As a former appliance engineer, I have long said that appliances are way more interesting than most people think at first. They’re super-specialized home robots that do things for you! We did what...
As a former appliance engineer, I have long said that appliances are way more interesting than most people think at first. They’re super-specialized home robots that do things for you!
We did what would now be classified as machine learning back in the early 2010s, and on a super-cheap microcontroller. A clothes dryer has to do a wild amount of sensing to figure out how to dry a random load of clothes well.
Machine learning existed back then, the first machine learning techniques were being formulated in 1807, and it still wouldn't count as machine learning today.
We did what would now be classified as machine learning back in the early 2010s, and on a super-cheap microcontroller.
Machine learning existed back then, the first machine learning techniques were being formulated in 1807, and it still wouldn't count as machine learning today.
I should've been a little more precise in my language. When I started working on the algorithms in the early 2010's, none of the prior engineers were calling it machine learning. This particular...
I should've been a little more precise in my language.
When I started working on the algorithms in the early 2010's, none of the prior engineers were calling it machine learning. This particular work started sometime in the mid 90's (I think - I'm honestly not too sure on this point), when microcontrollers were first starting to be used in common appliance systems.
The systems do a significant amount of signal processing to create independent features, and then use those features to perform classification and regression functions. It certainly isn't image recognition, but I'd still call that machine learning, by today's definition.
Clothes dryers, for example, detect air duct restriction, load size, cloth type, and input voltage level at a minimum. Those estimates - sometimes complex classification problems themselves - are then used as features in a large regression function that estimates the amount of moisture left in the load.
This all has to be robust across the variations that exist on millions of units produced every year. That doesn't even account for cross-regional differences, like the combo washer/dryer units that are sold in most European markets.
This popped up in my feed, as somebody who considers themselves to have a short attention span and is easily bored, a 28 minute video on dishwashers keeping me invested stood out, and I figured at...
This popped up in my feed, as somebody who considers themselves to have a short attention span and is easily bored, a 28 minute video on dishwashers keeping me invested stood out, and I figured at least one person here might learn something they didn't know.
....I'm gonna go see if my dishwasher has a filter....
Alec has a knack for making an entertaining 30 minute video about something minor or mundane. Ask me to watch a half hour long video about blinkers? No thanks... Oh wait it's a technology...
Alec has a knack for making an entertaining 30 minute video about something minor or mundane. Ask me to watch a half hour long video about blinkers? No thanks... Oh wait it's a technology connections video? On second thought ...
Dude is surprisingly interesting and knowledgeable. Your dishwasher definitely has a filter. The question is how hard is it to access, remove and clean. My old LG you had to remove the entire...
Dude is surprisingly interesting and knowledgeable. Your dishwasher definitely has a filter. The question is how hard is it to access, remove and clean. My old LG you had to remove the entire spraying arm on the bottom to get it. My new Bosch is just a quick twist of the filter. Definitely start cleaning your filter if you haven't been.
I am very thankful that it seems my apartment maintenance people must clean the filter prior to someone moving in, as it was almost entirely clean, and I hand scrub everything before I put it in....
I am very thankful that it seems my apartment maintenance people must clean the filter prior to someone moving in, as it was almost entirely clean, and I hand scrub everything before I put it in.
Ah, hand scrubbing almost certainly saved you from film and other stuff getting stuck on your dishes. That said, now you know you really don't need to scrub dishes before putting them in the...
Ah, hand scrubbing almost certainly saved you from film and other stuff getting stuck on your dishes. That said, now you know you really don't need to scrub dishes before putting them in the dishwasher but do whatever works for you!
This really depends on the dishwasher, the one in my apartment will not remove anything hard dried on the dishes. I have to scrub everything and then basically use the dishwasher as a sanitizer....
This really depends on the dishwasher, the one in my apartment will not remove anything hard dried on the dishes. I have to scrub everything and then basically use the dishwasher as a sanitizer. It's a piece of shit.
Have you tried the advice Alex recommends in this video? Namely running the hot water in the kitchen sink before you start the cycle, using a powdered detergent, putting detergent in the prewash...
Have you tried the advice Alex recommends in this video? Namely running the hot water in the kitchen sink before you start the cycle, using a powdered detergent, putting detergent in the prewash area, and using a rinse aid?
This really depends on the dishwasher, the one in my apartment will not remove anything hard dried on the dishes. I have to scrub everything and then basically use the dishwasher as a sanitizer....
This really depends on the dishwasher, the one in my apartment will not remove anything hard dried on the dishes. I have to scrub everything and then basically use the dishwasher as a sanitizer. It's a piece of shit.
Technology Connections! The original video led me to switching from dish tabs to boxes of powder so I could easily add detergent to the pre-wash stage. Also it's cheaper and really much easier to...
Technology Connections! The original video led me to switching from dish tabs to boxes of powder so I could easily add detergent to the pre-wash stage. Also it's cheaper and really much easier to add. Boy oh boy does having detergent in the pre-wash stage make a difference. Great to see this shared here!
Same for me. It's been a while since I watched it, but I think it also helped me understand why the dishwasher's bottom would get flooded on a monthly basis. Now it gets flooded once every...
Same for me. It's been a while since I watched it, but I think it also helped me understand why the dishwasher's bottom would get flooded on a monthly basis. Now it gets flooded once every two-three months. I count that as a win.
My condolences. I think it's a little disappointing I can't buy several boxes of detergent bundled together at Costco like I can the tabs. But it's easy enough to get a box or two from my local...
My condolences. I think it's a little disappointing I can't buy several boxes of detergent bundled together at Costco like I can the tabs. But it's easy enough to get a box or two from my local grocer and the box seems to past as long if not longer than a big box of tabs. So there's that at least! And no pva wrapper!
If your roommate watched the video and then bought five more boxes I could see that as grounds for annoyance. Not a time lord here so try and not to be annoyed by the past. Seriously, can’t they...
If your roommate watched the video and then bought five more boxes I could see that as grounds for annoyance. Not a time lord here so try and not to be annoyed by the past.
Seriously, can’t they just take the receipt and trade them for 45 boxes of powder (based on poor mental maths)?
Nah he didn’t see it. It was just ironic timing. Like I wanted to say to him hey our dishwasher’s not been working great I wanna try using powder instead of tabs and see if it makes a difference....
Nah he didn’t see it. It was just ironic timing. Like I wanted to say to him hey our dishwasher’s not been working great I wanna try using powder instead of tabs and see if it makes a difference. And then I see like five boxes piled up in the kitchen
I don't think he mentioned that particular combo, but I see no reason why that would be a bad idea, so definitely worth a shot if you have both things lying around and your machine could use some...
I don't think he mentioned that particular combo, but I see no reason why that would be a bad idea, so definitely worth a shot if you have both things lying around and your machine could use some assistance in the prewash
Figured adding the prewash could help and then you still use up the pods for the regular wash. My partner's disability means laundry and dishwasher pods are so much easier for him to manage so...
Figured adding the prewash could help and then you still use up the pods for the regular wash.
My partner's disability means laundry and dishwasher pods are so much easier for him to manage so this is something I'm considering. Need to get a moment to watch the full video though
I love Technology Connections (and his Connextras channel too, highly recommend). This was great, as were his earlier videos on dishwashers! Tangential: My dishwasher, although I use it extremely...
I love Technology Connections (and his Connextras channel too, highly recommend).
This was great, as were his earlier videos on dishwashers!
Tangential: My dishwasher, although I use it extremely rarely now, has recently had an issue where as it's working, a small amount of water seems to run out the front / bottom edge of the door and across the floor. It's not an alarming amount of water, but is annoying. I have a feeling maybe it just needs a new rubber seal? The existing one doesn't look bad though, but maybe the bad part is part I can't really see without disassembly? It sure seems like a PITA to repair potentially (esp since I don't have easy access to where it plugs in, so potential risk of shock if I don't unpower it?)
I would see if you can look up some repair manuals for your model or similar models. There is probably a small chance you will get any shock since the majority of the power goes into the...
I would see if you can look up some repair manuals for your model or similar models. There is probably a small chance you will get any shock since the majority of the power goes into the components on the bottom. Anything in the front door panel is probably very low voltage. However...please be careful. Changing a seal should be fairly easy, it should just pop off or remove some retaining screws and then pop it off.
I thought my dishwasher was doing that, but it turned out that what looked like a small and non-worrying amount of water was actually quite a lot of water going under the kitchen unit and a small...
I thought my dishwasher was doing that, but it turned out that what looked like a small and non-worrying amount of water was actually quite a lot of water going under the kitchen unit and a small amount seeping out to where I could see it. Had to replace the dishwasher and several trim sections of my kitchen, plus repair a cabinet. Could have been a lot worse.
Anyway, could also be your sump not draining properly. Weirdly, one of the fixes for that is to pull the dishwasher out a bit and lift the front up so it's angled about 30 degrees back, this will clear a (potential) air lock in the sump drain and it'll work fine until next time. This did actually work for me, with a fairly cheap and vintage Beko dishwasher. At least it worked until the other, more serious leak mentioned above came along.
Your risk of electric shock is pretty low. Don't forget dishwashers are well sealed to deal with all the wet. Also you should have breakers on your whole in-house mains which will generally trip before you get any serious amount of electrons in you. Plus US electricity is fairly puny anyway.
As a former appliance engineer, I have long said that appliances are way more interesting than most people think at first. They’re super-specialized home robots that do things for you!
We did what would now be classified as machine learning back in the early 2010s, and on a super-cheap microcontroller. A clothes dryer has to do a wild amount of sensing to figure out how to dry a random load of clothes well.
Machine learning existed back then, the first machine learning techniques were being formulated in 1807, and it still wouldn't count as machine learning today.
I should've been a little more precise in my language.
When I started working on the algorithms in the early 2010's, none of the prior engineers were calling it machine learning. This particular work started sometime in the mid 90's (I think - I'm honestly not too sure on this point), when microcontrollers were first starting to be used in common appliance systems.
The systems do a significant amount of signal processing to create independent features, and then use those features to perform classification and regression functions. It certainly isn't image recognition, but I'd still call that machine learning, by today's definition.
Clothes dryers, for example, detect air duct restriction, load size, cloth type, and input voltage level at a minimum. Those estimates - sometimes complex classification problems themselves - are then used as features in a large regression function that estimates the amount of moisture left in the load.
This all has to be robust across the variations that exist on millions of units produced every year. That doesn't even account for cross-regional differences, like the combo washer/dryer units that are sold in most European markets.
This popped up in my feed, as somebody who considers themselves to have a short attention span and is easily bored, a 28 minute video on dishwashers keeping me invested stood out, and I figured at least one person here might learn something they didn't know.
....I'm gonna go see if my dishwasher has a filter....
Alec has a knack for making an entertaining 30 minute video about something minor or mundane. Ask me to watch a half hour long video about blinkers? No thanks... Oh wait it's a technology connections video? On second thought ...
Dude is surprisingly interesting and knowledgeable. Your dishwasher definitely has a filter. The question is how hard is it to access, remove and clean. My old LG you had to remove the entire spraying arm on the bottom to get it. My new Bosch is just a quick twist of the filter. Definitely start cleaning your filter if you haven't been.
I am very thankful that it seems my apartment maintenance people must clean the filter prior to someone moving in, as it was almost entirely clean, and I hand scrub everything before I put it in.
I was preparing for the worst.
Ah, hand scrubbing almost certainly saved you from film and other stuff getting stuck on your dishes. That said, now you know you really don't need to scrub dishes before putting them in the dishwasher but do whatever works for you!
This really depends on the dishwasher, the one in my apartment will not remove anything hard dried on the dishes. I have to scrub everything and then basically use the dishwasher as a sanitizer. It's a piece of shit.
Have you tried the advice Alex recommends in this video? Namely running the hot water in the kitchen sink before you start the cycle, using a powdered detergent, putting detergent in the prewash area, and using a rinse aid?
So no? You just need to run the water long enough to get hot, so that it's already hot when your dishwasher starts.
This really depends on the dishwasher, the one in my apartment will not remove anything hard dried on the dishes. I have to scrub everything and then basically use the dishwasher as a sanitizer. It's a piece of shit.
I watched the original hour long version..twice lol. I wanted to make sure I learned everything. He's so interesting to watch.
I don't even own a dishwasher and I watched the entire thing. Although I hope one day I can get one and remember all these great tips :)
Technology Connections! The original video led me to switching from dish tabs to boxes of powder so I could easily add detergent to the pre-wash stage. Also it's cheaper and really much easier to add. Boy oh boy does having detergent in the pre-wash stage make a difference. Great to see this shared here!
This perfectly describes what unfolded after I watched this video a few months ago. Salutations fellow pre-washer!
Same for me. It's been a while since I watched it, but I think it also helped me understand why the dishwasher's bottom would get flooded on a monthly basis. Now it gets flooded once every two-three months. I count that as a win.
I was extremely annoyed to learn just after I'd watched this video that my roommate had just bought like five more boxes of tabs for the dishwasher
My condolences. I think it's a little disappointing I can't buy several boxes of detergent bundled together at Costco like I can the tabs. But it's easy enough to get a box or two from my local grocer and the box seems to past as long if not longer than a big box of tabs. So there's that at least! And no pva wrapper!
If your roommate watched the video and then bought five more boxes I could see that as grounds for annoyance. Not a time lord here so try and not to be annoyed by the past.
Seriously, can’t they just take the receipt and trade them for 45 boxes of powder (based on poor mental maths)?
Nah he didn’t see it. It was just ironic timing. Like I wanted to say to him hey our dishwasher’s not been working great I wanna try using powder instead of tabs and see if it makes a difference. And then I see like five boxes piled up in the kitchen
Because I haven't had a chance to watch the video, is it worth tossing powder in the prewash to use with the tabs in the wash cup?
I don't think he mentioned that particular combo, but I see no reason why that would be a bad idea, so definitely worth a shot if you have both things lying around and your machine could use some assistance in the prewash
Figured adding the prewash could help and then you still use up the pods for the regular wash.
My partner's disability means laundry and dishwasher pods are so much easier for him to manage so this is something I'm considering. Need to get a moment to watch the full video though
I love Technology Connections (and his Connextras channel too, highly recommend).
This was great, as were his earlier videos on dishwashers!
Tangential: My dishwasher, although I use it extremely rarely now, has recently had an issue where as it's working, a small amount of water seems to run out the front / bottom edge of the door and across the floor. It's not an alarming amount of water, but is annoying. I have a feeling maybe it just needs a new rubber seal? The existing one doesn't look bad though, but maybe the bad part is part I can't really see without disassembly? It sure seems like a PITA to repair potentially (esp since I don't have easy access to where it plugs in, so potential risk of shock if I don't unpower it?)
Could you flip the breaker it's on without cutting the lights?
I thought about that, but I'm pretty sure it will cut the fridge and I don't need that time pressure. I should double-check though haha.
I would see if you can look up some repair manuals for your model or similar models. There is probably a small chance you will get any shock since the majority of the power goes into the components on the bottom. Anything in the front door panel is probably very low voltage. However...please be careful. Changing a seal should be fairly easy, it should just pop off or remove some retaining screws and then pop it off.
I thought my dishwasher was doing that, but it turned out that what looked like a small and non-worrying amount of water was actually quite a lot of water going under the kitchen unit and a small amount seeping out to where I could see it. Had to replace the dishwasher and several trim sections of my kitchen, plus repair a cabinet. Could have been a lot worse.
Anyway, could also be your sump not draining properly. Weirdly, one of the fixes for that is to pull the dishwasher out a bit and lift the front up so it's angled about 30 degrees back, this will clear a (potential) air lock in the sump drain and it'll work fine until next time. This did actually work for me, with a fairly cheap and vintage Beko dishwasher. At least it worked until the other, more serious leak mentioned above came along.
Your risk of electric shock is pretty low. Don't forget dishwashers are well sealed to deal with all the wet. Also you should have breakers on your whole in-house mains which will generally trip before you get any serious amount of electrons in you. Plus US electricity is fairly puny anyway.