A motley collection of ideas
Taking things apart to see what’s inside – from gadgets to mysteries.
The latest victim on the Teardown Bench is a budget Lidl plug-in power meter. It was sacrificed because its plastic parts had literally begun to crumble away. There is nothing particularly remarkable inside, but the subject of electrical power measurement itself is well worth a closer look! The Silvercrest 9149 energy monitor (also sold as … Read more
This time, the device on the teardown bench is not broken. My Radtel RT-470 is fully functional and gets regular use; it simply needed a thorough cleaning. For that reason, I did not take it apart any further than what you can see in the photographs. Even so, there is plenty to discover about how … Read more
A Honeywell XC100D carbon monoxide alarm that had reached the end of its service life recently came into my possession. At this stage, the unit may still appear to operate normally, but it can no longer be considered fully reliable. It signals this condition with a sharp chirp once every minute, accompanied by a flash … Read more
This device was sold in Hungary by ALDI and eMAG, among others, for €8–9, but I have also seen it in foreign online stores priced between €10 and €25. It is a Peltier-element dehumidifier, which in principle removes water from the air by cooling it so that the moisture condenses and drips into the tank. … Read more
This mixer did not fall victim to a teardown — it was repaired. The pictures show how it can be disassembled (not easy, but not impossible either). It was still manufactured at a time when the possibility was considered that someone might actually want to repair it. As can be seen in the pictures, the … Read more
A friend of mine recently asked me about a gadget called the Power Factor Saver. It’s a small plug, barely larger than a typical power adapter or an old mobile phone charger. According to the article I linked earlier, the price is now, just for you, 9800 HUF (around €25), and “the Power Factor Saver … Read more