LongRunner's Mini-review Collection DISCUSSION

[Behemot]

I kinda never understood what's wrong with boiling rice in an ordinary pot on a standard cooker (gas or electric) so that ppl keep buing these single-purpose appliances? Which tend to go bad so often anyway.

[LongRunner]

In my case, the existing LPG cook-top is rather beaten up from past use (and abuse). (I've already shut it off at the tank for added safety. Considering the rental fee for the LPG tanks, we plan on getting rid of it, and perhaps installing an induction cook-top in its place; however, that's hardly our top priority.)

My mother is rather short on time (being one of the city's top accountants is hard work), so orders microwaveable frozen meals to save it; my own tastes are quite specific (and limited), and presently include little else that the microwave or convection/microwave won't suffice for. My sister hardly cooks anything for herself, and that's about it for this household.

So, I suppose the rice cooker (plus an egg cooker, for which a review is upcoming) works for me. There's also an electric fry-pan, for a few other things. (Maybe the situation will change in the future, but who knows how…)

BTW, why have you replied here and not in the discussion thread?

[Behemot]

Cause I always forget

EDIT//posts moved

[Behemot]

and am considering also flammability-testing samples of the plastic when the opportunity arises…

Now you're talking

[LongRunner]

My tripod just broke. (Thanks, cheap metallic plastic!) I got it used on eBay so couldn't have expected mint condition, but still; a decent tripod should last ages. (I chose the particular tripod for its compact size.)

I have the idea of gluing the broken part back together, making a 3D model of it, then using the model to create a replacement; but until then, I'll have to take a break.

[LongRunner]

I've gathered some more data on rice cooking in the TS5, and have now uploaded it.

[LongRunner]

Here comes my glow wire ignition tester:

12V 5A (60W), wound with 0.5mm FeCrAl wire (salvaged from the KFH200, together with the mica supporting pieces) around a 2mm screwdriver shaft (removed before applying power, obviously)

Glow wire tester hot.jpg (43.08 KiB) Viewed 146129 times

(And yes, I piggy-backed it off my PC PSU. )

So, I used it to test the broken-off pillar from the GSFH110/FH-07A. But while it ignited easily enough, it self-extinguished shortly after the heat was removed (I'm almost disappointed ):

Pillar burn result.jpg (60.83 KiB) Viewed 146129 times

In other news, the LCD on my camera is losing columns (and a few rows). So I suppose I'll need a whole new photography set-up…

[Behemot]

Wouldn't ever use these copper-coated crap materials. You bend it couple times and it breaks! Aluminium is ONLY good in form of thick solid wires for permanent in-wall or in-ground installations. Believe me, we have quite a long experience with it from time when copper was scarce metal, because of, eh, "ideological" reasons. Using aluminium for flexible connections was banned pretty much from the beginning.

[LongRunner]

You're right, I have no real defense there. (Other than that the smallest copper cable from the brand is 16mm², which is overkill for jump-starting just a small car.)

UPDATE: I've given it the Fail award, to do justice to its factor.

Do you think I should also give one to that shoddy flat fan heater (model FH-07A, AKA GSFH110/CELFH110/N8FH120)? Initially, I was nice to it and gave a D− for build quality; but on reflection, it's such an insult to the very notion of "quality control" that I think an F would be more appropriate.
Counting the faults: Missing rubber plug from the motor mounting screw (#1); incorrectly scaled power rating (#2); thermal cut-out set too low to stay on (#3) yet the casing still melts when the airflow is blocked (#4); two broken screw pillars (#5, #6); a chunk of flash on the motor frame that could short-circuit something if it broke loose (#7); mutilated element mounting brackets (#8); pinched wire (#9); bizarre mis-termination of the wires to the neon+fan (#10).

UPDATE 2: Well, what was I waiting for? I've revised the post on the FH-07A.

I must admit, though: As appalling as the FH-07A is, I still find it much less scary than a certain cheap, shitty pink USB charger (also) from China.
(Which makes sense, given that there are many more things to go wrong in an SMPS than in a simple resistance heater. Mind you, with current trends, resistance heating elements will be one of the few electrical items to not be powered by SMPS… )

[LongRunner]

Well, that FeCrAl wire was awfully prone to sagging when red-hot (this is a well-known issue, when operating FeCrAl wire above 600°C).

So, I've swapped it out for some NiCr wire salvaged from a different fan heater (which was very battered, so I decided against continuing to use it); that straightens out well enough with a good tension. I then dragged it between a pair of kitchen scouring pads to remove the residues of burned dust (and hair, etc.), after which it looked almost as good as new. Here's the coil I wound (I remade the terminations while I was at it):

(The apparent 'wetness' isn't an illusion; to get the element as clean as I could, I dipped it in boiling water and then in isopropyl alcohol.)

New element.JPG (56.48 KiB) Viewed 144311 times

(OK, this still isn't perfect…)

Termination side view.JPG (29.16 KiB) Viewed 144311 times

Because this wire is ever-so-slightly thinner than I thought when calculating the length, the resistance ended up a tad higher, giving power in the realm of 54W (or thereabouts). It still seems quite hot enough, though :-)

Glowing again.JPG (95.8 KiB) Viewed 144311 times

Not a bad performance, given the temperature (I've successfully melted aluminium foil at the end of the previous FeCrAl element, so it must be >660°C); it's not noticeably brittle yet. (And given that even radiant heater elements can last for many years, I suppose the sky's the limit for a well-made convector…)

After endurance test.JPG (47.35 KiB) Viewed 144311 times

I plugged it into my PC PSU and gave it an endurance test of (just over) 1 hour; it passed easily enough (albeit with more oxidation already, than it ever developed in the original fan heater). It holds its shape a lot better than the FeCrAl wire did, too.

In the future, I would like to further improve my design. For example:

• Using a thicker straight glow wire (powered from a higher current, lower voltage supply)
• Adding a handle, so I don't have to grab it by the feed wires (unplugging the power connector is the most precarious action, in its current form)
• Overhauling the terminals, so that screwing (and unscrewing) the element mountings won't affect the feed wires
• Longer feed wires, and perhaps also upgrading them to something more heat-resistant. However, the element gets so hot that it can burn even silicone down to a powdery mess (I've tested it), so I'd have to go further – e.g. glass fibre sleeving (although even that is only rated to 650°C, the lowest temperature used for official ignition tests IIRC). (I do have some acrylic-coated GF sleeves, salvaged from the KFH200.)
• Adding multiple temperature settings, and perhaps even some method of temperature regulation

By the way, if anyone reading this post has access to the official IEC (or whatever) standards regarding these matters, do inform us.