How the wrong screwdriver and a poor power adapter wasted my time. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Georgy.Moshkin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2025, 07:36:24 am
content: In the past I complained that manufacturers included too expensive accessories. Lately its different.Last week I checked some lab equipment. I pushed the power button but no LEDs lit, no sound. When I picked up the power adapter to check the connection, I heard a nasty electrical arc. Two of three contacts on the adapter were detached!Days later I've got a replacement. I started testing but the program window was missing a crucial part. Support said I need internet connection. From my programming experience I deduced it downloads an animated gif from a server (why?). No message with a hint or something like that.Then during hardware installation, the screws were stuck. I found the included screwdriver was too sharp for the flat screws used.I spent more hours wondering why test mode didn't match the manual. Later I learned the manual value "this should equal XX" was wrong.All this wasted time would be ok if I learned something new. Some algorithms, some know-hows. But it's useless experience for me. Some time-wasting experience that is created by other engineers.

author: kloetpatra
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2025, 08:12:08 am
content: Seems we've both been victims of unnecessary detours. Reading this was exhausting and oddly sharp around the edges. Guess that screwdriver and I have something in common now too.

author: voltsandjolts
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 25, 2025, 08:31:27 am
content: Quote from: Georgy.Moshkin on August 25, 2025, 07:36:24 amThis is the very outdated technique of abusing the gif transfer mechanism to download arbitrary data, like you might use a websocket now. Search term "gifsockets".

author: Georgy.Moshkin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2025, 09:19:33 am
content: Exactly, lots of surprises. Another thing I don't like is that you often must do a "quick" check to not look like a jerk. Because it always sounds like "please check, it will only take 20 minutes." In reality it becomes a week, especially if you're the kind of person who gets addicted to solving technical problems. That's why independence matters. Otherwise you end up solving other people's problems instead of your own - and it helps no one. The manufacturer has all these employees who could handle this (online meetings, business trips, etc.). There's no reason this should become my problem in the first place. I need to focus on my own work, not get dragged into their clutter. Yet somehow the system always flips responsibility onto me. And the hardest part is setting boundaries without sounding rude.

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 26, 2025, 10:25:42 am
content: Welcome to the world. I can tell you real horror stories.If you think one wrong number in a manual is bad, I saw a manual for a professional TV camera, by a major Japanese OEM, where every page, every procedure had our engineers standing about for hours trying to figure out just what the word-for-word Japanese to English translations actually meant. There were literally dozens and dozens of pages of notes in the margins before all was said and done. The lost time was measured in weeks, not minutes or hours.

author: Georgy.Moshkin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 28, 2025, 02:35:18 am
content: Quote from: EPAIII on August 26, 2025, 10:25:42 amI can imagine some buttons, knobs, or other controls whose order of operation is impossible to guess.​ Yet, lots of devices are always on in a default state that is mostly unusable. There is almost always a ritual of specific clicks and taps needed to bring the settings into some usable state. This happens with both hardware and software.