Some young people would even look blank if you mentioned transistor !! They think electronics started with chips !! Try mentioning a valve (tube) for an amusing reaction !! LOL !! My opinion is that NONE of todays systems will be functioning in 60 years , manufacturers don't intend them to be. They cant be economically repaired even now , so that means there are no spare parts.
Recently a friend asked me to look at his HPC rotary screw compressor as the service company he was using had begun to mention a deteriorating oil leak for the previous 2 services and then on the most recent had said there was nothing more that could be done as the cost of repair would exceed the value of the unit. However , as he had bought HPC in the belief it is one of the best Rotary Screw comps on the market (correct) and it had only done 18,000 hours he was disappointed with that verdict. I had a look and found someone had deviously placed an oversize sealing washer off centre on the oil temp sensor to create a minor but persistent and dramatically messy oil leak !! I corrected this , cleaned the whole unit and it is now perfect with at least another 10 years in it !! So even high quality equipment is now despised for it's reliability and longevity in this modern consumable world !!
My SOM is a belt AC unit , there is a pic in this thread ,
http://listerengine.com/smf/index.php?topic=3822.0What really grabs my fascination is the mention of oil damped contactors in the timing sequence of the DC SOM on that website !!
