errantember (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
errantember) wrote2009-08-20 01:23 am
errantember) wrote2009-08-20 01:23 am
Victory is Frankenstein
When I went to visit ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dj_warhammer, I accidentally left my Centro wall charger behind. She's moved twice since then, and the next time it will be seen will be as she throws it into my grave.
I bought one of those "lets you plug a USB device into the wall" things for $20.00.
It didn't work with the Centro. I took it back.
I got a replacement charger from China on Ebay for $4.00 INCLUDING SHIPPING! Shortly after I got it, the middle of the plastic plug broke off, leaving me with three completely uninsulated metal tabs that could be caused to short circuit with a light squeeze. Worse yet, although it *did* still charge the phone if the proper tolerant-to-less-than-one-half-degree angle and precisely zero pressure in any direction could be achieved, it was actually physically possible to disconnect it from the phone by *sneezing*.
I'm not kidding. I've done it.
I complained to the seller, and they offered me a replacement or a refund. Not being too impressed with their quality control, I went for the refund.
Next I went *back* to Ebay. I looked *everywhere* for any model of replacement charger that *wasn't* the same shitty model I had just gotten. And every *single* one of them *was*. No used original ones. No other manufacturers. In fact not even Palm, the company that *made* the charger, carries them anymore. Finally, I *did* find one. It included an extra USB cable, which I didn't need, but it was only $15 plus shipping, it was a different model, *and* it was from Hong Kong, which is at least *sort of* not China, though less not China than it used to be.
So the new one got here, and unlike the $4 one, it didn't work at *all*. I was able to temporarily fix it, and could have permanently fixed it pretty easily, but at this point I was pretty pissed off. The bottom line is, they're going to keep sending us shit until we make it hurt every time we get something defective. And that means keeping our receipts, which, because they're often printed on thermal paper which fades suspiciously fast, it means photocopying or digitizing our receipts. It means sending the fucker back *even* if it costs more to ship it back than it originally cost, and even if means we're losing money in the bargain.
So I complained again, and will be shipping it back soon, at a net loss of probably about $10.00.
Today, I spent approximately 7 hours total fixing the original $4 one (they didn't require me to ship it back to them. I don't blame them, I didn't want it, either!)
First I tried putting a glob of epoxy putty in a block over the plug, then carefully whittling off the parts that didn't need to be there. The Michelangelo Method, if you will. Unfortunately, even after curing overnight, the putty was too brittle and soft, and just when I got it plugged in and working, the same tab that broke on the original broke off again. Keep in mind the plug in question and its three pins (which shouldn't be allowed to touch each other) is substantially smaller than a Tic-Tac.
Fuck.
The second try was based on a chopstick, whittled down to the proper size, and then painstakingly excavated with needles and nail files so all three little contacts would fit. Just as I got *that* one working, one of the contacts broke off, and once I re-bent that one, another one broke off. In the process of this, I discovered that two of the three pins were soldered together, and that the charge process worked even if the inside pin wasn't there. This greatly simplified the design, since the inside pin make the whole thing much harder to shape.
The third try re-used the chopstick from the second, but had custom contacts I made out of a spring, since springiness is necessary to make the design work well. When I got finished with this one, the same fucking tab (only a corner this time) broke off, and it would no long stay in place.
I can't believe you're still reading this.
Finally, I found a small plastic connector of the kind used to connect your CD-ROM audio output to your motherboard (you know the one!) and managed to custom modify it. The final result involved two splices, two custom-modified pins, several bits of toothpick, and a lot of electrical tape, but motherfucker it WORKS!
Aztec Pest Control will be here tomorrow at 2 PM.
dj_warhammer, I accidentally left my Centro wall charger behind. She's moved twice since then, and the next time it will be seen will be as she throws it into my grave.I bought one of those "lets you plug a USB device into the wall" things for $20.00.
It didn't work with the Centro. I took it back.
I got a replacement charger from China on Ebay for $4.00 INCLUDING SHIPPING! Shortly after I got it, the middle of the plastic plug broke off, leaving me with three completely uninsulated metal tabs that could be caused to short circuit with a light squeeze. Worse yet, although it *did* still charge the phone if the proper tolerant-to-less-than-one-half-degree angle and precisely zero pressure in any direction could be achieved, it was actually physically possible to disconnect it from the phone by *sneezing*.
I'm not kidding. I've done it.
I complained to the seller, and they offered me a replacement or a refund. Not being too impressed with their quality control, I went for the refund.
Next I went *back* to Ebay. I looked *everywhere* for any model of replacement charger that *wasn't* the same shitty model I had just gotten. And every *single* one of them *was*. No used original ones. No other manufacturers. In fact not even Palm, the company that *made* the charger, carries them anymore. Finally, I *did* find one. It included an extra USB cable, which I didn't need, but it was only $15 plus shipping, it was a different model, *and* it was from Hong Kong, which is at least *sort of* not China, though less not China than it used to be.
So the new one got here, and unlike the $4 one, it didn't work at *all*. I was able to temporarily fix it, and could have permanently fixed it pretty easily, but at this point I was pretty pissed off. The bottom line is, they're going to keep sending us shit until we make it hurt every time we get something defective. And that means keeping our receipts, which, because they're often printed on thermal paper which fades suspiciously fast, it means photocopying or digitizing our receipts. It means sending the fucker back *even* if it costs more to ship it back than it originally cost, and even if means we're losing money in the bargain.
So I complained again, and will be shipping it back soon, at a net loss of probably about $10.00.
Today, I spent approximately 7 hours total fixing the original $4 one (they didn't require me to ship it back to them. I don't blame them, I didn't want it, either!)
First I tried putting a glob of epoxy putty in a block over the plug, then carefully whittling off the parts that didn't need to be there. The Michelangelo Method, if you will. Unfortunately, even after curing overnight, the putty was too brittle and soft, and just when I got it plugged in and working, the same tab that broke on the original broke off again. Keep in mind the plug in question and its three pins (which shouldn't be allowed to touch each other) is substantially smaller than a Tic-Tac.
Fuck.
The second try was based on a chopstick, whittled down to the proper size, and then painstakingly excavated with needles and nail files so all three little contacts would fit. Just as I got *that* one working, one of the contacts broke off, and once I re-bent that one, another one broke off. In the process of this, I discovered that two of the three pins were soldered together, and that the charge process worked even if the inside pin wasn't there. This greatly simplified the design, since the inside pin make the whole thing much harder to shape.
The third try re-used the chopstick from the second, but had custom contacts I made out of a spring, since springiness is necessary to make the design work well. When I got finished with this one, the same fucking tab (only a corner this time) broke off, and it would no long stay in place.
I can't believe you're still reading this.
Finally, I found a small plastic connector of the kind used to connect your CD-ROM audio output to your motherboard (you know the one!) and managed to custom modify it. The final result involved two splices, two custom-modified pins, several bits of toothpick, and a lot of electrical tape, but motherfucker it WORKS!
Aztec Pest Control will be here tomorrow at 2 PM.