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EEVblog 1586 – Stranger Things Decade Resistor Box +
EEVblog 1586 – Stranger Things Decade Resistor Box + Repair
#EEVblog #Stranger #Decade #Resistor #Box
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A $12 6 decade resistor box, is it any good? And it’s not every day you have to repair a brand new product.
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It's not just a passable resistance box, it's also a fun puzzle to solve!
Yeah, I don't think I'll be swapping my ESI DB877 for one of these.
I have one of these, but I can’t remember what I originally bought it for. I may have a look and see if the switches are backward on mine too.
rumble
A few years ago I bought one of these but I suspect it was an earlier version. Mine did have grease inside but the switch operation was so unreliable that I returned it. Good to see the design has apparently improved.
How does Dave manage to find these things when they're 33% lower cost than normal!? Ofc as soon as the video goes out, the price goes up >_<
Well, you get what you pay for. I built my 6-decade box with 100-watt power resistors, and instead of using switches I opted for banana jacks. It probably cost me 100 USD to make the beast, but it's built like a tank.
Where does the heat go from the resistors inside the unit?
Nice hardware solution, strange puzzle. Yeah I'd be pulling it apart to see if I could rotate the top row of knobs. Just to point out, you can get a seven decade (1 to 9,999,999 ohms) half watt decade board for a bout $3.50. It uses jumpers and doesn't have an enclosure, but I think it would be a lot more useful.
11:54 Actually aren't those remainder of the resistor always parallel with the series ones?
disliked
Hm. Besides oxidation eventually that wiper would scratch through the copper track.
That box is rubbish. Not even worth the price. The bare copper is just too much.
Hoi, Bob’s yir uncle. Buy ‘merican. Duh, it’s a cipher.
I feel like you might get a better bang for you buck if you look for a antique/vintage decade box instead. If you are patient you can find them for not much more and they usually have a higher rating and a better long term tolerance. At least with what I have seen. I have one I got at a thrift store for $30 I think it was, it has precision resistors and still measures right on.
Rolling Your Ohm…
Wow, I have never seen a design like this. Its extremely clever actually. This seems like a good arrangement for using precision resistors with to keep the cost down.
Thanks for taking the time to sort it out. I have the 4 decade version of this and when it arrived I found it was useless and just put it in the closet in case I'd find some use for the box at some time but now that I know what's wrong with it I'll maybe be able to fix it and make it actually usable. Mine even has grease on the contacts.
A clever design except for the wattage limitation. I looked up the information for an IET decade resistance box. You have to request a quote for one. They won't tell you how much up front. As Dave has said, "If you have to ask the price, …".
It's a clever design
Was anyone else staring at the fingerprints on the copper or just me ?
Would slathering the whole bottom of the board in dielectric grease (silicone) prevent the oxidization of the bare copper?
clever how they reduce the bom cost with that resistor arrangement
No. The wiper will soon wipe right through the soft copper of the pc board. Garbage. Toss it.
Not too shabby, but not even by a far shot close to my super heavy vintage decade box made by Ulrich (Germany, 40s/50s). Being that old and bought secondhand, it unfortunately had open contact on several 1k and 10k wirewound resistors, and I recently replaced them with 2W 1% MFRs… good luck finding wirewound resistors capable of handling a bunch of watts with tolerance and thermal coefficient tighter than Ethel Granger's laces. I really need to put that video together and publish it.
Upside Down, eh? Did you get that thing from HNL?
I like the wide traces – but they used SMD resistors, really? 0804 at most, the way they look… C'mon, for crying out loud! The reduced number of resistors with 5-1-1-1-1-1 arrangement is very clever and nice, I really like it.
Always appreciating Spinal Tap references!
dang, that some low prices you got over there downunder..
Here in northen Europe (EU) also on choice, but 13.55US for the 5dial and 22.71 for 6dial, inc.. VAT..
I dont think its the actual prices your showing, it looks like its welcome deal prices that aint that relevant, as they are often cut with 4 to 7 bucks for new AliE-accounts.
you could certainly make a new PCB with ENIG and big through holes for larger resistors. that would be a nice simple project.
I like it when it goes to 11, it just sounds better. xD
Bots aside.
What is the real world use of a decade box?
I had the same question back when Dave showed of his diy box, and the only one that I was able to come up with was prototyping a lm317 based psu and the box would act as a r1 in between the pot & lm317 for finding the ideal resistance to get the best vout
A very very specific use case 😅…
"Will Bob be my uncle?" 😂
Good call on fixing the issue
i bought one a few years ago works like a treat
Is it wrong that I now find myself wanting to order one of these things, swap out the binding posts, add 5W resistors, and maybe even add a fan and a temperature sensor, etc. etc?
#OverEngineering FTW!
I've been using my Heathkit IN-11 six gang box for at least 40 years. 1 ohm to 999,999 ohms. They're very accurate, and they're dirt cheap on Ebay.
maybe that's why they're on special 😉
I really like the cleverness of this design. It does however make me wonder what it would be like to live in a world where all that effort went into making products of higher quality and durability instead of saving the cost of 5 SMD resistors…