINK THIS SHIT. DO NOT INHALE CONCENTRATED VAPORS.

mnem
 

Yeah I prefer to dilute mine with cranberry juice before using it.

Oh, please... do not even joke aboot that in here... 

mnem
 

Oh come on, we're all responsible sensible intelligent legally adults here!

[mansaxel]

UK now got a lot less interesting for shipping right now..

Dont worry, they said, Brexit will make no impact in the splendid economic future of the Empire! In fact, they continued, the world's countries will come begging at our court for us to bestow them with fair trade deals.

Or something.

[mnementh]

Yeah I prefer to dilute mine with cranberry juice before using it.

Quite partial to some methanol and cranberry here.

Fuck both of ye; sick bastards.

mnem
Here... lets dilute it with this Tesla coil...

[mnementh]

Here's some more eBay picks:



Think of the amount of magic smoke you could release with these bd:      
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Cisco-1150W-Power-Supplies-MPN-C3K-PWR-1150WAC-V01/294083750918

Mmmmhmmm... interesting... could really fuck with somebody's day using that -52V rail. 

mnem
 

[JohnnyMalaria]

don't inhale, don't get it on your skin. Small quantities = blindness, large quantities, well ...

Yes, you have to be more careful with it than with IPA. The flip side is that it does a better job prepping a print surface than crappy diluted IPA which is often all you can get under COVID restrictions.

I expect anyone in here to read the label, FFS. But for those playing along at home, yes it is DANGEROUS. More toxic than IPA, and similarly flammable...

Lethal/blindness volume as little as 10ml if ingested. DO NOT DRINK THIS SHIT. DO NOT INHALE CONCENTRATED VAPORS.

mnem
 

Yeah I prefer to dilute mine with cranberry juice before using it.

Oh, please... do not even joke aboot that in here... 

mnem
 

Oh come on, we're all responsible sensible intelligent legally adults here!

Enough with these crazy archaic chemical names. Call it what it is - methanol.

I'm a chemist by profession and this is the first time I've heard it called methyl hydrate. To me, it's like calling a capacitor a condenser

[mnementh]

Yer way too late to that party, Johnny. We've hashed that one out at least a half-dozen times in here already. 

BTW; welcome to the nuttery; have a taco. 

bean's talking 3DP, so the coffee wagon should be restocked soon; and you'll wanna watch oot for a grinning Smurf hobbling around slowly with a can of bloo spray paint, unless you fancy a change of your most personal scenery. Cerebus is mostly harmless unless you see him polishing his conversational cutlery; if you see Saskia doing arts & crafts, be forewarned... that is not Play-Doh she's molding into a teddy-bear over there...

mnem

[bd139]

Mmmmhmmm... interesting... could really fuck with somebody's day using that -52V rail. 

You'd notice it but it'd not be particularly interesting I suspect. Not so much....

[mnementh]

I was thinking in terms of an unlabeled PSU connected to whatever bits on the bench; as most semi-informed people would normally expect such a PSU to output +12V and +5V...

much hilarity ensues...

mnem
smoke 'em if you got 'em...

[bd139]

Yeah it's cisco though which is definitely telecoms which says "there be dragons" usually. 48V everywhere. Or slightly more.

It'd run one of those 48V BT Weller soldering irons nicely though that were all over ebay a few years back.

[mnementh]

So what you're saying is... it belongs here... along with the rest of us mostly harmless individuals?

mnem
lets get dangerous...

[bd139]

Yep exactly that 

[AVGresponding]

I was thinking in terms of an unlabeled PSU connected to whatever bits on the bench; as most semi-informed people would normally expect such a PSU to output +12V and +5V...

much hilarity ensues...

mnem
smoke 'em if you got 'em...

Strikes me as possibly being a good supply to base one of those Chinesium regulator projects around.

[mnementh]

   https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg3284764/?topicseen#msg3284764


Awfully big for ~16A tho. But the price is def right, as is the voltage overhead. All you'd have to do is design and 3DP a muffler like I did a while back... and be mindful of the fact it has to float with respect to earth... 

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

Yay, found a battery door for my 8060A on Thingiverse!

That jumps to the head of the queue after these HP feet are done (making 9, hi-res, 30% infill).

[cyclin_al]

Wouah ... things are getting expensive in UK.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rigol-DS1054Z-4-Channel-50MHz-Digital-Storage-Oscilloscope/143260735421

Anybody want a nice Rigol DS1054Z at 1000$US 

Sounds as bad as lumber prices in the GWN.  I need to replace a deck where the wood is rotting.  I am guessing the pre-COVID price was $1500.  Last year hit $3500 with people staying home and making improvements, driving up the demand just as the supply chain suffered.  I mistakenly held off assuming everyone else would be done their decks last year.  Current price is $5000.
Instead I think I found a local guy with cedar and a portable sawmill.  Hopefully I can save some money dealing with him.  SWMBO will probably get jealous at how much time I will spend with the surface planer this year...

Even my lumber of choice.....twisted, warped, knotty #2 one inch pine boards have gone nuts in price. 

I was in the Home Despot the other day and noticed that 4 x 8' sheets of OSB floor underlayment were priced at about $50/ea.  That's nuts!

-Pat

Thats one of the effects of Covid-19, not much is leaving the lumberyards etc due to lockdowns so everything has gone up.

I'm not so sure that's the real reason. I suspect much of it is taking advantage of the situation under the guise of "lockdown". The reason? Stock of this stuff is good. You can hardly go into any store today and not trip over a huge stockpile of toilet paper or paper towels. The only thing I notice in my local grocery still in short supply is cleaning products. But other than that my local grocery seems fully stocked.

And there's no shortage of lumber either. Now maybe in the UK that's true but not here. 

Edit, and also for the first time in almost a year the price of gasoline in NYS is approaching $3.00 USD/gallon. It did get as cheap as just above $2.00 USD. Apparently the spec market sez people are gonna vacation this year.

Interesting, your neighbours to the north do have a shortage.  Also, anyone who has stock is taking great advantage of the situation.  The local yards are all empty, and are saying they are only expecting to receive 50% of their orders.  What does come in from the sawmills is not fully dried.  There is speculation they are running the lumber through the kilns extra fast to take advantage of the high prices and get more bucks for less work.

In a normal year, I guess people would look at a rotting deck and decide to just go away for vacation.  Last year, people are stuck at home and not spending money on vacation, so they replace the deck.

The exchange rate at the moment makes it favourable to sell the lumber into the US.  Good prices for the Americans and good profits for the Canadian suppliers.  No lumber for the average Canadian.

Gasoline jumped from $1.03 to $1.25 per litre in the last month.  Good think I am not commuting to work these days.

Supplies in the grocery stores all seem fine.  Prices are going up.  If the price is not going up, then the containers are being discretely shrunk.  A buddy of mine design moulds for thin-wall plastic injection and he is extremely busy...

[mnementh]

Yay, found a battery door for my 8060A on Thingiverse!

That jumps to the head of the queue after these HP feet are done (making 9, hi-res, 30% infill).

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/3d-printing/3d-printer-yet/

Come join the 3DP nuttery! We're mostly constructive in there.

mnem
 

[AVGresponding]

Yay, found a battery door for my 8060A on Thingiverse!

That jumps to the head of the queue after these HP feet are done (making 9, hi-res, 30% infill).

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/3d-printing/3d-printer-yet/

Come join the 3DP nuttery! We're mostly constructive in there.

mnem
 

That's a truly groanworthy pun. I love it.

[mnementh]

[cyclin_al]

Yay, found a battery door for my 8060A on Thingiverse!

That jumps to the head of the queue after these HP feet are done (making 9, hi-res, 30% infill).

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/3d-printing/3d-printer-yet/

Come join the 3DP nuttery! We're mostly constructive in there.

mnem
 

Except for the pocket-book, where it is destructive on the cash supply.  If lumber was cheap, I would probably be 3DP shopping ...

[mnementh]

Destructive... differently constructive... po-tay-to, po-tah-to... 

mnem
"ooooh... lookit all the pretty colors... it's like Walt Disney threw up..."

[McBryce]

don't inhale, don't get it on your skin. Small quantities = blindness, large quantities, well ...

Yes, you have to be more careful with it than with IPA. The flip side is that it does a better job prepping a print surface than crappy diluted IPA which is often all you can get under COVID restrictions.

I expect anyone in here to read the label, FFS. But for those playing along at home, yes it is DANGEROUS. More toxic than IPA, and similarly flammable...

Lethal/blindness volume as little as 10ml if ingested. DO NOT DRINK THIS SHIT. DO NOT INHALE CONCENTRATED VAPORS.

mnem
 

Yeah I prefer to dilute mine with cranberry juice before using it.

Oh, please... do not even joke aboot that in here... 

mnem
 

Oh come on, we're all responsible sensible intelligent legally adults here!

Enough with these crazy archaic chemical names. Call it what it is - methanol.

I'm a chemist by profession and this is the first time I've heard it called methyl hydrate. To me, it's like calling a capacitor a condenser

The scariest stuff I have in the lab is Ethyl Acetate. It works on PLA like an acetone works on ABS (smooths / blends the surface etc) but it's definitely not something you want to get in your lungs or on your skin. I only use it outside with a mask and gloves. I'm not a chemist, so I treat it like it would kill me - Less knowledge = more precaution.

McBryce.

[mansaxel]

Yeah it's cisco though which is definitely telecoms which says "there be dragons" usually. 48V everywhere. Or slightly more.

It'd run one of those 48V BT Weller soldering irons nicely though that were all over ebay a few years back.

It's for the PoE. And the amount of gear running off -48 but converting it +5 TTL and lower levels without massive EMI is proof that the chinesium SMPS we're hating are most often found in the "light" versions..

I once spent three days with a pair of PSU designers from Delta; we were investigating PSU failures in Cisco gear. Instructive. I was way too clueless to ask the right questions but I made sure to learn as much as I could about their proposed solution to our problem; more mains transient protection.