On 8/30/2015 11:31 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 30 Aug 2015 08:56:52 -0500, amdx wrote:

The RF converters had a framework and then snap on covers. I would
file the bottom ring on the connector and tin it and the frame, The I
could usually lay a nice bead around it. Always with the freeze mist
handy to keep the internal plastic of the F connector from melting.

I wanted to avoid soldering to the F-connector. It was easier to tack
solder to the brass washer than to the connector. It was especially
handy for zinc and cadmium plated connectors, which would not solder
without grinding off the plating. Sometimes, the base metal was some
kind of aluminum copper mix, that also wouldn't solder. It became a
fairly common repair so I pre-tinned a box of brass washers and used
them as needed. I still have the box, somewhere. For where I had to
solder to the connector, I had a male F-connector with a heat sink
attached to conduct and then radiate as much heat as possible. The
center pin was the key because if the dielectric melted, it would
reform in the same position when cooled, held in place by the center
pin. All my few TV F-connector repairs included a push on adapter,
mostly because I didn't want to see the TV again after the owner
tripped over the cable again.

From 1984 to 1994, I had 11,000 vcr repairs,

Nice. That's 10 years or 1,100 VCR's per year, or roughly 100 per
month, or about 3 per day.

Ya, maybe a little better than that, I didn't work 7 days a week!

Ok. 20 working days per month makes 5 VCR's per day, which is even
more impressive.


It's not bragging if you did it right?
Ok, one week during the Christmas return season, I repaired 84 vcrs.
Most came from the 3 Big box retailers, in boxes.
I billed a little over $6,000 and got a $3,000 paycheck. Yes, I worked 7
days and more than 8 hrs a day. Many of the repairs were Fisher and
Sanyo VCR's with the same problems over and over. Any repairs that
looked like they might take real troubleshooting were moved to next
week. If I needed a part that I didn't have in stock, I usually had a
VCR on the shelf that had the part.

I needed to move them out, the 120 VCR's stacked up, was only the
start, the tv tech had his pile and the audio guy too. The shop got
crowded. The boss also had guy that went to the stores picked up the
repairs and delivered them when completed.
Another advantage to having lots of the same model, if I had a tough
dog, I could do the besideja method. Putting a working model beside me
and see what was different.


You were lucky that the factory didn't make drastic changed with every
shipment. I had to learn the machine over again with every shipment,
roughly once per month. Not knowing that this was not exactly normal
or optimum, I just accepted it and plodded forward.

When doing repairs, I hate the learning curve, especially when you know
you'll never see one of these again.
The biggest pleasure was, as the repair business started to wear on
you, a service class would come up, you go to the class and learn just
how cool all these parts put together as a circuit and combined with
other circuits and WOW, this thing is amazing.


DVD player sales were coming on at the time VCR's prices were
dropping, I thought about jumping into those, I'm glad I didn't, the
prices for those dropped quick.

Good move.

Ya, that's when I sold my home my rentals and moved to Florida.

However, I would like to thank you for
improving the aesthetic quality of your postings by removing the
advertisement.


It was my pleasure.
As Maya Angelo said, "When you know better, you do better".

Mikek