The Home Appliance thread

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

My experience has been awesome with the Crystal serrated blade stuff sold in most supermarkets - really long lasting. atleast an year +. and 45 bucks apiece makes it truly VFM. How do these german ones compare to crystal?

Is it?? I'v not been much satisfied with any Crystal knives. But I guess they were normal blades... not serrated ones, IIRC. Don't even think of comparing it with the German blades. And whats more interesting is that IIRC the German stuff was cheaper than Crystal!

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Dadu and sushil,
I would recommend a black n decker chopper for 2.5k available in croma. All these cheap 1.5k ones have one of two issues:
a. Cheap gearbox (the exact word they use)that can wear out with the slightest abuse. Inalsa's Robot 300C is terrible on that count. Personal experience
b. Impractically small. You cannot use more than half the bowl capacity - 400ml jar means <200ml usable volume. You just cannot fill it up like a regular mixie. If you do so, the gearbox wears out in 30 seconds. Personal experience again.

Get a nice big one, or don't get one at all.

That 's nice suggestion. so what ever i buy it should be big one & agree i personally don;t believe much in multi purpose stuff . so a chopper should be used for chopping only but isn ;t black n Decker a Chinese one. hope quality wise they are ok. buying from croma would mean that i don;t has to face service issues .

Originally Posted by Pallavi

Sushil,
I have been using a Nova chopper for the past 3 years and it is one of the best things i purchased on a whim

I can chop onions, cabbage, carrot etc without turning them to mush. Very useful when preparing lunch during the early morning rush.

I would suggest you opt for a good brand of vegetable chopper than those shown in infomercials and avoid Star CJ like plague.

I am in kinda same situation . lack of time as i stay alone and cannot afford to spend 1 hour cooking after reaching home at 10 ; O click in night . hence buying one to save on time. will check nova as well. can i find that in Croma or other electronic stores .

[dadu]

Originally Posted by Pallavi

I am facing a weird problem in the new house we moved into. Whenever we switch on the geyser (2000W) and dishwasher (2000W) together, the meter trips. Same goes for any combinations of AC, geyser, washing machine and dishwasher. The houser owner says that it is a 3-phase connection and it shouldnt happen.

Please help me find out what is going wrong. Dont know much about electricity and meters so please explain in detail if you can.

TIA,
Pallavi

Usually you will have a 3phase 5 KVA meter and therefore it shoudl not trip. But tripping happens if the MCB has gone faulty or there is electric leakage usually from the Geyser heating element or can be from the WM heater too, depending on how old they are the scaling on them can cause the element to crack resulting in current leakage.

[Thad E Ginathom]

My LG washing machine decided to go walkies last night, and, moving forward on its very secure and very level platform (carefully levelled stone on concrete) it fell flat on its face.

The connection to the tap was broken. A very young and badly educated "engineer" visited us, established that the machine was still working, and promised us a new input pipe tomorrow. He blamed everything else but the machine, and, basically, talked a lot of male-cow excrement.

In retrospect, I think the LG is too light, and its feet don't grip. I'm going to try putting it on something like a heavy-but-thin rubber sheet. We have to solve the problem, the company obviously is not going to.

Pathetic service: i should have paid more and bought the Siemens :(

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by Pallavi

I am facing a weird problem in the new house we moved into. Whenever we switch on the geyser (2000W) and dishwasher (2000W) together, the meter trips. Same goes for any combinations of AC, geyser, washing machine and dishwasher. The houser owner says that it is a 3-phase connection and it shouldnt happen.

What trips is the MCB / fuse; not the meter.

The MCB should be at least 10 A rating (220 Volt X 10 amp = 2200 W - if I remember my physics correctly).

[phamilyman]

Pallavi, this is common in GGN atleast. Your house's MCB is rated to supply 5-6kw only. Check the flat's purchase agreements it would be mentioned somewhere. Forget the "full power backup" that everyone claims.

[khoj]

Is this an apartment or is this a floor of an independent house.

I am assuming that switched on one at a time a lone appliance is not tripping otherwise it could be a problem with the Earthing/Grounding which is tripping up the ELCB usually located close to the meter thereby giving rise to your statement that the meter is tripping.

Otherwise it seems all of the appliances are on a single circuit and I doubt if the supply is 3 phase. In which case you could actually look at the meter and notice

1. the size of the meter, a 3 phase meter is large, almost the size of a shoebox(men's) and the single phase is smallish about a third in size.
2. The connection rating will be mentioned on the face of the meter 9+ KwH for the 3 phase and 4.74 maximum for the single phase.
3. In either case the main MCB should be 50 Amps for the 3 phase and 32 amps for the single phase. of the appliances you mentioned should be fed via its own MCB of 16A rating so on and so forth.

The above is of use if the wires themselves are of the correct gauge size so as to carry all of the current through, otherwise you could end up with burnt out wires which will not go down well for either you or your landlord.

I suggest you get a licensed electrician to take a look at the circuit board and follow his lead.

Originally Posted by Pallavi

I am facing a weird problem in the new house we moved into. Whenever we switch on the geyser (2000W) and dishwasher (2000W) together, the meter trips. Same goes for any combinations of AC, geyser, washing machine and dishwasher. The houser owner says that it is a 3-phase connection and it shouldnt happen.

Please help me find out what is going wrong. Dont know much about electricity and meters so please explain in detail if you can.

TIA,
Pallavi

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by Pallavi

I am facing a weird problem in the new house we moved into. Whenever we switch on the geyser (2000W) and dishwasher (2000W) together, the meter trips. Same goes for any combinations of AC, geyser, washing machine and dishwasher. The houser owner says that it is a 3-phase connection and it shouldnt happen.

Please help me find out what is going wrong. Dont know much about electricity and meters so please explain in detail if you can.

TIA,
Pallavi

Well. The question is what is current rating of the mob that tripped. I suppose it is about 15A. Now a 4 kw load will go beyond 15amps. So that's why it tripped. Ideally the load should have been balanced across 2 mcb's and the main mcb should have been more than 15 amps.

All this assuming that the rated available load is more than 4kva ( when you get the connection from the electricity company they give you for a specific maximum load ).

What can you do: check with a good electrician and see if replacing the mcb to a higher rating should be done. Would be best if the electrician is the same guy who did the whole design in the first place - see if you get get his contact from the owner and check with the same person.

[sgiitk]

@deep_bang; Must be that all the heavy loads are on the same phase. The wiring distribution will have to be modified.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The question is what is current rating of the mob that tripped. I suppose it is about 15A.

There should be a number on it

[Pallavi]

Originally Posted by dadu

Usually you will have a 3phase 5 KVA meter and therefore it shoudl not trip. But tripping happens if the MCB has gone faulty or there is electric leakage usually from the Geyser heating element or can be from the WM heater too, depending on how old they are the scaling on them can cause the element to crack resulting in current leakage.

The geyser is relatively new, few months old. I get a slight shock when i touch the lint collector of the washing machine. Should i get the washing machine checked or the grounding.. not sure of the right term?

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

What trips is the MCB / fuse; not the meter.

The MCB should be at least 10 A rating (220 Volt X 10 amp = 2200 W - if I remember my physics correctly).

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Pallavi, this is common in GGN atleast. Your house's MCB is rated to supply 5-6kw only. Check the flat's purchase agreements it would be mentioned somewhere. Forget the "full power backup" that everyone claims.

BSD and Phamilyman,

Will check the rating of the MCB.

Originally Posted by khoj

Is this an apartment or is this a floor of an independent house.

This is an aparment.

I am assuming that switched on one at a time a lone appliance is not tripping otherwise it could be a problem with the Earthing/Grounding which is tripping up the ELCB usually located close to the meter thereby giving rise to your statement that the meter is tripping.

You are right. When one appliance is switched on, the fuse doesnt trip. When i touch the lint collector in the washing machine, i get a slight shock. Doesnt this mean there is a problem with the grounding or the washing machine?

Otherwise it seems all of the appliances are on a single circuit and I doubt if the supply is 3 phase. In which case you could actually look at the meter and notice

1. the size of the meter, a 3 phase meter is large, almost the size of a shoebox(men's) and the single phase is smallish about a third in size.
2. The connection rating will be mentioned on the face of the meter 9+ KwH for the 3 phase and 4.74 maximum for the single phase.
3. In either case the main MCB should be 50 Amps for the 3 phase and 32 amps for the single phase. of the appliances you mentioned should be fed via its own MCB of 16A rating so on and so forth.

The above is of use if the wires themselves are of the correct gauge size so as to carry all of the current through, otherwise you could end up with burnt out wires which will not go down well for either you or your landlord.

I suggest you get a licensed electrician to take a look at the circuit board and follow his lead.

I will get an electrician and get this checked. Thanks for your inputs.

Originally Posted by deep_bang

Well. The question is what is current rating of the mob that tripped. I suppose it is about 15A. Now a 4 kw load will go beyond 15amps. So that's why it tripped. Ideally the load should have been balanced across 2 mcb's and the main mcb should have been more than 15 amps.

All this assuming that the rated available load is more than 4kva ( when you get the connection from the electricity company they give you for a specific maximum load ).

What can you do: check with a good electrician and see if replacing the mcb to a higher rating should be done. Would be best if the electrician is the same guy who did the whole design in the first place - see if you get get his contact from the owner and check with the same person.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@deep_bang; Must be that all the heavy loads are on the same phase. The wiring distribution will have to be modified.

Sounds most probable...

Thank you for all the inputs. I will get the wiring and the load distribution checked.

[dadu]

Originally Posted by Pallavi

The geyser is relatively new, few months old. I get a slight shock when i touch the lint collector of the washing machine. Should i get the washing machine checked or the grounding.. not sure of the right term?

There is electric leakage most probably from the heater of the Washing machine, grounding (Earth) is usually taken care by the 3-Pin power plug. Log a complaint with the Service center and ask them to check leakage/ heater of the Washing machine.

[khoj]

This indicates an open circuit and when you touch the lint collector you are closing the circuit and getting a shock in return. however if you are getting the shock only upon touching the lint collector alone (& no where else on the WM body) then it could simply be a case of static being discharged.

This however does not take away from the original problem.

Originally Posted by Pallavi

You are right. When one appliance is switched on, the fuse doesnt trip. When i touch the lint collector in the washing machine, i get a slight shock. Doesnt this mean there is a problem with the grounding or the washing machine?

[dadu]

Originally Posted by khoj

This indicates an open circuit and when you touch the lint collector you are closing the circuit and getting a shock in return. however if you are getting the shock only upon touching the lint collector alone (& no where else on the WM body) then it could simply be a case of static being discharged.

This however does not take away from the original problem.

There are many possibilities though, body is powder coated, so residual electric leakage doesnt flow whereas the lint collector is usually wet giving a shock.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

My LG washing machine decided to go walkies last night, and, moving forward on its very secure and very level platform (carefully levelled stone on concrete) it fell flat on its face.

The connection to the tap was broken. A very young and badly educated "engineer" visited us, established that the machine was still working, and promised us a new input pipe tomorrow. He blamed everything else but the machine, and, basically, talked a lot of male-cow excrement.

In retrospect, I think the LG is too light, and its feet don't grip. I'm going to try putting it on something like a heavy-but-thin rubber sheet. We have to solve the problem, the company obviously is not going to.

Pathetic service: i should have paid more and bought the Siemens :(

Today, after several phone calls, Mrs G was told, "Most people buy 5kg machines; you bought 7Kg. We don't have a hose in stock."

What? There's a difference? And, whatever, they don't have spares for a current model?

Actually, I'm used to washing machine hoses being something you can buy from a hardware store, almost regardless of what make, let alone model, of machine you have.

LG: not next time.