Re: (ET) new technology and abandoning the ICE (DaveB)

["John B Reinhard" <reinharj frontiernet net>]

I expect AllTrax will stand behind for a year (or more)  also - BUT, that 
is
a miniscule amount of time compared to the 10 years I have owned these so
far, or the 30 years they have been around.  (Also, working a bit against
Alltrax is that these will be customer installed, as opposed to OEM
manufacurer specified & installed.)

DaveB is right - modern controllers are go/no-go . . . they work great, or
not at all.

More pro's and con's:

Relays have been around for many decades - early 1900's? - while
microprocessor control since around late 1970's.
I expect that in 30 more years, I could still buy some wire, and rewind a
relay coil, or make a new contact on my lathe,  if I really wanted to.

I am not sure that even then, will I be able to make my own microprocessor,
to replace a blown out one.

On the other hand, WELL DESIGNED solid state controllers can last almost
forever, so if I had to spend another $200 (probably half as much $, or
LESS, since cost of electronics drops pretty fast) in 10 or 20 years from
now, I would be really happy with the reliability between now and then.

I have tossed microwave ovens, and old computer equipment over the years
because some mechanical part rusted, or wore out (fan motors, etc), or was
replaced by something much faster - and NOT because the microprocessor
control failed.

So, I expect the actual microprocessor control part of the Alltrax
controller to last forever (unless it is hit by some electrical spike /
static surge).
But, I don't expect the FET's (or equivalent transistors) that actually
switch the high current to last forever.

Best guess would come from a 10 year reliability study of golf cart
controllers - what is overall failure rate of a certain design - and which
part inside it failed?
A design feature might be to make a 2 part system - first half is reliable
parts, that almost never fail (micro?), and second half is all the parts
that usually fail (high power switching transistors?).
Since we can buy rebuilt/repaired controllers on the internet for golf 
carts
& electric cars, we know they are great, but not perfect.
( If they weren't great, new golf carts would use relays and contactors ! )

John
E-20's(2), E-15, E-12(parts)


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "daveb" <daveb seanet com>
To: "Christopher Zach" <czach computer org>; <perry suppleye com>
Cc: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 12:34 PM
Subject: Re: (ET) Re: ET new technology and abandening the ICE (Rod Hower)


> I expect alltrax will stand behind their products for at least a year.
> someone correct me if I'm wrong as I don't remember reading what the
warranty
> is.  It's been my limited experience that black boxes go south fairly
quickly
> or not at all.
>
> dave
> seattle
>