Frohe Festtage

Ich wünsche allen meinen Lesern  friedliche Festtage in bester Gesundheit. Möge Euch der Besuch dieses Herren erspart bleiben! 

Hoffen wir alle auf ein Ende der Corona Plage, damit wir uns bald wieder treffen können!

 

Half-Moon Couplers

It has been some time since I had to report a bad "habit" of  Spanker Machine. The "Half Moon" coupler, holding the metal tube connecting the machine with a mounting surface, is too weak and will break due to the strong vibration of Spanker Machine.

This is such a "Half-Moon" Coupler broken apart at its weakest part. Here, you see the usually short lived part broken apart at its practically predetermined breaking point by the backlash of Spanker Machine. If it just breaks slowly - and you see the starting fissure early- than all is well. However, if it breaks during the machine running at maximum power, the whole machine will fly off its mount and can do quite some damage.

Narurally, Juan, our supplier, was aware of this weakness which has annoyed - I dare say - all users of Spanker Machine. He himself was equally frustrated because of the many replacements he had to send out to the customers.

Additionally, I think he was also frustrated because every user pointed out to him that he would have to make this weak link a lot stronger. Naturally - he was very much aware of that necessity as well.

Now - FINALLY - here it is!!! 
 

 

It looks almost identical to the old "Half Moon" coupler, however it feels differently, not as brittle and glossy. So, Juan has found a new material. The new halfmoon is not made of metal, but some other sturdy material. Hopefully it will not break as easily, now. He says it will not!

Unfortunately there is another problem: There must be a lot of owners who have replaced the "Half Moon" couplers many times. They might have experienced a problem with the wear and tear on the threads by the screws which have to be very tight. With each replacements of a "Half Moon" some of the plastic threads will peel off (see picture above). One might call it a collateral damage. Unfortunately, that damage to the body of the machine cannot be repaired. It is permanent.

If any of you know about a way to seal the screws permanently within their threads, I would be happy to tell my readers! It might be some very strong glue or something similar. But there is a flip side to that neat looking solution: it cannot be reversed. If the new halfmoon piece breaks as well - as it might after some heavy usage of the Spanker Machine, there is no repair possibility anymore. 

So, please let me know how YOU would think of the options we now have.

Of course, I am going to test the halfmoons. I am going to let you know about the outcome. But above all, thank you very much, Juan, for solving that very annoying halfmoon problem.