In this story, my own products were made by monkeys. My company had a great staff that assembled the radio receivers that we sold. Staff members were able to follow instructions and use their initiative when something unexpected arose. Sometimes, however, the instructions did not reach everyone.
Our top-quality radio used an oak cabinet. Inside the cabinet we mounted a four-inch speaker. The inside of the cabinet was just slightly larger than the speaker, typically by 1/8 inch. The speaker could be dropped into place and then held with four wood screws. Because wood is not as precise as metal, occasionally the inside of the cabinet was smaller than the frame of the speaker. I had instructed the staff to bring these few cabinets to my attention. Since I had more physical strength than anybody on my staff, I took a sharp knife and cut the inside of the cabinet so that the speaker would fit, and then they mounted the speaker in the normal fashion.
One day, someone from the office was helping to mount the speakers. She was not told about those cases where the speaker would not fit. Instead of giving the cabinets to me, she bent the frame of the speaker so that it would fit. Needless to say, the cone was distorted and I considered the speaker destroyed. I checked and found another cabinet with a bent speaker and had it replaced. A month later, a new radio was returned with the complaint of excessive distortion. To my dismay, the speaker had been bent to fit the cabinet.
Our speakers were made in China and supplied by a local distributor. Once, when our supplier was out of stock, we bought a shipment of very high quality speakers from another source at a good price. The magnets were heavy and the speakers sounded great. We installed them into the cabinets and sold the radios.
A few months after shipping, some of the radios were returned marked “no sound.” Upon examination, we discovered that the magnet had fallen off, probably because the radio was dropped. Then it would grab the frame, which was made of steel. In other radios the speaker appeared normal, but with a sharp pull, the magnet could be removed. There was no sound because the voice coil was pinched between the magnet and the frame.
It seems that the magnet was glued to the frame, carefully centered so that the voice coil could move freely through the steel projection from the center of the magnet. When the glue aged, it lost its strength and the magnet either fell from the frame, or moved sufficiently to pinch the voice coil.
The speaker was well designed and carefully built, but somebody substituted cheap glue that didn’t have the strength to hold the magnet. Or perhaps the glue was not properly applied. Clearly, monkey business!
This entry was submitted by Frank Karkota and edited by Rob Spiegel.
Tell us your experiences with Monkey-designed products. Send stories to Rob Spiegel for Made by Monkeys.
Well that is what I mean. Companies that THINK they are buying one thing are getting another without ever knowing. It's a big problem. Something needs to be done and I think the gov has started. I think.
Well that is what I mean. Companies that THINK they are buying one thing are getting another without ever knowing. It's a big problem. Something needs to be done and I think the gov has started. I think.
It seems to me that the worker who bent the speakers to get them in place is getting a free pass here. I am curious as to the company attitude that allowed the worker to think this was an acceptable fit. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit: end of story. Put both aside for rework and move on. But it must have been the case that the attitude was, "Make it fit." Not a good thing.
I also agree with the general distrust of glue. Eventually it will fail, but there are many items out there that are glued assemblys and last for years. But I want screws, welds, rivets or any of a multitude of historically proven methods of fastening.
This was just such an incredible mess! I sold the receivers to the company that developed the system. He sold the receivers to the Farm Bureau, which put the receivers in the homes of farmers, so that they could get useful information via data. (This was before the internet.)
When the capacitors failed, the system failed and the Farm Bureau had to retrieve and replace the receivers at great cost. Everybody was hurt.
When the capacitor manufacturer sent a lawyer after me, I turned it over to my lawyer. My lawyer settled the lawsuit by telling the manufacturer's lawyer that if he drops the suit against us, we would not sue them for damages. The lawyer's bill almost equalled the amount of the suit.
Yes Rob, when you put an ohmmeter across a 0.1 uf capacitor and measure 100 ohms or 1000 ohms, that is proof that the capacitor is bad. When you have hundreds of capacitors that show similar leakage, you have proof of defective parts. Furthermore, I am not the only manufacturer who had similar problems with these parts.
Keep in mind that this is a US manufacturer. I never had this problem with Chinese capacitors!
The manufacturer filed a lawsuit against me because I refused to pay for the defective capacitors. Running a small business without an honest and capable lawyer is impossible!
When your lab is only one scope, one meter, and one homebrew function generator and power supply, the scope is stage center. But this one wasn't working right.
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