In article ,
Winston wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:

(...)

I bet not. I open such things all the time, by a method akin to picking
a lock. With manufacturing tolerance, one of the latches will tighten
first. Open it with a probe, and the cover will move open slightly,
enough so the latch won't re-latch. Another latch will now be first,
etc. Use a taper or two to hold things apart between steps, driving the
tapers deeper whenever they become loose.

I open latching electronic enclosures using that method as
well. The remote control to my TV is a prime example.
It works great because the plastic is pliable and rather
thin.

On The Other Hand....

The Krups grinder is made from thickish, brittle plastic that does
not allow the incremental approach that we both find useful
for electronic housings.

I did some exploratory work but gave it up as a bad job.

If it's really that brittle, how did they get it together without making
too much scrap?


But I would return the busted new one, just to be a pill.

I suggested that. SWMBO reminded me that Amazon was not interested
in our petty concerns, though. Oh Well.

SWMBO is likely correct about Amazon. I would return it to the
manufacturer, who is supposed to care.

The folks at Krups made all the right noises.
Today they sent a nice eMail asking me to send them
the defective unit with the purchase receipt.

I have no doubt that they would replace it under
warranty but I'm not going to spend $10 and an
afternoon to get it properly boxed and returned
just so I can get another of the same kind of
unit.

The point is to cost Krups something, "just to be a pill." It's their
error signal. Maybe they will even do a post mortem on the returned
unit.


We now have *two* backup coffee grinders so I think
I will focus my time on more profitable stuff.

Joe, I'd be happy to send the new one to you for
your entertainment. It strikes me that one could
very easily stab ones self with a screwdriver
trying to hack into it. So Beware!

Just email me offline using the
address on the bottom of my website
and it is yours.

http://mysite.verizon.net/reswoead/

Thanks for the offer, but doesn't this cost the same as sending it back
to Krups?

I just looked at the perfectly functional Krups Model 203 that my wife
bought a very long time ago. It is held together with screws. Maybe
the better solution is to haunt Goodwill stores.


Joe Gwinn