Gripe of the day - What is yours?

[Grant66]

The microwave body acts as a Faraday cage for WiFi. So yes, it should block the signal.

What I don't remember from my physics study 40 years ago is how big a "hole" is needed to leak the radiation. It'll get out easier than the WiFi will get in.

If it's any help the microwaves don't travel very far, 50mm (ish) if it's on with the door open. After that it isn't strong enough to cause any (noticeable) harm.
They travel in a straight line, so it'll just be the stuff that has bounced around a bit inside that'll make it through the hole. Just don't put your eye near the problem area



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[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Grant66

The microwave body acts as a Faraday cage for WiFi. So yes, it should block the signal.

What I don't remember from my physics study 40 years ago is how big a "hole" is needed to leak the radiation. It'll get out easier than the WiFi will get in.

If it's any help the microwaves don't travel very far, 50mm (ish) if it's on with the door open. After that it isn't strong enough to cause any (noticeable) harm.
They travel in a straight line, so it'll just be the stuff that has bounced around a bit inside that'll make it through the hole. Just don't put your eye near the problem area

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I guess I can get idea of the hole size by the mesh behind the glass. As an aside, when I was in the US, I had ants inside my microwave and they were small enough that they weren't affected when I turned it on.

I had forgotten I'd bought some copper tape a while back when I was trying to make a directional proximity detector I'll use that if necessary to block leakage. The front door bezel is cracked so I need to dismantle the door again anyway since parts are (again) NLA and I'll have to glue it.

[Sir Trev]

Parts being NLA seems to be a theme right now. The wall light I am trying to fix still refuses to work. Replacing the broken microswitch means the lamp holder now has power going to the back of it, but as the now obsolete G24 fluorescent tubes are (I think) low voltage the transformer/ballast/whatever PCB on the lamp holder must have fried. Cannot find anything similar parts wise on the Web but I've found the manufacturer, so will take a final punt and call them on Monday to see if they have any old stock. If not its four new wall lights.

[keith_d]

Originally Posted by timwilky

Kids on motorcycles bleating not fair.

Wuck Fits on mopeds with L-plates riding up the right turn lane, then turning left across me when I'm going straight on.

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by keith_d

Wuck Fits on mopeds with L-plates riding up the right turn lane, then turning left across me when I'm going straight on.

Do they perchance have large boxes on the back of their 'peds with a well known food delivery company logo on it? Absolute menace on the roads, pavements and everything in between around here.

It's sad that so many people cannot be bothered to cook so get takeout. It's absolutely pathetic that so many of them also cannot be bothered to go and get it themselves. Now you can get groceries and even clothes via the 'ped menace I just despair...

[Seeker]

I replaced the thermal fuse in my air fryer. Plugged it in and switched it on (outside) and it worked...


... for 10 minutes. Fan motor ran, heating element was on, temperature setting was adjustable so I left it for a few minutes longer. When I came back not only had it blown its own 7A fuse but it had tripped the garage circuit breaker and also the house circuit breaker that feeds the garage. Impressive.
Obviously a short. I've measured between live/neutral and earth and it was ok so maybe it needs heat.



I've dismantled it again and cannot see anything obviously wrong. The only thing I can think of is connected with the bulb temperature sensor - I had stripped the heat resistant tape from most of it and put it back without the tape and the (naked) wire feed back to the temperature control was effectively earth maybe it moved as it heated up and shorted.
(sensor looks like this: https://www.jaye-heater.com/temperat...capillary.html)


There was no exposed live wiring and I couldn't find any breaks in any of the wires. I did see what looks like a scorch mark on the motor's rotor but I think that was from manufacturing and no wires were near the motor anyway. The new thermal fuse hadn't blown though, so there is that


I've ordered some 7A fuses and some heat resistant tape and I'll try again.

[Grant66]

Originally Posted by Seeker

I replaced the thermal fuse in my air fryer. Plugged it in and switched it on (outside) and it worked...


... for 10 minutes. Fan motor ran, heating element was on, temperature setting was adjustable so I left it for a few minutes longer. When I came back not only had it blown its own 7A fuse but it had tripped the garage circuit breaker and also the house circuit breaker that feeds the garage. Impressive.
Obviously a short. I've measured between live/neutral and earth and it was ok so maybe it needs heat.



I've dismantled it again and cannot see anything obviously wrong. The only thing I can think of is connected with the bulb temperature sensor - I had stripped the heat resistant tape from most of it and put it back without the tape and the (naked) wire feed back to the temperature control was effectively earth maybe it moved as it heated up and shorted.
(sensor looks like this: https://www.jaye-heater.com/temperat...capillary.html)


There was no exposed live wiring and I couldn't find any breaks in any of the wires. I did see what looks like a scorch mark on the motor's rotor but I think that was from manufacturing and no wires were near the motor anyway. The new thermal fuse hadn't blown though, so there is that


I've ordered some 7A fuses and some heat resistant tape and I'll try again.

Diagnosis from a distance is difficult but the symptoms sound like a faulty element.
Disconnect the element, it's likely to be permanently short to earth now, so powering it will just blow the next fuse after temporarily turning your entire ring main into a heating element
If it's not permanently short to earth (continuity tester), check the resistance through it, 3kw element would be around 20ohms (60 ish for 1kw). Obviously closer to zero ohms more current it's drawing {I = V/R}.

If it blows the fuse with the heating element disconnected you can work back from there. After the element next most likely cause would be the thing that provides the power to the element. These things tend to use a basic circuit with very little failure protection outside of the fuse. I'd just give up at this point.

Test between earth and power before attempting to plug it in again though and please don't leave suspected faulty high power units unattended when powered.


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[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Grant66

If it's not permanently short to earth (continuity tester), check the resistance through it, 3kw element would be around 20ohms (60 ish for 1kw).

I had checked its resistance (58 ohms) and it isn't shorted to earth. Having just read that an air fryer had burned someone's house down I decided to test it on an extension lead in the drive powered from the garage. Next time I try it I will power down my garage dehumidifier first since it has a shutdown procedure and doesn't like abrupt power cuts.

It's a (cheap) Tower brand product, made in China, only used 4 times and I've had my money refunded anyway, so it's more of an exploration than a necessity. I got caught up in the air fryer frenzy but even if I repair it, it's doubtful I will use it again. I did find a couple of spots in the wiring that looked dubious but couldn't get any connectivity to earth - when my heat resistant tape arrives I'll patch them up. Some of the cabling is heat resistant but I didn't want to buy any.

[R1ffR4ff]

Originally Posted by Seeker

It's a (cheap) Tower brand product, made in China, only used 4 times and I've had my money refunded anyway, so it's more of an exploration than a necessity. I got caught up in the air fryer frenzy but even if I repair it, it's doubtful I will use it again. I did find a couple of spots in the wiring that looked dubious but couldn't get any connectivity to earth - when my heat resistant tape arrives I'll patch them up. Some of the cabling is heat resistant but I didn't want to buy any.

B&M are doing a simple ,"Goodman's "

https://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/...r-fryer-402229

NOW £29.00

One of my neighbours got one ages ago and loves it. Thing with Goodmans they are like ,"Bush " brand. Never fancy but reliable. I've just changed TVs for another Bush TV but my old Bush TVis still working fine but didn't have Wi-Fi but it's around 14 years old! :O

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by R1ffR4ff

B&M are doing a simple ,"Goodman's "

https://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/...r-fryer-402229

NOW £29.00

One of my neighbours got one ages ago and loves it. Thing with Goodmans they are like ,"Bush " brand. Never fancy but reliable. I've just changed TVs for another Bush TV but my old Bush TVis still working fine but didn't have Wi-Fi but it's around 14 years old! :O

Thanks for the info but I bought one because everybody else seemed to have one (I know, I know... sheep). Then I realised that the food it excels in cooking I rarely eat anyway, I did try and bake a sweet potato (I wanted the crispy skin) which is when it blew the thermal fuse. I knew I shouldn't support the CCP but bought it anyway.