High tech gone waaaaaaay toooooo far

We were looking at a new washer and drier and got a peek at the new Samsung fully automated gizmo enhanced super duty units.

These things have an interface with your network and you can control them from at work, on the way home, or whatever, all from your smart phone.

The units will let you know if there is a problem by text message.

Hmmmm, I can see it all unfolding now.

I am at the store 20 miles away and the iphone text mssg chimes.

"This is your washer, I have a serious water leak fault code at present the water level in the basement is 2 feet and rising"
Ahhh, a few seconds later the text chimes again and its the drier, "I have a serious short circuit fault code showing" (No doubt due to the high water sloshing into the 240V circuit)

And last but not least, the final text "This is your washer "I have an imbalance fault code and am currently beating out the basement wall"

And of course there is the phone call from your neighbor, frantically asking why the fire dept is at your house

Nooooooooooooo, I don't think so.

Bought a used beater off craigs list and installed it.

I never run the washer or drier when I'm gone.

If I don't run the pellet stove the house will be COLD

Arrrrrrrgh

It's not if ya could, it's IF YA SHOULD ????

 

This scenario would make a fantastically funny video.

Can you just see some poor soul caught in traffic and getting the messages off his/her phone telling of suds coming out the windows, or the washer wobbling down the hallway eating the house as it goes.

The final message of the fire trucks outside and the washer chasing them down the street while the dryer sits by looking like a fire breathing dragon scorching the side off the house.

OMG

 

I have a GE Geospring water heater. You can get an adapter to wi-fi enable it. Really?

I can see it now:

A family is on vacation, getting ready to board a cruise ship. One looks at the other and says 'oh chit honey, I forgot to turn down the water heater. Lucky for us I have the app on my phone. Let me set it to vacation mode. Whew, crisis averted.'

One dollar worth of energy saved. 49 more vacations to break even.

Or just set vacation mode before leaving.

Some things these days definitely scream 'first world problem'.

 

UH HUH

The market place has reached a point where there seems to be a need for a computer on everything.

No matter what, it has a computer on it, or the famous buzzzzz word "All digital control"

This falls into the category of other highly overused phrases like "Billet"

Everything is a billet product now.

A billet item is something that is machined from a solid piece of material rather than a casting or ?????

 

The technology has outpaced common sense. Who in the world needs crap like that. The prices they charge for washers, driers, and fridges are stupid crazy as it is. Once I leave the house, I don't CARE what's happening there. I sure as heck don't want my washer calling me unless it's the 20 year old Swedish blonde I hired to wash my clothes!!!!

 

Digital controls = two operating states ON and OFF ZEROS AND ONES

Pellets in the stove, either the hopper is full or not

 

Now there ya go.

Cute 6 foot tall blonde with huge boobs to tend the washer, ahhhh Washing

 

Yesssss, we have reached a point where the head long rush for high tech has just gone nutz

A lot of it is selling hype too me thinks.

The gotta have the latest iphone with all the updates crowd just can't live unless they are on top of the heap.

I build my own computers and usually snoop ebay to find the latest super dooper Motherboard
NEW OLD STOCK OF About 3 years or better ago with a fan, processor and a few other goodies to toss in and Whoa, works dandy for a fraction of what the Diode head geekoids are paying to have some gamer box that runs at twice the speed of light.

Now their fancy go fast can will be obsolete by weeks end anyway, so whats the use.

I mean, COME ON, digital controls on a chain saw ????

I am just too old school I guess.

A pellet stove is a metal box that sits in the corner and warms the shack.
Ya pour in the pellets once a day and haul the ashes out every week.

Then ya get some idiot the has no clue about a pellet stove and presses the start button, and after is buzzes and whirs and no heat comes out they figure it's junk and sell it at a garage sale for little to nothing.

Rant offff

 

this isn't always a bad thing. my safe will txt me with ten different alerts. i like it
I know in 8 seconds when the door opens

 

I had read somewhere months ago that Samsung interactive TV's were passing along your voices in an attempt to meet your needs. Our lives are being invaded and privacy is no longer a right. A sign should read " Please Don't Feed the Corporations or the Government"

 

I hate those electronic washers and dryers. luckily you can still buy decent ones without all the control boards. When i needed a new washer i couldnt believe what was out there. I took down all the names, plugged in the model # or name into google then "problems" after it. Almost all of them had multiple problems with all those control boards. The wife and I agreed not to get those fancy machines in favor of a cheaper, less fancy reliable one.
Used to be when my washer broke, i'd get out the wrenches and replace the spider drive gear, or the water level sensor or maybe a spring broke. I dont want to find a broken machine and have to bust out the laptop, soldering iron and multimeter. Plus i think mixing electronics into a machine that deal not only with water on a regular basis but tons of vibration and often placed in rooms with less temperature control is a horrible idea.

 

Welcome Dr.Faustus, welcome to FHC

 

all these high tech gizmos make so many products disposable anymore because it cost more to fix things than the original cost of the item

 

I guess you don't want to hear about the wi-fi thermostat I set up for my pellet stove in a loft above my garage..... The trick is to have the technology as your slave but not be the slave to the technology.

 

My Brother in law has a really nice tread mill, and it has all the electronic gizmos.

One day the beast died.

He checked all the controls, replaced the motor and other stuff, and even had a buddy of his who is a electronics wizard check the controls.

All looks good, still will not work.

Once these high tech things have issues, it is just nearly impossible in many cases to fix them.

If you have a factory schematic of the entire electrical system you can do it, but without the factory schematics it's tough.

All it takes in many cases is one little component to fail and it's game over.

I rebuilt the control board on our now 20 plus YO Amana drier a while back.

Loaded the clothes in, pressed the start tab, the thing gave a small grunt and nothing.

Ahhhh S**T Frank

Got out the VOM and started testing things.

240V in ok

Yarded out the control board and started snooping.

Finally after opening up the two halves of the control I found a fried trace on the board.

Right where the main plug in was soldered onto the board the trace burnt off.
Likely got corroded over time and started heating up until the solder melted and POOOOOF

A few months later the thing quit again.

This time it was the relay that went away.

Could not get an exact replacement as the thing was an OEM item that was built for the job and not available.

Snooped about and found something similar and hard wired it into the board.

All good to go.

Still works.

I hate touch pad controls.

 

I was looking for a good efficient washer/drier, one of those ventless condensing or heat pump units. Unfortunately it seems to get a good one they are only available in the fully electronic variety. They are suppose to be more efficient and all, but the extra efficiency would never pay for the extra cost of the unit IMO. I also had a really difficult vent run that I didn't think I could do, and didn't want too, but eventually got it ran and will just continue to use my 15yr old cheapee units. I hardly use the dryer anyhow, which is why the added cost wouldn't payback in my situation.

Reminds me when I bought my last truck (in July '09... hard to believe its over 5 yrs old now). Just about everything they had on the lot was fully loaded. Closest fully manual truck that fit what I wanted was a couple states away and some other options I didn't want so I ended up having to order a truck from the factory to get all the manual stuff (6 speed handshaker, manual transfer case, manual lockout hubs, manual locks and windows, etc). Still too much computer controlled crap though. And ironically enough the only issue I've had is with one of those automatic devices... cruise control. I think it may just be a bad connection somewhere (problem is intermittent) but about all I can do without some kind of schematic and wiring diagram is pull the brake and clutch pedal switches and plug back in. I can't even test the switches. Still haven't figured it out.

Not sure why this is in the pellet stove forum though.

 

I think I'm old school, but then there's my dad.. just got a cell phone last year, it stays in glove box of his car he only turns it on when he wants to make a call. he has his camp on 40 some odd acres up in the mountains no power running water (there is a spring 100 yards away) and out house basically 2 car garage bunk beds and woodstove. Cell phones at camp stay in car or when cutting on person but turned off..

I quote if I wanted to be bothered with people phones and BS I would have stayed home!