If there's a lesson here, it's probably in the recurring problems we see in the Made by Monkeys blog -- owners are experiencing increased difficulties with their white-box appliances. This increase seems to reside in electrical and electronic systems. From the anecdotal data in these postings, it seems that newer appliances are more prone to problems than older appliances -- apparently because of the new electronics.
Sometimes it's really hard to tell what is going on with electronics. I got slammed on the back of my mini van on an icy road. I got hit on the bumper, and there was little damage. But when that happened, the turn signals quick blinking automatically. I had to click the blinker manually. Before I got the blinkers fixed, I put a cup of coffee on the dash and accidently spilled it. The hot fluid went down the heating vent right above the steering column. Suddenly the turn signals began to operate as thought nothing had happened. That was two years ago and all's well.
I'm still not convinced it was ever broken or that it isn't broken now. I, like you, Lauren, can't imagine that it's normal for a stove to operate one way for 10 years then shift gears and do something else and the company says that's the way it should have worked from day one. I'm thinking this is temporary and my stove will be blowing up (not literally) before I know it!
I agree Beth, I would not go looking for a problem now. But I am curious as to why it just fixed itself after 10 years. I have never experienced something just fixing itself...once my things break they seem to stay that way.
I too, have experienced a ghost in the machine--this one a Jenn Air oven. For 10 years, I've used the oven with no problems and all of a sudden about a month ago, these fans started going on every time the stove got over 220 degrees. That meant ever time the stove warmed up, the fans went on and didn't shut off until after the stove cooled down. Depending on what you were cooking and for how long, the fans could blow for hours.
I did some research online and surmised that perhaps we'd blown a sensor or something like that. I got my local appliance person in and after researching the issue with Jenn Air, they concluded that the stove was working properly. That can't be, I said. But low and behold, the design spec called for the fans to come on after 220 degrees to protect some of the more sensitive electronics. So for 10 years, I'm suppose to believe that my stove was faulty and now all of a sudden, it corrected itself. Hmmm. Everything else seems to work fine, so I'm not going to go looking for a problem. Instead, I'm just trying to get used to the din of constantly blowing fans.
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From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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