Engineer? Handy Flowchart!

[punkypink (imported)]

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[gunnutz (imported)]

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Nice one!

Duck tape is wonderful.

WD40 is an abomination.

[Dave (imported)]

My father used to take things apart to fix them. That usually meant he could never reassemble things without having spare parts and the problem was fixed by purchasing a new thing.

He also was good at pushing, pulling, pressing and eventually breaking. That usually ended the problem in that it broke the thing completely and thus a new one worked better.

THis is called the pushover principle -- if you push against something hard enough it falls over and then if it breaks, it was bad anyway, and since it wasn't working, you weren't using it and that's too bad it broke but you weren't using it anymore anyway because it was broke. Maybe you didn't need it in the first place.

As for WD-40... I was once involved with a video tape rental store and they used to clean VCRs by opening the case and checking all of the belts and friction wheels. ONE DAY, a guy bring s VCR in that he said wouldn't play tapes. When prodded as to what he did, the guy said that one of the belts was chirping and slipping and to stop the chirping, he sprayed the inside with WD-40. Now WD-40 is an oily water displacer and does not evaporate and makes things slick. THe result was that although the wheels and head whirled and whizzed and turned, the rubber surfaces were so slick with WD-40 they couldn't grab the tape and make it move across the heads of the revolving drums that read the magnetic signal.

He turned a mildly annoying VCR into a useless black doorstop because nothing cleans WD-40 from metal and rubber surfaces.

Duct Tape is really great stuff, though...

[gunnutz (imported)]

Given enough time WD-40 becomes a shellac. It gum's up whatever it was used on and then you have to get it out with lots of scrubbing and denatured alcohol or paint thinner. It probably wouldn't be a problem if everyone wasn't obsessed with using it to fix everything.

I hate the stuff.

[fhunter]

He turned a mildly annoying VCR into a useless black doorstop because nothing cleans WD-40 from metal and rubber surfaces.

Clean WD40 from metal? I'd try to use something like isopropyl alcohol (or any other solvents on hand) plus lot's of cotton wool. May be even try gasoline (carefully, and under ventilation).

[gunnutz (imported)]

Clean WD40 from metal? I'd try to use something like isopropyl alcohol (or any other solvents on hand) plus lot's of cotton wool. May be even try gasoline (carefully, and under ventilation).

Getting it off metal is easy, getting it off plastic and rubber parts without destroying them is not.

[fhunter]

Getting it off metal is easy, getting it off plastic and rubber parts without destroying them is not.

Rubber - yes, plastic - if it was not damaged by applying wd-40 - i'd try some of the milder solvents. After all - if it was not damaged by the solvent part in the WD-40 in the first place - it would not be damaged while degreasing with similar solvent.

PS. If it is possible to disassemble the part - ultrasound cleaner cleans everything .

[punkypink (imported)]

whoa. easy with the rant.

grins, points to the section this is in, and smiles.

[Dave (imported)]

Rubber - yes, plastic - if it was not damaged by applying wd-40 - i'd try some of the milder solvents. After all - if it was not damaged by the solvent part in the WD-40 in the first place - it would not be damaged while degreasing with similar solvent.

PS. If it is possible to disassemble the part - ultrasound cleaner cleans everything .

Not an old VCR machine. too many teeeny tiny parts.

We bronzed it like baby booties and set it on the shelf as a monument to "things NOT to do!"

[Riverwind (imported)]

WD40 good for spraying in the door lock of your auto - or not.

River