In a video by @[email protected], 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
That is a massive pain in the ass, damn
@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?
It’s amazing how normalized it is to not read, or follow, the manual given to you specifically to teach you how to use the thing you bought properly… Then complaining it doesn’t work well.
No shit, you don’t use it how the literal manufacturers tell you how to use it! Haha
He became one of my favorites after he got me to enjoy a half-hour video on storm lanterns. Dude has some serious charisma and really good investigative skills.
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).
Yes, No way i knew that i needed to know all that info on detergent :P
It changed the way I wash my dishes
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!
He definitely didn’t make me upset for having a portable AC unit. It’s… not power efficient, but it does keep my house cool enough to work in on the worst days.
He did sell me on heat pumps, though. I’m hoping to have one installed this fall, which will remove my need for that big luggin’ AC unit entirely and totally get my house off of oil.
That video of his solved all my woes of using my dishwasher lmao
That video has become required watching material / hazing ritual for new roommates. Mostly for the detailed explanation on the importance of pre-wash soap, but also for the tips on preheating the water.
Same, I ate that video up. Dishwashers are a rich people commodity in my country.
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.
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.
Typical European attitude I see
I’m sorry but what is the typical attitude here? Finding it interesting how things and standards differ between regions? Do you feel judged by me just stating the fact that in Europe we use a different fridge design than Americans do?
Interesting how different international standards are. 3-4°C seems like a big difference between the agencies!
Do you have a source for the 8°C claim?
I of course only know how things are done here in Germany with my whole life living here.
But someone else found a stackexchange thread about specifically this topic: https://quex.cc/comment/72381
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
I don’t think that ~8°C thing is a universal “European” thing. I’m Finnish and I’ve always kept my fridge around 5°C, and the food safety authority here recommends 2 – 6°C
I still lecture people on the correct detergent to use and to do a prewash because on him. 😂
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.
Me at 11pm: why on earth would I watch a long video deep diving into obsolete incandescent headlights?
Me at 7am: hey did you know that headlights used to be so standard you could just drop in a generic replacement and…
I love his videos, especially the video about his toaster. I’ve actually spent time trying to find that exact toaster at yard sales
I know more than I ever need to about American drip coffee machines, and yet I don’t want one and wouldn’t know where to buy one here in Australia eveb if I did want one.
There’s not a Technology Connections video I won’t watch. Always makes the seemingly mundane absolutely fascinating.
It often turns out that the mundane IS fascinating, it just needs a good storyteller.
I’m certain he could make me watch an hour long video on almost anything, he’s such a talented writer.
This was an amazing TC video and honestly I love when he goes on deep dive tangents like this. :D
Honestly, the best part about this channel is watching the guy be extremely American.
His fascination at an absolutely run of the mill entry level fridge that everybody outside Muricaland has owned at least once is delightful.
Oh, also, he’s on Mastodon here @TechConnectify in case you guys didn’t know that.
Haha you linking his Mastodon profile pinged him (on Mastodon) and created a bit of confusion regarding this link between Mastodon and beehaw (lemmy) while you are on kbin. The fediverse gets wild and a bit wrinkly at times.
No, this is an absolutely bog standard low-end fridge here. He’s just interested in clever engineering, no matter how mundane it is. His toaster videos are an excellent example of this.
I still debate trying to find a 240V version of that radiant control toaster… I think there was a limited edition orange one kicking around on eBay at one point. Not cheap though. A$220+ for a toaster is a little more than I want to spend for something where a basic unit usually costs $50 at most.
If you watch the video he explicitly says he hadn’t seen a fridge with some of the specific design details of this one. He also keeps calling it a “mini-fridge”, which is also a delightfully American thing to say about what is an absolutely standard sized fridge for our standards.
I did. He also says at one point that he understands the construction is more typical of split-compartment mini-fridges, but acknowledged he hadn’t much checked.
But, your interpretation is certainly fair, I don’t really want to argue. Instead, I don’t know how much you know about our fridges, but if that’s a standard size over on that side of the pond, they’re absolutely bonkers big by comparison here. That absolutely qualifies as “mini” here in the US, which stores seem to think is anything under about 7 cubic feet, or about 198 Liters.
A quick Google shows that by volume, there’s not a single entry level full-size fridge with that small of a volume in the category. The cheapest fridge from a brand I personally recognize (in this case, a Whirlpool) has more than double the volume of the fridge in the video, 11.3 cu. ft. (320 L) compared to 4.6 (130 L) of the Galanz. Looking at the marketing images, that’s still quite small here. It’s not uncommon at all for a fridge to be more than 4 times as large as the Galanz.
Oh, they ARE absoutely bonkers there. Every time I stay in the US for any amount of time I am absolutely amazed at the fact that fridges seem to universally be the size of closets. You could walk inside one comfortably if you took out the shelves.
I can list other appliance culture clashes, too: not having washing machines in the kitchen but having driers, for some reason. Microwave ovens sized like normal ovens. Oh, and of course the absolutely ludicrous plugs, which of course he has covered but despite his protestations I have personally seen slide out from being fully plugged. Oh, and the power strips look like popsicle sticks. They’re so tiny.
Interesting point on the microwave ovens. I live in the Netherlands and every apartment I’ve lived in comes with a standard combination oven and microwave, i.e oven sized microwave. Is that something standard in the US and not standard where you are?
As a fellow Dutchy… my current place is the first place I ever lived in that came with a combination oven and microwave.
Previously I’ve always had to supply my own microwave / oven ;-)
True that, I think it’s more a case of that I’ve been renting in brand new apartments most recently, and a combimagnetron is the standard for all new construction in cities these days.
Although it’s true that my Oma has them separate. But even then, the microwave is built into the cupboards, it’s not a “loose” appliance on the counter top. That seems to be more of a thing in US/UK from what I see
I’ve seen it more there, for sure. Here I’ve seen it once or twice, in expensive homes that got a very early microwave when it was a luxuty and built it right into the furniture. Most other places have a secondary spot for a smaller microwave. I actually went and got a combination one, still smaller than many of the ones you see in the US, and found that it wouldn’t fit in the microwave spot in my kitchen, so I ended up having it over a counter and using the microwave shelf as a spice rack.
Wait are these microwaves one unit, or a separate oven and microwave? Here in the states they’re always separate, though sometimes a microwave might be above the stove and function as a smoke hood.
Something like this render from Best Buy is common enough. That’s what I’d call a normal size microwave in either case though, just different mounting options.
I could certainly fit a microwave inside my oven, so they’re not really too similar size here unless you get a moderately large one. In fact, that render only has a kind of weird scale, the gas range and oven seem about right.
Yeah so they’re one unit, you turn it on and then choose to oven, microwave, grill or a combination of all 3. I’ve found combo low wattage microwave with oven to be great at quickly heating frozen food for example.
I think the major difference is that it’s rarer to have a combination stove and oven. The stove is usually separate and built into the counter top, similar to how a sink is installed. I have normal drawers beneath my induction stove, but it’s also common to have the oven as a separate appliance below the stove. My combi oven is above the inbuilt fridge instead. Just whatever the designers of my rental place thought works well, the main point is that they don’t have to be together.
I watched that wayyyy longer than I thought I would, like most other people here lol
But it was still disappointing that he just hand-waved the two good fridges already having cold stuff (that’s when I stopped watching). Anyone from somewhere with constant hurricanes knows that thermal mass is important when keeping a fridge at temp
I was wondering about this after I bought my brother a similar not-so-mini fridge from walmart and noticed that the insides didn’t feel quite as cold as a regular fridge. This makes me think I was just feeling a “warm spot”!
I love Tech Connections. Unnecessarily long deep dives, but that’s the kind of content I absolutely appreciate. His stuff is a treat that helps to highlight the rabbit holes that can be found in the mundane.
“So I bought five of these things” lol.
Oh this guy is my inner spirit nerd.
Oh this guy is my inner spirit nerd.
Same…
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.
Considering he did a video on sprinklers, he already kinda did lmao
I love these videos!
Spoilers! At minute 56. Discussing placement of the thermal bulb for the mechanical thermostat.
These videos are so meditative for me.
