knowledge of business responsibilities towards customers theory test 2 By Bron

knowledge of business responsibilities towards customers theory test 2

Theory self test 2

1 What are your responsibilities under the Consumers Guarantees Act when a customer returns a recently

purchased item for repair?

Recently purchased items must be repaired at the cost of the retailer within a reasonable time frame (dependent on the nature of the item). If you can’t do it within a reasonable time or it can’t be fixed, they can get it repaired elsewhere and charge you the bill.

This is subject to return as mistreated items are generally not covered under return policies. Brand new items must be guaranteed while second hand goods are often an “as is where is” sale as both parties agree to sell an item cheap on the basis it may not last as long as intended. This is very controversial as no workshop can guarantee second hand parts and consumers don’t want to purchase expensive brand new parts. If policies are agreed upon by both parties written documentation should be signed by both.

2 Describe FOUR unethical selling acts that contravene the Fair Trading Act

1) Misleading customers by intentionally selling them faulty equipment.

2) Selling customers second hand items with the impression they are brand new

3) Giving false information about work required. This is very controversial but proven false accusations often lead to full refunds and compensation for lost income.

4) Providing replacement parts of a lesser quality. This is controversial as many customers agree to purchase inferior parts as there cheaper, especially if the vehicle is  old.

3 When describing a warranty to a customer, what conditions must you ensure that the customer

understands?

They must understand the returned goods policies or the agreed upon labor prior to purchase. This can be anything from mistreatment of an item to returning it past a due date.  For peace of mind this should be displayed in your shop and also on the receipt of the item purchased. These can be explained as followed

• Understand the terms and conditions of all of the warranties you offer.

• Ensure these terms and conditions are taken into consideration when selling.

• Ensure that special conditions are pointed out prior to purchase.

• Ensure that your customer understands any special terms and conditions.

• Ensure that the actual warranties do not limit your customers rights, i.e., “all faults must be reported

within 7 days of purchase”.

4 What is the purpose of the Fair Trading Act?

The fair trading act is in place to make sure that

1) Claims and advertising about products and services must be fair, truthful and not be misleading.

2)Pricing for items must be fair and within reason.

3)Work carried out must be agreed upon before commencing and product must be of good quality.

4)If products are of inferior quality they should be explained/advertised as such before commencing sale to the consumer.

5)Warranties and return policies should be displayed or clearly explained prior to purchase by customers.

6)To ensure that consumers uphold to the agreements of the sale. If unable to do this due to lack of funds or other circumstances consumers must make arrangements to pay the outstanding balance or cancel the agreement and pay for the loss of business. Both parties must make arrangements to resolve the issue.

5 A lay-by sale is a contract between the seller and the customer, with what conditions?

Lay-by sales are contracts. The terms of this contract are made between you (the seller) and your customer with the following conditions.

1) The price of the goods can’t exceed $1000.00

2) Price paid in either specified installments or paid at a specified time.

3) Seller holds the goods until all goods are paid for or

4) Seller holds goods until a specified until a specified proportion of the price is paid.

6 Name THREE consumer protection agencies.

1)The disputes tribunal 2)The ministry of consumer affairs 3)Commerce commission

7 What claims can be made to the Disputes Tribunal?

As this is a touchy subject I will not be writing them in my own words, as this could be called misleading and inaccurate. The things the tribunal can taken to the tribunal are

• Work not done properly

• Faulty goods

• Goods bought which are not fit for the purpose you bought them for

• Goods bought which were not the one asked for

• Goods bought which don’t match their description

• The price changed for work done

• Disputes about a contract you signed without realising what you agreed to

• A contract which is too tough

• Damage to property

• The recovery of property

• Misleading advertising or misleading statements made by someone selling goods or services

• Hire purchase in relation to repossession or harsh contracts

• Boundaries

With your employer’s permission answer the following questions:

8a Name a product sold by your company and describe the manufacturers guarantee for that product.

8b Does your company have its own guarantee policy? YES/NO

8c What is your company’s policy regarding guarantees?

Q9 What is your company’s policy regarding the “ethical” treatment of customers?
I do not work for an automotive company so have no permission to answer the following questions. I am a carpenter on wages and my boss is required to make sure that all things built are to specifications laid out in the plan. If failing to do this he is subject to not getting paid until all requirements have been met in the agreement. He does not cover

1) Buildings leaking due to inferior design or product failure.

2) Expenses or delays incurred by lack of material if he is only contracted to perform the work required (not marking up material).

3)Plus other considerations which are dependent on the job.

When you are in charge of a building site you are subject to many laws and regulations like water tightness and zoning criteria etcetera. If you are a contractor you are only obliged to meet the criteria of a job specified by you (and your warranty) the architects plans and your local city council (who ticked it of as safe). How you get paid is another matter.

Knowledge of business responsibilities towards customers theory test 1

Knowledge of business responsibilities towards customers

Self-test one

Using the warranties itemized on the previous page, answer the following questions.

1 List the key factors in development of consumerism.

There is no one factor attributed to consumerism as all consumers are different people with different needs. To narrow the list down I will show a few common things shared by most consumers.

1)Purchasing power

The cost of everyday living has gone up, so most couples work, people work longer hours and tend to stay in the work force longer. On the other side the cost of a lot of everyday items has gone down and become far more affordable, especially with regards to electronics. As living becomes more expensive wages go up and disposable income becomes better.

2)Buyer demand

More disposable income means a greater demand for products. This has an impact on almost every industry

3)Extended trading hours

Because shops are now open for longer trading hours and often 7 days a week its easier for consumers to buy stuff when it suits them.

4)Retail facilities

Places like mall are becoming an everyday commodity. Not only can shop during the weekends you can also shop for numerous things as there are other retailers available. Retailers are now staying open for longer hours to compete with other retailers.

2 List the key factors in consumer behavior

The behavior of a consumers behavior will vary depending on a lot of things like what they do, what their interests are and how much time they have available.  Some of the key factors are

Purchasing power

A person that has a higher salary and more disposable income can spend more money.

Lifestyle changes

As people’s lives change they have to spend accordingly. This can be an improved or hindered depending on circumstances. Getting a better paying job could increase purchasing power while having a mortgage could hinder it.

Technology

Electronic items are improving on a regular basis as things become more reliable and cheaper to mass produce. This in turn creates a very competitive market and. The need to have things do multiple tasks is also a market heavily focused on. Phones are an example as they used to be used for calling. Now their mobile and can do all sorts of things like take photos, record videos and check your cars ECU.

Dependents

People who have to support others are less likely to spend money on things they don't consider important as they are more likely to save it for emergency's, or invest it in their dependents future instead of non essentials.

Advertising

Advertising is a major factor as more people watch TV and listen to the radio and surf the net. Commercials advertise everything from food, sex novelties, cars and even sports equipment.  

3 What are the main developments in consumerism technology?

Computerized Registers and Bar Coding

Not only is it easier to purchase things now that we have EFT-POS cards, it’s also easier to quickly purchase things as almost everything is barcoded.

Transport

Transport is becoming a lot easier to obtain from cars and trains to even boats and planes. This has also made trade easier as hard to obtain items can be brought to your country from overseas.

Internet sales

Companies like EBAY and AMAZON can often sell you things cheaper and deliver them to your door without you actually having to buy them. This is very popular to people with little time or a basically just lazy.

Electronic Fund Transfer at Point of Sale

This has enabled customers to access their money 24 hours a day. This is not only convenient but also a lot safer as people no longer have to carry large amounts of cash on them. Also expensive things can be brought with credit cards and paid off at a later date (suckers).

Advertising

Advertising is a major factor as more people watch TV and listen to the radio and surf the net. Commercials advertise everything from food, sex novelties, cars and even sports equipment.  

Technology

Electronic items are improving on a regular basis as things become more reliable and cheaper to mass produce. This in turn creates a very competitive market and. The need to have things do multiple tasks is also a market heavily focused on. Phones are an example as they used to be used for calling. Now their mobile and can do all sorts of things like take photos, record videos and check your cars ECU.

4848 Blog number 1

OFF CAR ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

This blog will be an in depth focus on  some sensors I have covered in our of car practical work book. I will be choosing 3 sensors and comment on their function and intended use. I will also go in depth to explain the various types available and state the reason while older versions have been replaced. The 3 sensors I have chosen are.......

TPS (throttle position sensor)

MAF (mass air flow sensor)

MAP (manifold absolute pressure)

Throttle position sensor(TPS)

A TPS sensor monitors the angle of the  butterfly valve so it can relay your throttle response to  the ECU. The further you press the accelerator pedal the wider the throttle butterfly valve opens. The ECU uses this info to alter the vacuum, Ignition timing and fuel injection timing so it can adjust  the fuel ratio accordingly to meet performance demands. It can also alter other parameters depending on how sophisticated the system is.

Location
In most cases it is located in the butterfly spindle so that it can directly monitor its position. Its box and wiring harness are usually located on the outside of the throttle body by the air intake hose.

http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/PICS/hesitation/hesitation.htm

It will detect the speed at which the angle changes. A common scenario of sudden changes in throttle response could be when  when your warming up your car in neutral, or simply revving it to show off. 

Types of throttle body sensors.

There are a few different types of throttle position sensors out there but they mainly fall under 3 categories. The  contact type, potentiometer type and the non-contact  type which work on the hall effect principle.  Most run on a 5v supply and give the ECU a variable voltage signal depending on the angle of the throttle valve. The higher the voltage the further open the butterfly valve. A select few use the opposite approach by starting with a high voltage that deceases the further it opens (just being plain difficult).

1) Contact type  

Fairly out dated and doesn't monitor the full throttle position  range (which leads to poor fuel economy).  Uses many contact points and prone to wear and tear. As they are outdated and becoming very uncommon I wont be doing much research on them.

 2)Potentiometer type

Found in most of today's used cars. The potentiometer gives a variable resistance reading and uses a sliding contact. Prone to wear and tear from mechanical contact parts.

3) Non contact hall effect types 

Used in today's modern cars and have been met with great success as they last much longer due to having less mechanical parts. They are equipped with a magnet and a hall effect sensor

As the potentiometer is the most common type to date (and Ive done some work on one) I will be focusing primarily on this.

Potentiometer type TPS

The potentiometer type TPS uses a type of variable resistor (Rheostat) inside the sensor. It adjusts the voltage signal output depending on the position of the throttle butterfly. A low voltage means low throttle while a high voltage means higher throttle.

Common readings

An output signal of around 1v-1.4v would mean the vehicle is idling and the butterfly valve is closed.




An output signal of around 4.5v-5v means the vehicle is quickly accelerating (or being revved in neutral) and now has a wide open throttle (WOD)

http://adamkerr4826.blogspot.com/2010/08/ttec4826-sensors-throttle-position.html

http://adamkerr4826.blogspot.com/2010/08/ttec4826-sensors-throttle-position.html

Potentiometer throttle position sensor operation

Mass air flow sensor(MAF)

http://qcwo.com/technicaldomain/iat-sensor-information-on-1996-2002-ford-taurus

MAF or mass air flow sensors are used to determine how much air is entering your fuel injected engine. The ECU will need this critical information so it can adjust the fuel ratio. During normal driving conditions your ECU tries to keep the fuel 14.7 to 1 so fuel can burn at an optimum level and create as little emissions as possible.If the car is facing other conditions it wont actually try to keep this fuel ratio. When the car is warming up or driving up a hill it will actually make a richer mixture  to deal with these situations. If the car is decelerating (going down a hill etc) it will actually make the mixture leaner as it doesn't need to burn excessive amounts of fuel.

How they work?
The two most common MAF designs are the vane meter and the hot wire. Both are usually powered by a   the ECU and communicate with it via a 0-5v signal (in some rare cases it uses a pulse-width  signal).  Some older MAF designs use a frequency instead of a voltage reading to relay messages to the ECU.

Common readings?
The normal voltage reading from a MAF sensor while in idle is around 0.8v-1.2v while at wide open throttle you would be looking at 4.4v-5v.  A select few operate differently by stating at 5v and decreasing as the air flow increases. One must make sure to obtain the MAF sensor specifications as they change significantly from model to model and have have their own allowable tolerances to determine whether they are faulty.

Vane airflow sensor

http://www.aa1car.com/library/vaf_sensors.htm

 How they work?
A spring loaded air flap/door is connected to a  potentiometer that varies resistance as the door opens and closes. The vane will move depending on the proportion of air passing it. A voltage signal is created in proportion to the amount it moves. Vane meter systems are usually equipped with an intake air temperature sensor (IAT sensor) and a pressure sensor to help record air volume. They need a IAT sensor to record the temperature of the incoming air. Air becomes denser when the temperature drops so the ECU needs to take this into account. Because of their size and cost of production most manufactures have replaced them with with hot wire set ups.

Mayjor drawbacks

Airflow is somewhat restricted. This limits airflow

Finding a suitable place to mount it can be problematic in a tight engine bay

Has to be placed in a suitable place in regards to gravity and air intake

Numerous mechanical and electrical contact parts are subject to wear and tear

Hot wire MAF sensor

An electrical component that communicates with the ECU via an analogue voltage signal. 

http://www.aa1car.com/library/maf_sensors.htm

How does it work?
The analogue signal is dependent on the hot wire resistance,which in-turn is proportional to the temperature of the hot wire. The hot wire warms up to a predetermined temperature and tries to stay there. As air passes the hot wire it begins to cool down (proportional to the air passing it) lowering the resistance. As less air goes past it begins to warm up to its original base temperature and the resistance increases. The hot wire can also determine air temperature as colder air will cool down the hot wire quicker. Also cold air is denser then warm air which means less is required for the air fuel ratio.

Benifits of a hot wire vs a vane meter

Very little airflow restriction

Allot easier to mount in your engine bay as there small and compact 

Less expensive to to manufacture


Improved reliability due to far less mechanical parts.


Quickly responds to change in air flow and temperature.


Does not require additional temperature and pressure sensors.

The two common drawbacks with hot wire meters are

Oil and dirt contamination. This leads to the hot wire deteriorating and giving inaccurate readings.

Installation requires a laminar flow across the hot-wire

Conclusion

Due to all the mechanical parts and the cost of production vane meters are being replaced with hot wire setups as there more cost effective, compact and reliable. Also they don't require separate pressure and temperature sensors  to determine air mass and density.

Manifold absolute pressure sensor(MAP)

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=27

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=27

A manifold absolute pressure sensor is used to determine the absolute pressure in  the maniflod. They are typically found in fuel injected cars.  While common in many vehicles during the 1990s most manufacturers have replaced them for MAF sensors as they give better fuel milage , but rarely ever use both (though they are found in rare cases). They are used to measure the amount of air pressure in the manifold instantaneously, which is then relayed back to the ECU. The data is used to calculate the amount of air coming in and its density, which in turn will determine the amount of fuel needed for optimum combustion.

How does it work?
The map sensor uses a piezoelectric (pressure-sensing) disc to measure intake manifold vacuum, which is then relayed to the ECU. Instead of using a variable voltage output signal like a MAF sensor, it uses a frequency output instead. As the vacuum increases the frequency increases. This signal allows the ECU to read its data bank to determine its air/flow ratio, EGR flow, ignition timing and altitude compensation.

MAP sensor VS. MAF sensor

While most manufacturers use MAF sensors both are designed to accomplish the same thing. They simply do things differently, and both have their pros and cons. A car equipped with both is more reliable  as both can give airflow readings if the other one fails. The pros and cons as follows....

MAP sensor

1. If an intake pipe blows off or there was a vacuum hose leak the car would still run same, as the actual manifold pressure will not be any different. MAF sensors cant detect any leaks past it in the air intake assembly.

 

2. The MAP sensor in OBD2 can determine if the EGR (Exhaust gas recirculation valve) is working  as manifold pressure should increase as exhaust gasses enter the manifold.

3. Sensor reads actual load not just the air intake. This eliminates guess work for the ECU

MAF sensor

1. The amount of air entering the motor is VERY accurate when paired with other sensors, even if the airflow is low. These precise readings create better air/fuel ratios which result in better fuel economy.

2. Most come with a built in AIT( Air Intake Temperature ) sensor. This helps  the ECU monitor air intake temps prior to it entering the combustion chamber.

MAP sensor readings

A MAP sensor can instantaneously record pressure in the manifold send it to the ECU in a matter of micro seconds. This in-turn lets the ECU quickly know how much air is available so it can refer to its data map and adjust the fuel ratio accordingly. 

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=27

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=27

MAP sensor data can be converted to air mass data using the speed-density method. Engine speed (RPM) and air temperature are also necessary to complete the speed-density calculation. The MAP sensor can also be used in OBD II (on-board diagnostics) applications to test the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve for functionality, an application typical in OBD II equipped General Motors engines.

Blog number 4

Oxygen sensor display unit

Today's blog will focus on an oxygen sensor simulator. By simulator I mean it isn't actually an oxygen sensor but a small circuit hooked up to a main power supply and a much smaller variable power supply so we can adjust the voltage going through certain parts of the op amp.Basically it will display three different coloured LEDS which will turn on individually when a certain voltage runs through them. This Blog will consist of the calculations needed to get it operational and the components chosen for the task. I will also show the circuit in working order and maybe try and reflect on ways to improve it.

Calculations

.Well first things first we needed to get some calculations prior to starting the assignment so we could figure out what components we needed.





The picture above (made it as big as I can) called "Brons calculations"shows the circuit in its most basic and understandable form. As you can see the calculations for each resistor has been shown in a mathematical equation. The minimum amount of amps required to activate an led is 9.5ma. I decided to use 10ma just to be on the safe side and to also make my calculations a little bit easier. Basically to work out the size of the first resistor (R2) we had to use the VIR triangle.

R2= V/I  R2=12v-0.6v(diode d2)-1.8v(led 1)=9.6v

                           10ma(0.01a)= 960Ω 

With this equation we were able to work out the equation for resistor 2 to 4.  Resistor 5 was slightly different as we had to take the zener diode into the equation as well which was 9.1v and the IzRm already displayed the appropriate amps which was 5.6ma. The equation for resistor 5 was

R5= 12v-0.6v(diode)-9.1v(D1 Zener diode)=2.3

R5= 2.3v/5.6ma(0.0056a)= 410.71Ω 2dp

R6 was already given to us as a 10k (10,000Ω) resistor. We still needed to use the available values to get the amp value for this part of the circuit (which should be the same form R6 to R8). This way we can figure out the values for R7 and R8.

amps for R6=   9.1v-0.63v=8.47v

                        8.47v/10000Ω= 0.000847amps

Now that we had the available current we could determine the values for the last 2 resistors.

R7= 0.23v/0.000847amps= 271.55Ω 2dp       R8=0.4v/0.000847amps= 472.26Ω 

These calculations concluded which resistors we should use.

Components

Ounce we had figured out what size resistors we needed it was just a matter of getting the components on the circuit diagram listed above. Getting resistors and other components with values exactly the same as our calculations is very difficult. Because of this we used ones that were available with similar values (getting the exactly right sized resistor is either very rear or very expensive). As long as they didn't vary to much it would still function properly. Our list of components and the ones actually used are listed below.

R2=960Ω - 10000Ω      R3=900Ω-1000Ω          R4=960Ω-1000Ω       R5=410.71Ω-390Ω 

R6=10kΩ                         R7=271.55Ω-270Ω       R8=472.26Ω-470Ω

3* 1n4001 diodes- 1n4007 diode

3* LEDS (red,yellow and green).

2* IIC104 capacitors.

one 9.1v Zener diode

one op amp

one bread board

After acquiring all these components we then simply had to put it all together on a breadboard. HAHA allot easier said then done. Although it probably would of been rather simple to simply connect wires to each individual component, the bread board had the problem of being very small and compact. Also because all the lines in the bread board join everything up when components are run in the same horizontal line we had to offset everything and place the off amp right in the center. This in turn lead to an incredibly large amount of small individual wires that had to be cut and stripped to make the circuit work. After doing this tedious task the only real goal but that stage was to MAKE IT XXXXEN WORK. This was the finished product.

As you can see it was a freaking maze of wires. Not only this it took me almost an hour to figure out what was wrong with it as the yellow LED wouldn't turn of when the green one turned on. Turns out the diode was being run horizontally (meant the negative and positive were touching) and needed to be offset . I recorded 2 videos. The first one was pretty good and described what an actual oxygen sensor does and how this simulates it. Sadly they cant be more then 30 seconds long otherwise they get to big and cant be sent via email (WTF?). Because of this i had to do another much shorter one which was incredibly xxxxen vague. Because of this I will give a better explanation of what an oxygen sensor does in writing and how this is shown with my simulator circuit.

Oxygen sensor, what does it do?
ECUs data base. This info helps the ECU decide how to adjust the fuel ratio. So it can be described something like this in the simulation.....

 low voltage 0.1v-0.4v (green LED lights up) the car is running lean, need to add more fuel to the air fuel ratio.

Middle voltage 0.41v-0.7v (yellow LED lights up) car is running efficiently, car will try to keep running to this ratio

High voltage 0.71v-1v

One thing to consider though is that although an oxygen sensor does all this it still needs to take other variables into account like whether the engine is still cold or whether its struggling to get up a hill (which in turn will need allot more fuel). Because of these variables the ECU will sometimes adjust the fuel ratio to an unfavourable value to cope with these demands.

Conclusion and things I would do to improve it?
To conclude this blog I would like to state i was just incredibly glad that it actually worked (spent so much time wiring it up). I cant really imagine i would like to spend any real time trying to improve it as you get premade boards with all the components displayed on it to show were they go. All you have to do is solder the components in. Because of this I cant justify finding ways to improve this circuit on a bread board as its neither time nor cost effective (and incredibly xxxxen stressful). In saying that this the exercise has proven to be rather challenging in terms of problem solving and patience so it seems like it was a worth while experience as i still learned quite a bit. Sadly I was unable to to the whole exercise as I'm currently in Australia at my brothers wedding. So I hope you take this into consideration when you read this blog and see how much effort I put into the writing content.


References=http://highfields-arc.co.uk/beginner/foundation/3a-btechbasic.htm

PS When you put the websites in the caption the pictures don't show up, real annoying.