Electrical advice

[Smurf1976]

we use to have a plastic kettle. when it corroded, we bought a metal kettle with element underneath. we noticed the kettle was taking a lot longer to boil so I checked the elements, both were 2400w. I put it down to the fact the metal kettle absorbed a lot more ambient heat. Plus, the fact that the element was not in direct contact with the water meant that the element had to first heat the kettle.

Fair point about the element underneath the kettle taking longer to heat the water. I hadn't thought about that type until you mentioned it. I was assuming that the kettle would have an immersion element. Results won't be accurate if it's underneath.

 

[Smurf1976]

I contend that my imporvised method is sufficiently accurate for the purpose given that I had assumed a more accurate method of measurement was not readily available. Obviously it's not perfect but it's at least as accurate as the speedo in you car and yet that is used for law enforcement.

I'll conduct the experiment myself and post the results for both the kettle and measured voltage.

Done the test, results as follows.

Measured voltage (under load) 231.7 varied between 231.5 and 231.8 during test.

Boiled 1430mL in a plastic kettle with element rating 240V 2400W. The water was chilled in the fridge for about 2 hours and the kettle was at room temperature (23 degrees according to the thermometer). It took exactly 4 minutes 30 seconds from switch on to boil (switch off).

Doing the sums on that the voltage according to the kettle method is 224.8V versus 231.7 according to measurement. An accuracy of about 97% which is good enough for the purpose of determining if the voltage is sufficiently far from where it ought to be to cause appliance failure.

Due to the thermal mass of the kettle, heat losses and resistance of the power cord the voltage calculated using the kettle method ought to be a little less than the actual voltage. This is in line with the results of the test.

Not perfect but near enough.

 

[Hanrahan]

I bought a Kleenmaid front loader abt 5yrs ago and while I'm happy with it's general operation the vibration is a big problem.

I suspect it is the vibration which breaks the door safety switches and I must be on my fifth by now. The service agent is a school mate of mine and tells me that it is made in one of the Central European Slovac countries and re-badged. Could be your Maytag and my Kleenmaid are from the same factory.

The last time this switch failed it was super expensive for me. I have an old home which desperately needs a new switchboard but instead of (the door switch) going open and simply not working it must have shorted. It didn't just blow the fuse though, it caused problems on the neutral link thus a "brown out" effect which blew the control boards on both split system air cons, the power supply on my new eMac, the monitor on my old PC, three radios, two surge protection power boards and some hi fi equipment.

Ergon was good. They came out with their lift-truck and two linies, replaced pole fuses and the feeder connectors before identifying my faulty board. For this I got a bill of less than $70. Good value, I thought. I found a contractor to come out at short notice who fixed things up (and agreed that I need a new power board) but could not get continuity to earth. We finally found the earth wire which should have been connected to the water pipe swinging in the breeze. Possibly disconnected 10yrs ago when I had the gal pipe replaced with copper. I asked the sparkie NOT to go into detail on just how dangerous that washer was on that morning.

The lesson is Keep your switch board in good repair. It's odd but we go out of our way to do safety checks on our cars but neglect the household power.

 

[visual]

Hanrahan,
could be,however if the technician wasnt you friend would you have held this people accountable? such as asking for a refund or replacement.
And by the way warranty service is done by the same people who service kleenmaid,so definetely you may have a point there.

 

[Bargain Hunter]

Smurf & James Watt

Smurf,

Totally private non-related question. Did you used to work for James Watt at Revesby.

Did my time there back in the early 80's.

Regards

Andrew

 

[Smurf1976]

Re: Smurf & James Watt

Smurf,

Totally private non-related question. Did you used to work for James Watt at Revesby.

Did my time there back in the early 80's.

Regards

Andrew

Nope. Bit too young at the time.

 

[money tree]

crikey, how many sparkies do we have here?

Im an EC by the way

 

[Milk Man]

crikey, how many sparkies do we have here?

Im an EC by the way

I make electric fences does that count?

 

[Happy]

Definitely, if they are 240 Volt (or should I say between 230 and 250 ?).

 

[visual]

Update on the Asko washing machine,
Asko informs me that the motor has been replaced,the timing module also,thermostat,and a few other things .Althought all the big things they will replace for free out of the goodness of their hearts.They want me to bear some of the cost,some 200 hundred dollars.I refused to pay, so out come all the parts!
Can I remind you all dear forum readers this is my fifth washing machine in six yrs,this particular machine is approx.4 and a half yrs.old .Apparently I have a good case for the tribunal a place I`ve been avoiding because of the time it takes and so on. :swear: so off to the tribunal we go.

 

[Yippyio]

I bought a Kleenmaid front loader abt 5yrs ago and while I'm happy with it's general operation the vibration is a big problem.

I suspect it is the vibration which breaks the door safety switches and I must be on my fifth by now. The service agent is a school mate of mine and tells me that it is made in one of the Central European Slovac countries and re-badged. Could be your Maytag and my Kleenmaid are from the same factory.

The last time this switch failed it was super expensive for me. I have an old home which desperately needs a new switchboard but instead of (the door switch) going open and simply not working it must have shorted. It didn't just blow the fuse though, it caused problems on the neutral link thus a "brown out" effect which blew the control boards on both split system air cons, the power supply on my new eMac, the monitor on my old PC, three radios, two surge protection power boards and some hi fi equipment.

Ergon was good. They came out with their lift-truck and two linies, replaced pole fuses and the feeder connectors before identifying my faulty board. For this I got a bill of less than $70. Good value, I thought. I found a contractor to come out at short notice who fixed things up (and agreed that I need a new power board) but could not get continuity to earth. We finally found the earth wire which should have been connected to the water pipe swinging in the breeze. Possibly disconnected 10yrs ago when I had the gal pipe replaced with copper. I asked the sparkie NOT to go into detail on just how dangerous that washer was on that morning.

The lesson is Keep your switch board in good repair. It's odd but we go out of our way to do safety checks on our cars but neglect the household power.

What did the new power board cost ?

 

[Smurf1976]

Can I remind you all dear forum readers this is my fifth washing machine in six yrs,this particular machine is approx.4 and a half yrs.old .Apparently I have a good case for the tribunal a place I`ve been avoiding because of the time it takes and so on. :swear: so off to the tribunal we go.

6 years, 5 machines. But this one has lasted the past 4.5 years so that means you went through 4 machines in about 18 months???

Regarding the tribunal, which tribunal are we talking about? Small Claims?

 

[visual]

yep,and yep to the other question,but don`t get the idea that it was easy they actually drove me to distraction,and you know what the sales guy at Harvey Norman was still at it again,telling me that it was only a washing machine.ye and 1600 dollars was meant to get me something that i could use.

This from the same guy who sold me the Bendix ,a machine that according to him he hadnt sold to anyone else in two years!

Obviously so me coming moron.
according to consumer affairs I actually have a good case
for compensation
however what I really would like to achieve is these morons actually manufacturing machine that at least do what they are meant to do.

 

[visual]

Hi posters,
washing machine back home!
fixed at no cost ,now lets see how long that lasts.......
Asko said motor needed replacing timing module ect...... but on receipt only two little thingies are shown, not the big items. Wonder why. Oh who cares... end of story.

 

[visual]

oh crap,curse Harvey Norman ,curse ASKO ,washing machine lasted 1 wash,second wash flooded the wash room,didnt do that before so hooray for Asko they are obviously great technicians.

 

[Smurf1976]

This is getting ridiculous.

What was the technician's name? Frank Spencer? : :

(Oh how I pity anyone who actually has that name...)

 

[visual]

smurf,
guess what,took away w/m gave a loan one,
have a guess Smurf what happened next!
IT DID`NT WORK HAHAHAHAHA
out they come again fix it,temporarily
so now we wait with abated breath
so would you believe this story if it was in book form.

 

[Smurf1976]

This has gone WAY beyond what's reasonable. All I can say is that I hope you have a very good sense of humor and can see the funny side of the loan machine not working.

It's a real saga with your washing machine. I thought my lawnmower problems were bad enough but they are nothing compared to your washing machine.

Any chance that you can just get some money out of them any buy a different brand of washing machine? Would be a lot easier.

Personally, I decided long ago to fix faulty things myself even if they're under warranty and supposed to go to some approved service agent. I might have to pay for parts but at least I know the job's done properly.

Still not happy with my lawnmower though, it's seems to be getting worse at an alarming rate and it's only 2 years old. 2 bolts fell out today when moving the lawn and this caused the fuel tank to come off with the engine still running and had petrol squirting out all over the place. Other main problem is the plastic catcher which got a hole in it the first time I used it. Hit a gum nut and it went straight through the plastic and subsequent leaf and gum nut strikes have blown the back out so I had to do some repairs with a nice 15mm thick layer of bitumen. Makes it heavy but it's strong. Also uses a lot of fuel. The old mower did the front and back on about 1.25L of petrol (2-stroke). This one, well I used about 3 litres to mow the same area today so it's using a lot more.

Still nothing wrong with the mower compared to your washing machine though.

 

[visual]

Smurf,
unfortunately this has gone behind sense of humor,i think i`m close to a nervous break down.Just the idea of buying a new w/m actually stresses me out.In fact the last 3 days because of stress i have paid a heavy price .
But the dismissive attidute continues,so its no accident ,i think that definitely i was supposed to give up a long time ago.
As for fixing things ourselves ,unfortunately these have not been things that my husband couldve fixed himself.The things that he could he did,like the top of the machine ,it was leaking and he had to seal the top ,the timing module he changed a few components,he changed the brushes,however the motor was behind his capability so thats why,also the drum thats something he couldnt do.Anyway lets see what happens...
And my commiserations on your lawnmower

 

[Julia]

This has gone WAY beyond what's reasonable. All I can say is that I hope you have a very good sense of humor and can see the funny side of the loan machine not working.

It's a real saga with your washing machine. I thought my lawnmower problems were bad enough but they are nothing compared to your washing machine.

Any chance that you can just get some money out of them any buy a different brand of washing machine? Would be a lot easier.

Personally, I decided long ago to fix faulty things myself even if they're under warranty and supposed to go to some approved service agent. I might have to pay for parts but at least I know the job's done properly.

Still not happy with my lawnmower though, it's seems to be getting worse at an alarming rate and it's only 2 years old. 2 bolts fell out today when moving the lawn and this caused the fuel tank to come off with the engine still running and had petrol squirting out all over the place. Other main problem is the plastic catcher which got a hole in it the first time I used it. Hit a gum nut and it went straight through the plastic and subsequent leaf and gum nut strikes have blown the back out so I had to do some repairs with a nice 15mm thick layer of bitumen. Makes it heavy but it's strong. Also uses a lot of fuel. The old mower did the front and back on about 1.25L of petrol (2-stroke). This one, well I used about 3 litres to mow the same area today so it's using a lot more.

Still nothing wrong with the mower compared to your washing machine though.

If you don't have a huge amount of lawn, have you considered an electric lawnmower? I've used one for many years. They are cheap, light to use and do a good job. Even with a larger lawn, attaching an extension cord will work.
I've had two over nearly 20 years and neither needed anything done to them other than remoulding of the clips on the catcher.

Julia