Electronics not designed for repair.

[alpal]

Hi Everyone,
I spent all my working life mostly repairing or upgrading electronic devices
as a qualified electronics Technician / Technical Officer.
I usually worked on industrial and military products
which were designed to be repaired.
I noticed that many domestic products were not designed to be repaired
and I found an interesting example of the following medical product.

It's an OMRON Model MC-245 thermometer used for measuring by placing under the tongue.
It seemed to be faulty and I noticed that my other spare thermometer
OMRON model MC-341 had a battery lid/cover - but wasn't working.
I easily replaced the battery and now it seems to work OK.

However the MC-245 has no battery cover.
After consulting many YouTube videos I pulled it apart knowing
that I would break the Thermistor wires and damage the end piece.
I wanted to see what was inside.
The 2 Thermistor wires were deliberately too short to slide the
electronics containing the display etc out without breaking the 2 wires.
It must have been assembled at the factory in 2 halves and the
plastic along the whole length heat bonded so that you couldn't replace the battery.
Also notice from the picture the 4 White plastic posts are heat sealed
instead of screwed on with tiny screws which meant that
the 2 broken wires could not be lengthened and re-soldered on.
Also - I checked the NTC Thermistor out with my multi-meter.
It measured around 48K ohms when cold and slowly
went down to around 42K ohms when I placed my fingers on the tip.

Anyway - when you buy one of these thermometers make sure yours
has a battery cover.

cheers
Allan

[Leo.G (Leo)]

Sadly it's a throw away society but I still collect old valves for old repairable radios and equipment.

[Max Vondel (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Leo.G

Sadly it's a throw away society but I still collect old valves for old repairable radios and equipment.

I understand Leo. I run 300B single ended triodes and KT88 ultra linear amps. Most of my pre-amp valves come from the 1960's and 70's

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Leo.G

Sadly it's a throw away society but I still collect old valves for old repairable radios and equipment.

That' a good idea.
I still have a 1957 Stradivari 2 valve radio that I repaired in the mid 1990s.
I replaced 5 valves and all the waxy capacitors and half the resistors.
It still works - from the age when everything was repairable.
I post a picture from inside the back of it.

cheers
Allan