News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Samsung Recalls 2.8M Top-Load Washing Machines. Parent comment

Re:Samsung Recalls 2.8M Top-Load Washing Machines by roseburg on Friday November 04, 2016 @09:38PM (#12877648)
Fancy dryers dry faster only because the fancy washer is spinning the clothes faster at the end of the cycle. The technology inside clothes dryers hasn't changed in 30 years, even in the fanciest models. Look up the parts, they still use all the parts and design from models 30 years ago. It's actually comical. Source: I repair dryers.

They haven't found a better way to convert electricity into heat, or a faster way to use a flame to dry the clothes. Even old dryers had moisture sensors to turn the machine off once it sensed the clothes were dry.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Samsung Recalls 2.8M Top-Load Washing Machines by kw71 on Friday November 04, 2016 @11:47PM (#12878051)
The computer brained dryer might be better at temperature regulation but otherwise I see nothing that the mechanical timer-control and simple electronics can't do.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Samsung Recalls 2.8M Top-Load Washing Machines by roseburg on Saturday November 05, 2016 @01:58AM (#12878399)
In the old mechanical brained dryers a simple set of thermostats regulated the temperature. They can be purchased for $5 on ebay to replace if they act up. A new computer brain? $100-$200
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Samsung Recalls 2.8M Top-Load Washing Machines by kw71 on Saturday November 05, 2016 @10:46AM (#12879950)
If it's available, that is! I know most appliance repair techs are not going to go through this, but there are probably two components on the computer control that I can not buy off the shelf. The SMPS transformer and the cpu with masked firmware. The washingmachine had a third, the 3phase driver for the big motor, which is off the market now.

I figured the simplest dryers just had a "one heater, or two in series, or two in parallel" switch and a melting safety.

[ Parent | on HN ]