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I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

jdstillwater.blogspot.com

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Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#311

Post by kragen »

autokad wrote: post #309
kragen wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dried calcium carbonate is not a very good conductor, and neither calcium carbonate nor calcium oxide is deliquescent (edit: i said 'calcium chloride' which is of course both wrong and irrelevant) i think the bigger issue with electronics is overheating their electrolytic capacitors

you do realize the reason why fires get started is because things become a BAD conductor right?

it's not that simple. it's because things are medium bad conductors, like the nichrome wire in the toaster, which is absolutely fantastic for setting things on fire

things that are really good conductors like the copper wires in the toaster don't heat up (much) because they don't drop much voltage, and things that are really bad conductors, like the panels that support the nichrome wires and like calcium carbonate, don't heat up at all, because they don't carry any current. it's the things that are in between that cause fires: they can carry enough current to be a problem, while also dropping enough voltage to be a problem

this has been introductory electrical engineering 101. i'll be here all week, don't forget to tip your server, and read chapters 1 of horowitz & hill by monday

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#312

Post by nomel »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #211
nomel wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the social friction from getting all of this right/wrong really damages inquisitive minds. The visceral negative response you get from, "Wait, I don't think that's right, it's more complicated than that", helps prevent speaking up the next time, unless you have an inherently disagreeable personality (which I cherish working with). I see it all the time with kids. They'll see some fundamental truth that takes…

> That said, I wouldn't melt metal in an expensive microwave. The metal has poor absorption relative to the magnetron antenna itself, so both will heat. I wouldn't be surprised if the antenna is also glowing a bit (at least early on)! You don't make the metal absorb the microwaves. Either your crucible or the inner lining of your insulator will be designed to do the absorbing.

Ah, well I'm guilty! The videos I saw, in the past, were just a ball of fairly fine wire on a plate. This was probably 20 years ago, when I was looking into melting black beach sand in the microwave.

For a rant about that, it turned out pretty neat. I put the beach sand in a thin layer on a dinner plate that was a half wavelength above the bottom of the microwave, turntable removed. The beach sand would start to melt where the standing waves were, but then quickly grow into a wire structure, with the growth of the tips driven by where absorption would be maximized, allowing the thing to heat more, and grow more. I tried to model the resulting "antenna", but none of the open source tools at the time could handle the complexity.

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#313

Post by llimos »

jajko wrote: post #74
perihelions wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry for digressing, but what's a cheese toaster? That sounds exceedingly interesting.

I'd expect regular sandwich toaster with humongous amount of cheese in between bread. Not a bad thing per se, poor/busy man's source of calzones, just not a good way to make regular lunches/dinners since nothing that comes out is very healthy in non-small amounts.

yep, that's what I meant

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#314

Post by varjag »

Animats wrote: post #307
varjag wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh speaking of. I have this really gunked up Model 35 tape typing unit and was about to dunk it in motor flushing oil. But then I see it has felt pieces and the magnets appear to be coated in shellac. Do you submerse your units completely or do you remove the sensitive parts?

I've done the older machines, Teletype Model 14 and 15, nearly a century old. I remove the magnets and the motor and immerse everything else. The Model 35 has many plastic parts and some electronics, so I can't speak from experience. Look up Greenkeys Digest and ask there. ("All gunked up" usually means the wrong lubricant was used at some point. Usually something that has heavy fractions. The short, light hydrocarbo…

Thanks for the tips, I did in fact subscribe to Greenkeys just a few days ago! The machine cycles when I turn the shaft but it's quite filthy. And I don't have the motor or the base for it just the typing unit proper (which is basically a simplified typing reperforator). On that one there's hardly anything fancier than the magnets or the edge connector although yes there could be a couple Nylon pads.

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#315

Post by gumby »

strken wrote: post #159
gumby wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s what we say in Australia. If you purchase an edible “power bar” anywhere (not just America) you can be sure it has and can provide no power. It might have a little energy stored as a carbohydrate though.

I live in Victoria and I've always called them powerboards. Which state/territory/island calls them "power bars"?

I say "board" too but hear "bar" sometimes in SA.

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#316

Post by jpc0 »

OptionOfT wrote: post #235
m463 wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder although wasteful, isn't this better than accelerated failures taking the defense radar offline at random times in the future? Reminds me of a friend of mine who somehow blew a shift in his car and did something bad to his engine. Instead of pulling over and stopping, he just drove it home and ended up destroying the engine. So he got a whole new engine instead of having insurance pay to dismantle the engine…

If your friend did a money shift the damage happened at the shift moment and driving home didn't change the outcome.

I reread the comment a few times and I think he agrees with you.

His friend got the better outcome by not stopping immediately is what he was implying.

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#317

Post by tocs3 »

adastra22 wrote: post #263
tocs3 wrote: post #231

This might be the best (at least most useful) post I have everr read. If I change my mind I will let you know.

If you die of electrocution, let us know.

Had to make sure mom did not find out but it seems to have worked fine. No toast yet but I plugged it in and was not electrocuted. It was still pretty hot and a little damp (did not finish the dry cycle). plugged it right in. A little sizzling from the damp elements but looks ok.

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#318

Post by mistercow »

userbinator wrote: post #295
mistercow wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a dangerous myth. Electricity takes all available paths, with less current flowing through the paths with greater resistance. As far as I understand, the main reason people don’t get electrocuted even with improperly grounded shower head heaters is that (as noted in the post), tap water is generally not very conductive in the first place, so you’ve effectively got a gigantic resistor between you and the wires…

It's not a myth. Your second paragraph basically agrees with me and contradicts itself. so you’ve effectively got a gigantic resistor between you and the wires (assuming there’s a continuous path through the water at all). So even if the least resistance path is through you, the amount of current will be tiny due to Ohm’s law. That is, by definition, NOT the "least resistance path".

> It's not a myth.

Yes it is. A tip: if someone tells you something is a myth, your next step should be to google it. This is intro level parallel circuit stuff.

Hell, just think about the circuitry in your house. If you have your phone charging on one outlet, and you plug a hair dryer into the adjacent outlet, does the phone stop charging? Does the hair dryer not run? Do you think those things have exactly equal resistance? Of course not. Current flows to both of them, but more current flows to the hair dryer.

> That is, by definition, NOT the "least resistance path".

I don’t think you know what “by definition” means. You could be the only path for the electricity to flow, and if there’s high enough resistance, it won’t hurt you.

Please stop repeating this nonsensical folk wisdom. It can get people killed.

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#319

Post by tomtom1337 »

nomel wrote: post #312
Dylan16807 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That said, I wouldn't melt metal in an expensive microwave. The metal has poor absorption relative to the magnetron antenna itself, so both will heat. I wouldn't be surprised if the antenna is also glowing a bit (at least early on)! You don't make the metal absorb the microwaves. Either your crucible or the inner lining of your insulator will be designed to do the absorbing.

Ah, well I'm guilty! The videos I saw, in the past, were just a ball of fairly fine wire on a plate. This was probably 20 years ago, when I was looking into melting black beach sand in the microwave. For a rant about that, it turned out pretty neat. I put the beach sand in a thin layer on a dinner plate that was a half wavelength above the bottom of the microwave, turntable removed. The beach sand would start to melt…

This was a wonderful little read, thank you!

Re: I put a toaster in the dishwasher (2012)

#320

Post by intelVISA »

hinkley wrote: post #191
Aeolun wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, that doesn’t surprise me at all. This seems perfectly in line with “I don’t care what it is, or how well I perform it, as long as I have a job.”

Few things in my career have granted me more power faster than taking ownership of decisions. Some people are so terrified of having to say "I was wrong" that they either will do nothing, or just happily follow decisions that someone else makes. It's one thing when that's a line employee behaving that way, but there are managers so terrified of making a mistake that all they really are is scribes, tracking who said w…

Whilst I fully agree - you have to remember a line employee has limited incentive to take said risks as there's little to gain and a lot to lose.
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