Rant: Modern household appliances are of poorer quality

[MossRoad]

I think that these are good units, and they have the new UL1449 rating, with a protecting voltage of 400V, which is what to look for if you want to protect electronic devices. Many surge suppressors have much higher ratings of 600V or 900V.

I have a whole house surge suppressor as well, but most of the ones that I have looked at have higher clamping voltages, so I think that there is some benefit to having additional surge suppressors scattered around the house. I think if it like a trampoline with a couple of folks standing at different places, and each person (surge protector) draws down the trampoline fabric (the surge) where they are standing. You can keep the surge at the electronics lower by clamping close to the electronics.

All the best,

Peter

Ah, a safety engineer!

Belt AND suspenders.

 

[MossRoad]

We still have an ice box! I guess that makes us older than dirt...

No idea where I could find block ice these days.

My wife is looking for a small old ice box to use as a nightstand. They are not cheap!

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I had a 1962, 28-cu-ft side by side which I bought from the Salvation Army in 1976, when I got my first house. It ran until, 2002, without issue.

I bought a new side by side to replace it. Replacement #3 is now on the fritz. Wish I had fixed the old GE. Even if I would have to replace the compressor and evaporator, I would have been better off

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Ah, a safety engineer!

Belt AND suspenders.

I wear both belt and suspenders. Leatherman and radio on the belt. Suspenders because I have the male pattern weight loss, and no longer have enough of an ass to keep my pants up.

 

[ponytug]

Ah, a safety engineer!

Belt AND suspenders.

Ah, yup.

Actually, I'm just lazy. I know that you have had to clean up after electronics melted down, and I don't find the resulting hair-on-fire fire drill the least bit productive or enjoyable. So, I am willing to do a lot in advance, at my leisure, not to be under the gun for some reboot/rebuild/restore operation on electronics. BTDT once too often.

Oh and I also have surge protectors on all the electronic cables going in and out of the house and barns...

All the best, Peter

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Ah, yup.

Actually, I'm just lazy. I know that you have had to clean up after electronics melted down, and I don't find the resulting hair-on-fire fire drill the least bit productive or enjoyable. So, I am willing to do a lot in advance, at my leisure, not to be under the gun for some reboot/rebuild/restore operation on electronics. BTDT once too often.

Oh and I also have surge protectors on all the electronic cables going in and out of the house and barns...

All the best, Peter

Surge protectors are important if you live rural. Everything now has some level of computer to run it. Washing machines, ovens, refrigerators, tv, alarm clock, etc. And one surge can kill their little motherboard. And,, teh motherboards are damnably expensive. Lighting storm about a mile away, killed the fridge before this one. New fridge $1200 to $1500, mother board $965 plus freight. And I instantly had a new temperature controlled paint locker for the garage. (Added a thermostat and a terrarium heater on the bottom, now stays at 40F, and keeps paint from freezing). Washer mother board $597, but they sent me a new one because they had issues with the out of balance sensor being too sensitive, and the washer not doing the spin dry.

 

[Oaktree]

We still have an ice box! I guess that makes us older than dirt...

No idea where I could find block ice these days.

I've seen it at some convenience stores, not as common as cubes though.

If you take a refigerator, place it in a small insulated space, turn it on high with the doors open, that space will become warmer, not colder.

Heh. Back in the 70s a place I worked had converted an empty office into a computer room. Of course the room got very warm since it was always closed off and didn't have extra cooling. Building maintenance guy went to Sears, picked up a window A/C unit and set it on a table in the middle of the room.

 

[Jstpssng]

I lost 3 cordless phones to lightening strikes, even though they were on surge protectors. Oddly enough it didn't hurt my computer router which was on the same phone line. I finally determined that the only thing it wrecked was the power adapter, hopefully next time I can replace that rather than the entire phone.

 

[check]

A whole house surge protector is less than $200.

Wife and I just replaced the old one, which saved our electronic stuff when lightning struck a Hydro pole about 150 ft. away. It works by sacrificing itself. So, we had to put in a new one. Good to go!

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

We were hit by lightning a lot until I put lightning rods on the chimneys. One strike was so bad everything plugged in was damaged so I called my insurance agent. She said "call xyz, we recommend them for checking out all your stuff". I said..."but xyz is MY company!". She said " then take all your stuff to work!". I got paid for troubleshooting all my stuff plus replacement which was very strange.