The Geek Pub » Electronics http://www.thegeekpub.com Drink Beer and Geek Out Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:34:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Wall Outlet with USB Jacks http://www.thegeekpub.com/193/wall-outlet-with-usb-jacks/ http://www.thegeekpub.com/193/wall-outlet-with-usb-jacks/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:39:33 +0000 The Big Geek http://www.thegeekpub.com/?p=193 From the “Why didn’t I think of that department” I give you the first Wall Outlet with USB jacks for charging your devices.

Link to Manufacturer

The $10 ‘TruePower UCS Power Outlet With Built-in USB Ports’ not only has a terrible name, but will also be shipping early this year. It makes the perfect receptacle for all your USB gadgetry, and a terrible Valentine’s gift for a lady-friend. But on the up side, they do still come with two standard AC plugs for jamming forks and knives into. Bet I can hold on to one longer than you! You set the bar.

]]> http://www.thegeekpub.com/193/wall-outlet-with-usb-jacks/feed/ 1 Compressed Air Powered “Better Moustrap” is cool! http://www.thegeekpub.com/144/compressed-air-powered-better-moustrap-is-cool/ http://www.thegeekpub.com/144/compressed-air-powered-better-moustrap-is-cool/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:45:26 +0000 The Big Geek http://www.thegeekpub.com/?p=144 I love it when killer robot technology is used on innocent inanimate objects.  Jake Easton is one evil bastard – and – I LOVE HIM!

I introduce to you the compressed air powered “better mousetrap”.  I might suggest that you remove any wanted pets from your home before deploying this Terminator themed evil machine – or not…

Just remember when SkyNET builds these to kill us, by putting sexy girls in a much larger trap, that it was Jake’s fault, not mine.

better_mousetrap1

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YouTube Video:

]]> http://www.thegeekpub.com/144/compressed-air-powered-better-moustrap-is-cool/feed/ 2 How to spot a leaky capacitor http://www.thegeekpub.com/49/how-to-spot-a-leaky-capacitor/ http://www.thegeekpub.com/49/how-to-spot-a-leaky-capacitor/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:59:34 +0000 The Big Geek http://www.thegeekpub.com/?p=49 One of the questions we get a lot is how do you detect a leaky or bad capacitor.  Here’s how.

Short the terminals to ensure it is not charged. If you are doing this on a motherboard with a small capacitor, just use a small screwdriver.  If this is a high voltage or capacity unit UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO THIS – leave it to an expert.  Large capacitors can be extremely dangerous.

Many of the digital meters today also have a capacitance check setting, simply use that setting. It not only checks for faults, but also will give you a reading of the capacitance value itself.

For most non-electrolytic capacitors a quick check (definitely bad vs. maybe good) can be done with an analog VOM. Use the highest resistance scale to measure across the terminals. When first connected there should be a short needle jump that slowly drops back to infinity. Reverse the leads and do it again, should have the same effect. Any resistance higher than infinity indicates a shorted capacitor. Lack of needle jump may indicate an open capacitor (or one of very little capacitance).

Electrolytics can also be checked with a VOM, but polarity must be observed, and the drop back to infinity may take a very long time.

Alternatively, for electrolytics and larger capacitors is to charge them with a low voltage source (e.g. 9V battery) and measure with multimeter to see if they hold the charge.

You may also notice some physical tell-tale signs before even testing.  First, look for any caps that a bulding or non-uniform in shape.  Second, look for any capacitor that has any kind of “goo” coming out of it.  Either of those is bad news and the cap needs to be replaced.

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