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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)

#81

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

mikedelfino wrote: post #30

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 have one of those at home in the UK, in fact I only recently changed the older unit that was getting long in the tooth. The house is old and an electric shower the only way to have a proper shower. I also have a shower extension, a rubber tube with two inputs you connect to the hot and cold taps in the bath tub and which outputs cold water if you hold it lower than the taps and hot water if you keep it above the taps, but never a mix of the two.

For those who don't know, the sinks and bathtubs in UK homes and businesses often have two completely separate taps: one for hot, one for cold. You're supposed to fill the sink with water from both and "wash" your hands (or your dishes) in it. No, you don't rinse them afterwards. It's just soap, it's good for you.

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

#82

Post by gumby »

rendang wrote: post #61
scohesc wrote: post #6

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.

"Power bar" is that a Commonwealth English term? As an American, power bar sounds like something you would eat

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.

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

#83

Post by kragen »

michaelt wrote: post #69
yourusername wrote: post #32

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

Electric showers are very common in the UK - although the heater is in a wall-mounted unit, with the head on a hose, rather than the heater being in the head itself. 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…

i'm pretty sure that the electric showers i've used didn't have the sealed magnesia insulating layer you're describing, nor were they connected to an rcd/gfci

i do agree that the measures you're describing would make them much safer

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

#84

Post by kragen »

exmadscientist wrote: post #21

R&D electrical engineer here! I have to do this sort of thing all the time and can confidently tell you it's pretty normal. The real risk isn't really to the toaster (who cares, it's just a toaster, and even if it starts on fire when you plug it in, you're probably watching it pretty closely). No, it's that you leach lead or other such nasties (sealing rubbers, PCB epoxies, what-have-you) into your dishwasher and sta…

dishwashers normally dry the dishes by heating them with an electric heating element; this is more likely to damage electronics than the water

there are also some electronic components that won't deal well with water, especially strong streams of water. microphones and speakers come to mind, because they commonly include exposed paper, thin membranes, and sponges. i'm thinking an ocxo would also be a problem both because overheating it can cause rapid aging and hysteresis and because drying out the fibrous insulation is going to be hard

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

#85

Post by yurishimo »

adamcharnock wrote: post #68
MathMonkeyMan wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

Same experience in a Costa Rica hostel! Except in that case my skin just gently tingled where the water touched it. It was a case of, “I know that sensation, and I certainly shouldn’t be feeling it in the shower”

That was one major adjustment when I visited Jordan last year. The electricity was so dirty that my laptop charging was outright buzzing while plugged in. Typing on it was like a gentle massage. Good times lol

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

#87

Post by vharuck »

throwaway7ahgb wrote: post #45
klodolph wrote: post #36

“GFCI” is maybe a bad name because it describes what the system is supposed to accomplish but not what it does. It interrupts the circuit in response to a current imbalance between hot and neutral. Kirchoff’s laws… if the current is imbalanced, it must be going somewhere else .

New homeowners: Know where your GFCI reset switches are located. I just had a fun time debugging why some of my outlets weren't working. Turns out there was a GFCI tripped in the garage, a few rooms down from the outlet.

I spent a whole night worried about electric hazards when the meat smoker killed an outlet outside my basement door. My wife's aunt, an electrician, asked if we checked the GFCI. I had read about it online, but didn't find the switch near any of the outside outlets. Nor was it by any of the inside outlets on the opposite side of the wall from the outside ones. Turns out, it was in the upstairs bathroom. Because why not?

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

#88

Post by mikedelfino »

hooverd wrote: post #62
mikedelfino wrote: post #30

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'd hope they're grounded correctly.

Next, you'd hope that houses have proper ground wires instead of empty holes for the third pin. :)

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

#89

Post by bornfreddy »

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #81
mikedelfino wrote: post #30

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 have one of those at home in the UK, in fact I only recently changed the older unit that was getting long in the tooth. The house is old and an electric shower the only way to have a proper shower. I also have a shower extension, a rubber tube with two inputs you connect to the hot and cold taps in the bath tub and which outputs cold water if you hold it lower than the taps and hot water if you keep it above the ta…

> It's just soap, it's good for you.

Sorry, but I really can't tell - was that sarcasm?

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

#90

Post by klondike_klive »

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #81
mikedelfino wrote: post #30

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 have one of those at home in the UK, in fact I only recently changed the older unit that was getting long in the tooth. The house is old and an electric shower the only way to have a proper shower. I also have a shower extension, a rubber tube with two inputs you connect to the hot and cold taps in the bath tub and which outputs cold water if you hold it lower than the taps and hot water if you keep it above the ta…

As an aside, I wonder if places like the UK with a lot of antiquated plumbing are responsible for more than their fair share of safecrackers? Every time I see a heist movie with someone crouching, grimly turning a dial an almost imperceptible amount I think back to the last B&B shower cold tap I used. A few degrees turn can often mean a large and uncomfortable temperature change.
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