Posts

Why Your Refrigerator Compressor Makes a Clicking Noise and Refuses to Start

-
Image
IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY. You head into your kitchen to get a glass of water, and you realize that your refrigerator is totally silent. Then you hear it; a small hum, followed by a loud, sharp click of what sounds like metal on metal. Three minutes later, that same hum and click repeats again. When you open your freezer, your ice cream is already beginning to melt. That click click click sound is the universal distress signal of a dead refrigerator. Most people assume that the entire appliance is not repairable and will start looking for a brand new one, but in fact 80% of the time your compressor motor will actually be fine, the problem just lies with one small and cheap electrical part on its side. Below is a detailed electrical and mechanical explanation of exactly why your refrigerator is clicking, what is actually not starting, and how to accurately diagnose it: 1. What is that "click" actually (Overload Protector)? This clicking is NOT coming fr...
Read more

Will a Voltage Stabilizer Really Protect Your AC From a Lightning Strike? Let’s see....

-
Image
  IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY. The sky has gone dark and a dangerous thunderstorm is approaching. Suddenly it becomes very windy and there is a giant flash of lightning right nearby the house. Looking into the house at the voltage stabilizer that is plugged into the wall next to the very expensive air conditioner, you say to yourself "Don't worry my stabilizer will protect it". That is by far one of the most common and costliest mistakes made by those involved in the appliance industry. In the event of a direct or close to direct strike of lightning to the utility line or to your house the voltage stabilizer that you're using is of no use and will not protect your AC; both will most likely vaporize. So here are the specifics of why a stabilizer can fail in a lightning strike, and what it takes to truly protect your house. 1. Fluctuations vs. Transient Surges (The big difference) So that you will understand how the stabilizer can fail, you need to...
Read more

How Much Power Does a 5-Star AC Actually Save? (A Real Load Calculation)

-
Image
IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY So you go into a store wanting to buy a 1.5 ton (18,000BTU) air conditioner. Sales person leads you to two air conditioners that look identical and asks you if you would like the "normal" 3-star (average efficiency) or the "high efficiency" 5-star for only $200 more. The salesman then proceeds to guarantee it will "cut your electric bill in half" and "pay for itself in just a few short months." From my point of view doing personal load calculations, this isn't totally true; 5-star ACs absolutely save energy but it depends on how many watts and what the cost of electricity is. Below is a calculation of the true saving that a 5 star AC offers, and if it's worth paying an extra $200. 1. How the stars are earned. Regardless of star rating, SEER or EER (these are all different kinds of rating systems), the principle is always the same, which is how much cooling the AC can provide in Watts versus how ...
Read more

Type B Vs Type C MCB-Which One Is Really Safe for A Home AC?

-
Image
  IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY Hey there! Are you trying to figure out which breaker switch to use for your new air conditioner? For a home AC, a Type C MCB is really the safe and correct choice. If you use a Type B, you're going to face a lot of annoying power trips right when you need the cooling the most. Today, I'm going to explain exactly why this happens, without making your head spin with overly complicated electrician jargon. We will look at the simple physics behind it so you know exactly what is going on inside your electrical panel. What Exactly Is an MCB? Let's start with the basics. MCB stands for Miniature Circuit Breaker . Think of it as a smart safety gate for the electricity in your home. When too much electricity tries to push through your wires, they can get dangerously hot and even start a fire. The MCB watches out for this. If things get out of hand, it "trips" or turns off the power instantly to keep your house safe. Inside this l...
Read more

MCB Tripping Exactly When the AC Compressor Starts? (The Technical Reason Why)

-
Image
IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY It’s super hot outside, you turn on your air conditioner, and right when you hear it rev up—the power goes out. Why is your MCB tripping exactly when the AC compressor starts? It happens because of a massive, split-second spike in electricity called "inrush current" needed to kick-start the heavy compressor motor. Your breaker thinks this totally normal power surge is a dangerous electrical fault, so it shuts everything down to protect your home. If you're tired of flipping the breaker back on while sweating in your living room, you aren't alone. This is one of the most common AC problems out there. Let's break down exactly what's happening behind the scenes, look at a little bit of the physics involved, and figure out how you can fix it. The Simple Physics of Starting an AC To understand why your Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) trips, we need to talk about how motors work. Imagine trying to push a broken-down car. Get...
Read more

Why Your 16A Smart Plug Melts When Running a 1.5- Ton Split AC

-
Image
IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY This looks like a dream Home Automation scenario: buy a Wi-Fi smart plug, put a 1.5 ton Split AC in it and your Digital Assistant will do you a favor to cool the entire house before you reach back. You might have seen the box reading "16A Heavy Duty" so a 1.5 Ton Split AC will surely draw 7-8A current when running in a steady state. So math doesn't lie, it should work? This is not true; if you're going to put a 1.5 Ton AC in a plastic smart plug then the internal relay is going to either fuse or melt, or at the worst case start a fire. Let us understand, with reasons from Electrical Engineering why this 16A rated smart plug isn't going to do what it's supposed to and why its rating is technically a half-truth. 1. The Resistive Vs Inductive Load Trap This is a secret gem of Home Automation industry that they don't tell the consumers. If a manufacturer writes that this smart plug can handle 16A it only mean...
Read more

Flat Plate vs. Tubular Inverter Batteries: Which Actually Survives Intense Summer Power Cuts?

-
Image
IMAGE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY So you're standing in any battery shop and the salesman's about to offer you two different types of batteries for backup. You'll have to choose between: Flat plate Vs tubular. A shopkeeper may try to sell you a "flat plate battery, they're much cheaper and charge quickly." If you're living in a hot humid summer and a severe electricity outage occurs and the power's out for a full day, you're going to find yourself spending money for naught on a flat plate battery. This, is a scientific guide on how the two batteries handle power and heat, and which is the best choice for your house. 1. Flat plate batteries (The Sprinter): In a flat plate battery, you have flat grids which are covered with active lead oxide. This is what makes a large portion of your plate being in touch with acid, so that the battery is always quickly discharging and thus, will always recharge equally fast. But because you can have so mu...
Read more