[hrman]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Bought this yesterday. Got nostalgic

Now for some butter toasts !

https://www.amazon.in/Sumeet-Non-Sti.../dp/B01KLOFXQU

This was on my mind for quite some time now. We used to have this type of toaster about 30+ years ago. Served us well right from jam toasts, butter toastts, veg toast etc. We had an anjali one with dark blue handles, made way to a nirlep one which cut the sandwich from the center, to an electric one with dual sandwich.

The current one I have is a philips electric one, can make two sandwiches at a time. But it cuts the sandwich too. The one you bought retains the shape of the sandwich, allowing you to cut it the way you want.

I think i'll take the plunge and buy it too. How is it working so far? (I dont think there are any parts which will fail, but still.

[BenjiRoss]

My 15 litres Havells water heater which is 4 years old has started giving problems. The initial water temperature is great but after 5 minutes it cools down and is lukewarm. Takes a long time to get hot again and the next person can have a bath.
The technician cleaned the heater and removed a whole lot of limescale from the heater. But the problem persists with no improvement.
He now said he checked with Havells and feels the heating element has become weak and needs to be changed.
Is there anything like the element becoming weak because of hard water.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

He now said he checked with Havells and feels the heating element has become weak and needs to be changed.
Is there anything like the element becoming weak because of hard water.

The heating element does not cost too much. I purchased one for 350 from an electric shop for a bajaj 15L heater and swapped it myself. The change was worth it as water heating is now very very quick when compared to earlier.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

My 15 litres Havells water heater which is 4 years old has started giving problems. The initial water temperature is great but after 5 minutes it cools down and is lukewarm. Takes a long time to get hot again and the next person can have a bath.
The technician cleaned the heater and removed a whole lot of limescale from the heater. But the problem persists with no improvement.
He now said he checked with Havells and feels the heating element has become weak and needs to be changed.
Is there anything like the element becoming weak because of hard water.

You could remove it and put it in a bath of mild acid to remove the limescale - it will take quite a bit of effort if the scale is more than a mm or so.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by hrman

I think i'll take the plunge and buy it too. How is it working so far? (I dont think there are any parts which will fail, but still.

Has been used about 3-4 times till date. All is well.

Bread + Butter + Chopped Onions + Cheese + Pork Salami + Green Chilli= Bliss

[BenjiRoss]

Originally Posted by mvadg

You could remove it and put it in a bath of mild acid to remove the limescale - it will take quite a bit of effort if the scale is more than a mm or so.

This is what the technician managed to remove.
I'll have a look at the heating element myself to see if there is still a covering.
I didn't understand what he meant by a weak heating element.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

This is what the technician managed to remove.
I'll have a look at the heating element myself to see if there is still a covering.
I didn't understand what he meant by a weak heating element.

OK. I did not read your original post carefully and didn't realize quite a bit of limescale had been removed. Now that you've had limescale for a while, it would have likely caused overheating in parts of the element, as air and limescale would not have allowed the heat to dissipate into the water uniformly. These hotspots probably destroyed the heating element.

I am not sure how the element is working and producing weaker heating, but I think it has been damaged. Also, you may need to clean out the tank - both sediment and limescale - it is possible that the tank is filled with sediment and the water volume is much smaller than the original 15 litres - this means you have less hot water and it would seem that the heater is not able to produce hot water quickly.

Another point - by now the protective anode is gone (dissolved) and you would need to replace that too. (this is what prevents the build up of scale)

That reminds me that I too should start proactively cleaning out my heater and element and look at replacing the anode too.

[vsrivatsa]

Guys need advise on Wet Grinder - need a small size one and downselected the below two: Please recommend based on experience:

1. Elgi Ultra Dura+ 1.25-Litre Wet Grinder (Purple) : URL
vs.
2. Vijayalakshmi Handy 1.25 Liter : URL

The Eligi Model is 6K+ and the 2nd one is around 3.5 K but the Elgi Ultra claims some patented conical stones and hence wondering...

[aadya]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

My 15 litres Havells water heater which is 4 years old has started giving problems. The initial water temperature is great but after 5 minutes it cools down and is lukewarm. Takes a long time to get hot again and the next person can have a bath.
The technician cleaned the heater and removed a whole lot of limescale from the heater. But the problem persists with no improvement.
He now said he checked with Havells and feels the heating element has become weak and needs to be changed.
Is there anything like the element becoming weak because of hard water.

Four years is decent time for a heating element which should cost south of Rs.1000 depending on Size and Brand. It is better to change it rather than meddling with that. New one would give you good returns in the way of shorter heating time - Electricity and Time saved, and in older times damaged and refurbished elements had the risk of poor insulation(don't know about the newer ones)

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by hrman

I think i'll take the plunge and buy it too. How is it working so far? (I dont think there are any parts which will fail, but still.

Originally Posted by Eddy

Has been used about 3-4 times till date. All is well.

Bread + Butter + Chopped Onions + Cheese + Pork Salami + Green Chilli= Bliss

I was browsing on Amazon when I saw this. Looks a little better than the one I ordered.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00...f_rd_i=desktop

[BenjiRoss]

Originally Posted by mvadg

OK. I did not read your original post carefully and didn't realize quite a bit of limescale had been removed. Now that you've had limescale for a while, it would have likely caused overheating in parts of the element, as air and limescale would not have allowed the heat to dissipate into the water uniformly. These hotspots probably destroyed the heating element.

Originally Posted by aadya

Four years is decent time for a heating element which should cost south of Rs.1000 depending on Size and Brand. It is better to change it rather than meddling with that. New one would give you good returns in the way of shorter heating

Thanks. My fear was that replacing the coil may not be the complete solution if tank capacity is affected or there is some other issue. But based on this advice above I guess I'll spend the 1000 bucks or so to to get the coil changed. I'll also ask the technician to clean the tank more thoroughly and see. Havells is a decent brand, so I think the heater has more life left in it.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I was browsing on Amazon when I saw this. Looks a little better than the one I ordered.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00...f_rd_i=desktop

Thanks Eddy. I checked this during my search. The issue is it cuts the sandwich into 4 parts. My requirement was to have it full so that I can cut it the way I want (I know its a bit weird, but still)

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Guys need advise on Wet Grinder - need a small size one and downselected the below two: Please recommend based on experience:

1. Elgi Ultra Dura+ 1.25-Litre Wet Grinder (Purple) : URL
vs.
2. Vijayalakshmi Handy 1.25 Liter : URL

The Eligi Model is 6K+ and the 2nd one is around 3.5 K but the Elgi Ultra claims some patented conical stones and hence wondering...

I bought the Elgi 1.25 after reviewing the other brands. The conical stones are way ahead of the cylindrical ones used in older design.

These grinders can grind as little as 250ml. For Idly Dosa, my usual mix is


250g rice


250g rice, total 500g


125g dal


5g Methi


First grind Methi. Even that small amount grinds perfectly


Then the Dal. The 125g dal will swell up to nearly 8 times


Lastly the rice, and then mix it up.

Please note that the dal and rice are ground separately and require about 20 to 30 minutes to grind really fine.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by Aroy

I bought the Elgi 1.25 after reviewing the other brands. The conical stones are way ahead of the cylindrical ones used in older design.

These grinders can grind as little as 250ml. For Idly Dosa, my usual mix is

Attachment 1716969
125g dal

Please note that the dal and rice are ground separately and require about 20 to 30 minutes to grind really fine.

Thanks for the detailed review. One suggestion, instead of using the split Urad dal, you can try using the whole Urad dal. It gives a smoother texture and yields better results.
How much quantity of rice does it grind at a time? I gather it is about 1 lit including the water?

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by Aroy

I bought the Elgi 1.25 after reviewing the other brands. The conical stones are way ahead of the cylindrical ones used in older design.

Wow! Thanks a lot - Thats a super answer with pictures and all
I have shared your reponse with my wife to read thru. In the meanwhile, have you found the 1.25 liter sufficient enough for your needs or do you recommend the 2.0 liter one? My Scenario: We are a small family of 3 (couple + 1 Toddler).

Also when I compared the technical specification, the motor on the Elgi Ultra is 84 watt and the one on the Vijayalaksmi brand is 150 watt. So would the other one be faster due to this - or is it just that the Elgi Ultra is more efficient ?...