WorldWide Drilling Resource

Causing More Problems than We Solve by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC While I was at a friend’s house, I was offered a drink of water. I was told the water dispenser was in the refrigerator. I walked over to the refrigerator and found this water and ice dispenser in the freezer door. I have never owned a refrigera- tor with a water or ice dispenser, so I was trying to figure out how this thing worked. My friend, who is very bright but definitely not a computer “geek” (he refuses to use one) came over and started pushing the buttons to show me how it worked. I told him I wasn’t into these newfangled gadgets and couldn’t figure this one out. So, for a moment, we had reversed roles. Me, the computer controls developer being taught “computer skills” by the man who refused to use a computer. Sometimes, new technology which claims to give an advantage in one area is a disadvantage - or even a problem - in one or more other areas. One example: A few years ago a battery manufacturer came out with a battery testing “strip” on the side of the battery. You pressed this strip and it changed color to indicate the charge level of the battery. This strip embodied all of the “simpler is better” principles I’ve been advocating for some time. It was simple and did what it needed to do, with a minimum of cost and components. Great idea, right? There was a catch. The tester worked by using the battery’s energy to create heat, which would change the color of the battery testing strip; and the test took so much energy (current/amperage) to do this, it quickly drained the battery. This could happen in less than one minute. Two or three of these tests could completely drain the battery, rendering it unusable and forcing the user to discard the battery and buy another one. So maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all - at least for the battery buyer. There are a number of battery testers on the market that will test a battery without draining it, which would be a better choice. A trend in the computer controls industry is to “add” things to “make it better”. Of course, more components make the product more expensive, so there is an element of self-interest on the part of the man- ufacturers. I have nothing against making anything better if it can be proven to be as simple as it can be, yet adequate for the job it must do. More often than not, added components cause more problems than they solve. Another example: Electronic parts often dissipate heat, and provisions need to be made to remove the heat before it builds up to unacceptable levels. One way to do this is to add a cooling fan. This is fine, but what if the fan fails? Then we need to add a way to detect this failure - either by monitoring fan rotation or a heat sensor to shut down everything if things get too hot. So making one change requires two or more other changes which have to be made, to have a reliable system. One possible solution here would be instead of using a fan, use a metal enclosure instead of a plastic one. Make sure this metal enclosure has lots of ventilation holes and attach the heat-producing component to this enclosure to use the metal as a heat sink. Then test it in real-world conditions to make sure it works as expected. Using static, passive components like enclosure materials may be a better solu- tion than an “active” approach where the fan rotation or enclosure temperature must be continuously monitored. There’s not much that can go wrong with basic materials. The same cannot be said for systems. Systems may be (and many are) rel iable, but more components equals more problem potential - and we want to avoid that. Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 12 OCTOBER 2018 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Congratulations to: Lloyd Shaf fer Ocean I sle Beach, NC Winner for September! Time for a Little Fun! September Puzzle Solution: Rex McFadden Ltd. T&T Carbide, Inc. Win a prize! Send your completed puzzle to: WWDR PO Box 660 Bonifay, FL 32425 or fax to: 850-547-0329 Can you identify which ads in this issue these two photos came from? New & Used Bits, HDD Bits & Tools, Drag Bits & Wings, Bolt-On Drag Bits, Reverse Circulation Tools, Hole Openers, Claw Bits, Stabilizers, Subs, Custom Tooling & Welding, Hammer Bits, Drill Collars, Pipe Wipers, and Drill Pipe. Office: (661) 834-4348 Rod Henderson / Eran Henderson 661-201-6259 • 661-330-0790 sales@bitcobits.com www.bitcoinc.us