Reliable Robust Electronic Products
Use a Servo Stabilizer or CVT Constant Voltage Transformer or at least an Isolation Transformer. The First Defense form HV Surges, Spikes.
High Voltage Polyester & Polypropylene Metallized Capacitors in Stepdown Supplies should be Fire Retardant & Self Healing with a MOV too.
EE Design Library - Electronic Product Design Resource
Tropicalized means immunity or resistance of an equipment in conditions of varied Temperature, RH, Insects, Fungus, Brine, small life form.
Vital controls should be Simple Electromechanical. Supervisory and Fine Automatic controls are in Embedded Computing. Mechanical Overrides!
<< More Reliable - Mechanical, Electrical, Analog, Digital, Embedded System (Firmware), Computing System (OS+Software) - Less Reliable >>
For a given quality level, more the components or parameters, may reduce reliability. Simpler the solution, more reliable it could be.
Electronic Product Design is not only about Aesthetics and Affordable Price, but also Reliability, Safety, Longevity & Maintainability.
A Product's Life
If a product gives three years life with minimum service support it can save itself from building a bad reputation. six years will establish the brand on a long term basis, twelve years of product life you will have the user of the product selling for you.
Connectors and Interconnects
"Never Mix Electrical and Mechanical Connections" (probably from tektronix) this is a rule, more so for power connectors. Strain relief prevents mechanical stress from reaching the connector joints/spring metal. The wire terminations are also cushioned by strain relief.
The PCB and Product Engineering should ensure that the mechanical stress or load is not a job/function/role of the connector. At higher currents a small contact resistance can generate a lot of heat, worsening the contact further, similar to thermal runaway of Power Transistors.
delabs- 1999 - updated 2002 - 2010
ideas from Y2K refined in 2015
ideas of delabs - id1008