[fine69]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Thus it is safer to use a well designed surge protector than a simple stabilizer.

Originally Posted by mtnrajdeep

Hence, it is better to have a surge protector first. It can be followed by a voltage stabilizer in the circuit.

Originally Posted by Aroy

In contrast voltage stabilizers are slow with reaction of few tenths of a second at the most. By the time they react to the surge voltage, it has passed through and done its damage.

Ok, I now understand the response time difference and it makes sense for having a surge protector. But then wouldn't one be better off with a surge protector at the mains somewhere instead of having them all across the house.

A Mains stabilizer (3-5 kVA) ranges between 10-12k so maybe its better to have 2-3 different stabilizers but I guess a surge protector at mains wouldn't cost higher than individual surge protectors across the house, any idea about this?

And do we all agree that simply having a stabilizer isn't really protecting the equipment? Stabilizer with time delay might prevent the machine from stopping and starting immediately (thereby protecting the electricals in someway) and might also work when the voltage is low by stabilizing it and providing adequate voltage to the equipment but in case of surges its of no use.

And does that mean that we need to have surge protectors followed by stabilizers for equipments? Why wouldn't someone manufacture a surge protector and stabilizer in one equipment itself?

Originally Posted by saket77

Thanks for the post. Can you please do us a favour of posting a link of one such surge protector being sold online. Would like to have it to protect my analog rig. Please do it in leisure.

http://www.amazon.in/Belkin-F9E400zb...productDetails

Current spike handling capacity and Joule rating are probably the biggest two factors when settling for one.

[Aroy]

Surges do not travel uniformly throughout the house, Factors such as wire length, resistance of the path and devices connected to a circuit determine how far and how fast a surge will travel. If you have only one protector at the mains, then the whole house will be switched off. So it is better to have one on each main circuit.

We did have a 5KVA servo stabilizer when we had only one floor and single phase. It worked fine. Now we have expanded and have 3 phase supply on two floors, so that means 3 servos of higher ratings (one for each phase) to cater to extra number of AC's and geysers, hence the idea was given up. Many industries use high power servo stabilizers as their primary power regulators, so they are available all the way upto 1 MW range.

Time delay in a stabilizer is an irritation, as all the devices which need that delay - AC, Refrigerators etc have one inbuilt, so in effect you will be adding a delay to starting the device.

[Thad E Ginathom]

A Garden Appliance...

Generally, I don't believe on buying on line when I can get stuff easily from local businesses, and a new hose would normally just mean a trip to a local hardware shop. However, flu and floods have really curtailed the shopping spirit, and thirty metres of hose is quite bulky and heavy.

(Why do I even need a hose in this weather? Because it is the easiest way to prime the pump when we have to empty the garden)

Our hoses (PVC, I suppose) have lasted from around one to three years before the UV and the general wear and tear gets to them and they start to split and leak.

I was browsing Amazon, and decided to splash out, trying this rubber hose: Zephyr. Maybe the 10-yr warranty is exagerated, but, I thought, if lasts longer than PVC it might be worth it.

I knew it was different as soon as I took the box from the courier. 30m PVC hose is quite heavy, even carried over the shoulder: I could take this box with one hand!

I uncoiled (by rolling, not pulling, which just results in one kink per turn) the hose, and fitted my Hozelock fittings each end. I have original Hozelock fittings, bought in UK: they are enormously superior to the cheap imitations we get here.

It is amazingly light and soft to handle. If it gets a kink, just take out the twist and the kink springs back to normal. It seems like a very superior hose indeed!

Now I need to arrange a hanger on the wall so it is not always lying on the ground.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

[b]
Our hoses (PVC, I suppose) have lasted from around one to three years before the UV and the general wear and tear gets to them and they start to split and leak.

I was browsing Amazon, and decided to splash out, trying this rubber hose: Zephyr. Maybe the 10-yr warranty is exagerated, but, I thought, if lasts longer than PVC it might be worth it.

This is a braided hose, possibly two layer. I have a 30m coil Hozelok which I bought in the UK in 1989 still going strong though it is now coming to the end of its life. Normal PVC hoses also get clogged due to fungus/litchen which clogs it. It should be dark in colour to minimize it. On the other hand these two layer coils have a blank opaque interior layer.

[JMaruru]

I am thinking of a 3 liter instant geyser for our first floor B/R. It is just to warm the already lukewarm solar heater feed in the winter. Also, coz of 3 liter capacity there wouldn't be the need to drain much of the cold water in the pipeline and geyser tank.

Most of the year, we have hot water from the solar heater. So for the few months, the 3 liter instant geyser should suffice.

Howz the crompton greaves solarium model? I am considering this against the racold pronto and AO smith.

Please advise?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

This is a braided hose, possibly two layer. I have a 30m coil Hozelok which I bought in the UK in 1989 still going strong though it is now coming to the end of its life. Normal PVC hoses also get clogged due to fungus/litchen which clogs it. It should be dark in colour to minimize it. On the other hand these two layer coils have a blank opaque interior layer.

Yes, it has an inner black layer and an outer blue layer which also has a polyester braid in it.

Zephyr Water Hose.

The product shown has factory-fitted termination. I bought the plain hose as I already have my Hozelock fittings.

Wow, you got twenty years from your hose!

This is our third hose. The first one was almost transparent, and formed thick green algae inside, aided by the sunlight. Not thinking cost me a windscreen-washer pump assembly, as it became irretrievably clogged.

[saket77]

Any advice on 'fortune' dishwasher salt? The IFB dishwasher supplies have ballooned almost 1.5 times over the last couple of years so looking for good alternatives online.

[govigov]

We are doing the ageing bathrooms in our house and we are thinking of putting in a heater this time around. The heater needs to send hot water to a mixer tap that then mixes with regular water which delivers it to the shower / tap. This also would be tapped to take it to washbasin which will have a second mixer.

What kind of geyser / heater should be looked at for the above? Instant or storage? Decent pressure in the shower head is required. Please advice.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by govigov

We are doing the ageing bathrooms in our house and we are thinking of putting in a heater this time around. The heater needs to send hot water to a mixer tap that then mixes with regular water which delivers it to the shower / tap. This also would be tapped to take it to washbasin which will have a second mixer.

What kind of geyser / heater should be looked at for the above? Instant or storage? Decent pressure in the shower head is required. Please advice.

First of all, be aware that a Single Lever Mixer requires high pressure (at least two floors, ideally 3 floors above the tap). So if you do not have the head, use normal 2 tap mixer. You can also change the water pipes from the normal 1/2 inch ones to 1 inch pipes to increase the water pressure.

Regarding the type and size of geyser, it depends on the temperature difference between inlet and the shower. If inlet is at around 30 degrees and the shower is at 40, then a 4KW instant geyser may work, otherwise you require a storage geyser.

Normal showers consumes between 2 (small head) and 5 (5" dia head) liters per minute. So if the geyser is at 90 degrees, then it will need to supply about 1-2.5L/min of hot water. Multiply that by the duration of the shower and you get the capacity. For example for a 10 minute shower you need 20-40L of water of which 10-20L is hot water. Add a buffer of 5L and you get a size of between 15L and 30L for the geyser which will suffice for one shower of 10 minutes. If more people are going to use the shower then multiply the capacity accordingly.

One thing to note is that some geysers have poor insulation while others have a very good insulation. In the former case the water will cool down in a few hours, while in the latter the water remains hot for 24 hours, so if you get a geyser with excellent insulation, you need not switch the geyser off to conserve electricity to get hot water through out the day.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by saket77

Any advice on 'fortune' dishwasher salt? The IFB dishwasher supplies have ballooned almost 1.5 times over the last couple of years so looking for good alternatives online.

I understand that Finish is again available, but not directly from them (no more direct marketing!). Check on Amazon and a few other places.

[govigov]

Originally Posted by Aroy

First of all, be aware that a Single Lever Mixer requires high pressure (at least two floors, ideally 3 floors above the tap). So if you do not have the head, use normal 2 tap mixer. You can also change the water pipes from the normal 1/2 inch ones to 1 inch pipes to increase the water pressure.

Regarding the type and size of geyser, it depends on the temperature difference between inlet and the shower. If inlet is at around 30 degrees and the shower is at 40, then a 4KW instant geyser may work, otherwise you require a storage geyser.

Normal showers consumes between 2 (small head) and 5 (5" dia head) liters per minute. So if the geyser is at 90 degrees, then it will need to supply about 1-2.5L/min of hot water. Multiply that by the duration of the shower and you get the capacity. For example for a 10 minute shower you need 20-40L of water of which 10-20L is hot water. Add a buffer of 5L and you get a size of between 15L and 30L for the geyser which will suffice for one shower of 10 minutes. If more people are going to use the shower then multiply the capacity accordingly.

One thing to note is that some geysers have poor insulation while others have a very good insulation. In the former case the water will cool down in a few hours, while in the latter the water remains hot for 24 hours, so if you get a geyser with excellent insulation, you need not switch the geyser off to conserve electricity to get hot water through out the day.

Thank you, that is very useful information. Our contractor was telling that it has to be smaller pipes for better pressure, I had told him to put 1'' pipes, but he mentioned that pressure will reduce. (I did not understand how). I will now stress for the 1'' pipes.

Yes, there is atleast two floors between the bathroom in the ground floor and the terrace in the second floor. But, based on your comment, still might go for a 2 tap mixer. Ideally wanted the single tap mixer from jaguar.

So, storage heater is the way to go, is there a recommendation on what storage heater to go for? Ideally, the bigger the better, baths needs to be shared between atleast two people and may last very long. (This is my own house, which i visit only on weekends, so the baths are really long.) Also, will be having pseudo wet and dry areas in place.

Is there a difference between mounting the shower on the wall and on the ceiling? I am thinking about a simple 4'' dia shower head mounted on the ceiling. The bathroom has only a height of about 7 foot.

[Aroy]

I have never experienced ceiling mounted shower. The only difference I can think of is that with ceiling mounted one you have to either cut trough the concrete ceiling or have an exposed pipe line. I prefer a concealed line and wall mounted shower head.

Unless you are well over 6 feet tall, a shower head at 6.75 feet is good enough .

If you use 1 inch pipes from the overhead tank all the way to the diverter, single lever will work. You have to have the lines to and from the geyser also in 1 inch.

Check the specifications and get a geyser with highest star rating, they will be better insulated.

[vvrchandra]

Guys, I've a typical issue with my IFB Digital 7kg washing machine which is around 6 years old. When I bought it 6 years back in Hyderabad, I was told that this particular model is sensitive to water pressure and enquired about the height of my over head water tank. In Hyderabad, I used to stay in the 3rd floor and the water tank is above the 4th floor and over the lift bay, virtually on the 5th floor.

I've relocated to Vijayawada recently and my house is an independent house with just a single/ground floor with a over head tank just above it. The issue is when the washing machine is swithched on, it is taking slightly more time before it starts to rotate as it is taking more time for inlet water. Once it is full, the drum starts rotating and is fine.

The issue is coming up when rinse function starts and requires more water. It is automatically going to Pause mode and We need to manually release the Pause mode to make it run again. The same sequence is happening 2 to 3 times during the Rinse cycle.
I'm of the opinion that this is due to the less water pressure.

What are the different ways to improve the water pressure with the current setup. Thanks in advance.

[sgiitk]

I have single lever mixers in the children's bathroom. The head is 10' plus an 8' Barsati. Works alright.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by vvrchandra

Guys, I've a typical issue with my IFB Digital 7kg washing machine which is around 6 years old. .....

The issue is coming up when rinse function starts and requires more water. It is automatically going to Pause mode and We need to manually release the Pause mode to make it run again. The same sequence is happening 2 to 3 times during the Rinse cycle.
I'm of the opinion that this is due to the less water pressure.

What are the different ways to improve the water pressure with the current setup. Thanks in advance.

You can run a dedicated 1 inch diameter pipe from the over head tank to the washing machine, that will increase both the pressure and the volume of water. Just make sure that the pipe is connected directly to the tank (not to an existing 1/2 inch pipe) and there is a stop cock before the WM connection.