Simmerstats: The genius old tech that controls your stovetop
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Hehe. Doody cycle.
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"My favorite channel is talking about stoves today" ... My friends have learned to expect this sort of remark from me.
Me 2 years ago:
"If you excuse me i have to watch an hour long video on dishwasher detergent"
This channel really is the adult version of Mr Rogers showing us how crayons are made.
The recent lack of toaster ovens is disturbing.
Personally I miss a good ol' video on automotive lighting.
He hasn't done fog lights yet, right?
@@dedaloskprs9013 We could do with a good nerdly rant on the difference between fog lights and driving lights. That wouldn't be a snarky video at all. Nope.
If there's one thing this channel has taught me, it's that the simplest and cheapest way to reliably cycle something on and off is a bimetallic strip coupled to its own output.
In programming, we call this "recursion"
At a manufacturing level, yes, but if you ever have to build something yourself, you're NOT going to want to make and calibrate your own bimetallic strip.
@@BacteriophagebsUnless you're not after time efficiency, but are obsessively involved in a mindless hobby. I have actually made my own by metallic strip (he said flexing). I used it to add day and date to my homemade sundial.
@@2ndfloorsongs Neeeeeeerd! 😝
@@2ndfloorsongs Please share a video with us. I'm really curious about how that works.
I love the bit about "I added lights, because it pleases me. I'm not going to show you how." I can't help but assume there's some questionable wiring going on inside that box.
Yep, I'm sure there is 😁
All wiring is questionable, just depends on the question
I bet someone is sending current down the ground wire....
@@BAGELMENSKThe best kind of wiring is the wiring where the most applicable question is, how long until fire?
Those lights on the outlet box look like LEDs, which may have a series on voltage of 2-3 V, with a maximum current draw of 20 mA.
The AC voltage of 120 or 240 is actually "RMS" (root mean square), which allows convenient representation of some average equivalent constant DC power, but the peak AC voltage is actually higher. For a sine wave voltage provided by wall outlets, the peak voltage is the RMS voltage times the square root of 2, or about 1.4. so the peak voltage of 120 V AC RMS is 169.7 V, and twice that for a 240 V AC RMS pair of wires.
If the LEDs are in series with a 169.7 V source, then you need a series resistor to drop 166.7 V (=169.7-3 V) across the resistor, while limiting the current to 20 mA, or 8485 ohms (166.7/0.020). Also, the resistor also consumes a *lot* of power (current squared * resistance), which would be 3.39 W in the "120 V AC RMS" case.
Frequently, the 120 V AC RMS level will float up to 124 V or higher, which again would double for the 240 V circuit.
It's really inefficient to drive LEDs from higher-voltage sources. I had done it a few times when I was younger, and I'm not proud of it!
With many of my favourite RUclipsrs giving up the game lately, I'm glad to see one that say "bugger the algorithm, I'm going to make videos about stuff I like at (mostly) my own pace".
Thanks for keeping up the informative entertainment that fits right into my wheelhouse.
Who were your favorite RUclipsrs?
@@mujtabaalam5907 im guessing people like Tom Scott. Theres been loads of "knowledge" type youtubers doing "im giving up" over the last year or so.
@@jameshodgetts7541I wouldn’t say Tom Scott “gave up.” He accomplished a lot, and wanted to enjoy the fruits of his labours. Giving up implies quitting because of not meeting a goal.
"...about stuff I use so I can expense it"
I saw the thumbnail and went "why would I watch a video on that?" and then I realized it was Technology Connections and I went "oh boy, that sounds more wonderful, sign me up!"
It isn't just the topics and interesting discussion, amigo, YOU are the reason this works.
@@sub-vibes I watched some flat earth videos out of curiosity, and had to delete them because guess what showed up in my recommendations . . . no thanks.
Your watch history is a pretty powerful indicator in the RUclips algorithm.
@@sub-vibesThank you, thank you, thank you. You have made my day.
@subliminalvibes I don't want to thumbs down a video just to keep ones like it from showing up too frequently in my feed. And I don't want to be fed only more of what ive already seen. How strange that I can't edit the list of tags and weights the algorithm is tweaking with each video I watch. I suppose they'd have to name the tags accurately to facilitate my editing their weighting intelligently.
Im glad I'm not the only one who has that vertigo feeling.
Home appliances be like
“Wait it’s all bimetallic strips?”
“Always has been”
Ooh, I'm gonna go design a pocket calculator that uses only bimetallic strips.
@@MostlyPennyCat Well... Calculators are made out of logic gates, logic gates can be made out of relays, a relay is a switch and a coil, the switch and coil can be replaced by a bimetallic strip and a heater (like the ones used to control streetlights), so yes, it's technically possible to build a calculator out of bimetallic strips, albeit a very slow one !
@@atmel9077 can doom run on a calculator made only of bimetallic strips?
@@craigmccune6066 No
@@craigmccune6066not at a playable framerate probably, but in theory sure
My takeaway from this channel is that the bimetallic strip is the pillar of pre-electronic control circuits. Good job for a small piece of metal!
It's either a relay, a bimetallic strip, or both
Piece of TWO metals :D
*metals
@@TheMadJaggerI think the singular "metal" could work in this instance. Since they're welded together, you could think of them as a very coarse alloy. 😁
@@2ndfloorsongsI started off mildly disagreeing with your definition and then you hit us with “very coarse alloy” and I lost it 😂😂
At 5:30, Alec threatened not to go down a tangent, the savage. I held my breath, alarmed! I was deeply relieved when he stayed true to his brand and went down the tangent!
By gum, we come for the tangents, nerd stuff and witty observations, dang it! :) Keep up the great work, my man!
I'm a licensed electrician and I tend to just send people to your channel as you explain this stuff better then I ever could 😂
You're god's messenger!
All wrong! You need to gatekeep all the information to keep homeowners calling!
I'm just waiting for a video on AFCI's!😅
Where I just tell them that the electricity runs in smoke, when you let the smoke out it doesn't work anymore...;-)
Also a lecco in Australia.
Most of the new "old style" simmerstats have a neutral link so the extra elements don't affect the "timing". I have seen newer ones but haven't had the time/opportunity to pull one apart. Seems like the main time I'm working on stoves/ovens is just before Xmas as people decide that they may need to cook for the whole family on that day and so it is urgent... ( haven't really needed that one for 3 months, haven't worried about fixing it )
I noticed the induction stove at the local Shabu restaurant behaving exactly like this too at low settings. The hot soup would boil and stop boiling alternately in an annoying 5 seconds cycle at the lowest of power setting, I figured it must be a thermostat or something turning it on and off and was wondering why they would cheap out and not use variable current method on the stove until I see him explaining it here that the transformer would have to be excessively large for such load current.
I’m calling it. Our old friend, Mr. Bimetallic Strip.
And you where right kkkkkk
You win!
I am starting to think that none of our world would work without that sneaky little thing.
yeah i also knew it.
A bimetallic strip can't produce pulse trains.
"I added the lights because it pleases me" I LOVE the matter of fact honesty lol, they please me too.
did you get lightheaded?
This is me designing things at work. Who cares if the LED costs $30? It pleases me.
And me.
🧠Do not translate. ... 😮🔎
አንተ የተረገምክ ነህ። ከጥቂት ቀናት በኋላ, ልብ መምታቱን ያቆማል. መሰረዝ ከፈለጉ እባክዎ ይመዝገቡ።😊
At lest when Alec adds LEDs you know they wont be blue...
The fact that you laid out all the concepts AND presented related connections(ha) while clutching the temperature in Celsius is awesome. Always top content!
“Through the magic of buying two of them”🤗🤗🤗 My favorite line in any Technology Connections video!
The line play in my head before he say it🤗🤗
Really? Is it basically like a catch phrase from a 1980's sitcom to you? Genuinely curious, because to me I've never thought twice about him saying it in nearly every video. To my brain it always just came off as another necessary information giving line.
@@PayterXWeird strawman argument.
Want to try making that point better?
@@Atmatan??? That want a strawman argument? He’s just saying he never really thought of it as a saying
@@finlaycameron4553 I don't see OP mentioning implying they thought it reminded them of a sitcom? Braindead argument dude, it's literally a strawman. Like, blatantly.
"Didn't imagine this script would get so out of hand" my Brother in Christ, you have never written a script that is in hand.
Clearly because he uses a teleprompter.
@@zendell37 Get your like and think what you did.
@@oz_jonesthey did good
Idk man, did you watch the one on hurricane lanterns?
That's simmerstats, PID controllers do it better.
"I'm not tearing these apart because I need it"
Well fortunately, due to the configuration of your stove, there's the magic of having bought four of them :3
Shit thats so funny
Honestly if he started taking it apart he would most likely find the packet of basic service data. That would include a wiring diagram with the answers he is looking for.
@@eDoc2020that's funny
looking at how clean it was I question that. We had a glass top stove like that and any spillages were very difficult to get off. We now have a glass top induction stove where spillages can be easily wiped off.
@@MrDuncl Anything burned onto a glass top stove can be scraped off with a razor blade. I got a radiant cooktop off Facebook Marketplace that had a MASSIVE burned on grease ring and since the glass top is harder than the steel used in a razor, you can safely slide the edge underneath the burnt on goop and peel it off. Cerama-Brite is also a fantastic cleaner for glass tops.
I just noticed that your channel is basically the same thing as "Die Sendung mit der Maus", a german children TV series where things are explained very simply and with great visualizations. I loved this as a child and i still enjoy watching it today and i use it when i'm curious about how something works.
They explain electronics in childrens programming over there?
@@Pyxis10This particular programme explains everything. They have a great bit about the basics of the Internet, IP address and all.
Reminds me of The Secret Life of Machines
@SirRichfield I wish there was an English version!! The closest thing I can think of is SciShow Kids, but that's a youtube channel and mainly focuses on science rather than everyday things.
I wish there were more educational shows for kids in the U.S. where I live. There are some science shows, but they have a totally different vibe, like Bill Nye the Science Guy. I don't mean that in a bad way, because I love that show, I just think it would be amazing to have a program that just answers the endless questions that kids have about everything. Parents can foster a love of learning by just genuinely engaging with those questions and even looking up the answer with their kids if they don't know.
Maintenance guy for 250 apartments here.
I’m glad you went on the tangent about the range elements. I actually ordered 2 today exactly like the one you have there. Reason: one of my ranges ‘hot cooktop’ light is always illuminated…meaning 1 of my elements has shorted.
Through the magic of buying 2 of them, I’ll have one in stock for the next time this happens.
Love what you do.
As a Brit who loves puns I can’t believe I left it to Alec to come up with Hobnob. My wife agrees he must be some kind of genius. Cam cam just proves it.
It's a hob knob cam cam.
That was absolute gold 😂
It's such a good joke
I thought it really took the biscuit...
I was expecting a biscuit joke, too.
Playing the Can Can over the cam cam was brilliant.
I do love it when you explain stuff.. as a an electrical engineer,electrician now designer I find it so gratifying there is someone who enjoys this stuff like I do
Please never change your humor. "Cam cam" was so funny
He said "cam cam" and thought "hmm, that didn't make sense and wasn't funny". That shortly went away when after the cut to the cam lobe and I immediately understood and laughed out loud
I welcome these little breaks that add levity to the normal content dense videos you make. Please don't stop dropping these little gems of word play.
Did you notice he was playing the Can Can over the cam cam?
@@JonahDyerOne cannot *play* the can-can. The can-can is a *dance*, the tune he played was an excerpt from the overture to Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld". The can-can is simply this tune... With context. 😉
The only thing that would have made that scene better is if he played the CanCan song in the background at that time.
"I don't know how I live with me either."
This line was delivered with such a straight face and with zero weight given to it, I had to pause for 5 minutes to catch my breath from laughing so hard.
@18:45
Agreed, the delivery is an absolute 10/10 😂❤
I love how each video draws more connections to all the previous ones.
It's like that's what the channel is about or something.
Once we unlocked the latent heat cycle, we started connecting stuff left and right!
It’d be even better, if it was focused on something that would seem like magic to someone from the Bronze Age.
Yeah, gadget links or something like that...
what if he gets to the point of having no conection to anything else? is it the end?
@@CUAUHTEMOCVEGATORRESI would assume by that point different things to connect to would be invented.
We LOVE and EXPECT and DEMAND for the script to go out of hand. It's what makes this channel awesome!!
"Does that mean that this is a hob knob?"
"I don't know how I live with me, either"
Alec was sure feeling his Wheaties for this script!
Hobnobs are oat and syrup biscuits (cookies).
I burst out laughing at work on that second one. LOL!
He's clearly feeling better since the move.
"I don't know how I live with me, either"
Like he had a choice. He must live with himself. 🙂
@@nowsterChocolate Hobnobs are now on my shopping list. To the store.
The best channel on RUclips. Honestly. It’s like how it’s made without the ad breaks. It’s like Tom Scott for objects that fit in my house. It’s like Mr. Rogers for adults. I loved those cutaway books as a kid, and I’ve never changed apparently.
Yep, this channel and Project Farm are two of the most entertaining and educational channels on RUclips.
I'd never consciously noticed the lack of ad breaks, but now you mention it - this is one reason why it's so easy to settle in and watch a half hour video on the seemingly most mundane household objects. One of my all time favourite channels.
Holy hell, I never noticed until now how I got a similar feeling from this channel as five year old me got from cutaway books and it all makes sense now
@@tbird-z1rWhy such a cynical comment?
"Through the magic of buying two of them" may be my favorite running bit
"And some other stuff"
My favorite was when Steve mould copied it
We will need some merch that is a pair of socks with that on them
@@Kumquat_Lord Maybe a cross-collab with Hank and John Green's sock company?
@@MonkeyJedi99
I would love that and they know each other!
Seeing how far you've come in finding your voice is amazing. I think at this point you might have a really interesting perspective on the actual process of teaching. Thanks for the great videos explaining the everyday things around us! You've really become one of my favorite channels!
So I didn’t realize my headphones were connected in another room, so I hit play and there’s no sound despite me turning it up. So naturally I reasoned that TC was making a visually striking, avant garde intro to the video. I was here for it, it was very deep and thoughtful. I had no clue what he was trying to say with the piece, but man it was deep.
Turns out he was not doing that thing.
Thanks for sharing
Everyone should go back and watch the first 38 seconds without sound. Its so entertaining to think that's what he could have been going for.
@@PurpleBaroon Nah. I'll take your word for it.
I once had a video player break in the middle of a movie and start showing black screen with sound going on as usual. Since it was a horror movie, it took me 20 minutes to understand it was not intentional.
@Atmatan_Kabbaher
shame that literally nobody asked you
Babe wake up, toaster boy is making another connection to… somehow every other video they’ve ever made.
nah, it's missing a tangent on audio/video storage media
but still, pretty close
I'm sure he could cook up some sort of connection; It's a pretty hot topic. (Sorry. Not sorry).
I'm only half way through (I came down to give a thumbs up to whoever might have mentioned the cam-cam) and am now wondering when the heat pump will make an appearance...
Not enough heat-pumpage!
Toaster boy. My favorite super-ish hero!
I did appreciate the glass top stove tangent. I was genuinely curious how those were different.
If you don't have one already, stay away from them. They are such a bad design. I guess if you value looks over function they are fine, but who had the bright thought to cover a cook top with a really fragile material that is also a great insulator?
I didn't realize that they were different until this video. Always nice learning something new. I had assumed they were the same coils just under a glass top to look cool. It being radiated heat instead of conducted heat makes a whole lot more sense now.
@@rubiconnn I have used both types and prefer the glass top. Maybe it depends on the brand. It is easier to clean and ive never broken the glass. It seems tough.
@@nate_0723 Glass is glass and glass breaks. Personally, i wouldn't trust load-bearing glass (except maybe polycarbonate), too risky.
I value ease of cleaning very highly. I don't drop things on my glass-top stove. I'm not worried about it breaking under normal operations. It's by far my favourite kind of stove. I can even toast bread/buns/naan really quickly right on the burner to great results.
This video really helped me understand why many cooks like natural gas burners as the heat is constant and why the only real replacement is induction stovetops.
I have a 55 year old, open coil electric stove and the thermal mass of the sand really helps to even out the harshness of the duty cycling of the actual element. I never thought I could ever actually like an electric stove, but I'm actually very happy with this one. I have no trouble making a custard without curdling it.
Modern glass top monstrosities, though? Absolute nightmare to try to cook anything that is particularly heat sensitive. Not to mention how they warp pans.
I think induction stovetops also use a duty cycle to modulate power.
I was a repair man for a famous company for about 30 years. When I started working for them, they only had washers, dryers, dishwashers and disposers. Suddenly, they bought another company that made kitchen products. At that time, the cooktops used voltage controlled infinite switches. no matter what the wattage of the element, the switch cycled as expected. It was great because all the elements took the same switch, the only difference was knob direction and mounting screw location. with the advent of disc elements and glass tops, they quietly introduced the type of current controlled infinite switches that you demonstrated in this video. If the guy who ordered the parts didn't look carefully at the part numbers, you would get the wrong switch for the size element and then the fun would begin. I'm not so sure why they became so popular with design engineers but they weren't so popular with technicians. I suspect that by having a resistor in lime with the load made the arc flash a little less noticeable when the switch cycled but, as you shower, it was still there. I actually met a man who claimed that he was a scientist who worked on a project to make the purest tungsten possible so that switches would not flash when they opened or closed. he said that it was not possible to make tungsten switch contacts any purer but another research team had come to the conclusion that pounding switch contacts together at high speed reduced the arc flash to an acceptable level and the modern switch was born. Luckily, the arc flash is conveniently hidden by metal pannels so very few (not nobody_ complain about it
Designers and manufacturers today hate technicians and anyone who wants to repair what they paid for
@@yossarian00don't blame the designers it's the company they work for, they dint exactly get to decide if they want to design it that way or not
I’ve been a professional appliance tech for over 12 years. I work on ranges of all types almost daily…. and I just learned a shitload!
Alec is just the best.
LIke Greez says, "You don't have to know how something works, to fix it."
@@Gigaheart No but it does help fault finding at times.
Looks like the word "professional" has another meaning that's been entirely unknown to me....😂
"Touch controls on a stove would be like taking away a car's turn signal stalks" ... Excellent.
Good thing no major electric car company would ever do that.
Even worse is selling said car in a country that uses roundabouts.
There's no way anyone would be crazy enough to do that!
@@Xavior12 Tesla did that with the shifter though.
(Slide the car forward for Drive and backwards for Reverse).
Having spent 3 months in a rental with a touch control stove, yeah it feels off.
Great job! That "sand" inside a calrod heater is a magnesium oxide insulating powder.
Source: I am a technical trainer that teaches technicians how to work on commercial equipment.
You have now convinced me to always call stove burners "infernal frisbees"
lets hope electroboom never hears the phrase infernal frisbee
@@DoctorOnkelap Lets hope he does and maybe teams up with StyroPyro to make something (that looks super dangerous but is actually relatively safe when done by professionals) happen.
Technology like this where logic is accomplished through clever use of materials science and geometry is so fascinating to me. I tend to imagine that there's just a PCB or something in these kinds of devices, but I never really thought about how they made electric stovetops work before you could just stick circuit boards in everything. It takes a lot of creativity to engineer things like this!
A tangent... a 100% accepted and demanded tangent!
Your enthusiasm for the mundane and attention to detail brings me a lot of joy.
"Infernal frisbee", "Zig-zaggy thing"...I'm learning so many technical terms thanks to your videos, Alec. Thank you. 😊
I'm looking for an occasion to use "infernal frisbee" in any conversation.
That is, of course, the technical term.
I can't believe this. How does Technology Connections make videos about switches, timers, stoves and washing machines and make them so damn interesting?
The answer is simple and complex at the same time: it's because of Alec😁
@@michait3866 And the fact that these things ARE actually interesting, but you need a great teacher to present them. Thats Alec.
Don't forget about heat pumps and, of course, toasters.
i was really impressed with how he actually figured out the pinball machine's wiring diagram.
@@61rampy65 The one that got me was the video he made about WATCHING PAINT DRY. HOW? HOW WAS THAT INTERESTING? I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND.
The lamp turning on and off periodically was a paid actor
He expensed that too
Damn the deep state got me again
Nah, it was AI. Who would pay for actors these days?
"The flashing makes them more noticeable."
Obviously. But if a HUMAN does it for the same reason, they get all arrested and stuff...
There's actually someone sitting behind the table switching it on and off.
2 Things:
1 - THANK YOU for the commentary about appliances having a control panel with completely flat buttons. I have an induction hot-plate that, if I lift the lid on the pot to stir the contents and a single drop of water falls onto the control panel, the hot-plate completely freaks out, ignoring the human operator's instructions in favor of the random droplet. I also have a microwave with a completely flat control panel, and both appliances drive me completely bonkers because of this! How hard would it be to have some kind of tactile feedback, like raised bumps or squares around the buttons?
2 - Love your snarky sarcasm. That alone keeps me coming back, regardless of the topic. Also love the blooper reel.
He's getting more self aware and more unhinged each video and I'm here for every second of it.
"Why did I think that? I don't know, it never works!".......super relatable sentiment there.
You are the only channel that manages to keep people interested in a box with a bimetallic strip
As a blind person, I heartily agree with your comment reguarding replacing knobs with touch buttons. I can cook on a stove with knobs. Even with the glass cook-top, I can generally center the cookware on the elements by bo hovering my hand on either side of the cookware and blocking off the heat. With knobs, I can adjust cooking heat by feel. But with those cheap touch buttons, I cant't tell what the stove is doing.
Do knobs with a tapered profile (slimmer on one side and larger on the other) on the handle help know if the knob is pointing one way or another?
@@philippeleprohon4823 There is usually some sort of tactile marking on the indicator side of the knob. It could be a raised dash or a recessed circle. In any case, all burner control knobs that I've encountered have a definite click or detant for the off position.
@@surferdude4487 Ahh, gotcha! Thanks for letting me know!
The Cam Cam with the music and everything: *chefs kiss*
Cracked me right up.
The way you timed the simmerstat going on and off with the script... magnificent.
32:43 "I added the lights because it pleases me"
The best reason to add lights!
Exactly!
Blinkenlights. They even have a Wikipedia page.
The bi-metal strip needs to be at the very top of your thank you list. It gave you your entire career.
a 36 minutes video about a bimetallic strip on a box, amazing.
It’s even better cause it’s like the 5th 40 minute video about a bimetallic strip in a box
Got to love when somebody manages to create simplicity to achieve incredibly complicated and beneficial things that can be operated in a simple way.
I'd noticed my stove turning the heating elements on and off - both visually and from the hum - and I kind of figured it was doing something like this, so it's great to get the full story! Simple but genius.
Appreciate the explanation of glass-top stoves as well, been wondering about how they work.
This guy is honestly soo good with these vids he constantly reads my mind exactly real time when im having the thought. The duty cycle PWM comment, the flasher comment, thermostat comment, etc. guy is on it! Clever clever writing/directing
There’s something to be said for simple old school tech. I bought a 50 yo home ten years back. The warranty card in the Beaumark stove manual says it was new in 1994. Has worked flawlessly daily for 30 years so far, thanks to simple devices such as this. Many of my friends have cycled through many “modern” touchscreen appliances.
The same goes for laundry stuff. Motors working a drum with contact things works well. The micro processor based ones contain a little counter counting down the days until the warranty runs out.
@@kensmith5694I should add, that I also “inherited” a 25 yo washer and 42 yo dryer with this house purchase. With their old school low tech electricals , they probably also have many decades to go.
@@kensmith5694 If one could prove that they indeed had it programmed that way it would be an easy lawsuit to win (not a legal expert but pretty sure lemon laws apply here). It's more likely that fancy tech is cheaply made and not sufficiently protected against heat, vibrations, and/or humidity which could also be cause for a lawsuit but would be a lot harder to win.
@@grn1 My comment was intended to be semi humorous. There isn't literally a counter.
@@kensmith5694 I figured as much but still wanted to comment on the legal aspect of it. Honestly wouldn't surprise me if one of these was actually found to have a countdown timer.
you scared me there for a sec when you made it seem like you may not explain the normal resistors lol. I'm happy you've expensed them :) To the potential IRS agent reading through these: we loved the normal resistors part too. Thank you.
I feel like he was talking directly to me when talking about PWM v Duty Cycle operations.
He was. When producing nerdy content it's a universal law that any miniscule detail left out or any simplification for the sake of brevity will make the entire comment section go "Well, achually..."
@@andersjjensen LOL!
He said it just exactly after I thought "that's a lot like pwm, but not at the per wave level"
I enjoy almost all of your videos, but this set a new variable bar. It even inspired me to share the link with friends and family. Well done, sir!
This is the wholesome educational content RUclips was made for. I worked in a shop that repaired these stoves years ago and now I know why they last so long.
RUclips started as a dating site....
@@HalLevy At first I thought this was a random troll but apparently it's true. Another fun fact, The Peanuts Gang started as a small series of cigarette ads.
On the glass-top stoves, the switching frequency absolutely matters! We couldn't make popcorn on our old glass-top conductive stove, because for popcorn you need 450°-500° F, but the low switching frequency meant that it varied from 290°-600°, which were both bad temperatures.
This! I found that my glass top stove was great at ruining candy. The temperature pulses were too big and I was not able to control the temperature with enough precision. I burned so much caramel...
The coil stove I have now works much better for candy, presumably because the thermal mass in the coil keeps the temperature somewhat steadier.
Granted, this is a "but sometimes!" case. In my experience, for non-candy-or-popcorn cooking needs, the glass top stove was adequate.
At least you can fix this by using a big block of cast iron on top of the glass and that will keep a constant temperature. It just takes forever to get to temp.
typical electric burner problem and far worse in that design. that's why most people like gas type, with an actual knob that directly regulates the gas volume. far more predictable output, although it still requires skill.
@@throttlebottle5906Well, gas or most modern electric induction hobs. They have a much more consistent heat output at a given setting at the relevant time scales. They're still switching, but with much shorter intervals, much like an electric light with modern dimming as he makes reference to at 34:10.
I don't know how you taught the lamp to have such great timing with your dialogue, but I'm impressed
IT WAS PERFECT
This was an extremely satisfying video to watch. Great job on the script, it flowed perfectly and made so much damn sense. I just found your channel this week. This is good stuff. It scratches some weird itch I didn’t know I had.
6:30 Oh, as a repairsman who fixes those exact stovetops, I felt the heat radiatiation right away. What an amusing video this is. Thank you, Alec! I am a long-term subscriber of yours and the pleasure is all mine. I could suggest a topic for a small but interesting video: microwave oven's dish motor. Why is it turning the dish in random direction? Little people noticed that. Keep up the good work, I adore your style and all the puns and references.
I'm going to guess it's for a combination of some portion making it so food is heated more evenly by turning the other way after stirring it up, and some portion extending the life of the parts by working them in both directions instead of the same way all the time. The earliest ones only turned one way all the time. Every one I've seen that goes both ways always alternates direction each time it is started, not random.
@@johngaltline9933 it's probably a single phase AC motor. Those start in a random direction based on the polarity of the power when turned on IIRC. And since it doesn't matter for cooking, the manufacturer didn't bother to do anything about it.
It’s so it can catch microwaves more efficiently. Microwaves are actually quite large and bounce around inside. If it only spun one way then it may only catch microwaves in certain spots and cause explosive hot spots. You should also put whatever you’re cooking as far towards the outside edge of the plate for the same reasons.
The random direction changes drives the OCD pedant in me nutz! I place my coffee mug in a very specific orientation so that when the cycle ends, the handle faces me.
@ 90 seconds, this is an exact # of full turns, so handle out when starting = handle out when done.
@ 60 seconds, this is 1/4 turn short. So depending on the casino odds that day, the handle needs to be either to the left or right for it to face out when done.
I will add - I took apart a small outlet timer gizmo the other day and noticed a small "one way check valve" cam / ratchet / pawl thingy that somehow bounce kicked the little timer motor the other way if it started running backwards. Very clever.
Dude, this is crazy, the amount of thought on such a small and raw piece of technology. Impressive and very well explained
Me “Hey, you ever watch technology connections?” Every family member “Is that the smart guy in the jacket, seen all of his videos”
I'm jealous of your family. Mine would ask how you even find specific channels on youtube. They just click something random then let autoplay take the wheel for the day. I don't understand how they live.
"the smart guy in the brown jacket?" you: "brown is not a color!"
@@SupremeRuleroftheWorld well played
@@SimuLord another well played
@@onslaught147 we are your family now
One of the smartest guy on YT with great communication skills and overall quality. Thank you for explaining complicated electrical stuff (I’m a mechanical engineer) to control things.
I remember when my dad explained how the thermostat for our electric heater worked. It was a wall-mounted thermostat, where you simply set the temperature you wanted. Easy enough. It was in series with the heater, so when you reached the temperature, it opened the circuit. Easy enough. But the thermostat had a wall plug?? Oh, my dad loved to explain this one. That current heated up the bi-metalic strip just a tiny, tiny bit inside the thermostat, so that the heater would now believe it was hotter than it really was. Throw any crude timer device on this, and now you have a thermostat with night time adjustment!
Today, I have a smart home with 100 devices, rules as complex as the Apollo 11, and besides it knowing if today is a banking holiday or not, it does the exact same thing. There's a real appreciation in rudimentary technology that I wish we never forget.
I have learned more from your videos about mechanical and electrical functions then any teacher I have met could teach me. Seeing you take apart things and explain every function and purpose for everything will never cease to entertain me and educate me. Thank you!
Technology Connections: A 2 hour documentary titled: "WHY YOU'VE BEEN USING YOUR LIGHT SWITCH INCORRECTLY"
Me: This is gonna be good.
I did discover a third mode for a light switch. When I was a kid, I'd make the switch settle at a position just between on and off. The light would be about 50% bright and I thought I was saving energy. There would be a neat buzzing from the switch, and eventually the smell of smoke would emit from what was probably arcing from inside the switch. So if there is an incorrect way to use a light switch, I discovered it.
@@tichu7 I'm pretty sure Alec did a video on that. The reason light switches snap open and closed is prevent arcing which can of course cause a fire. Presuming you had incandescent bulbs as a child the bulbs plus the switch would probably be using a lot more energy than usual in that mode (incandescent bulbs are more efficient the hotter they run but also burn out faster, also a video on this channel, and of course a lot of power was also wasted traveling through the not quite large enough air gap in the switch).
I didn't know if I'd get through 36 minutes on stove tops, but I did, thanks to your diversions that make me feel better about my own inability to stay on track. I enjoyed every one of them.
I now realise I've fixed a simmerstat (which was stuck permanently on) without appreciating that's what it's called, or its workings in this depth. I love how you pointed out the slower/faster heating and cooling of the strip according to high or low settings, and how it acts as a proxy to the actual load, just as I was coming to those conclusions in my head. It's crazy how something so unbelievably crude (you said it) works so ridiculously well. A case of "the simplest solution that works is the best solution"!
This was worthy of taking a bow, but perhaps that's not your style. Relatively new to your channel. This is "I ask RUclips how stuff works" gold content.
Oh also, as a British, "hob knobs" is absolutely correct. At least, it's what I'll try to get into my next conversation about cooking.
Thank you, Mr. Connections.
I would pay good money to see you perform live.
I don’t know what you would perform, but I’m here for it
Maybe at a tech conference. :)
How would he manage to get all the bloopers at the end of the video though, and the great closed captions. I'd love to see a live demonstration where he talks about how to do a live demonstration addressing those problems.
Instant classic. This episode contains everything we love from Technology Connections!
*First:* I fully agree with you on the touch controls for stoves. I find they're an active liability, because every time a pan decides to boil over because I left the lid on it out of habit (it works for some dishes, not others), it invariably starts operating whatever controls it randomly happens to wash over. And those controls are now covered in boiling water, so I can't safely operate them myself to correct whatever just happened. You can imagine what happens if it washes over the "increase power" button…
*Second:* There is actually a very commonly used way to put a big resistor in series with a cooker's heating element to reduce its power output. The trick is to use two or three heating elements in each hob. One common arrangement in the cheaper two-element type is to have the two elements with different power outputs when used individually; this already gives three power levels just be switching them on and off individually, but you can *also* switch them in series with each other for a total power output lower than either element used by itself. This is easily identified by a control knob with discrete positions marked 0-1-2-3-4 (or words with mean something similar); this effectively means Off-Series-Low-High-Parallel.
Hobs with 5 or 6 power positions are also common, which use three heating elements and a more complex series-parallel connection scheme. Mine has a 6-position control, which could be: 3 in series, 2 in series, 1 low-power element, 1 high-power element, 2 in parallel, 3 in parallel. A quirk of this type is that the heating power is not evenly distributed across the heating elements in most positions (ie. all except the lowest and highest settings), so it's more common than not to find the elements hidden behind a solid cover, which also acts to spread the heat more evenly.
*Third:* Going back to my induction hob, it has two modes in which gentle simmering is theoretically possible. One is to dial in a low continuous power setting, which for powers below 800W, actually uses duty-cycle control on a rather slow cycle. Because induction hobs transfer heat even more quickly than a ceramic radiant hob, this actually means alternating between "violent boiling" and "nothing" every few seconds, unless you have a substantial amount of liquid in the pan to ballast the thermals. Not great when you're trying to make a sauce and starting with just a little bit of butter and milk. I could also try the "temperature control" setting, but this actually turns out to work very like the Simmerstat, even though it logically shouldn't, and the available settings are extremely coarse (the only two useful settings are 80°C and 60°C, with the default being 120°C). Simmerstat-type behaviour is *completely wrong* for an induction hob, again because of the extremely fast heat transfer. So for sauces I fall back on the cranky old resistive hob.
My induction stove can detect water boiling over, and shuts down all power. So you can take your time to clean the water off. But yes, I understand your concern.
I'm puzzled that induction stoves can't discourage or prevent cookware from reaching oil-igniting temperatures (or protecting the coating on a Teflon pan) by reducing or shutting down the power. If you already have a temperature sensor to drive the hot surface indicator lights, that's a no-brainer safety feature in my opinion.
@@aspecreviews Induction stoves don't actually heat the surface. They heat the pan directly, and the pan then heats the surface as a side-effect. As noticed in this video, the surface is made of a heat-insulating ceramic. So there is actually no way to accurately determine the temperature of the pan from the *underside* of the surface.
@@Kromaatikse some of the newer *standalone* single induction burners have "temperature hold" functions that seem to be fairly accurate. I've never seen it on a large induction range though. Are they different surface materials?
@@aspecreviews The portable type is what I have, and I can tell you that it is not accurate at all. For example, the 80°C setting (these settings increment in huge steps of 20°C) is good for bringing a pan of water to a gentle boil, ie. 100°C. I really do think that it is just emulating a Simmerstat, badly.
Let me tell you about 'logic'-controlled electric stoves. I have an IKEA cheapo glass ceramic stove with its two burners so close together you actually can't cook in both unless you use tiny pots, and also has these awful touch controls right below the big burner (mercifully they don't get hot).
But the worst part is that it's computer controlled, and whomever programmed it was slacking at their job. Whenever you change a burner's intensity, it TURNS THE BURNER ON REGARDLESS OF HOW HOT THE STOVE ALREADY IS.
You thought you were going to lower the heat on your food? Tough luck! You get full intensity burner heat for 10 seconds before the thing tries to figure out its proper work cycle. Such a great way to overcook your food.
I've given up at this point and learnt to just turn it off instead. Great work guys. You made it so turning off your appliance is the best way to use it. 🤦
the cam-cam was incredible lmao
A man who can give me a good pun has my heart.
What's funnier is that the music playing is called "Can Can"
@@arcaegecengizactually that's the name of the dance which goes with the music, but this is useless pedantry.
such a beautiful profile pic
@@tami6867 madeline celeste
I think Alec missed out on exploring 7-level stoves in which three different heating elements are switched from all in parallel for maximum power, deactiving a couple resistances on the medium settings and switching all three resistances in line for the lowest setting.
I was looking for this comment :)
What??
Seems like parallel-series approach will not work for radiant stoves. Radiation intensity is a fourth power function of temperature, and I think it's crucial for these elements to receive the designed amount of power to radiate efficiently. But several elements is a great way to do it, and it's interesting why not every stove is like that.
My grandparents brought a turquoise blue GE Deluxe 40 inch double oven electric range in 1967 when they purchased the home, with push buttons for the cooktop elements and there were 5 fixed power levels. The "burner" is composed of two elements with 3 terminals much like a 3 way bulb, a "common" where the two elements were connected, and L1 & L2. By switching 120 or 240V to one or both elements or connecting the elements in series and connecting 120 or 240V, 5 power levels can be achieved. Not what I'd call practical, but everything on the range still worked as of August 2022 when we sold the estate after grandma passed at age 96.
This channel has taught me so much, principally, that all magic is just bi-metallic strips!
Did something 'click' for you?
@@Me-zo8yc nice one 👍😅
Ohhh what about the rice cooker? No bi-Mems there!
LOL Just like what controls that base board heater.
Not all, can't forget about buying 2 of something.
4:50 The sand is magnesium oxide friend! I used to make heating elements like that, the white insulation powder is almost always magnesium
Oh I never knew!
love the tangents, the only reason you've gotten so big are the tangents. you're always either answering a fascinating question or adding very important context
Fittingly enough the whole "magic of buying two of them" started with the videos on how toasters work, and the "doneness" control in the Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster works in almost exactly the same way as the simmerstat, it changes the distance/pressure between the contact and bimetallic strip thereby changing how hot the strip has to get to open the contact
The cam cam aside and follow up line nearly had me in tears
A friends mom has a stove/oven that she still uses daily, from 1938; (It's a Universal Electric by Landers, Frary & Clark: circa.1922 CMPC) & she was having issues with one of the burners. Unlike the ones you showed, those heating elements are solid iron & have two thick 1/4" phono-jack like connectors (one from each end of the coil) that plugs in under the stovetop. Also, instead of metal clips holding the heating element- the underside "bowl, the clips, & the upper ring" that the pan/pot sits on are all thick, finely glazed white porcelain. Turns out the issue wasn't the burner, but the control knob which had 5 carbon bars Each connected to a different wire, which ran to a large Multi-Stage DC Transformer that had 9 wires, 1 ground & the other 5 wires each being a different voltage & amperage. As each brush closed onto each bar it grounded each new wire through the carbon rod, into the burner, & out to the ground. The oven one was similar, using only 4 wires & bars but at much higher amperage's (avg between 8-14). It was extremely easy to fix, whatever they coated the wires with, (it wasn't that crappy black/brown tar/cloth wrapped crap you find in old houses) the wires were soft & rubbery, without having play inside the wire & with no obvious signs of warping, charring, drying or cracking, all the wires were at least 1-2 gauges larger & thicker than they actually needed to be for the V/A moving through them. There was a bit of cracking & orange-ing of the lacquer used on the power supply, & the info paper attached, I removed the original sticker & re-potted it & the supply so it wouldn't yellow any further. Also replaced two of the old orange bulbs for the burners too.
The plastic was actually "Bakelite", but surprisingly it was painted with a black paint & glossed as well, which seemed to greatly increase it's strength- I expected it to snap off in my hands as it has many times before, but it was still very slightly flexible & firm. The rest of the stove was steel, with copper inlay & accents, like the #'s on the dials. Some of the damn best construction I've seen in an appliance, & based on how long it's been running this well, I'm sure it will survive both her, & me.
I just told a client they needed a new one of these YESTERDAY. I'm an electrician and they wanted me to look at their stove.
Took me a minute to figure out but i got it.
It was EXACTLY the same as the one in your video.
The cams on the knob were worn down so it never fully engaged the bimetalic strip.
Oh crap, that can happen?? 😮 Daaang!
"It's electric, Bill"
"...Still gets pretty hot"
I will never forget when my Mom and Dad bought their Mobile Home in like 05' and it came with a glass stovetop, and someone (either the salesman or someone helping set up the home) made many comments about how horrible these were because they "turned off" all the time. Lol
They are terrible. If you have a PWM system without some kind of capacitor (like the sand storing heat in the old pipe stoves) then you wont get a stable temperature.
No stable temperature = burned/undercooked/both foods.
@@hubertnnnyeah, I had to buy a VERY heavy cookware to stop my food from being burnt on surface while insides still barely even warm.
@@hubertnnn This is what cast iron cookware was invented for.
(Okay, not literally, but it is certainly a good use of it!)
I was going to mention this could be referring to the safety feature to prevent overheating and oil fire (which is annoying and slows cooking), but in 05, hard to say. Not sure if glass tops had that. Coil tops didn't usually have them till mid-late 2010s.
See Sensi-Temp burners. Terrible to use. They genuinely turn off all the time and make boiling or high temp searing difficult/time consuming. I've disabled my temp sensors so it runs like any other 1920s-2000s electric range.
@@Kevin75668 I didn't usually have issues with them either, but you could tell that sometimes the cooking would just "idle" for a while. I may have exaggerated. A hindrance rather than a huge, major problem, I'll admit, but a few times they frustrated me. I know canners hate these burners. Mine may be a bit older, some may be worse than others.
I use cast as well, as far as the skillet goes. I used ceramic terminal blocks internally bolted inside the center piece and tied down the spring loaded top piece to keep it cooler and stop the bell-tone. I don't recommend anyone modify large appliances without really knowing what you're doing - some people mod these burners by just twisting the two wires together and letting them hang inside the center, certain to cause a dangerous situation or blow the infinity switch upon shorting to ground.
Thank you for diving into subjects and items I never would have thought to loon into. It's amazing how fascinating something like a stove top burner can be.
With a device (or a component? whatever) this simple, armed with the Technology Connections watch history, I could pretty much guess what's happening inside within the first minutes. Yet you could not get me to stop watching all of it ❤ This channel has a witty soul and humour as dry as a desert. What's not to love? Whatever you want to make video of, I'm watching it!
Here in Africa we just use four terminal stove plates with several resistors, and cheap SPST switches. The first "S" stands for "seven". They're 1/5 of the price of those regulators, and all you lose is infinite variability, but you gain longevity, low cost, and the ability to cook crêpes without the need for a cast iron crêpe pan.
And no heated to 100*C switch element insulated with plastic... I'm almost certain, the original GE device was encapsulated in ceramic of sort.
@@ivoivanov7407 - modern plastics (used in electrical switch gear) can easily handle 200-300°C or even more. They even feel like ceramics to the touch.
SPST (Single Pole Single Throw) switch
@@LateNightHacks In this context, seven position. Look up Siebentaktschaltung.
Another comment mentioned a "7-level stove". Maybe this is that?
It's amazing how this 100 year old technology is still being used today in even more modern everyday technology. Pulse wave modulation and a 50% on/off duty cycle are what give class D audio amplifiers their cool running efficiency compared to older (always on) class A amplifiers. The drawback of class D amplification is lower fidelity (for now anyway), and the low pass noise filter circuit that is required that is not needed in other amplification classes. Good stuff!😊
Love comments like this. I hadn't heard about Class D Amplifiers, granted the last time I even thought to research amps was when I was building one in high school. It was a simple feedback amp if memory serves, it was used for a strobe light which totally didn't shock me (though someone else's did, idiot didn't unplug it and this idiot didn't think to check).
Check out Hypex and Purifi modules. Class D has arrived.
@@grn1 I would hazard a guess that most of audio (power) amplifiers these days are Class-D. They are simply cheaper, more power efficient, and easier to make. We can build very good switches on an integrated circuit that can switch very fast (very fast in this context being >1MHz), allowing us to build single die amplifiers that need only small filters.Unless you are looking at high-end audio applications, it will probably be class D.
The headphone amplifiers in your headphones, amplifiers in your car, the audio amplifier in your phone, TV, etc... they are all class D. Even for radio frequency applications you start seeing switching amplifiers like Class D, Class E, J, etc.. (though the latter work slightly different, switching only once/twice per period of the crossing).
I'm kind of amazed that it's still used. With modern manufacturing, I can't imagine that a tiny digital timer combined with a relay would cost more than the $15 Alec said these things cost. Plus then the relay would have proper mechanical switches to reduce arcing.
@@AaronPlattner I agree. Even without relays - an SCR or Thyristor would also be very cheap, and allow much faster on-off switching, allowing for much lower swing in temperature. I've never actually seen a stove use these simmerstats - they have always had touch interfaces and used either relays or some other mechanism of switching. It might be a US thing?
You are truly great at this.
It should be dry and boring, but you're endearing, earnest, and entrancing.
Yes.... Here in Blighty, cooker knobs are often called Hob Knobs. We often twiddle them.
Hobnobs are a Biscuit* too. We often eat them.
(* Cookie, monsters eat them.)
One of the few channels I turn closed captions on for, as it's always nice to see the odd joke thrown in to them.
He's been throwing quite a few into the very end of the videos. Not sure how long he's been doing that since I often forget to turn on Closed Captions but it's always fun to read.
I was going to be so disappointed if you didn't explain how the glass-top stoves work. Just as you "threatened" to tangent I was thinking "gee I wish I knew how that works"
Interestingly, i recently took apart a standard 2 stove electrical cooktop. With a metal plate on top and a coiled element underneath, it is so simple and so cost effective. It essentially works EXACTLY the same way a fan heater works. As in it just uses a high current and high temperature thermostat. So the more you increase the "power" all youre doing is putting more pressure on the metal bar attached to 3 ceramic plates, so when those plates expand from the heat, the pressure from the screw like knob is so much that the metal plate cannot disconnect from the highly conductive contacts. Very interesting, i dont know how many brands use this practice but it makes the stoves undeniably safe due to the actual heating being controlled by a mechanical thermostat.
3:25 here in Germany we got tought about a "Siebentakt-Kochplatte" where three resistors are swiched between seven settings 0-6 where they are in various configurations of series and parallel. Doesn't give you infinite gradients, but I thought worth it to mention.
Kochplattenschalterblock ♥
I have literally wondered multiple times why there is always a little detent between a very high sitting and the max setting. It’s the bump on the simmerstat control ramp. Thank you for solving one of life’s mysteries. I bet were are so used to that bump that stoves that use a different tech would have to imitate it.
Microwave ovens also use Duty Cycle Control. And switching power supplies bascially are the same idea, but comparing voltage to trigger the on ane off instead of simple duty cycle.
SMPS.... Not quite. They are not Pulse width, but frequency modulated.
Thats because the energy doesn't transfer when a DC current flows through a transformer, but when that current flow changes
As a student studying electrical engineering about to graduate, the incredibly long explanation for “hot strip bend break circuit cool down make circuit” was excellent background noise for my morning commute while I wolfed down whataburger. The before and after was excellent, though! Great video as always.