wherein i thought i was going to be posting about a new microphone today
- March 20th, 2017
- Posted in diy . recording gear
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I thought I was going to be posting about a new microphone I built today! I was pretty sure I could get the kit construction finished and even make a couple of recordings.
And I could’ve, but no, I had to have one of these moments:
…wherein on page 24 of the assembly instructions it talks about connection sealing material and special kinds of thread-locking fluid which aren’t strictly necessary but are definitely good to use, if, you know, you just happen to have them around, and if you don’t, well, you can add them later but EVERYTHING WILL EXPLODE.
Particularly the connection sealing material. Apparently.
None of this was in the components and tools list up front. Of course. So thanks, now I get to order all that stuff, which I already have, and it’ll get here Wednesday. (No, it’s not at the local hardware. I did check!)
Anyway, this is how far I got, and where it’ll be until Wednesday:
Tho’ it does turn out the special locktite 2221 purple should be delivered tomorrow, so I could at least finish the diaphragm frame tomorrow evening – particularly since my reading group has cancelled this week. (We’ve just started Aristotle’s Metaphysics, which, it occurs to me, sounds like a pretty good album name for some band other than mine.)
Threadlock used to come in red and blue. One you could actually get the screw or bolt loose again ( in theory). One was permanent. I’ve forgotten which was which. As I recall, both were damaging to plastics. I take it the purple stuff is safe for plastic. Connection sealing material? Like Liquid Electrical Tape or silicone? Or “potting” in epoxy? There was (is?) Corona Dope..a spray-on high voltage insulator/moisture seal for PC boards. The stuff stank for weeks…
No, this is still threadlock, and specifically for metal, but weaker than either red or blue, and designed specifically for very small screws. And it’s undoable; the idea is to be just grippy enough to prevent vibration loosening.
I imagine it would also be used in small motors, like for model aeroplanes and the like.