[carboy]

I am planning to buy a dishwasher. Full size. Any recommendations? And cost? Good customer service is very important.

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by fine69

What's the best detergent to be used for this machine and do I have to change it based on type of clothing or some other factor?

After using Front load specific detergent for years and spending heavily, We have resorted to Tide. It works out cheaper and works exactly like ny other detergent. We so shifted in last 4 years. So far no complaints. Two full spoons for 7.5kg machine does perfect job! We usually pair it with cloths softener.

Originally Posted by fine69

What about woolen clothes on which I used to use genteel when using my old semi-automatic machine?

Usually any wool specific liquid detergent would do the job.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by diyguy

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/...ase_sku=br800i
This is the one I purchased for my projector for a similar scenario and should exceed your requirements.

That one is 'stepped sine wave'.
See this PDF: http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/A...f?sdirect=true

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Any ~2000-2500 rs 650VA UPS with internal battery should suffice for your load. Pick APC, Luminous etc

Unfortunately I cannot find any UPS's upto 5000 Rs. which can provide 'pure sine wave'.

If you have the household ones, even those do the job, but they'll cost around 11k (2013 figures) for 800 VA "pure sine wave HOME UPS" with a 150 AH battery good for a few hours.

I have an inverter with 150 AH battery which is used primarily for the tubelight and fans. I think it provides square wave or some other wave (cannot remember).

Originally Posted by techiecal

Am I reading this right 'between 160 and 440V'. I think you mean 240V.

I am actually seeing 440 Volts. I even saw 750 Volts momentarily, but I think my digital multi-meter might be behaving erratic on that one.

[techiecal]

Definitely multimeter issue because at those voltages you would not have a tv or anything else to measure the voltage across. Get a proper instrument pronto.
Your Inverter with 150 AH battery for fans and lights is in all probability modified square wave. And yes Pure Sine Wave/Sine Wave inverters are expensive but to protect sensitive electronics the expense is validated.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

a quick touch of 230V I have experienced many times, usually as a result of being stupid. Just because I'm still alive, though, I'm not claiming that it is safe. Not at all.

The weird thing about the 440 (that's what my meter said, case to ground, was it was not like an electric shock: it was like being hit with a blunt object. <POW> just like in the cartoons.

It is the current that flows through your body from the point of contact to the ground that is dangerous and not the voltage per se. They say - "it is the mils that kills and volts that jolts". Under the right circumstances a mere 8 milliampere current can stop the heart - hence the conventional wisdom of keeping your left hand in the pocket while testing for leakage with the back of the right hand. Electric shock can cause locking of your nerves resulting in 'permanently' holding the source of electric current.

CRT TV lineoutput transformers can put out 25 KV or more but rarely result in fatalities as the current can be less than 10 mA. On the other hand microwave ovens use transformers which can belt out a few amperes at a couple of KV to power the magnetron. That kind of current is potentially fatal.

I have managed to stay alive despite suffering many incidences of coming under contact with tens of kiloVolts mainly because of the current flowed within parts of the same hand resulting in temporary burns or probably because the frequency was higher. Mains frequency at 50 Hz in India/Europe and 60 Hz in the US tends to travel 'deep' whilst high frequency current tends to travel on the skin (surface level).

[fine69]

I shifted to a new house recently. A weird issue happening is that when i plug the adapter of the laptop and keep my finger on the mousepad area, the arrow starts jumping up n down erratically.

The moment i unplug the adapter the pointer settles and behaves normally. I tried two different sockets and its happening at both places. Whats wrong here?

[diyguy]

This happens in trains too where the dc to AC conversion is not good quality sine wave. I doubt if in your case it would be the same reason as, if you had no power and it was being run off an inverter, you would have mentioned it.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

That one is 'stepped sine wave'.

See the latest advts from Amaron. It pseudo since wave and not true sine wave. The reason is simple, with square the peak voltage is lower (energy content has to be kept same) leading to problems with devices like CFLs which need the 'ignition'. A pure sine drive will be inefficient at the transformer stage, so a compromise is needed.

[Prowler]

My bed room Voltas Vertis split AC displays E3 error code in the last couple of days. But it works normally when it is running and shows the error code only when it is switched off from the remote.

I tried hunting for the error codes but couldn't find any information on Voltas manuals.

I called the toll free number of Voltas and the woman there pleaded her ignorance and instead offered to send a technician. Any ideas on the error codes ?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Prowler

E3 error code in ?

Has it been cleaned recently? Maybe it is an indicator of dirt or clogging?

[fine69]

Originally Posted by diyguy

This happens in trains too where the dc to AC conversion is not good quality sine wave. I doubt if in your case it would be the same reason as, if you had no power and it was being run off an inverter, you would have mentioned it.

Yeah, no inverter here.

In fact I tried Belkin's surge protector also but the issue persists. I doubt if its a faulty adapter as everything was fine in the previous house I was in.

Can I test something somehow to narrow down the problem?

[archat68]

Originally Posted by fine69

Yeah, no inverter here.

In fact I tried Belkin's surge protector also but the issue persists. I doubt if its a faulty adapter as everything was fine in the previous house I was in.

Can I test something somehow to narrow down the problem?

Check it at another place like your office or friends place to rule out electrical
wiring problem at your new place.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Has it been cleaned recently? Maybe it is an indicator of dirt or clogging?

Thanks diyguy
It was not cleaned recently. I read somewhere that it signifies problem in the internal fan. I will have to wait till they diagnose the issue.

@fine69: Your laptop mains unit's electrolytic could be drying out resulting in poor mains frequency filtering (in audio parlance it is called as humming). There is little you can do about this - in cost effective terms. Borrow another unit to confirm the issue with your adapter. When they fail eventually, it could damage the laptop.

[utsav1303]

Seek advice on buying an air cooler for use in Delhi

The Usha Honeywell is already being used in our home and it is very good. But I am looking at other options available too.

Usha, Usha 55 Litre Honeywell CL 601PM Air Cooler http://m.snapdeal.com/product/page/8...nk&viewinapp=1

In dilemma, should I order one more from Usha or try out some other brand?

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'm thinking about a new fridge, smallish, but I want a fridge-freezer.

Looking at stuff online, there seem to be a heap of "2-door fridges," which are just that: a fridge with two compartments. one of which gets cold enough to freeze ice, so maybe it can be called an ice box, but a real freezer goes down to something like -15C. A real freezer stores frozen food properly, and freezes home-cooked food for storage longer than a day or three.

In UK, such a freezer would have a four-star logo, like [***|*] on it. This is not to do with the efficiency star ratings that we see here, but indicates how long food can be kept. A write-up here ...

Have you noticed the stars on freezer compartments? Some people do not understand their significance and simply bung food in any drawer. The stars indicate the temperature of the compartment and therefore the length of time that food may safely be stored within. Here is a summary of the star system for you to print out and tape to the inside of your freezer.
* One star (-6 degrees centigrade) is perfect for making ice cubes and is sufficiently cold to keep food for three or four days. ** Two stars (-12 degrees centigrade) stores food for fifteen to twenty days. *** Three stars (-18 degrees centigrade) will keep food safe for up to three months. **** Four stars (below 18 degrees centigrade) means that the compartment provides the ideal conditions for freezing down fresh and pre-cooked foods.

...Colder than I thought!

~