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Ralph Mowery <rmowery28146@earthlink.net>: Aug 24 06:07PM -0400 In article <f08qkkFllqgU2@mid.individual.net>, trevor@SPAMBLOCKrageaudio.com.au says... > whole spool of the stuff. Stop nickel and diming the thing. Either buy > the right stuff to do the job or accept my offer. BTW: My dial cord is > made in Taiwan, not China.   He is really tight. This might even be the same cord.   $ 5.62 for 10 meters including that high price of about a buck and a half for shipping.   http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIAL-CORD-0-8-mm-synthetic-cord-10-metres-to- suit-radios/222592615826?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao% 3D2%26asc%3D41376%26meid%3Dca3db13179c64681aa64f94629564bb7%26pid% 3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D391772693645 &_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851   eBay item number:22259261582

John-Del <ohger1s@gmail.com>: Aug 29 06:52AM -0700 On Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at 8:42:33 AM UTC-4, Tim R wrote:   > > Best think to do is check with each manufacturer and pick by diameter not pound weight.   > Yes, that's what I'm trying to explain. That kastking is called braid but it's the modern stuff, not the old cheap line.   > It's okay for fishing but you absolutely don't want to put it in a radio at any strength or diameter. It's super slippery, hard to tie a knot that will hold, and it has no abrasion resistance. But it's diameter is tiny so fish don't see it, and it casts very well.       So the "Tuf-LINE" would be the better choice? Taking a second look at the Kastking link I see it's braided but not listed as Dacron. Maybe that's the determiner. Again, I didn't want to do oldfart's homework for him..

"pfjw@aol.com" <pfjw@aol.com>: Aug 29 07:48AM -0700 I happen to like this stuff. Takes knots very well, a bit fat (more contact area), does not abrade, and stretch is minimal.   https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51002pXn%2ByL._SL500_.jpg   But, would I suggest it to someone for other than generic purposes, or flying kits? Not hardly. Would I have purchased it without seeing a sample first? Not hardly. Do I own a vernier caliper? Yes, I do. Along with various other measuring sticks.   Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Rheilly Phoull <rheilly@bigslong.com>: Aug 26 09:06AM +0800 > and each time it has started normally. > Cheers, > Eric   I would guess that the connector was moving a little each start until it finally came out. The last few times it would make up with the previous start. Generally contactors either buzz - vibrate or close, no in between.

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 25 04:52PM -0700 It looks like the problem wasn't caps after all. Or the time delay relay. While poking around inside the electrics enclosure and putting number labels on wires so that I could remove the contactor I found a female spade connector just hanging behind the contactor coil spade terminal. It's really hard to see the coil connections because it is buried pretty deep and a lot of wires are in the way. So I pushed the spade connector back on and it just slipped on real easy. Too easy. I pulled it back off and wormed the wire through the others and could see that the female connector was open too much. Maybe years of vibration loosened it. So I closed the connector some with pliers and when I tried pushing it on again it was quite tight. After putting the rest of the wiring back in order I tried starting the RPC (Rotary Phase Converter) and it started normally, which is essentially instantly. Now I have another question. Since the spade connector was loose could this have caused a high resistance connection which in turn caused the contactor to barely pull in which then made for another high resistance connection between the starting caps and the motor? I know that at least some types of relays have a higher pull in current than the holding current. So that once they pull in less current is required to keep the contacts closed. In other words a curve of the current required is shaped like a hill, with the holding current past the crest a little. But I think that maybe contactors for motors may work differently because they have so much more travel in the solenoid after the spring loaded contacts first make contact, unlike "regular" low current relays. And since the current required to pull in the contactor remains the same even a slight decrease in current would cause the contactor to drop out. And maybe a low current situation could cause the contacts to make only a light, high resistance, contact. Anyway, thanks for reading all these posts and thanks for the advice given. While writing this post I have started the RPC 6 times and each time it has started normally. Cheers, Eric

dplatt@coop.radagast.org (Dave Platt): Aug 25 01:08PM -0700 >750Gb and no remaining unpartitioned space.   >A 2Tb drive works just fine - I'd even settle for that from the 3Tb >one..........   I suspect that what you're running into is the 2.2-terabyte limit in the standard PC Master Boot Record. This would correspond to 32 bits worth of sectors (4 hexabillion) at 512 bytes each.   Probably, when your partition table is being built, the software you're using is trying to read the hard drive size via the PC BIOS, and the sector count is wrapping around past 4 billion. The program ends up with (3 terabytes - 2.2 terabytes) worth of sectors, and so you only get 750 GB.   I'm not an expert in the PC BIOS, but I suspect that the "read drive sector count" call returns a 32-bit result, and the BIOS isn't smart enough to clip (rather than wrap) at 2.2 terabytes. If that's the case, no matter what program you use, you'll hit the same behavior.   There's probably a fix, although it won't be trivial. What you would need to do is let the software partition the drive. If you want more than one partition, delete the single 750-gig existing one and create the smaller ones you want at first, and then create a final partition which uses up the remainder of the 750 GB space.   Then go in with a sector-level disk editing program, and edit the partition table by hand. Take a look at   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record   You'd want to edit the "number of sectors in partition" value at offset 12 (0x0C) for the last (or only) partition and set it to "0xFFFFFFFF" (or slightly less than that) and store this entry. This would expand that partition to 2.2 terabytes.   Save the MBR, reboot, and I think you'd find that you have more space available.   HOWEVER: depending on how your PC accesses the drive, you could find that Bad Things happen when it tries to write beyond the 2.2-terabyte boundary - reads and writes might wrap around to the beginning of the disk. For that reason, it would probably be safest to limit the total size of the partitions you create to slightly less than 2.2 terabytes, so that all of the subsequent I/O operations are compatible with a 32-bit sector-offset API.

dplatt@coop.radagast.org (Dave Platt): Aug 25 02:34PM -0700 In article <2A%nB.616461$JP7.13240@fx09.am4>, >Pretty sure something nasty would happen if I tried for more than 2.2Gb >partition - but I can't even get that.   >I was thinking more along the lines of 2x 1.5Tb partitions.   That _may_ be workable, but you're probably going to have to do more math, and become more familiar with the PC Master Boot Record and how to hack it.   Setting up the MBR to work in LBA (logical block address) mode, rather than C/H/S, would probably make things easier.   Again, it's going to depend a lot on your PC and its device drivers. If it's capable of accessing the drive in LBA48 mode (with a 48-bit logical block address) you may get away with it. If not, you may be stuck with 2.2 terabytes at most.

"Ian Field" <gangprobing.alien1@virginmedia.com>: Aug 25 07:09PM +0100 What's the best I can do?   All the partition managers tried so far, offer a single partition just under 750Gb and no remaining unpartitioned space.   A 2Tb drive works just fine - I'd even settle for that from the 3Tb one..........   Thanks for any help.

"Ian Field" <gangprobing.alien1@virginmedia.com>: Aug 25 09:15PM +0100 "Dave Platt" <dplatt@coop.radagast.org> wrote in message news:4nc67e-hp.ln1@coop.radagast.org... > size of the partitions you create to slightly less than 2.2 terabytes, > so that all of the subsequent I/O operations are compatible with a > 32-bit sector-offset API.   Pretty sure something nasty would happen if I tried for more than 2.2Gb partition - but I can't even get that.   I was thinking more along the lines of 2x 1.5Tb partitions.

Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk>: Aug 25 11:32PM +0100 En el artículo <WJZnB.462838$a64.200548@fx16.am4>, Ian Field <gangprobi   >A 2Tb drive works just fine - I'd even settle for that from the 3Tb >one..........   >Thanks for any help.   This is the wrong group for a start.   3TB requires a GPT partition table, which XP32 doesn't support.   Either use a 2TB drive with MBR partition table (that XP does support), or upgrade to a later version of Windows (7 onwards supports GPT).   -- (\_/) (='.'=) "Between two evils, I always pick (")_(") the one I never tried before." - Mae West

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 28 12:59PM -0700 >Best test is to buy a cap that is close to the required value to use as a test.   >If it works, buy the right cap and be happy you had an inexpensive repair of an expensive machine.   >m   As it turns out it was a loose connection buried deep in the electrics box. One of the spade connectors on the coil in the contactor was loose. NOT easy to find. Even though the wiring in the phase converter is neat there are a lot of wires and many of these wires hide the contactor coil connections. Fortunately not the ten caps connected in parallel that are used for starting the thing were at fault. Eric

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 25 11:34AM -0700 Well, this morning the phase converter won't start at all. There is a button that can be pressed that energizes the contactor that connects the 10 starting caps to the motor. This button bypasses the time delay relay that energizes the contactor. Pressing the button has no effect at all, the motor just hums. I don't know yet if the contactor is pulling in or not because I cannot see into the electrics enclosure while throwing the breaker that turns on the phase converter. Even though I can press the bypass button while throwing the breaker I cannot see the contactor. I'll have to get another set of eyes to look inside while I turn the converter on. Getting on subject, I have a DVM that has a capacitance measuring function. Measuring half a dozen known good oil filled caps the readings on the meter match very closely, within one MFD, the value printed on the caps. If I measure the caps in the phase converter and they measure close to the value printed on the case does this mean the caps are probably good? Is there another test I can perform with the meter? And since there are 10 starting caps connected in parallel could just one or two bad caps cause the starting problem? Thanks, Eric

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 25 03:15PM -0700 >> Eric   >AIUI you could have cap(s) leaking or a faulty switch contacts. Soldering a wire to short the starting switch could tell you which. Obviously don't power the motor for >5 seconds like that.   >NT Soldering a wire across switch contacts won't work easily because the switch is a contactor. What I'm gonna do is get someone to look at the contactor when I turn on the breaker to see if it pulling in. If it is pulling in then I'll remove it and check the contacts. Then replace them if need be. If the contactor doesn't pull in then I'll need to find out if the coil is bad or if it isn't getting power. I will still need to check the caps if the contactor is working properly. Eric

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 25 11:03AM -0700 <SNIP>   >There is an electronic device that's got its innards potted. It senses >the starting current and when the current drops to the set level it >drops out the contactor that connects the starting caps. <SNIP>   >spinning the rotor, albiet slowly? >Thanks, >Eric     Whoops! I was wrong about the starting device. I just assumed it was some sort of potential relay like I had seen in other motors. It's a bad thing to assume sometimes. In reality the starting device in an adjustable delay solid state relay. The on time, once energized, is from .25 to 5 seconds. It resets when power is removed. Supossedly good for 100,00,000 operations. But the original timer failed after only approximately 600 operations. Eric

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 25 09:26AM -0700 On Fri, 25 Aug 2017 09:25:37 +0800, Rheilly Phoull >> Eric   >After 15 years I reckon I would just get another cap and see if that >fixed it. What sort of device takes out the cap, centifugal ? There is an electronic device that's got its innards potted. It senses the starting current and when the current drops to the set level it drops out the contactor that connects the starting caps. There 10 starting caps connected in parallel so I don't think it's such a good idea to replace them all just in case that's the problem. They are all stuck in place with some pretty good double sided foam tape so removing them would be a hassle too. I cannot see how many mfd the caps are rated for but I can see on one cap that they are made for a phase converter. I just remembered that years ago the device mentioned above failed. When I tried to start the converter it would just hum. There is a button inside that I can press that bypasses the starting device and energizes the contactor coil. When the starting device failed the first time I was told by the phase converter maker to press this button and see if it starts OK. It did which is how I diagnosed the problem. The company that made the converter has gone out of business so I can't call them for advice. But I'm gonna try the button thing again and if it starts fine then I guess I know the problem. What I don't understand is why the converter sometimes starts to spin up slowly and at other times just sits there and hums loudly. And then starts just fine on the next attempt. Could it be that when it starts to spin up slowly that the rotor was in just the right position that the balancing caps in the converter provide enough phase shift to start spinning the rotor, albiet slowly? Thanks, Eric

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 25 12:07PM -0700 >spot? It's hard for me to see how a cap would need two tries >to do it's job right.   >George H. Yeah, I'm starting to think the contactor contacts are the problem. Just so you know, a Rotary Phase Converter (RPC) is just a 3 phase AC induction motor that is run from single phase power. Once the motor is spinning it generates power in the third winding, AKA leg, that would normally be connected to a three phase supply. They are started the way many single phase motors are started. A typical type of single phase induction motor has a starting winding that is powered only while the motor is starting. This winding is shifted in phase about 90 degrees from the main winding. Both physically as well as electrically. The electrical phase shifting can be done using resistance, capacitance, or a combination of the two. There are other schemes as well but the capacitance method is common on motors that need lots of torque when starting, like a motor on an air compressor. A simple RPC can be made using just a 3 phase motor. A rope can be wrapped around the motor shaft and then pulled fast to get the motor spinning. Once it is spinning single phase power is supplied and the motor will spin up to operating speed if the shaft was spinning fast enough from the rope pull. Another motor can be used to spin up the RPC motor as well. This motor is then either disconnected mechanically or just turned off once the RPC motor is running. Capacitors can also be used to supply phase shifted current just like a single phase motor. Again, once the motor is up to speed the starting capacitance is disconnected. Even though the RPCs described above will supply 3 phase power the generated power will not be perfectly in phase with the other two phases. And depending on the load the phase shift will vary as will the voltage. So more sophisticated RPCs will use capacitors across the windings to balance the power so that the phases are very close to 120 degrees apart and the voltage in the generated leg is close to the voltage supplied to the motor by the single phase line. That's my simple explanation of RPCs. Eric

etpm@whidbey.com: Aug 24 03:31PM -0700 I run my machine shop off af a rotary phase converter. It has starting caps that are switched out of circuit after the motor is started. Lately the device sometimes has a hard time starting. I switch it on and the motor may not come up to speed practically instantly, the way it is supposed to. If this happens I turn off the breaker, wait a minute, and then try again. It always starts fine on the second attempt. Except this morning it took three tries for the thing to start. The motor did actually spin up some this morning on the first try but it was really slow starting so I shut the breaker off. I suspect starting caps but wonder why the second attempt always worked until today. And then today it started fine on the third attempt. The phase converter has been started almost daily for at least fifteen years using the same breaker in the main breaker panel. I thought that maybe the breaker might be making a bad contact on one leg of the single phase 250 volt input. Or maybe a contactor inside the converter is not making good contact. Or maybe, and I think most likely, the starting cap(s) is(are) the problem. I just wonder why, if the thing doesn't start spinning right away on the first try it does on the second or third. This weekend I'll have time to look inside the phase converter and I would like to know if there is a way to diagnose the starting caps. The contactor contacts I know how to check. And I could buy a new breaker. But I would like to not just buy stuff until the thing works properly. Advice? Thanks, Eric

Ralph Mowery <rmowery28146@earthlink.net>: Aug 24 07:32PM -0400 In article <5ujupclqvbqv63fcgrqa0smbbib74g9p5k@4ax.com>, etpm@whidbey.com says... > Advice? > Thanks, > Eric   There are many ways to check the capacitors. You can find capacitor "meters" and testers from about $ 15 up. You may be able to find a shop that works on air conditioners and take the capacitors to them and have them checked. Usually they will have a voltmeter device that just hooks across the capacitor. Takes longer to find the meter than to check the capacitor.

Rheilly Phoull <rheilly@bigslong.com>: Aug 25 09:25AM +0800 > Advice? > Thanks, > Eric   After 15 years I reckon I would just get another cap and see if that fixed it. What sort of device takes out the cap, centifugal ?

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com>: Aug 24 03:46PM -0400 Dave Platt wrote on 8/24/2017 2:32 PM: > in some equipment you're refurbishing, I'd suggest going right to a > suitable "Y" cap. The additional cost is modest and the labor to > install is the same.   Ok, so there is a failure mode where the cap won't draw enough current to blow the fuse, but can locally heat up enough to smoke and burn. Isn't that true for other parts in the device?   What is the purpose of this cap anyway? I assume noise filtering. Wouldn't that be just as effective on the secondary of the transformer?   --   Rick C   Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms, on the centerline of totality since 1998

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com>: Aug 24 02:37PM -0400 >> across the power line shorts? If you use a fuse any concern about a fire is >> eliminated. Then why would you need the X cap?   > Y is for shock risk, X is for fire risk only.   Ok, I stand corrected. But the question remains. Fuse and X cap is like wearing a belt and suspenders.   --   Rick C   Viewed the eclipse at Wintercrest Farms, on the centerline of totality since 1998

dplatt@coop.radagast.org (Dave Platt): Aug 24 11:32AM -0700 >problem as in a shock hazard. Why would there be a shock hazard if a cap >across the power line shorts? If you use a fuse any concern about a fire is >eliminated. Then why would you need the X cap?   You can't count on a fuse to eliminate all of the risk of a fire.   Some types of cap can fail with a "near short circuit" - they get leaky enough to start drawing a good fraction of an ampere, but aren't a dead-short. Imagine what happens if such a cap is "protected" by a 1-ampere fuse, but is drawing 100 mA at 120 volts... that's more than 10 watts, heating up the capacitor. If the cap doesn't either short itself well enough to blow the fuse, or go "open", it can definitely heat up enough to smoke and burn.   I've seen this happen... a non-X/Y-rated film cap was used "across the line", and it overheated and nearly started a fire.   "X" and "Y" caps are intended to be at least somewhat self-healing... if they develop a pinhole and start to short, the localized heating burns away the metallized film in the area of the short, and it opens. If I recall correctly they're also required to use an insulating resin which is at least somewhat flame-resistant.   If you're going to the trouble of replacing an across-the-line cap in some equipment you're refurbishing, I'd suggest going right to a suitable "Y" cap. The additional cost is modest and the labor to install is the same.

tabbypurr@gmail.com: Aug 29 06:22AM -0700 On Tuesday, 29 August 2017 11:02:29 UTC+1, Michael Terrell wrote: > to a 777VDC capacitor.   > 2.828 is the peak to peak factor on a RMS sine wave. That is 1.414 > volts peak, on each side of zero   Erm... no. Firstly 275v ac is 389v dc peak, so a 389v dc rating. Secondly the 2 ratings are not comparable, even after conversion to dc. The 600v cap has no fusing and most likely no double layer safety feature, the 275v ac one has both.     NT

Dimitrij Klingbeil <nospam@no-address.com>: Aug 25 12:45AM +0200 >> is like wearing a belt and suspenders.   > You need belt & suspenders since both fail. Just don't put the pics > online. :)   Besides, using an X2 capacitor does call for an additional means of protection. Capacitors rated for being connected across the line "X" come in different sub-categories: "X1" and "X2".   "X1" capacitors are rated for a 4 kV transient overvoltage and they are often found where no other means of protection (fuse) is installed in the equipment "upstream" of the capacitor (that is directly across the power line).   "X2" capacitors are only rated for a 2.5 kV transient overvoltage and the circuits they are installed in need to be fused as an additional means of protection (additional besides the dielectric in the cap).   Both X1 (rated to 4 kV pulse) and X2 (rated to 2.5 kV pulse), when used within their specifications and unless their safety certifications are fake, tend to be better protected than "plain" 600 V type capacitors.   The voltage ratings indicate the maximum AC line voltage that the X or Y capacitors may safely be connected to (not their peak pulse ratings).   So, it's correct (and would be required in a repair) to replace the old 600 V capacitor with a 250 V safety rated "X" capacitor (assuming the nominal mains voltage in your country is not higher than 250 V), but if the capacitor is an "X2" (rather than "X1") type, the device also needs to be fused "upstream" (on the mains side) of the X capacitor.   Regards Dimitrij

Cursitor Doom <curd@notformail.com>: Aug 22 11:03PM On Mon, 21 Aug 2017 16:12:18 -0700, tabbypurr wrote:   > Abuse does not remedy the absence of fact or logic.   Actually for Antifa, its acolytes and apologists, it most assuredly does!       -- This message may be freely reproduced without limit or charge only via the Usenet protocol. Reproduction in whole or part through other protocols, whether for profit or not, is conditional upon a charge of GBP10.00 per reproduction. Publication in this manner via non-Usenet protocols constitutes acceptance of this condition.

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