Simmerstats: The genius old tech that controls your stovetop
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 เม.ย. 2024
- Hehe. Doody cycle.
Links 'n' stuff:
My video on turn signal flashers
• Why it's not possible ...
The US electrical system and that 120/240V stuff
• The US electrical syst...
The Pinball Machine video (part one)
• Old pinball machines a...
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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.
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.
@@JamesNeave1978 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
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 )
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 😂😂
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.
"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.
With many of my favourite TH-camrs 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.
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."
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 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.
If you used your subscriptions tab instead of using the recommended videos tab you'd already know a video is worth watching without seeing the channel name or subject.
Delete your watch history and turn off watch history to enjoy a version of TH-cam which only serves you what you want.
You'll still be given recommendations under the video you're currently watching but at least those recommendations will be based on the current video you're watching and not on your watch history (which many people don't realise contains hundreds of videos you DIDN'T necessarily 😅want to see).
I'd love if TH-cam could base their recommendations on my favourites and liked videos, instead of lazily suggesting new videos based on my blanket watch history.
Just because I watched a video from Fox News doesn't mean I liked it! Hahaha. Know what I mean? It's so backward.
I hope using your subscriptions tab instead of the home tab will be more enjoyable for you now.
You'll also notice the home tab recommendations have NOT been showing you all the latest videos from your subscriptions, but using the subscriptions tab will show you everything.
@@subliminalvibes 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 TH-cam algorithm.
@@logicalfundy agreed. - it makes no sense why TH-cam recommends videos based on watch history.
I've turned my watch history off, so I get a totally clear home page. From there I can go to trending to see what the rest of the world is watching, or my subscriptions to see what I want from my favourite creators.
Best of luck with the flat-earthers! 👍😎
@@subliminalvibesThank 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.
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!
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
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! 😝
now lets forward this to one of the other tech channels and challenge them to build an analogue/digital computer by heating bimetal strips to make them act as flip flops
“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_Kabbaher??? 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.
9:40 for those who don’t speak American, he is actually saying DUTY cycle, not doody cycle.
We're gonna potty all night !
It's "Judy cycle" across the pond, right?
Nah, it's the Dewey cycle. The dude was crazy, making that decimal system and then being involved in every home appliance for the next century! /s
I thought he was saying doody actually haha. Thank you.
You bedder believe it
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 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...
"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.
toster boyyyy
What
Did you just assume toaster entity's gender?
@@MP-oh9lt Alec called himself 'toaster boy' in one of his videos from ages ago. I love it.
Why do I keep seeing this spam bot account on all the videos I watch, really should get reported
Stop trading crypto x
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!
"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.
"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
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.
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.
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.
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.
the part on "this script being faster" made my day :)
thank you
We LOVE and EXPECT and DEMAND for the script to go out of hand. It's what makes this channel awesome!!
"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.
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.
@@hanifarroisimukhlis5989 Car windscreens seem to cope alright. Unless your stovetop regularly gets bricks dropped on it from overpasses it's shouldn't be too much of a concern.
The bi-metal strip needs to be at the very top of your thank you list. It gave you your entire career.
Our power system is not weird, it's genius, but kudos to you for calling it split phase rather than single phase. Depending on your reference point it's more accurate
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.
Playing the Can Can over the cam cam was brilliant.
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.
"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!
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?
I will always love subtitles in these videos, especially because English is not my first language and I love all of the bloopers and explanations about things that usually don't come in the script.
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!
You have now convinced me to always call stove burners "infernal frisbees"
I call air fryers countertop convection ovens because of Adam Ragusea and now Alec has given me another reason to confuse the heck out of people with my TH-camr-induced linguistic shift.
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.
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.
@@DelanAbbas 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
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. 🤦
It's amazing that just the day before this came out, I literally was asking myself this question, "Why does it pulse instead of just hold at a lower output". This is perfect.
A tangent... a 100% accepted and demanded tangent!
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.
Answering all the questions I had about my glasstop stove I never had, love it. Thanks Alec!
Touch controls on a stove would be like taking away a car's turn signal stalks" ... Excellent.
Yes, I love his understated snide remarks. But he's wrong about it being for no reason. The reason is: "the cheapest part is no part".
Europe here, touch controls can be bearable, you get used to them if you have a good model. The real bonus is they’re a breeze to clean.
I think-... OP is a comment bot
Yes they are. They're
quite common in TH-cam. They just copy/paste another comment to accrue "up votes", to gain some sort of account credibility.
@@listlesscasual4106 3-day old account... You're probably right.
The best channel on TH-cam. 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 TH-cam.
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.
Yeah, but why such a sycophantic comment? It's more interesting to actually read information rather than gushing bs in the comment section.
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
@@tbird81Why such a cynical comment?
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 The smart guy in the orange-with-context jacket.
@@SupremeRuleroftheWorld well played
@@SimuLord another well played
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.
You are truly great at this.
It should be dry and boring, but you're endearing, earnest, and entrancing.
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.
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
As an electrical power engineer with a strong side interest in control systems let me say that this was excellent! All the important concepts were hit.
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!
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
"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.
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.
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!
He's getting more self aware and more unhinged each video and I'm here for every second of it.
32:43 "I added the lights because it pleases me"
The best reason to add lights!
Exactly!
Ya know just a few days ago i was wondering how the variable heat of my stove top burners worked. And here you are just explaining the whole thing to me! What a wonderful world 😊😊
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.
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).
"Why did I think that? I don't know, it never works!".......super relatable sentiment there.
These videos are the right mix of deeply informed and snark. Keep up the fantastic work and teasing part 3 of the pinball series. 😂
I laughed out loud a few times during this presentation. You remind me of my favorite physics teacher in HS (back in the 70's). He was as much of a 'shower' as a lecturer, so we got a lot out of his classes. If I had that job, I'd use your videos and read a book for half the class! I've learned a ton watching your videos, because some of the most basic tech controls some of the most incredible systems (as shown here). I was in the US Navy, and I got to do a lot of hands on with things that would blow even your mind! For example, we use a water based device in a surface search radar to 'stretch' light in order to process receive signals and better remove clutter. The water had to be so pure, when we needed to replace it, we got it from guess where - the nuclear reactors! That's right, because if you had impurities in that water, things could get out of hand in the core very quickly when it came to heat in a nuclear core.
Cool stuff. Love your channel.
You are the only channel that manages to keep people interested in a box with a bimetallic strip
I don't know how you taught the lamp to have such great timing with your dialogue, but I'm impressed
IT WAS PERFECT
Thank you for your "tangent" - it really is relevant to the topic!
Congratulations! You have unlocked PWM!
My stove just uses combinations of separate "circles" in the heater to regulate power output and I think it's clever.
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.
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 figured something like this was going on; thanks for confirming and explaining! On a semi-related note, an explainer on induction ranges would be really neat!
There actually is a way to create a continuous, regulated, heat with electric stove. I've seen this method fairy often in other parts of the world.
It requires a heating element that consists of 3 separate resistors of different resistance (all of them are used for heating, no wasted heat), and 7 position switch that gives you 6 power levels and 1 OFF positions. This switch creates a 6 different combinations of the resistors connected in series/paralell. I've seen this in action on a glass ceramic stove and you can see different parts of the element glow in different intensity on different power levels.
The disadvantage is that, of course, you get only 6 fixed power levels, no fine variability. It also doesn't create that ramp up/ramp down effect when changing the power level.
I am not sure if there is some standard name for this control scheme, but I was able to find the parts wit googling "4 wire heating element" or "7/6 position stove switch"
I've seen that used for fan controls. Usually it's two or three resistors, and the switch selects whether power connects behind zero, one, two, or all of them.
You can also buy those old clunky channel-select knobs with up to 11 positions pretty cheaply, and put resistors between each pair of "channels" to turn them into the same kind of thing, giving you 11 different voltage outputs.
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"
The Cam Cam with the music and everything: *chefs kiss*
Cracked me right up.
Your Videos are completely and utterly amazing.
Once again serene ending music that engulfs you into nostalgic feelings that you are not sure if you should feel sad or happy.
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.
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.
I've known about turn signals having the bi-metallic switching for a long time, but I never thought about stoves (mainly because I've never owned one) and I just barely qualify as dabbling in electrical/electronic wizardry, so I feel it's safe to say I learned quite a bit when I stumbled upon your video.
Great piece of Old tech that achieves a pretty amazing result. It’s one of those mass produced things that if you tried to reproduce mechanically would be outside the capability of most all but the most well equipped (or extremely patient) people.
The way you timed the simmerstat going on and off with the script... magnificent.
It's just old-school PWM!
Member??? One day before posting?
Exactly so cool
Not quite because the frequency varies as part of controlling the average. Near the bottom of the range, the on time is nearly constant but the frequency decreases.
@@kensmith5694 SSSSPWM = super slow spread spectrum PWM?
As explained, pretty clearly, in the video. PWM is a form of duty cycle, but duty cycle is not necessarily PWM. PWM is a variable duty cycle at a given, constant, frequency. The frequency here is not steady, so it's just plain old, regular type, duty cycle.
I love that the conclusion of Like 90% of your Videos is just bimetal and as an electrician i am surprised every single time
I literally just had to replace one of these on my stove. Something like the bi-metallic strip was fried so it wasn't turning off (on any setting) - any setting on the knob was "always on". I found out about the switch through Google research, but if only I had waited a couple more weeks for this video to come out!
This is the wholesome educational content TH-cam was made for. I worked in a shop that repaired these stoves years ago and now I know why they last so long.
TH-cam 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.
"It's electric, Bill"
"...Still gets pretty hot"
The timing on this is great - I'm just about to replace one of these in my stove, and was going to take it apart to see how it worked. Now I just need to take it apart to see why it failed.
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.
“Simmerstat” has a delightfully Dutch ring to it.
And/or German.
"Simmen" is not an official Dutch word but kind of slang. It translates to moaning, nagging, keeping on about something not very important.
Looking forward to a German viewer explaining.
Cheers
Simmensta(d)t: City of Whiners? 🤔
German here and i have never heard of it. Google says "Simmer" it is an old unit of measurement for volumes, but it predates the Simmerstat by a lot. The more useful meaning is found under the Wikipedia article "Simmering" (in English), which is a food preparation technique.
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.
I really like listening to you talk about things
Agreed about the knobs. I chose the specific induction stove I did because it still uses knobs. It still uses touch buttons for the timer but that's less essential functionality so I'm okay with that.
What always gets me about things like the simmerstat is how elegant the solution is to a simple problem. It's completely mechanical.
Nowadays if you asked an engineer to solve this problem, they'd hook up a micro controller to a thermometer and a few relays and call it a day.
Not that there's anything wrong with the modern solution, but the analog engineering is just fascinating.
I don't think it's really elegant with current tech, it's incredibly wasteful of your power, forcing you to have enough power to make it run on full because of the really low frequency, while something properly scaling would not require you to have wiring for supporting that much power.
Especially for something like having 2 things simmering, it will still peak at the same power as if you were blasting full on both sides, could easily trip your breaker if you have other stuff going on.
You could also use the two phases in a smart way, making 50% and lower just pull on one phase (with each side of your stove having it reversed so they would pull from different ones on low).
Obviously you could always have a bigger breaker on have the utility company give you more but that costs a lot more money than smarter controls.
Depends on your perspective. For even cheap induction burners, they can sense the temperature of the base and heat accordingly, and since they can't work with a simmerstat, that's what they need to run. But yes, I appreciate the simplicity and prefer a glass stovetop vs induction for my stove top.
@@sprockkets while watching this video, I thought of putting proper thermostats into the stove, instead of a duty-cycle. I guess it's not cheap enough for older styles of stoves. (But I actually prefer them to induction ones, since I don't want to be limited in what pots or pans I buy. 😅)
Depending on how it's done the modern solution could also be elegant. If you use really cheap components and make it an on/off control I agree but you could do so much more like implementing a PID control algorithm, using a TRIAC with phase angle control or better yet an IGBT/MOSFET with a rectified power supply. You'd have to watch for harmonic distortions on those though
If you think that’s neat, your mind would be blown by pocketwatches from 100 to 150 years ago :) Everything in them seems like an impossibility, and some parts are so tiny you can’t really see them clearly without magnification. Their mechanisms not only regulated consistent timekeeping while a driving spring varied in force, but they even had adaptations for temperature changes which affected the friction of the lubricants. The temperature compensation was done by forming the circumference of the oscillating balance wheel out of a bimetal, so that the wheel contracted or expanded ever so slightly with varying temperature. They are mechanical works of art, and IMO one of the pinnacles of mechanical control design prior to electronics.
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.
I think you're an excellent teacher, actually, because even before you said it was bimetallic, I was thinking of the other times you'd talked about similar devices and going "Oh, I wonder if it's a bimetallic strip," and despite your worries that it would be complicated to explain, didn't get lost because you've explained similar concepts so well in other videos.
I am Finaly Operating my Microwave. Thanks. This is of the same order, I think. 80 power, 60 power, 40 or lower, many years have I used the Microwave at full blast. Now, usage of the percentage is a miracle. Thanks again.
I was explaining these to my wife a few weeks ago.... now I can let her watch this to REALLY explain something that she really doesn't care about lol
It instantly reminded me of a memory I had with my grandmother where I told her her oven doesn't get to a specific temperature, it just turns on and off.
It freaked her out so much, I felt so bad, she was very worried about her roasts never turning out well and she ended up changing her cooking style because of it
I can already see my SO's eyes glaze over and turn on the "uh huh, really, interesting."