Coffee and Computers
The rescue apparatus
Initially I tried using the tube from a pen and a vacuum cleaner as a vacuum picker, only to be disappointed. Not wanting to acknowledge defeat I rummaged through the junk drawer and found an irrigation syringe that I hot glued the pen tube to. Unfortunately this didn't work, I was unable to pull enough of a vacuum to extract the sphere. Being of a stubborn nature I figured glue was the answer. Using a drill bit I carved a cone onto the end of the tube, and put a dab of hot melt glue in the depression. Working quickly I shoved the tube back into the headphone jack and pulled on the syringe plunger, firmly affixing the sphere to the end of the tube. In a glorious moment of victory I successfully extracted the offending silica sphere.
The rescue apparatus
Initially I tried using the tube from a pen and a vacuum cleaner as a vacuum picker, only to be disappointed. Not wanting to acknowledge defeat I rummaged through the junk drawer and found an irrigation syringe that I hot glued the pen tube to. Unfortunately this didn't work, I was unable to pull enough of a vacuum to extract the sphere. Being of a stubborn nature I figured glue was the answer. Using a drill bit I carved a cone onto the end of the tube, and put a dab of hot melt glue in the depression. Working quickly I shoved the tube back into the headphone jack and pulled on the syringe plunger, firmly affixing the sphere to the end of the tube. In a glorious moment of victory I successfully extracted the offending silica sphere.