Piezoelectricity & Politics

Replaced the thermopile in the upstairs gas fireplace this afternoon. Went to test it and the push-button igniter isn't working, which is kind of surpising, so I look on the net for anything that might give me a clue as to why it should have failed. I mean, mechanically they are the simplest thing in the world. The bit that makes them work is pure physics, and that part isn't going to fail. It is high voltage though, and that requires insulation, so if the insulation has broken down, the spark could be leaking out the side of the wire before it gets to its' intended location. I don't find much of anything relating to failures, so I moved the wire around a bit and it started working. Perhaps there was a burnt spot and moving it meant that it was no longer close to the sheet metal box. Perhaps it was karma. Whatever.

Left to right we have the pilot light nozzle, the defunct hazardous mercury safety switch, the old thermopile, and the piezoelectric electrode, reaching back over the top towards the pilot light nozzle. The red stuff at the bottom is special high temperature silicon sealer. It really stinks the first time it gets hot.

While I was looking though, I came across Wikipedia's article about piezoelectricity and it is pretty interesting in its' own right. And then there was this bit:

Development of piezoelectric devices and materials in the United States was kept within the companies doing the development, mostly due to the wartime beginnings of the field, and in the interests of securing profitable patents. New materials were the first to be developed — quartz crystals were the first commercially exploited piezoelectric material, but scientists searched for higher-performance materials. Despite the advances in materials and the maturation of manufacturing processes, the United States market had not grown as quickly. Without many new applications, the growth of the United States' piezoelectric industry suffered.
In contrast, Japanese manufacturers shared their information, quickly overcoming technical and manufacturing challenges and creating new markets. Japanese efforts in materials research created piezoceramic materials competitive to the U.S. materials, but free of expensive patent restrictions.

Sounds kind of like somebody is promoting a political agenda. Then again, it might just be what actually happened.