Ceramic IC packages and Cosmic Rays.
I "played" with mercury in a grade school science class.
I "played" with mercury in a grade school science class.
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I "played" with mercury in a grade school science class.
Mercury tilt switches are still available here in the U.S. but I don't know if they're still being made. I imagine they might be harder to get in the EU, what with their strict RoHS regulations and all. AFAIK there isn't really anything else that can be a direct substitute. Sure an accelerometer, Hall-effect, or other technology can be used for a new design, but they're more complex to sense with than a simple contact closure, and can't be used as a drop-in replacement if a vintage Hg switch should fail. However, one of the beauties of the mercury tilt switch is their robustness. If you have a piece of equipment with a broken or fried mercury switch, there's probably a lot more wrong with it than just the switch!Do tilt switches still have Mercury in them these days?
The liquid electrolyte of older caps was poisonous.
Other than the precautions other members have mentioned, it is good hygiene to wash the hands after handling any old equipment.
Pinball machines I've seen have two types of "tilt" switches. The main one is usually a conical pendulum bob suspended in a ring. There's a setscrew in the bob to adjust its height, and therefore sensitivity. All it has to do is touch the ring to trip the loss-of-ball or game over, depending on the machine set up. In the pre-solid-state games, game over would be accomplished by a latching relay. Many games have two tilt functions, standard tilt and "slam tilt". Slam tilt is usually a weighted leaf spring contact behind or beside the coin door. A hard enough jolt produces immediate game over. Games with slam tilt usually only take away the ball in play on a normal tilt. The very earliest coin-op tilt mechanism was called a "stool pigeon", and was a ball resting in a dished depression in the top of a pedestal. If the ball fell off, it was immediate game over. The drawback with this type was that it had to be manually reset by opening the machine and replacing the ball atop the pedestal.I wonder what the old pinball machines used.
Excessive but effective or is it the other way round?The very earliest coin-op tilt mechanism was called a "stool pigeon", and was a ball resting in a dished depression in the top of a pedestal. If the ball fell off, it was immediate game over. The drawback with this type was that it had to be manually reset by opening the machine and replacing the ball atop the pedestal.
Something in electronics messed me up to. Now I feel normal in a rocking chair with a remote in my hand.I knew a man that melted lead to make fishing sinkers. I guess he did that a lot. He got lead poisoning from the fumes that messed up his equilibrium. He felt off balance or dizzy all of the time, for years. The only time he felt normal was in a rocking boat.
I am with you there, it could have been anything over the years. I am not going to worry to much about it now that I know coffee can kill you. I need my coffee.Something in electronics messed me up to. Now I feel normal in a rocking chair with a remote in my hand.
lol
Well that makes me feel better.Can't prove it but think you guys are wrong about lead giving off 'gas'. The boiling point of lead is ~3180F, and you would need to get hotter than that for it to 'gas', if it ever would. They use lead at higher than melting point ~620F to heat treat/harden some thin metal parts.
The smoke from soldering and casting lead is from the flux not the lead itself.