Wayne, here's the headline...Crystal power Palmtop Nuclear Fusion Device Invented By Michael Schirber LiveScience Staff Writer posted: 27 April 2005 01:00 pm ET The nuclear reaction that powers the Sun has been reproduced in a pocket-sized device, scientists announced today. Researchers have for years tried to harness nuclear fusion to power the world. But its cousin, nuclear fission -- the breaking apart of atoms -- is the only method so far commercially viable. The latest invention is not in the same league as efforts to build complex commercial reactors. The new device creates a relatively small number of reactions, and requires more energy to operate than it produces. The Real Deal (AP) - Previous claims of tabletop fusion have been met with skepticism and even derision by physicists. In one of the most notable cases, Dr. B. Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of Southampton University in England shocked the world in 1989 when they announced that they had achieved so-called cold fusion at room temperature. Their work was discredited after repeated attempts to reproduce it failed. Fusion experts noted that the new UCLA experiment is credible because, unlike the 1989 work, it did not violate basic principles of physics. "This doesn't have any controversy in it because they're using a tried and true method,'' said David Ruzic, professor of nuclear and plasma engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "There's no mystery in terms of the physics.'' -- Associated Press But the configuration is so small and simple that its creators think it may inspire unforeseen applications. "I certainly find it interesting that you can heat a cubic centimeter crystal in your hand, then plunge it in cold water and it will cause nuclear fusion," Seth Putterman from the University of California Los Angeles told LiveScience. Putterman's lay description greatly oversimplifies how the compact apparatus works. Specifically, Putterman and collaborators heat a pyroelectric crystal, lithium tantalite, from minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit to plus 45 in a matter of minutes. This generates an electrical charge -- 100,000 volts -- across the tiny crystal, which is housed in a chamber filled with deuterium gas, a heavy form of hydrogen. The high voltage is focused onto a needle-thin tip, which strips electrons from nearby deuterium nuclei and then accelerates them at a solid target containing deuterium. When two deuterium nuclei collide together at high speed, they fuse to form helium. The Sun also fuses atoms in thermonuclear reactions that create light and heat. The byproduct of the newly discovered lab reaction is a particle called the neutron. The scientists detect about 1,000 neutrons per second. Because neutrons are so penetrating, Putterman said that a hand-held neutron source might one-day be used to do geologic surveys or to look into cargo containers for nuclear devices. "Current neutron generators are extremely cumbersome," Putterman said. "They are about as big as a dentists X-ray machine, so you canÂt carry them into the field." Pyroelectric crystals could also provide a beam of ions for use as a microthruster in a miniature spacecraft. The research is described in the April 28 issue of the journal Nature.

At the least, you will need some basic instruments and a repair manual to chase down the point where power to the lamps is lost. (A VOM [volt-ohm meter] is handy.) You need the repair manual to discover how the circuits are routed and if there are any special relays or computer controls in the works. My first suspicions are the light switch, a control relay/breaker, or wiring connectors. Try the horn. Does it work? Often, the front lights and horn are in a common connector that plugs into the main body wiring harness. If the horn does not work, suspect this wiring connector. See if you can locate this connector. It'll be up front somewhere, maybe under the battery box. Start with the wires at rear of the headlamp and trace back to where it connects to the main harness. Do you have daytime running lights? Sometimes, these are powered at silghtly reduced power through a solid state switching regulator. Maybe this part is bad. This is definitely a problem where it will pay to diagnose rather than throw parts at it.

I think it might be that the connector to the horn has come off (this is not that unusual). If the interior lights are connected in series with the horn, they would go as well. The horn connector is found sometimes in the horn pad, or in the dash just under the instruments, or within the steering column cover.

The Edmunds.com site listed it somewhere between $500 and $750. The windshield has a small crack in it. The A/C doesn't work. Two of the power windows don't work. The radio doesn't work. The rear hatch won't stay up by itself, missing a lift cylinder. Exterior looks great, interior looks a little dirty. Driver's seat needs a seat cover. It has four nearly new tires and a good spare tire. Runs great and drives great. A mechanic we trust said it was a good deal. We gave $900 for it. Our first priorties are the power windows and the A/C. So I'll probably have questions on how to approach those problems. Pooh Bear