Isn't it disappointing how expensive devices fail, just after warranty? As an electronics engineer, I am constantly faced with the battle between designing stout, long-lasting and robust designs, vs. the corporate marketing need for planned obsolescence and recurring revenue. I "get" it -- but I just don't like it.
But I suspect many appliance manufacturers today are taking it to a frustrating new level. For example, I have a garage Beer-Fridge that's nearly 30 years old and never had an issue. Meanwhile we're on the third Kitchen fridge in about 17 years.
The fridge really isn't that old - 5 years. It survived the warranty period, so i guess it was a success for the manufacturer. It will probably be headed to Craigslist in a few weeks (I will, of course, give the new owner the desk fan).
A few years ago I replaced my aging fridge and was surprised to see how much the newer unit saved on my electrical bill. It was well worth the upgrade.
Sounds like the solution is to go with a conventional-size fridge. I once owned an older home that was charming, but the kitchen was tiny and the fridge was an ancient tiny fridge that fit into a very small space -- not quite an icebox, but not much taller. I had to keep fixing it because there was nothing on the market that would fit the space. Luckily, my kids were small at the time.
The counterdepth fridge will most likely be replaced with this years pending tax return. A real downside to the counterdepth fridge is that it doesn't have enough room for a week's worth of groceries. We have a family of 6, two of whom are teenage boys, both at 6'-2". Half of the food we buy gets kept in the garage fridge. The kitchen is plenty big enough for a regular size fridge, so extending out a few inches is really no problem.
I applaud your mechanical touch, Bill, but I have to tell you, I would balk at paying top dollar for a counterdepth fridge only to have it stick out to accomodate an external fan. Runs counter-intuitive to my non-mechanical brain!
Actually the counterdepth fridge is no longer counterdepth. It sticks out from the wall a little to allow room for the desk fan. I'm more of a mechanical guy than electrical guy so I took the easier route of installing an external fan rather than figuring out why the fridge keeps burning out fan motors.
Wow, Bill, ingenius fix, but I'm curious how you fit the fridge back in its place with a full-size office desk fan attached behind it. Any idea of why the fridge's own fan kept failing??
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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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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