Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    6,956
    Real Name
    Ted

    The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    The classic American fan heater is a crude affair but quite long-lived. But now they are all made in a far-off land and, while prettier, are quite poorly made (surprise).

    Now they look like this:

    The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    How d'ya like that Spanglish? I think "no cober el calentador" might be a bit closer .

    One day it stopped heating. So I took the thermostat out which, on this kind of heater, usually just needs the contacts cleaned . . . . not this one though:

    The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    What looks like a screw thread should actually be dome-shaped and riveted to the metal blade.

    Nice discoloration colors indicate that over 10 amps passing through a dirty contact can generate quite a bit of heat and high temperatures.

    The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    The spattering visible at lower right on the next blade down tells of the destructive arcing that took place.

    Panasonic DMC-GH1 m4/3 with the Leica 45mm f/2.8 macro set to f/22 IIRC for this last shot. Lit by two LED floods. Processed with RawTherapee.

    The other two shots were processed with FastStone Viewer.
    Last edited by xpatUSA; 6th January 2015 at 05:36 AM.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Alaska
    Posts
    7,604
    Real Name
    Dan

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    Bzzzzzzppfffft.... Hey it's getting cold in here. And it smell like something's burning...

  3. #3
    Stagecoach's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Suva, Fiji
    Posts
    7,076
    Real Name
    Grahame

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    Oh well Ted, at least the part number is still visible so you can get searching for a spare

  4. #4
    Shadowman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    36,716
    Real Name
    John

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    Nice investigative imagery.

  5. #5
    ST1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    North Yorkshire
    Posts
    1,990
    Real Name
    Peter

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    What a great idea I usually just go to the recycling with our duff stuff, maybe I should investigate and capture the faulty/worn out items. Well done Ted.

  6. #6
    ajohnw's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    S, B'ham UK
    Posts
    3,337
    Real Name
    John

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    Looks like they may have invented a new form of hight current contact to me Ted ? We used to call it a screw head. Wonder if it was slot or Philips. I've noticed that the Chinese don't use JIS much.

    John
    -

  7. #7
    IzzieK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Chesterfield, Missouri/Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    17,827
    Real Name
    Izzie

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    Hey! bilingual -- you should be thankful. ... I was laughing at the translation first up and reckon right away the item did not come built from Mexico...Nasty. Could it have caused fire if you did not notice? You can't have that fixed across the border can you?

  8. #8
    Moderator Manfred M's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    22,200
    Real Name
    Manfred Mueller

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    Nice shot of a real antique there Ted. Look at all the metal used in the construction; hardly any plastics at all!

  9. #9
    FrankMi's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
    Posts
    6,294
    Real Name
    Frank Miller

    Re: The Cause of a Broken Heater (macro exercise).

    Great shots and an excellent background story. Well done!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •