We have lived in this house for almost 32 years. The heating consisted of 4 large night-storage radiators, which, even then, looked like older models.
About 20 years ago, I discovered that one of our radiators was cold...I had a look at it, expecting to see a break in the element but couldn't see a fault. There was a phone number on it, so just out of curiosity, I phoned them
I explained to the lady, giving the model number. She said that they were quite an old model, but spare parts were still available. She also asked, had I checked that the 'cut-out' (safety button) had been deployed...
I pressed a component that could be a button and I heard a 'click'...
It's been working fine ever since and the other three are all O.K.
They must be about 40 years old by now....:}
My wife wants me to change them for modern ones.....:shrug:

Malc.

I have a brand new Denon AVR-X1200 on the bench at the moment. It packed up two days from new so the retailer simply sent the chap another one. It was headed for the bin when my son nabbed it. This thing has seen two days of use and has (what should be) a fairly simple fix. It has a high voltage rail missing. Problem is, it's impossible to work on the thing "hot", one simply cannot get access to the required areas without a major dismantle and without bridging leads and cables you just end up with a pile of boards and cold testing which is a nightmare. It will get fixed but like so much modern gear, the time involved through normal channels would make it uneconomic to repair.

My present project, is to fix a fine old, but still fairly modern fancy radio receiver. A Yeasu FRG 8800, with the optional narrow filters and VHF band. It developed issues just out of guarantee, in that the display began flashing and all audio would cut off as it warmed up, which is the indication that the PLL has fallen out of lock. Which is a well known issue for the unit. I worked my way through the suggested fixes, but nothing worked and eventually it flashed with the problem near constantly. In the middle of which the VHF section suddenly became insensitive, I then got something more up market and put it aside for when I had more time - like a couple of decades ago :eek:



I have just this past week found the time to take another look at it and recheck the suggested mods to fix it, long ago. All were correct, but still no PLL lock, so I'm delving even deeper, with nothing to lose.


Between times, I'm delving into my home heating systems control possibilities - trying to make it a little more sophisticated, trying work out what fancy units are compatible with what I have installed at the moment.