Thanks for writing this :)
mechoman444@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Steam.
The answer is steam. Some microwaves have a humidity sensor that measures the amount of moisture released by food during cooking. Using that information, the microwave can estimate when the food is done and, in some models, adjust the cooking time automatically. For example, certain microwaves use this technology for sensor-cooking programs designed for potatoes, vegetables, or other foods.
Unfortunately, these features have largely turned into marketing gimmicks. They help sell microwaves more than they necessarily help cook food correctly. Many models no longer include genuine humidity-sensing technology, and the single-food buttons on cheaper models are often nothing more than preset cooking times and power levels.
People buy appliances based on how they look and how well they can show them off to others. Very few consider how a feature actually works, whether it serves a practical purpose, or whether it offers any real benefit over a less expensive appliance.
Here are a few other questionable marketing gimmicks in modern appliances:
Refrigerator air filters: These can reduce certain odors, but their effectiveness varies. The problem is that manufacturers turn them into another recurring expense for the owner, even when their practical benefit is limited.
RFID water filters: Some refrigerators use authentication chips to reject compatible aftermarket filters that lack the required RFID identification. This does not necessarily mean the manufacturer’s filter provides better filtration; it can simply mean you are locked into buying that particular brand.
Self-cleaning ovens: The high-temperature pyrolytic cleaning cycle is a legitimate feature, but it can put considerable thermal stress on components, particularly door locks, thermal fuses, and control electronics. As an appliance repair technician, I can tell you that this feature helps keep people like me in business.
Air fry versus convection: Air frying is essentially a form of convection cooking. Both use a fan to circulate hot air around the food. Air fryers and air-fry modes can differ in fan speed, airflow design, and heating configuration, but the underlying principle is the same. Manufacturers have simply found another way to market a familiar technology.
Coffee machines built into refrigerator water dispensers: Another feature that adds complexity, cost, and additional components to an appliance that already has enough things to break.
Android tablets built into refrigerator doors: You do not need a tablet on your refrigerator. At all. You can enjoy the technology if you want, but integrating a general-purpose computer into an appliance creates another potential point of failure and another expensive component to replace when the refrigerator itself may still have years of useful life left.
Wi-Fi connectivity in washing machines and dishwashers: What exactly do you need it for? You have been washing clothes and dishes your entire life without an internet connection. You do not need a notification telling you that a cycle has finished. You can check the appliance yourself.
The appliance industry has become increasingly focused on adding features that look impressive on a showroom floor rather than improving the fundamental functions of the product. I would much rather have a well-built appliance with reliable components, straightforward controls, and inexpensive replacement parts than a refrigerator with a tablet, a washing machine connected to the internet, or an oven that requires a technician after running its self-cleaning cycle.
Build better appliances. Make them reliable, repairable, and affordable to maintain. Stop confusing more features with better engineering.
Source: I’m an appliance repair tech for 22 years.
manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml 10 hours ago
lennybird@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Can I bitch about something since you’re an appliance repair tech (not at you, just with you)?
GE french-door fridge, freezer. Less than 3-years-old. Freezer drawer.
Evap fan goes out. It’s pretty corroded. I do wonder if someone spilled something in the back of fridge but I can’t see a sign of residue beside the corrosion (Still, no protective shroud above the fan from fluids dripping down the back). Bench-tested it; dead. Condensate drain seems fine. Order $100 replacement. Still doesn’t turn on. I know control boards can fail from a result of this, too. I check output power from board, and it all seems good. Tested new fan; it’s good too.
Before this, I realize the evaporator connector harness is flush with the floor of the fridge and downstream of the condensate drain pan. Water literally pooled in the 6-prong connector harness that is sealed into the floor of the freezer. Dried it out, cleaned it off as best as I could with CRC QD cleaner, etc. but I’m not getting the same voltage I’m getting on the 12V red from the board, which I can only deduce means a short or corroded connector underneath the freezer… So now gotta cut it out.
I’m not the only one who’s had issues with this, and it reallllllly feels not just like a poor design but planned obsolescence.
mechoman444@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
Yes, GE has been doing this recently, and they are also the company behind the RFID water filters, which are massively unpopular.
Planned obsolescence is absolutely something that occurs in modern appliances, and they seem to be becoming increasingly prevalent over the last year, at least from what I have observed.
I also encountered this issue with a four-year-old, bottom-freezer, French-door GE refrigerator. I was unable to supply power to the evaporator fan motor in the freezer section, and we ultimately had to condemn the refrigerator.
There are several things to unpack here. For starters, the motor operates at 12 volts, so I cannot simply drill through the back wall, run a few wires, and get the fan running normally like I could in the good old days. You are just out of luck.
What bothers me most, though, is that I do not understand the logic behind planned obsolescence. There is absolutely no guarantee that this customer will go out and buy another GE refrigerator. In fact, they are much more likely to buy anything other than GE after experiencing this kind of failure in a four-year-old appliance.
So, I have to assume this is incompetence rather than planned obsolescence.
In general, I currently recommend GE and LG appliances, particularly here in the United States. I do not recommend Bosch refrigerators, despite the company’s excellent reputation. Bosch makes the best dishwashers on the market, hands down, and I recommend Bosch dishwashers without hesitation.
The problem with Bosch refrigerators is not necessarily reliability. It is parts availability. Although the refrigerators themselves can be reliable, obtaining replacement parts in the United States can be extremely difficult. Parts are discontinued far too quickly, and the domestic supply chain can be practically nonexistent.
I can end up with a two- or three-year-old Bosch refrigerator that needs a water inlet valve, only to discover that the part has already been discontinued in the United States and is no longer available through the domestic supply chain.
An appliance is only as serviceable as the parts available to repair it. Reliability means very little if you cannot obtain the components needed to keep the appliance running.
CultLeader4Hire@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Want to come over and look at my microwave?
Dicska@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
You started a pyrolithic self clean on your microwave over the WiFi again, didn’t you?
mechoman444@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
Lol 😂😂.
No.