LongRunner's Mini-review Collection DISCUSSION

[Behemot]

I would not use native LED myself, absolute majority of them on the market are made in such a stupid way that when one LED fails, it stops working at all. Considering how bad the chinese are (it did not take long for them to just put 100 diodes in series in the cheapest E27 bulbs) it is certainty it will go bad.

Lamp with ordinary socket means in any case, you can throw away just the bulb and use another one. If something fails in native LED appliance, you can only throw the whole thing away.

[LongRunner]

Maybe, but AU$79 just for the PoS above? For that amount of money (even allowing for the Australia tax), I would think a decent native LED luminaire could be made (if the manufacturer cared to, of course).

Perhaps if they made standardised LED modules, that would help matters? (Not that I'm betting on it…)

I've already had quite enough of gambling on products like these (with increasingly unfavourable odds). So an antidote is due, and that'll be my plan to make proper reviews, not just of high-tech gadgets, but also household appliances - however "mundane" they may be. (Once I have the equipment needed, that is.) There just aren't enough decent choices remaining, at least not locally…

I wish LED lamps (along with other items supposed to last a long time) would have at least 5-year warranties, too.

[Behemot]

Some bulbs are covered with 3year warranty I think, that's about that.

Anyway, yeah I got the same feeling - there SO much junk on the market which nobody reviews that the manufacturers go away with everything. Though I would of course prefer if you choose something close to the HW we do here

Now I'd like to start reviewing UPSes, and right now I am much closer to the goal as I've managed to run into 10A regulating autotransformer intended for recycling which I got for good price, only need to crack it open and clean it, check the contacts, replace corroded screws etc. I have two of the UTE1010A units (second was intended for sale but I have not even translated the manual from chinese to english so far lol) so I can measure power in front of and after the UPS. So all I need is some load. Can use lightbulbs etc. for start and maybe make better loader later.

Anyway, to the subject. In the worst case, we can create new section for ya, but maybe if you started with surger surpressors, that's close to both PSUs and UPSes, that would be cool, what about that?

[LongRunner]

Quite frankly, it's a bit of a conundrum: I still have a lot of tidying up to do (subject to personal energy and priority), both in the house proper and my decrepit shed, so for the moment I have to limit myself to smaller items, and then those that I can reasonably use (provided they're fit for purpose and of acceptable quality, or easily repairable to be; if they fail on those conditions, then I may at least keep some of them around for review's sake).

So computer cases, for example, will have to wait a bit longer. As for surge suppressors, they'll probably be very bland in general, and I've gotten away without using them (beyond any MOVs built into the equipment) in my own home for as long as I can remember (which must be 13~15 years to date). UPS would be nice (provided it isn't another of those Must Power horrors you mention), but I don't yet have nearly enough equipment to test them thoroughly… At the moment, small household appliances remain the most viable candidates at my end; so until I finish tidying up, maybe I'll just continue this thread with them?

[Behemot]

Tidying up, lol, you tell me. I think I'll move outta here before I make order of things

Anyway, you can continue here as you wish, if you feel it's good enough for web, we can put it on the site.

BTW may be good idea to lock this thread and only keep the mini reviews here to stay lucid and move the discussion to a new one.

[LongRunner]

My latest mini-review, of a rather overpriced and somewhat wonky desk lamp, spawned a bit of a conversation between Behemot and me (which drifted a little off-topic).

I've moved that to this thread, and any future responses shall go here too…

[Behemot]

Like most basic fan heaters, a 4-position rotary switch and rotary adjustable thermostat are used – though someone at Kambrook decided to reverse the rotation direction of the switch (normally, they switch through off-fan-low-high as the knob is turned clockwise). "Difference for difference's sake", eh?

Dunno, but I guess, when you ppl are turned upside down and drive on the left, you gotta have switches and knobs turned around too, right?

[LongRunner]

No, we don't generally turn knobs around (and the thermostat operates in the normal direction). Even previous Kambrook models were consistent with others.

[Behemot]

Guess they have new PM who thinks otherwise than

[LongRunner]

So, I extracted the thermal cut-out from the infamously unusable Kambrook KFH200 fan heater, and it's an AuOne AUT-75 (no datasheet, unfortunately). Though, if the trip temperature is 75°C as that number suggests, then that's the same setting as in the KFH660 – and the AUT series is of a design with much lower self-heating than the Klixon (although the airflow from the fan would reduce the resultant temperature rise considerably).

Either it's not a 75°C cut-out, something wacky is going on with the tolerances (although that's specified as either the same ±5°C as the Klixon, or alternatively ±7°C), or the difference is due to the internal design of the heater. I do have a heat gun with electronic temperature control between 50°C and 630°C in 10°C increments (Bosch PHG 630 DCE), but I have doubts about its accuracy at the low end of the range; regardless, it did trip when I raised the temperature from 70°C to 80°C. A similar cut-out (from a different manufacturer, but otherwise looking almost identical) with a known temperature setting of 85±5°C (in another, el-cheapo – but still working – 2.0kW fan heater) reacted when raising the air temperature from 90°C to 100°C, so it seems to not be too far off.
I'm still not sure of the precise flaw, but in case it's relevant, the KFH660 has a sort of tube (integral to the casing) mostly enclosing the fan and heater proper; whereas the KFH200 and that cheapo unit are both more open (with only the front half – or more like third – of the tube).

Whatever the case, the KFH660 stays on just fine, while the KFH200 didn't (even when I tried it outdoors!). For what it's worth, the KFH200 wasn't the only fan heater with a thermal cut-out set too low…