Path: csiph.com!au2pb.net!feeder.erje.net!1.eu.feeder.erje.net!newsfeed.fsmpi.rwth-aachen.de!newsfeed.straub-nv.de!news-1.dfn.de!news.dfn.de!news.informatik.hu-berlin.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: dvus Newsgroups: sci.physics Subject: Re: A wrenching problem Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2015 08:29:10 -0500 Lines: 61 Message-ID: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: individual.net 1q6I63tZS9wtkCi2Id4ZvQhU7mXR43b8BhioEiUz3Cnl6XZy7d Cancel-Lock: sha1:l3R5zrs2os3V2f5gNPaZsRVe60o= User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.3.0 In-Reply-To: X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 151101-0, 11/01/2015), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean Xref: csiph.com sci.physics:529674 On 10/31/2015 3:04 PM, Fabian Russell wrote: > On Sat, 31 Oct 2015 13:35:39 -0400, benj wrote: > >> >> Those particular ratcheting wrenches are stamped cheapo crap with very >> large ends that won't fit tight spaces (the spaces around nuts and bolts >> are always tight due to Murphy's Law). There are better ones. >> > > Better? Well, let's just say that there are a variety of wrenches > available to suit a variety of access situations. The average mechanic, > therefore, must invest a fortune in different tool sets to cover all, > or most, possibilities -- if he can afford it. > > Furthermore, Murphy's law is not the culprit. The reason for most > difficult access situations is POOR DESIGN. Most goods are not made > to be repaired. They are made to be discarded after a certain time > period and thus no thought whatsoever is usually given to providing > a convenient access. > > I had to replace the oil pan on my vehicle. The whole fscking engine > had to be removed, at great expense, to obtain access to a $50 part. > The same for spark plugs. The same for fuel pumps. Etc., etc. > To change out a simple starter on my vehicle, I once had to piece together > a chain of several socket extensions, including TWO universal joints, > totaling about three feet in length so as to thread through a labyrinth > of obstructions in order to reach the two bolts that held the goddamned > thing. When I walked into the auto parts emporium to get a replacement > the clerk began to heartily laugh: "I'll bet you had a time gettin' this > off!" I once worked on a Caddy that required lifting the engine several inches off its mounts to change the damn spark plugs. If that isn't the pinnacle of poor design I don't know what is. > Once, after measuring a low voltage output, I realized that I needed > to replace the alternator on my auto. A look around revealed the faulty > original sitting beautifully in an unobstructed location. I was overjoyed. > After quickly removing two bolts I began to pull but the thing wouldn't > budge. Looking more closely I discovered a third bolt completely buried > in a deep ravine of steel forgings and casts. It required many hours of > frustration to finally free the part. Been there, many times. > A military fighter jet is designed for continuous maintenance and > the design engineers give great attention to including convenient > access as part of the overall design. But the same is not true for > the flood of other goods on the consumer and professional market. > > Good design costs $$$ and will not make it in the competitive world > of trash goods that we know and enjoy. As a consequence, the repairman > always has the frustrating job of playing nimble contortionist Very true, but a car designed for easy repair would cost so much very few would buy it. Who's at fault, the designers or the consumer? -- dvus