uk.people.disability

The Wanderer wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:23:55 -0000, (not quite so) Fat Sam wrote:
>
>> Palindrome wrote:
>>> (not quite so) Fat Sam wrote:
>>>> Temprance wrote:
>>>>> I don't wish to have to spend a lot of money which I have not enough
>>>>> of so can anybody give me their thoughts on what is wrong with my
>>>>> Mercury M48 Scooter. I've got a glitch where all of a sudden it
>>>>> slows right down and then picks up again. A bit scary as I don't
>>>>> want to be stuck somewhere. It did it today and about 40 seconds
>>>>> before the power came back. According to my manual it should beep
>>>>> at me when something is not working but so far it has remained
>>>>> silent. temprance
>>>> Sounds to me like it could be a problem with the rheostat that forms
>>>> the throttle mechanism.
>>>> It may be damaged, or it might need cleaning.
>>>> Is there any regularity to it?
>>>> Does it always happen when you hit the same speed?
>>>>
>>>> Or does it happen when you go over rough surfaces? That might just
>>>> suggest somethng as simple as a loose connection or a cracked solder
>>>> joint.
>>> Wow, I haven't seen a speed controller with a rheostat for, oh, more
>>> years than I can remember. IME, they all use pwm controllers, these
>>> days. YMMV.
>>>
>>> If you mean "potentiometer", I dare say that the OP gave the throttle
>>> a good old waggle when it stopped. So any poor contact point would
>>> have been moved off, quite quickly.
>> Errr. I may have my terminology mixed up...
>> I mean a variable resistor type thingy...Is that a rheostat or a
>> potentiometer?
>
> Variable resistor.....?
>
> Rheostat and potentiometer seem quite dated.
>

Rheostats are few and far between, these days. It's cheaper to do it
with chips.

So, when someone says "variable resistor" you know that they mean
"potentiometer"..

Why teach electronics students a new word when they are already familiar
with two words which, together, mean the same thing?

--
SUe