First-World Problems.

[grams]

The thing that failed on mine was the power supply chip*, and unpredictable behaviour is consistent with the low voltage control bits not getting stable voltage.

(* Yes chip. It has a single chip to convert mains to DC right on the control board. No parts budget for any fancy pants transformers. Why pay for galvanic isolation when you don't need it?)

[Kim]

Yes chip. It has a single chip to convert mains to DC right on the control board. No parts budget for any fancy pants transformers. Why pay for galvanic isolation when you don't need it?

Such things have proliferated thanks to engineered-to-a-price LED light bulbs.  Stands to reason they'd start to appear elsewhere.

[grams]

Such things have proliferated thanks to engineered-to-a-price LED light bulbs.  Stands to reason they'd start to appear elsewhere.

Other way round I think. The need to cheaply power electronics from the mains long predates the invention of high power white LEDs. Things like LCD mains timers have had capacitive droppers in them probably since day one.

[andyoxon]

Most of the time when I open a bottle of ale, I end up paying a shandy tax.

[Beardy]

Why do food producers get their packaging designed to enable easy pealing of the top film the insist on using an adhesive  that would hold an elephant to the underside of a 747 in flight?

[orienteer]

Also, cellophane packets which are so difficult to open, subsequently change characteristic to tear so easily as to be useless for rewrapping the remaining contents.

[ian]

Always used for easily spillable dry goods like pasta and rice.

[rafletcher]

Why do food producers get their packaging designed to enable easy pealing of the top film the insist on using an adhesive  that would hold an elephant to the underside of a 747 in flight?

Also, when used for slices of smoked salmon, why is the first slice you need to remove the one furthest from the point at which you start peeling.

[chrisbainbridge]

I am struggling with what to wear on the bike.  It is August so I "should" be wearing shorts and a short sleeved top with a thin base layer.  It is summer after all and the weather person says it is not cold.  Yet when I go out like that I am freezing.  I have spent the summer commuting in thicker top, arm warmers and even my rainproof just to stay warm in the mornings.  The evenings have hardly been any better.

[Beardy]

And now I’m dithering over where to post this… I think too much.

I need a new battery charger for household batteries and wondered about getting one that could ‘condition’ batteries as well. Now bearing in mind I’m a technologist with education (and qualifications!) in electronic and electrical principles you’d think this was a straight forward matter. The truth is a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. With my paranoia of being “ripped off”, the option to spend anything from £13 to £92 for a 4 cell charger is causing me to go into meltdown.

I’m going to go and sit in a darkened room for a little while, but any words of wisdom might be helpful.

[Kim]

Obviously I can't now find the thread, but the Technoline BL-700 was a forum favourite for AA/AAA Ni-MH cells.

ETA: Some discussion of alternatives here https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=110328.0

[Jurek]

Obviously I can't now find the thread, but the Technoline BL-700 was a forum favourite for AA/AAA Ni-MH cells.

ETA: Some discussion of alternatives here https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=110328.0

^This.
I've had a pair of Technoline BL-700 constantly 'on' since 2006.
They continue to do their job 15 years down the road.

[ian]

I got one. It does the job and does it well – far, far better than the dumb charger it replaced.

[Canardly]

I also have had one for several years and it works well including reviving batteries other chargers report as deceased. However, the plastic casing  has somehow become sticky to the touch, and no manner of scrubbing with various degreasing libations will remove this tackiness. Dunno how this has happened.

[Kim]

The cells I use for my Garmin reached a point a couple of years ago where only the BL-700 will charge them.  This is good in that it's getting life out of otherwise knackered cells, but it does mean that my lightweight racing battery charger won't work and I need to replace them if it ever gets to the point where I'll be doing more than day rides.

[TheLurker]

I have to eat a whole, large, Victoria sponge. All on my own.  Oh, the horror.

[T42]

How about a loofa for afters?

[spesh]

How about a loofa for afters?

<ObligPython> A wafer-thin mint might be more appropriate, methinks.  </ObligPython>

[citoyen]

Also, cellophane packets which are so difficult to open, subsequently change characteristic to tear so easily as to be useless for rewrapping the remaining contents.

Rant mode on:
It baffles me that people insist on pulling open packets when it's far easier, neater and safer to trim off the top with a pair of scissors. I nearly lost my shit with the idiot I encountered in the office kitchen a couple of weeks ago who did this with a new bag of coffee, despite me telling him not to - it only took me a few seconds to fetch a pair of scissors from a drawer in the kitchen, but he was too impatient to wait and went ahead with his method before I could stop him. Result: coffee all over the kitchen floor... 

I had to restrain myself from using the scissors for another purpose.

[ian]

I always do it. I don't know why. I know it will go wrong. I know there will be mess. But the compulsion to just pull is just irresistible.

[Paul]

I've put a pair of scissors in the kitchen, as close to the usual site for all such shenanigans, for exactly this reason, and I still sometimes just tear!

Save yourselves; there's clearly no hope for me.

[tom_e]

I like to compromise and use the bread knife, which is usually closer than the scissors. 

Feels much more macho, and often produces a perfectly usable opening.

[spesh]

I like to compromise and use the bread knife, which is usually closer than the scissors. 

Feels much more macho, and often produces a perfectly usable opening.

Never mind annoying cow-orkers, what do you use for opening food packaging? 

[T42]

The trouble is that some bags will peel open in a very satisfying, not to say sensuous, fashion. Other bags just look as if they'll do this but then snag, so that you feel just one more tug will budge it, dot dot dot and pass the dust pan.

Re resealing afterwards: hands up if your kitchen cupboards bristle with clothes-pegs.

[nicknack]

Re resealing afterwards: hands up if your kitchen cupboards bristle with clothes-pegs.

<raises mitts>