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I’d be pumped, were it not for an Achilles plug

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Why Strain Relief Matters

It’s late at night on an unfamiliar street, where I have just driven out to help a friend change a flat tire. Of course, the donut is deflated too but, not to worry, I have my trusty Slime brand compressor.  I plug it into the 12 V cigarette lighter and roars to life, only to start to sputter. Only by continually wiggling the cord could we inflate the tire and send my friend safely on her way. The symptoms of poor engineering were familiar.

I dissembled the plug and found the wire connected to the positive terminal (connected to the tip) sparked, melted and disconnected and the negative wire hanging on by a few strands. While I am sure Slime has thought about the mechanism of their pump, it’s obvious that no one considered the reliability of the humble plug, despite proudly mounding their logo onto it.  It’s failing are multiple:

Slime Digital Tire Inflator
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That’s Bananas

by Posted in Consumer Goods, Food Leave a comment

Packaging gone wild.

Spotted in Korea at Inchon airport – individually wrapped bananas. This is an insult to the tree that worked hard to pack and bundle them. I can come up with no decent reason for this, other than a desperate wish to compete with Amazon’s classic overpackaging. Only three logical possibilities come to mind: 1. This is an extra, unnecessary layer of hygiene; 2. It permits special branding; 3. This is modified atmosphere packaging (gas injected) which increases shelf life.