Infrastructure Overhauls
With winter semester behind me, for the past two days I’ve devoted my attention to computer maintenance here at home.
The G5 is up and running with a fresh install of Mac OS 10.4 (I moved some drives around and therefore had to reinstall the OS) along with the latest versions of all my programs. This took significantly longer than I expected; I’ve grown used to the Debian way of just running sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade to magically update the entire machine with one command (okay, it’s technically two commands; bite me). Manually tracking down and installing the latest versions of all my programs, one by one? That’s just… barbaric.
The Blade had some downtime so I could replace the banshee-like case fan. I opened it up, fearing that Sun had fucked me by installing some impossible-to-locate proprietary fan assembly, only to find a standard 80mm case fan snapped into Sun’s little fan housing. Cool! 80mm case fans are off-the-shelf, $5 parts at any computer store in the country. I ran out and bought a new fan, went to plug it in and… Fuck.
Fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck.
Yes, Sun used a regular case fan, but they stuck some weird-ass proprietary power connector on it. This means wire splicing is in order. Dammit.
Now, I am not a hardware guy. I can build PCs, I can do standard troubleshooting stuff, but I am not good with a soldering iron. Really NOT good. Splicing three wires is a five-minute job for a competent hardware guy. Here’s how the process goes for me:
- Spend 15 minutes in a futile search for wire strippers before giving up and doing the sidecutters-and-fingernails wire stripping routine.
- Lose a good 6″ of wire due to repeated butchery of the sidecutters-and-fingernails wire stripping routine.
- Dig out soldering gun and solder.
- No, that’s plumbing solder. I need electrical solder.
- Spend 10 minutes failing to locate the electrical solder I KNOW I have.
- Run out to the hardware store to buy electrical solder. With amazing forethought, also buy heatshrink tubing.
- Twist together the first two wires and solder.
- Realize that I forgot to put heatshrink over the wire before soldering.
- Curse repeatedly, cut out my fresh solder job, and go back to step 7.
- Resolder wires, getting more solder on the tabletop than on the actual wires.
- Shrink the heatshrink into place, singing fingertips in the process.
- Notice that I just soldered a black wire to a red wire; go back to step 7 AGAIN.
- Eventually, after much sweating, swearing, and digit-scorching, complete the soldering job.
- Install new fan.
- Pray to all applicable deities that I’m not about to fry my computer.
- Hit the power button.
- No sparks, no smoke, the fan spins, AND it’s rotating in the right direction!
- Bask in the glow of victory.
- While putting everything away, find my wire strippers, electrical solder, and heatshrink tubing. Never fuckin’ fails.
The newly-quietened Blade also got an upgrade to OpenBSD 4.3, about which I’ll post more later. Short version: I loves me some OpenBSD.
Next up, the laptop gets a bump to Ubuntu 8.04 and TD gets seriously drunk.
Tequila?
Comment by Rustmeister — May 3, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
I don’t go around splicing wires either, but you might’ve got away with stripping the wires and jury-rigging them together with electrical tape. (There’s a slight possibility of destroying the machine…)
Comment by Alcibiades McZombie — May 3, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
How much do you want to bet it’s a standard molex connector that you can order from Digikey for like 50 cents?
Comment by HTRN — May 3, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
Rusty - Is there any other kind of booze?
HTRN - You’re probably right, but I’d still have to install the connector on the new fan. Anyways, the damn thing’s working now
Comment by TD — May 3, 2008 @ 11:36 pm
Could be worse. Could be raining.
Comment by Tam — May 4, 2008 @ 9:53 am
Congratulations on a successful outcome, TD! –There are always surprises with these things, the trick is takin’ them in stride, as you did.
It’s always frustratin’ to me when non-hardware types attempt these simple-if-you-do-often jobs.
Here are some tips:
1. The only thing TD did “wrong” was strip wires the hard way. We’re all gun and/or tech folk, right? Okay with dangerous toys? Understand risks? Well, then, here’s the easy way to strip any kind of wire: take a fresh single-edge safety razor blade, the kind with a reinforced back that they sell in the Paint department. Using only moderate pressure, rotate it around the wire insulation without sliding.* Flex the wire at the cut. Usually, the insulation will break. If the insulation does not break, hold it flexed and gently push the blade into it until the cut opens up, at which point further flexing will make it open up all the way around. Slide it off. PTFE (teflon) insulation and THHN (power wires with a double skin) can be trickier; experiment.
Please note you are fiddling with a sharp blade in close proximity to your fingers — keep bandaids handy the first few times.
(Coax is tricky to properly strip; if you work with it much, buy a “clothespin” stripper, about $15, which produces a connector-ready 2- or 3-level strip. If you don’t, buy a 6″ steel rule and look up the stripping dimensions; measure and strip. The cable guy can only eyeball it ‘cos he does it all day long and uses forgiving “F” connectors. Get the right crimper for the connectors, too — there are no shortcuts).
2. Molex connectors come in at least three pin sizes, three pin styles and a zillion arrangemnts of contacts. The connectors are very affordable, 0.$$. Doing them right requires the right crimp tool, $$. Doing them over calls for the right pin-removal tools, $$$. For home use, life is too short to doink with all this. Yeah, it’s prettier without splices. So…?
3. “Twisting wires together,” and not soldering: no. TD didn’t and don’t you, either. Proper connections are mechanically strong and gas-tight. That’s how come electricans use wirenuts. That’s how come their grand-dads used solder.
4. “Electrical tape.” No. Please, no. Especially not inside equipment. The adhesive dies, nastily, leaving gunk and goo creeping down the wires. It has poor shear strength. The tape itself gets stiff and brittle and eventually crumbles into flakes when stressed. Unless you are taping up wirenuts or holding multiple wires togther where it’s already been done, don’t use it. Go over to the Plumbing department and buy some magic self-amalgamating silicone tape, sold for sealing drain leaks from the outside; it will fuse into a solid mass when applied. You can find clear and color versions online — Duluth Trading Co. offers it and so does Lee Valley. It’s not as resistant to pointy things poking through from inside, so be wary of that.
5. Take your time. Any tech-thing one rarely does, anything you’re learning to do, no matter how clever or skilled one is at other complex tasks, it’s gonna take you longer to do than it does the person who does it all day, every day. This is normal. Don’t let yourself get rushed or impatient.
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* This is difficult to explain. Lay your finger on the edge of your desk, then roll it by rotating your arm and wrist. The desk represents the razor balde and your finger, the wire. That’s the proper motion. Sliding or slicing risks cutting or nicking the wire.
Comment by Roberta X — May 4, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Roberta -
Thank you! Next time I need something like this done, I’ll just drop it in the mail to you
Comment by TD — May 4, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
Well, I said it probably would destroy everything… fair warning…
Comment by Alcibiades McZombie — May 5, 2008 @ 12:11 am
Just a random comment not related to your post:
Were you at Penguicon? Just wondering because of the Linux stuff and that it’s reasonably local to you. I was one of the volunteer instructors at Geeks w Guns if you attended that. Just curious if we might have met.
Rob
Comment by Trebor — May 5, 2008 @ 2:46 am
(On second thought, I have a much better response):
If duct tape can solve all my mechanical problems, then surely electrical tape can solve all my electrical problems. I learned that from watching the Red Green show.
Comment by Alcibiades McZombie — May 5, 2008 @ 4:02 am
A handy-dandy molex pin removal tool set can be made out of a broken extendable antenna, the best being the 5-6 segment short units off old cordless phones.
Simple disassemble by breaking the end off or using a good fresh pipe cutter or hacksaw. The whole thing will fall apart out the bottom, leaving you several sizes of strong, stiff steel tubes, one of which should fit right over the pins and compress the “hooks” easily.
Comment by drstrangegun — May 5, 2008 @ 9:06 am
duct tape can hold the world together!
unless, of course, it’s raining.
Comment by sidhe_demon — May 5, 2008 @ 10:06 am
Rob -
I wasn’t at Penguicon because it was the same weekend as Steve Fisher’s shooting class; otherwise I’d have gone. We probably have at least one mutual friend; I’ll email you…
Comment by TD — May 5, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
I don’t know how many times I have forgotten the heat shrink or the strain relief, or the connector cap, or some other piece that must be on before the wires are soldered. Just be glad you aren’t working with an antique avionics plug, with 50+ non-removable pins in a low-temp melty plastic base.
The easy way to strip insulation–Tap each side of the cut with the soldering iron just long enough to melt the insulation, then use thumbnails after it cools a bit. Have good ventilation, and clean the soldering iron before soldering. (I prefer the razor blade method, but it is one more thing to find, and takes more feel)
If you don’t have the right Molex tools, you can solder the pins, as long as they aren’t installed yet. It will take longer than a crimper, but hardly any normal people deal with molex enough to buy a proper crimper.
If you’re having a hard time soldering–Get a cellulose sponge, the kind that is sold flat and stiff, and expands in water. Clean the hot tip thoroughly on the damp sponge. (a wet paper towel will work in a pinch) Make sure the tip is coated with a thin layer of solder. Put a small drop of solder on the tip, touch the melted drop to the wire. Feed solder in–From the opposite side if possible, but in any case NOT where the iron touches the wire. (this is the mistake I see people making most) The solder will wick towards the heat when the wire is hot enough.
Comment by sevesteen — May 5, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
Sevesteen’s got the skinny on soldering — a clean, well-tinned iron solves most problems.
As for doin’ your minor mods, TD, why, sure! But you might not like my rates.
Comment by Roberta X — May 5, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
I’ll do it for only double what Roberta charges, in only twice the time!
Comment by HTRN — May 7, 2008 @ 12:24 am
Someone beat me to the “pins” thing. Generally don’t have to splice.
Otherwise, use the tinned/clean solder gun. I have a little butane unit I bought from The Shack and LOVE it. Easy control of heat, can switch to a torch to shrink tubing — what’s not to love!!
DD
Comment by dedicated_dad — June 3, 2008 @ 7:37 pm