Warranties on Electronic Products

Warranties on Electronic Products

When I buy a new electronic product the salesman always wants to sell me an extended warranty. I do not buy them. The seller makes a big profit on these extended warranties, because they are seldom used.

Today’s electronics are very reliable and if a component fails it will fail shortly after it is put into service. If it fails after the warranty, it is often not economical to repair and money is better spent on a new improved model. The new models often have features you now want anyway.

I did electronic repair for a number of years, and I hated the warranty repairs. The manufacturer would pay us a flat rate, and supply the parts. If the repair took more than a ½ hour, I lost money. I would look for anything that could void the warranty, all of us service techs did. Impact, sand, moisture damage, dog or child teeth marks and the like, voided the warranty. I was not all that much of a stickler about warranties. If it was a simple easy fix I just did it even if it was not really a warranty job.

My view on it now is that if the electronic product is under warranty, have a warranty repair facility fix it. If they void the warranty, ask if they will give you anything for it for parts. They often will, and you will get something out of it. Then spend your money on a new product.

With the electronic navigation equipment we sell at The Digital Compass Shop when we get a notice that the equipment has failed, I tell them if it is under warranty try to get it fixed. If it is not repairable under warranty I will offer a discount on a new replacement for it. That is only fair.

Arkansas Cat Fishing

Cat Fishing

The stereotype of Arkansas people and things are backwards and dumb. We inherited 3 Arkansas cats from my sister. Grason is both smart and dumb. One of Grasons pastimes is trying to catch the fish in the Aquarium. He goes from side to side trying to catch them and will spend hours trying to get the fish.

The other day he discovered the mounted sailfish we have on the wall. He checked it out from all sides of the room. He stalked it, he tapped it with his paws…He wanted it !!!

It was about an 80 lb. fish when it as caught and it is over 6’ long. Grason had big ideas and he as totally intent to get that big fish. The Arkansas cat was cat fishing a stuffed fish and would not leave it alone.

Her are a few photos of Arkansas Cat Fishing.   

Sailboat Battery Charging

Sailboat Battery Charging.

Keeping the batteries charged on your boat is always somewhat of a challenge. On my little boat, I have a pair of solar panels that do a good job keeping the charge up. I also have a smart battery charger I can plug in to shore power.  My wife’s boat has a wind generator, solar panels, and the shore power option that charges the batteries as well as charging from the motor when it is running.  Having a high-output alternator on the engine can be a big help when cruising or living on the hook.  The 110 volt battery charger is also an inverter that will provide a limited amount of 110 volt current when not attached to shore power.

My little boat uses its batteries to run a trolling motor, navigation instruments and lights and a small inverter for AC power. We can both cruise and live on my wife’s larger boat.  If you are cruising or living on your boat, you can use a lot of battery power. Keeping the batteries charged can be challenging.

Check out the Watt & Sea:

The Watt & Sea is a product by e-marine that they call a hydrogenerator, and it can generate a charging current for your batteries as you are under sail. The unit is a fin that is attached to the transom of the boat and is hinged so it can be lowered in to the water when you are underway. It looks much like the lower unit of an outboard motor. The prop on it turns as you are going through the water, and as it turns it generates a charging current. It begins generating power at just 3 knots. It can be raised out of the water when not underway.

It was developed and used on offshore racing boats. The company has now come out with cruising models.

The Watt & Sea unit gives the Sail boater another charging tool to help keep the batteries charged up.

Silver, China, Crystal, Collectables

Silver, China, Crystal, Collectables...use and enjoy them!

With the death of my sister (from natural causes), and having to take care of her estate, I have been thinking about all the things one collects. In my family when I as growing up, the good silver ware, the nice china and the crystal were used only on special occasions. I fell in to the same habit.

All of a sudden I now have the silver, china, and crystal from my parents, my sister, my brother and the stuff I had bought. I have a ton of stuff. I also have all the "every day" stuff. Storage is a problem.

We decided we had to get rid of a lot of stuff. We both decided that what good is having all these nice things and only use them every once in a while. We both enjoy the "nice stuff" so now we are using it every day. We can not take it with us, and if it breaks, it breaks. My brother was using the "good stuff" he had the last few months before he died and I remember him saying "nice things should be enjoyed, that is why you have them.

We are now enjoying all these things and not feeling bad about it. I do not care what others might think if they notice. But who is around to notice...8-)...and the dog and cats will not tell. The cats do not mind drinking out of a silver dish that has my parents name engraved on it that was given to them on an Anniversary. I am also finding that a cheap wine does taste better in a crystal glass. 8-)

As my brother said "nice things should be used and enjoyed"     

Cleaning a fiberglass boat.

Cleaning a fiberglass boat.

Two of our sailboats are fiberglass boats, and both are over 20 years old. For older boats though, they both still look pretty good for older gals and they do clean up nice. Cleaning and polishing them up is work.

As fiberglass ages it seems to get more porous and it will acquire stains more easily. A good wax or polish goes a long way to make the glass look better and stain less. I have not found a real easy way of cleaning the glass when it gets bad. It is much easier to do a little each week and keep it clean.

Our canal where we dock our boats has pine trees, palm trees and Brazilian peppers along it. We need to blow the tree droppings and debris from the boat decks almost every day or the decks will become stained. A good wax or polish on the fiberglass makes a big difference on keeping the boats looking nice. I use a leaf blower to get rid of the big stuff, and then hose it down.

We would use soft scrub and bleach to clean the fiberglass on a regular basis, but these are not overly   environmentally friendly. There are other cleaners like Mothers Marine Wash'n Wax Liquid that are environmentally friendly. If soft scrub or bleach has to be used, it is just for small spots. Flitz Granite, Marble, Fiberglass and Plexiglas Cleaner  is good for removing wine and food stains and water spots and is environmentally safe. Red wine just love to stain fiberglass.

Getting the fiberglass clean and nice on an older boat is, as said above, is work. There are a lot of good products out there to pick from, and all work and are work 8-). I saw this little clip and thought it would be nice to pass on:  Cleaning Tips: Picking the right Shurhold cleaning materials  (this might be something I should put on my web site if people are interested in it.)

My old boat has a gel coat that is showing its age in many spots. Grinding out thin line cracks and color matching the gel coat is a lot of work, and is what should be done when you see the cracks spreading. I found a spot on my bow deck the other day where I must have dropped something. There was a small ring of hairline cracks around the spot. I did not like the thought of grinding them out…they were so small.

Our house paint is almost the exact same color as my boat deck. It is a latex house paint thus thinned by water. I scrubbed these hairline cracks with water, wiped them dry with a rag and then, with my finger rubbed a dab of house paint into the crack and wiped off the excess. The hairline cracks disappeared. Time will tell how long this will last. The damp crack sucked in some of the paint, and only the crack kept the paint when I wiped off the excess.  One would think the paint in the crack should seal it from moisture and also prevent it from getting larger. Only time will tell. In the meantime, it looks great. If it gets bigger, I will grind them out. I will let you know how long it lasts.