Tour of Huber's Winery - Starlight, Indiana

Today, I got to go on a tour of Huber's Winery in Starlight, Indiana. It is an interesting place to visit to see where they create so much wine, port and brandy.  I found the place to very clean and organized. It was interesting to see the only still at an Indiana winery. Learn more at their web site: huberwinery.com

I forgot to ask if they ever make any grape juice or jellies.

First Daffodils 2012

The mild winter in the Louisville, Kentucky area has brought daffodils appearing in the early March. Here are some early bloomers.

Winter's Afternoon at the Louisville Waterfront

A partly cloudy winter's afternoon looking at the Louisville, Kentucky waterfront. A brisk wind but sunny atmosphere makes for a nice walk along the Ohio River.

Rainbow After the Storm

Rainbow after the storms that passed through today. The tornadoes in southern Indiana were quite destructive. Flights at the airport were delayed in arriving due to this powerful storm.

Samsung TV Bad Capacitor Lawsuit Settlement

I have posted fixes to a number of Samsung LCD televisions on this blog and now am happy to see that Samsung Electronics America Inc. (SEA) will be reimbursing owners with defective capacitors for getting them fixed. See the Samsung web site for details:

http://www.samsung.com/us/capacitorsettlement/

It involves the March 2, 2012 District Court of Oklahoma City No. CJ-2011-7260, Ryan Russell and Phillip Bourne + plantiffs vs. Samsung Electronics America Inc. If I read the settlement correctly, the two individuals get a new TV or $750 US and the lawyers get $475,000. I hope to get my expenses for the parts and time I spent repairing our TV.

Previous posts involving Samsung televisions:

http://poppular.blogspot.com/2011/03/purple-line-problem-with-samsung-lcd-tv.html

http://poppular.blogspot.com/2011/08/fixing-samsung-television.html

http://poppular.blogspot.com/2011/08/repairing-another-samsung-lcd-tv.html

German World War II Model Aircraft

The Jeffersontown Historical Museum has an impressive display of model aircraft on display until June 15, 2012.  The models are the life's work of Floyd Wilder.  He served in the U.S. Navy and then worked for AT&T. The museum is located in the same building as the Jeffersontown, Kentucky Public Library (10635 Watterson Trail, Jeffersontown, KY 40299) and the is open Monday-Friday 10 AM - 5 PM.

One can see some very odd and rare German airplane models on display at this exhibit.  This posting shows some of the World War II designs starting with the Nazi piloted cruise missile Fieseler Fi-103. Learn more about it at this web site.  Next would be the Bachem Ba 349 Natter (English translation viper) that was meant to be some sort of intercepter weapon. Learn more at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachem_Ba_349

Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe (English translation swallow) model of the first jet-powered fighter aircraft. Learn more on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_262

Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet rocket powered fighter aircraft model, see Wikipedia for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_163

Model of a V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe) rocket and crew, learn about this rocket on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2

A model of the famous LZ 129 Hindenburg zepplin that a met a tragic end May 3, 1937 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster)

More models of German World War 2 bombers and gliders, not sure about their names or histories:

World War I Model Airplanes

The Jeffersontown Historical Museum has an impressive display of model aircraft on display until June 15, 2012.  The models are the life's work of Floyd Wilder.  He served in the U.S. Navy and then worked for AT&T. The museum is located in the same building as the Jeffersontown, Kentucky Public Library (10635 Watterson Trail, Jeffersontown, KY 40299) and the is open Monday-Friday 10 AM - 5 PM.
This first picture is of a German World War I tri-plane. The next picture are of two French biplanes.

Here is a picture of an American flying poster.

A Japanese triplane model is shown in this next picture.

Next two pictures are of British or French biplane models. One of which is interesting in that the propeller has four blades instead of just two.

The rest of the pictures are of German planes one of which appears to be a model of a plane probably from the 1930s or 1940s based on its tail insignia.

fiat lux

fiat lux is a Latin term meaning let there be light. The phrase is used in the Book of Genesis. The image is of galaxy NGC 2207 taken with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Source image is from GReat Images in NASA (GRIN) web site: http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-000897.html. It has been modified somewhat for this artwork.

Fixing HP Photosmart C6180

Today, I replaced some failing capacitors on an HP Photosmart C6180 printer. Four TEAPO electrolytic capacitors showed signs of failure.  Three were 330 uF 10 V and one was 680 uF 6.3 V.  The procedure took about an hour due to the through hole capacitors being more difficult to remove than anticipated.

The initial instructions I found to do this fix was on the web site www.fixyourownprinter.com in a 09/22/2010 posting by user dodo105: CLICK HERE Thanks to this Internet poster for providing the repair information.

Tools one needs are Torex screw driver (I used a Craftsman T8 x 2 1/2), long nose pliers to grip capacitors, wire cutters to clip capacitor leads, camera to photograph original part placements, soldering iron, thin line solder, desoldering tool, and scissors to remove new capacitor packaging..

First step was opening the printer lid and taking off the side panel of the printer. Three torex screws needed to be removed as seen in the next two photographs.  Inspect plastic pieces for clips to unlatch as well on the top, bottom, and sides of printer.

Three plastic sections removed from printer.

I next removed five Torex screws keeping the circuit board in place. I also unlatched four wire harness connectors to allow the board to fold over better allowing easier access to capacitors.

Component side of circuit board now shown.

The arrows mark the capacitors to be replaced. I believe the locations were: C613, C614, C660, and C662.

This next picture shows the board after two capacitors have been replaced, one is removed and awaiting replacement. The desoldering process consisted of heating the two leads on solder side and removing as much solder possible. Next gripping the bad capacitor with the pliers on one side of the board and heating the connections on the other allowing it to be pulled off. Once the capacitor was off, heating the holes some more and using the desoldering sucker to remove excess solder.

When placing new capacitors remember the + and - polarity and properly placed them on the marked circuit  board.

Once all the capacitors are replaced, the leads are trimmed and the soldering iron is used to touch up the connections.

Picture of bad capacitors removed.

Pictures of new Panasonic replacement capacitors.

Printer is turned on and test pages printed.  It is then burned in overnight to make sure power is good.

Section of self test page.

Autumn Reflections