Audio cassettes:
  I had trouble with one radio where ,when recording,the tape
would bunch up like an accordian and stop.The belt was ok since it
kept turning.I wondered why the jam.I tested a group of cassettes
by holding the center of one spool between my thumb and forefinger
and used a small pair of scissors to turn the other spool to take
up slack.About 6 cassettes were ok but another 6 had some slack,
some quite a bit.After tightening up,I rewound the tape and tried
again.It still jmammed.The problem has to be between the rubber 
wheel and the turning pin.Maybe the rubber wheel has to be 
perfectly round.Will check.
 
Portable phone battery:
 My phone battery seems to be discharging faster than usual .
So I discharged it to a lower level to minimize a memory effect.
First I used a razor blade to cut a 1/4" slot at the top and
bottom to be able to measure voltages.There's no metal in the
battery compartment so there's no problems with shorts.
The phone was blinking so I pulled off the plug ,measured
the 3 cells at 1.25,1.25,1.25 volts.Just in case,I put the
plug back in and it stopped blinking.Hmm,might be a bad 
connection at the plug.The wires are very thin and depend on a 
sliding contact.After some use,next day,it blinked again.
But a plug change made no difference.The 3 cells read 
1.21,1.22 and 1.22 volts.
 
  So I decided to discharge it to remove any memory effects.
Using 2 common pins in the small plug,separated by paper,
I discharged it acrossa 35 ohm resistor for about 4 hours.
Measuring again,I got 1.17,1.22,1.17 volts.I stopped and put 
the phone in the charging rack for 21 hours .The 3 cells now 
showed:1.42,1.42,1.42 for a total of 4.28 volts.It seems to last 
longer ,now,between charges .
  Two weeks later,the phone started blinking again.The 3 cells
read 1.21,1.23,1.20 volts.I recharged them from across the poles
of a CD battery charger.After 5 hours,I got 1.40,1.40,1.40.
I put it aside for a direct replacement when needed.
 
Rechargables;
  There was some discussion in the past on whether refrigerated
rechargeables lasted longer.I had put six Ni-MH cells measuring
1.39 volts each in a plastic bag in a refrigerator.Some 70 days 
later,I took them out.warmed them to room temp and measured 1.34 
volts.I tested them under load with a radio and they were O.K.
Then I started thinking that the voltage/MaH curve may be involved.
But from my knowledge of chemistry,a chemical reaction doubles for
every 10 degrees rise in temperature.So it looks like I'll 
continue to store them in the refrigerator.
 
Strange cable:
   While dumpster diving ,I came across a plastic coated #18 wire
with a series of metallic switches? ,about 2 1/2 " by 1/2 ",along
the wire about 1 foot apart.The devices were encased in a transparent 
soft plastic pouch.I checked for capacitance by first measuring
the resistance ( was an open circuit) ,then reversing the leads
and see id I got a kick. Got nothing.
  Anyone have an idea what these things were?
 
50,000 ohm resistor
A while back,someone came across a glass enclosed resistor labeled
50,00 megohms and wondered where it was used.It's used in Analytical
Chemistry in a Mass Spectrometer.Positively charged ions from 
molecules and fragments are sorted by magnetic and electric fields
into masses of a singular Molecular weight and strike an electrode
to produce a voltage.The voltage draw electrons from ground through
a high value resistor to produce a microvolt voltages that are
amplified by op amps to as high as 5 volts for recording and 
interpretation.
 
Lawn mower
 After sitting all winter,I had problems starting my lawn mower.
I took out the spark plug and used an eye dropper to squirt about
10 drops of lighter fluid into the hole.After closing up,it started
and ran about 10 seconds then stopped.After the 3rd try,it was 
running normally.Once the supplies were gathered,it took less
than a minute to add the lighter fluid.
 
 

--- Maximus 2.02