61–70 of 331 posts
The anecdote of walking into a flooded band room to unplug a submerged power bar is uhh.... "shocking" to say the least. I would never walk over to a live, submerged power bar to unplug it. Especially with your feet in the water. Very risky.
On a related note, I wonder if people around the world are familiar with electric showers. Essentially, it's a resistance similar to the one found in a toaster, placed right inside the showerhead. It heats the water as it flows through. People hearing about it for the first time are usually shocked that we don't die from electrecution.
> These commenters are speaking authoritatively on subjects about which they are completely ignorant, but they are strident in doing so because they are repeating what everybody knows. They are intellectually secure in the center of a vast mob; their wisdom was received, not crafted. This is an important takeaway for me, maybe even more than “electirc devices are washable”. World is filled with conventional wisdom th…
The article author got lucky this time - when electronics die from water contact, it's usually the minerals bridging connections and creating shorts. Letting the device dry does not remove those shorts. Some places have such hard water (lots of minerals) that evaporated water leaves calcium, limestone and other deposits on the surface of everything it's touched.
Does that mean doing it once will always cause an issue? Of course not... but repeatedly doing this, and/or becoming used to washing electronics in the dishwasher is a recipe to ruin them in the long term.
I would not personally want to play games with a toaster that can be replaced for $20 at your local Walmart...
It's always interesting to me to see what you can get away with washing/getting wet without ruining it. I bought a bunch of vinyl 45's off of eBay several years ago and they were pretty gross. I stumbled across a forum where someone recommended washing them with water and a little bit of dish soap. As you can probably imagine, a lot of people freaked out in the responses and said it was a terrible idea. I gave it a w…
Most vinyls are made from PVC. That's actually where the name comes from: the V in polyvinyl chloride. So they are actually pretty resistant and can deal with a significant portion of the stuff found in your cleaning cabinet.
Jewish law requires some new utensils to be ritually immersed in water before use[1]. There are differences of opinion around electrical appliances, but I have successfully dunked toasters, cheese toasters, and many other small appliances, let them dry for a few days, and never had any issues. In fact, had OP found this[2] article, they would have seen that > Practice has demonstrated that immersion generally does no…
Sorry for digressing, but what's a cheese toaster? That sounds exceedingly interesting.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I still wonder how electrocution is not a big issue. My local electricity codes say absolutely no electricity within zone 0. I get a bit nervous about hooking up IP 65 rated lights to a IP X4 rated switchbox a meter away from the shower head
There's a reason you don't see this type of water heater in most of the world.
On a related note, I wonder if people around the world are familiar with electric showers. Essentially, it's a resistance similar to the one found in a toaster, placed right inside the showerhead. It heats the water as it flows through. People hearing about it for the first time are usually shocked that we don't die from electrecution.
I was literally shocked at a hostel in Nicaragua because whoever installed the heater didn't ground it. Those electrons wanted that sweet, positively charged earth and I was the fastest way to get there. I don't know if the circuit was through the running water or if it was the metal tap handles, but it was quite a jolt. edit: Now that I try to remember it, it was definitely either the tap handle or the metal pipes.…
On a related note, I wonder if people around the world are familiar with electric showers. Essentially, it's a resistance similar to the one found in a toaster, placed right inside the showerhead. It heats the water as it flows through. People hearing about it for the first time are usually shocked that we don't die from electrecution.
I still wonder how electrocution is not a big issue. My local electricity codes say absolutely no electricity within zone 0. I get a bit nervous about hooking up IP 65 rated lights to a IP X4 rated switchbox a meter away from the shower head
The heating element has three layers - innermost, a wire that gets hot. Around that, a ceramic insulator. And outermost, a metal cover to protect the ceramic insulator. Then the heating element is mounted in a small water tank. And that, along with some other components, is put into a suitably waterproof outer plastic box. The insulation is of course all tested at the factory.
The tank, heating element outer, and all the pipework in the general vicinity is then grounded, and the power supply passes through an RCD (our equivalent to a GFCI). There are also two or three temperature sensors, and a water pressure sensor.
Installers also have to have an up-to-date electrical safety license - so for they know better than to (for example) compromise the waterproofing of the enclosure by adding extra holes to make the wiring simpler.
It's always interesting to me to see what you can get away with washing/getting wet without ruining it. I bought a bunch of vinyl 45's off of eBay several years ago and they were pretty gross. I stumbled across a forum where someone recommended washing them with water and a little bit of dish soap. As you can probably imagine, a lot of people freaked out in the responses and said it was a terrible idea. I gave it a w…
The distilled water is mostly needed to avoid deposits from water spots after the rinse water evaporates. This can be mitigated with a vacuum drying system, which you can buy for between $25 and $500.