Things to do with old washing machines.

[/pine]

Well if they could get one (old washing machine) to fly...Jim Lovell could land it...!

How Ron Howard's Mom Ended Up In 'Apollo 13' - Business Insider

 

[ultrarunner]

Years ago there was a story about a kid that made a backyard helicopter using parts from an old washing machine...

I tried to do the same and got nowhere... a family friend worked for Lockheed/Martin and told my parents they should just let me play on the freeway...

 

[/pine]

Years ago there was a story about a kid that made a backyard helicopter using parts from an old washing machine...

I tried to do the same and got nowhere... a family friend worked for Lockheed/Martin and told my parents they should just let me play on the freeway...

At about 10 years old a couple of friends and myself tried to build an airplane mostly out of wooden orange crates and plywood scraps...when my dad saw that we were using an old 2 cycle lawn mower engine and the blade as a propeller the project got shut down like NOW...an a later version (by a few months) we decided to make it a jet with a "ramjet" engine comprised of mostly garbage cans and a big fan...after the first "burn" my mom caught on to the smell of kerosene and it was back to more mundane stuff till the dust settled...

 

[txdon]

I had two circuit boards that blew out during a power surge. I had an whole house surge protector installed and so far no more damaged circuit boards.

 

[3930dave]

I had two circuit boards that blew out during a power surge. I had an whole house surge protector installed and so far no more damaged circuit boards.

Those are getting more popular, for good reason.

If you don't mind me asking, what did that cost, installed ?

Rgds, D.

 

[txdon]

Those are getting more popular, for good reason.

If you don't mind me asking, what did that cost, installed ?

Rgds, D.

It's been several years, here is a picture if you want to google it for current prices. The two green lights are on, there is too much light to show up in the picture. The install was done by an electrician friend.

I really looked into these when my AC blower motor circuit board in the attic blew during a surge. That was hardwired in and did not have a place to add a plug in surge protector.

 

[Travelover]

I had two circuit boards that blew out during a power surge. I had an whole house surge protector installed and so far no more damaged circuit boards.

I have a whole house surge suppressor and a local surge suppressor for both my high efficiency furnace and my laundry appliances. I've had to replace the circuit boards in both the furnace and the dryer anyway.

 

[txdon]

I have a whole house surge suppressor and a local surge suppressor for both my high efficiency furnace and my laundry appliances. I've had to replace the circuit boards in both the furnace and the dryer anyway.

I wonder if there is a difference between a surge suppressor and a surge protector? Which surge suppressor do you have?

 

[3930dave]

I have a whole house surge suppressor and a local surge suppressor for both my high efficiency furnace and my laundry appliances. I've had to replace the circuit boards in both the furnace and the dryer anyway.

Problem 1) - a bouncy, spikey, unstable grid can cause problems. Lightning is more of a problem in some locations, than others.

Problem 2) - cost reduction in esp. consumer level electronics. The worst of the off-shore shops had a simple approach to cost reduction - they had guys physically removing parts, until a circuit stopped operating. They would then add back in the last part removed, and build the Cost Reduced version that way....

On the plug in suppressors, I usually look for a UL1449 rating, as well as the highest joule (energy) rating that I can find, w/o breaking my bank account.

Scope for UL 1449

Whole house protection may fall under '1449, or there may be another relevant UL spec that applies..... haven't looked into that yet.

Rgds, D.