[geeks] Broken fridges and dryers (was: Seagate vendor-unique data?)

[Lex Landa]

Hello Sheldon,

On Fri, 2012-02-03 at 10:30 -0800, Sheldon T. Hall wrote:

> It's probably very useful for the operation of the washing machine, but not
> in the general computing sense.  That sort of stuff is really built [down] to
> a price, generally, although I noticed some surplus ports on my dryer's
> motherboard when the guy replaced the front panel six months back.

It was the same with mine (Hoover/Candy CDE105) - it had some service
ports.  BTW, if anyone would like some electronic bits from this old
thing, let me know! I have a set of heating elements, some switches,
wiring - but I think that the control board is not working because I
shorted it out while I was fixing it.  And I've nabbed the relays.

After 5 years of use, the dryer started intermittently switching its
motors on and off.  Looking at the board, I found that the constant heat
and vibration had caused a relay to come unstuck from the board.  I
re-soldered it, ran it for a few hours to check that it was okay, and
then the vibration of the drum caused the control board to shake itself
loose of its housing and it touched the drum (earthed).  *** BANG *** -
one non-working tumble-dryer.  I was quite unhappy - not least because I
had a load of wet clothes that I had to find some way to dry.

Thank you for the Internet refrigerator links.  The 'Internet-connected
domestic electronic appliance' craze seems to have died down a bit.
Don't people want strangers to connect to their coffee percolator and
turn it on and off? :/ [bemused look]

> Given the current state of the tablet market, I would expect that any "I'm
> bored with it" tablet, the right app, and roll of double-sided sticky-tape
> could turn an average refrigerator into an "internet" one.

I've got a tablet, but I'm currently using it - and I don't have any
double-sided sticky-tape - but I have a small TFT display that takes
composite video, and .. oh, I've got an unused GamePark GP2X, and a few
Sharp SL-5500s whose NAND is wearing out.  Also quite conveniently, I
have a refrigerator with a simple temperature sensor that's gone
on-the-blink, and I have lots of relays from the old tumble-dryer.  My
main problem is one of lack of concentration.  Maybe I'd be more likely
to concentrate if not concentrating means a) rancid milk with random
blocks of ice or b) mushy instant microwaveable meals?

Lex