641–650 of 675 posts
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Also, copper welding involves the use of helium as shielding gas. Helium shortage is painful
Interesting. Do you know why it uses helium?
All of my knowledge is second hand from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRxAANqmrL0
The man in the video is Chris Razer and he explains everything very well. I wish he had more long form content online for people to learn and understand
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No offense, but can you tell me how my 4.5 kW generator is gonna generate that kind of power surge?
One scenario: there's a short circuit somewhere, say rats chewing through insulation. This can cause a very high current through the short. A non-inverter 4500 watt 120 volt generator might have 0.2 ohms coil resistance, so the short circuit current can hit 170 volts / 0.2 ohm = 850 amps. When the shorted branch's circuit breaker trips, the inductance in the generating windings wants to keep that 850 amps flowing for…
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Entry level Dell servers that used to cost 1,700 US are now going for 17,000!!! I'm talking absolute basics with 16GB of memory etc. Wild times.
Citation please? > £2,751.70 PowerEdge R260 Xeon® 6315P 2.8GHz 1x16GB DIMM 2x2TB HDD SATA https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/dell-poweredge-servers/sr/se...
T560:
Priced £3,505 in may 2025: https://web.archive.org/web/20250702124754/https://www.dell....
Now at £13,979: https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/dell-servers-storage-network...
It's a 10k£ increase or about x3.
I also just tried with R360, x2 in price only, from $4,959 dec 2025 to $17,142 today.
dec 2025: https://web.archive.org/web/20251210154822/https://www.dell....
Today: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/servers-storage-and-networki...
Edit: Add another one with US dollar.
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How would you model your business like this? Like what tools / literature can you recommend?
There was a lot written about this in the 1990s during the rise of globalization and just in time supply chains. Basically, you build a big warehouse and keep it full when prices are below projection. This is equivalent to investing capital at a negative interest rate, so it’s not done anymore. Instead, the system is designed to pass supply shocks on to the consumer when possible. I’ve noticed the local grocery store…
If you want hydraulic shock, you replace your warehouse with fedex.
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I've heard that before, that the US apparently loves above ground power lines. In NL it's only the long distance ones that are above ground. Even in most rural areas, I think everything is below ground.
Yes, we love them on account of our country having approximately 230 times the surface area and the Netherlands having approximately 13x the population density. We not only have vastly more line to run, but also many, many fewer people per square mile to absorb the costs. Underground line is expensive .
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Definitely use quality surge protectors on expensive equipment connected to generators. PSA: UPSes and GFCI/GFI extension cords won't work properly when connected to a stand-alone generator with a bonded neutral. I've tried using enterprise UPSes on such generators, but they absolutely won't work. In such scenarios, debond the generator's ground from neutral, apply a very large warning label to it being debonded, and…
That extra unbonded ground rod is the worst thing you can possibly do to make your generator vulnerable to lightning strikes.
Ground rods are required in certain situations according to the NEC.
Ground rods are for lightning protection, transient surges (over voltage), and induced surges; not for short protection, ground faults, or making ordinary extension cord use of bonded generators "safer".
Typically, they're required whenever it's a system that powers a building on its own, i.e., off-grid setup or with a floating neutral generator connected via a switched neutral transfer switch.
The US just finished divesting itself from its strategic helium reserve in 2024 due to the "Helium Stewardship Act of 2013"[1] But, now we have a strategic bitcoin reserve. [1] https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/527
Ya know we're doing a record emptying of the strategic oil reserves right now. Makes sense right? Except we're giving it to oil companies for free, letting them sell at these very high prices with the promise that they refill the reserves with oil at some time in the future (when it's cheaper). Absolutely perfectly corrupt, and American, way to go about it.
Because the U.S. government (even generally…there’s obviously no hope for this administration) is structurally incapable of making decisions that have a benefit horizon of more than a couple of years.
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Commercial uses layered surge protectors (Type I, II, and III), which is also recommended for other users but rarely followed. In surge prone areas, at a minimum I would have good quality whole-house surge protector (eg Siemens 140 or Eaton 108), and a good quality surge protector strip for any computer/TV/phone charger. I also put surge protectors in front of expensive white goods like the fridge, washer/dryer, dish…
Are you in an area with a bad electrical grid or something? In 40+ years I've never had a single device get fried from a surge/storm. My "surge protector" power strips are from the 90s and probably don't even work.
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Out of curiosity I did a minor amount of research to get an idea. Turns out that you are right, some balloon gas is 80%. Specifically, the "Balloon Time" tanks you can buy at places like Target say "not less than 80%" helium. On the other hand, I went to AirGas and a few other suppliers and they seemed to have 95%-97.0% helium gas as their definition for balloon grade.
Do you know if the other 20% is oxygen (as was claimed) or if it's air? I just think the latter seems cheaper and more likely.
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That's not clear actually. It's been awhile since I watched the video on the ASML EUV system for etching wafers, but from my recollection, the UV light ablates away layers of wafers and so particles of silicon presumably contaminate the noble gas that's flowing over it. I don't think a closed loop is possible in the existing setups.
thats what I am questioning, wouldn't another gas be feasible? I do know that some parts and components actually do have helium enclosed in the part package (can or so, not the shipping packaging!) I'm getting mixed signals: its for the phase transition temperature, its for cleaning, ... is EUV actually ablating layers of wafer? I thought the EUV was for patterning photoresist , you make it sound like ASML eliminated…
High thermal conductivity, inertness, and low absorption of the EUV wavelength used are the primary characteristics needed, and purity is needed to eliminate contamination of numerous ultrasensitive stages. AI summarized it as follows:
EUV tools require ultra‑high‑purity helium, typically grade 9N (99.9999999%) or better, with strict ppb‑level limits on: Nitrogen, Oxygen, Moisture, Hydrocarbons, Refractory compounds, Particulates.
How helium is used: - Cooling the EUV plasma source - Purging and protecting optics - Maintaining inert, ultra‑clean environments - Leak detection