Sunday, June 19, 2005

The Telechron rotor

The Telechron rotor froze in my 1988 vintage kitchen range with electro-mechanical clock about a year ago. A rotor is a small contactless synchronous electric motor which is driven by an external magnetic field. I made a couple of holes in it and blew it through with WD-40, thus making it work again. Unfortunately, I know that the rotor was filled with grease and it will wear down quickly without it. I need a replacement, which still can be found for about $60. But they are not produced anymore. Once they are gone, they are gone. This range's clock is not going to work in 2015, and a great pity it is. I really like it.

My microvave is of the same year. It does have a microcontroller, which continues to work. I only had to solder a few wires once. But I am afraid its time is coming. Inevitably, the IC package will crack, oxigen get in, and the crystall will die.

It's rather ironic that fully mechanical applicances from 50s are going to outlast their counterparts from 80s, which, in turn, outlast the el-cheapo imports from China. I had a newer microwave die before, due to separation of the pin pad layers which allowed the moisture to get inside.

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