In a video by @Techconnectify@mas.to, Alec goes into a deep dive into the simplicity of his particular model, its shortcomings and variety of data logging tests in an attempt to fix them.
TL,DW: Very simple, cheap and ingenious design, with one compressor loop between the fridge and freezer in series. However, its temperature sensor is wonky and so the fridge is more affected by how long the compressor operates than the actual temperature itself. There is a signficant temperature differential between the top and bottom, fans on the exterior or interior could help but with the faulty sensor only made matters worse. With the controller replaced with a proper temp control unit the fridge functioned much better.
I’ve loved Technology Connections ever since I saw his riveting hour long video on dishwashing detergent. I don’t even have a dishwasher.
I used to think dishwashers were kinda rubbish before I watched his video and learned how they actually work and the best way to use them. I recommend that video to lots of people now. Great channel.
I’m still a bit annoyed on how my parents reject dishwashers as a result of the last one being kind of shit.
It didn’t help that they decided to replace the rinse aid with vinegar because “it’s cheaper and works just as well as regular rinse aid” no. It did not. It was terrible.
They never went for dishwashing tablets or name brand detergents because of the price either. But they failed to understand what the pre-wash section means, telling me off if I tried to use it, or explain why it makes sense to use it.
I love my parents, but they can be frustrating to deal with when it comes to tech. Dad knows just enough to be dangerous, (as a result he’s first port of call for tech support) with mum, if you get frustrated when trying to help or to correct a mistake she’s about to make she’ll tell you to stop acting like a know it all, despite the fact you’re getting frustrated because she’s not listening to you properly.
God forbid if they find out that I learned something from someone on the internet because “you can’t trust it” and then they’ll be even more frustratingly non compliant - a YouTube video, even a well sourced one (in the case of the dishwasher, a primary sourced one) they can still find flaws - “he cut a window in there, and it’s a different model therefore it’s not going to perform the same, so I don’t trust it”
I understand it’s necessary to question anything, but why when it comes to tech are they more cynical than me - someone who uses tech for a living? They trust me completely for information regarding buying, building and repairing computers, and software/ software alternatives, letting me do research for them, but that’s about it - despite the fact that I do all that research on the internet. And they’re also constantly amazed at all the weird bits of trivia and fact I know, again from the internet.
But the moment its got something to do with what they’re doing, the internet isn’t trustworthy enough. It’s fucking stupid. I get that I don’t know everything, but I understand how to navigate the internet enough to find the information thats needed, and usually it is reliable.
Yeah, there’s my rant for the day.
I love my parents, but they can be frustrating to deal with when it comes to tech.
Is it the, “I will always be older and wiser than my children” attitude or the, “I will never bother to learn anything new because everything I ever needed to know was learned a long time ago” attitude?
They’re both annoying but the second one seems to be much harder to overcome. They’ll take in new information from random talking heads on television and believe that outright (even if it’s laughably untrue) but if they buy a new appliance they will absolutely not–under any circumstances–read the manual or even glance at the quick reference guide. They will also not watch a video about it or ever bother trying to learn about the thing they just bought. Once they figure out where the time/temperature controls are and where the “start/on” button is that is literally the only thing they’ll see on that appliance from now until it breaks.
DIY? They did that a long time ago so “now they don’t have to” and that attitude apparently means that the TV “should just work (damnit!)” and the microwave, dishwasher, etc dozens of extra buttons and impressive features will never be used. Any given device will have a specific feature that solves the very problem they’ll be complaining about but even after showing them how to use it they never will (and you’ll catch them complaining about their problem not being solved again and again).
Another thing that really irks me: If they find they need a new <whatever> they will purchase the <whatever> they saw advertised on television! This sets off all my alarm bells that they’re likely to fall for scams. I don’t know if it’s generational but if I see a product regularly advertised on TV I just instinctively want to avoid that product. My gut tells me, “if they need to advertise that much then it’s clearly not the best”.
Aside: What’s also infuriating is that it isn’t like some religious nonsense that other people can excuse old people’s attitudes with. Like, “Oh my dad was raised in a very conservative, religious household so that’s why he doesn’t trust <whatever>” or it explains why they think a particular way. With my parents–who rarely ever attended church–it’s like, “How did we get here‽” LOL
@Awesomejt @TechConnectify @Rentlar @SilentStorms A few years ago there was a thread on Twitter that basically came down to: either you have a Bosch dishwasher, or you need to study how to properly fill it if you want clean dishes.
I have a Bosch dishwasher, and it’s still really helpful to follow the directions they provide on loading. IDK if it’s a “German” thing, but they have very specific instructions, and everyone in the house is constantly like “why do you get the best results” and I’m like - I read the manual and don’t think that if you “bob load” the dishwasher (stack things 3 items deep and jam in anything you can fit without hitting the arms) it’ll work the best. I would have thought that if you block the water spray with a bowl, a plate on top if it won’t get clean, but what do I know?
I switched to powder detergent and found mine doesn’t work as well with it… I don’t know why.
Probably because your dishwasher wasn’t engineered to work with powder detergent. I bought a Bosch dishwasher a few years ago and I read the manual where it specifically stated that even though it supports powder and liquid detergents it was designed to work with dishwasher tabs so that’s what they recommend.
I can’t help but wonder if people buy a new dishwasher–made for a completely different kind of cleaning substance–then continue their old (powder) ways and wonder why it doesn’t work as well as the old one.
Note: My Bosch dishwasher’s manual had notes in it about powder like, “if you’re going to use powder don’t use the ‘Auto’ mode…” and instead you should follow their instructions in regards to things like pre-rinse and how long you should wait before running the dishwasher (like, with powder I think the goal was to make sure everything stays wet before starting but I forget).
Same. Love this guy. His video about how those roll-around “portable” HVAC units being hot garbage made me both upset I had ever used one, and also excited about the future of heat pumps… then he started doing more videos on heat pumps!
I watched that video (twice) before ever owning a dishwasher. I bought a house this year which has one, and if I hadn’t watched his video I would have continued hand washing, believing it to be better! I live by myself so it does feel silly having to wait days before I have enough of a load, but he’s right even that days-old stuff comes off fine.
I came for the traffic signals. I cringed through the overly-long CED saga. I left after the dishwashers.
I’ll still pop in seasonally though, for the latest on proper LED holiday lights.
Dishwashing video #1: Detergent pods must be bad, because dishwashers have a pre-wash dispenser. So if you use pods, you aren’t using enough detergent!
Here’s my demonstration of how using detergent during pre-wash results in more cleaning occurring during pre-wash (which, you know, isn’t the full cycle and isn’t how people use dishwashers).
Dishwashing video #2: Actually, I was totally wrong. But detergent pods are still bad, because they result in using too much detergent and are wasteful!
@JWBananas @Rentlar @SilentStorms sooo… the follow-up had a very specific point. Many people were getting a residue after trying powder detergent, and I wanted to help with that.
My main issue with detergent pods isn’t so much that they’re wasteful, per se, but that they cost a lot more for, potentially, worse results.
Many dozens of people continue to tell me that trying powder detergent both saved money *and* made their dishwasher work better. I stand by that.
@Technology Connections I’m glad you found my Beehaw thread about your video, even if it’s just to defend your dishwasher video from someone talking smack. Thanks, and feel free to lmk if my post title doesn’t do your video justice (though overall it seems well-received on Lemmy).
question.
It seems you have replied to, and carried on a reply chain with (meaning that presumably notifications went both ways), a user on Kbin from your Mastodon account.
How on earth do you do that?
That’s great that you found something that worked for you and for others. And I respect your stance on cost.
But it doesn’t change the fact that an experiment that only runs through the pre-wash cycle is at best misleading when the results that are important are that of the full cycle. And it also doesn’t change my impression that you used a fundamentally flawed experiment to try to make a logical argument, which was then contradicted in your follow-up.
It’s just not a great look.
If the point of the second video was “I was wrong” (versus “I’m still right but for different reasons”) then I probably wouldn’t have unsubscribed. Your moving of the goalposts (which just triggers too many memories of growing up with narcissists) just confirms that was a good choice.
But I do like your content about LED holiday lights, and I will be back to see what you find this season.
For what it’s worth, adding a little citric acid should be more cost effective than putting more detergent in the prewash cup.
WTF, I ain’t watching an hour long video on a stupid fridge! I’ll just watch the first few minutes and see what’s up…
…
…
One hour later…
Okay, that was really interesting. I really love this channel.
I love his videos, especially the video about his toaster. I’ve actually spent time trying to find that exact toaster at yard sales
His videos are always so random but somehow so entertaining and peaceful no matter what completely random thing he decides to talk about. My man could explain the mechanical differences between industrial farming equipment or something and I’d eat that shit up 100% without any questions.
My favorite is when he releases videos around weekends so I can spend my saturday/sunday morning watching it with a nice cup of coffee.
There’s not a Technology Connections video I won’t watch. Always makes the seemingly mundane absolutely fascinating.
As a European his videos are sometimes so funny :)
Here in europe we have two kind of fridges: American Style and the showed one (but with the freezer at the bottom). American style is this big bulky fridge that breaks quickly and costs a ton of money, most people use this style. It’s just the norm and they work reliable for decades, while also being more energy efficient.
It’s also important to note that food doesn’t get bad at 8°C (which Alec states in his video), storing food at 8°C is also the norm here in Europe. And I guess using this style of fridge more often in America would also make a lot of sense for most people.
I can see one simple reason why the american fridge with it’s self-defrosting feature makes a lot of sense in some American regions: Climate. In humid regions like Florida, the showed style of fridge would just need to be constantly defrosted. Which would be a huge pain in the ass obviously. And in all other southern-american regions where it never really gets cold it’s also a pain in the ass to manually defrost a fridge. For all regions where the temperature goes close to freezing temperatures, defrosting is not a big deal. You just need to put your refrigerated or frozen stuff outside for a few hours, defrost the fridge and put everything back inside. The frozen stuff doesn’t even get remotely thawn and doing it once a year is more than enough.
8C is about 46F.
Right from the USDA
Bacteria grows more rapidly in food starting at about 40F.
I think I’ll trust the food safety agency over some random pretentious guy on Lemmy thanks very much.
Sorry for only telling how it is in europe. Here in Germany the desired fridge temperature according to state guidelines should be 7-8°C and that’s what I’m commenting. Just pointing out that the differences are stunning and funny.
Interesting how different international standards are. 3-4°C seems like a big difference between the agencies!
It’s a bit more nuanced than that:
They said up to 8°C is fine for most of the stuff, 4°C for meat and 2°C for minced meat
