Re: Refrigerator monitor ideas?

["Bill Kearney" <wkearney-99@hot-mail-com>]

> I'm always astounded at how many purely technical questions get responses
> that either end up as lifestyle critiques or miss the point of the
original
> post completely.  This is how *I* choose to spend my time.  It really
> shouldn't become a subject in a purely technical request for input and
> ideas.

Oh give it a rest already.

> My choices appear to be:
> 1) to eliminate the dog hair that eventually clogs the drain tube,

Do a better job of keeping your house clean.  Avoid the crud getting in
their entirely.  What better non-technical solution could be devised to
stave off the dirt collecing in the first place?  Or altering the drain
setup such that it better handles the crud.

Frankly I'd just get rid of the dog and solve the whole problem.

> My wattmeter tells me it draws 112 watts when running.

If you're as suspicious as you claim to be then you wouldn't trust that
meter.

> One reason I am happy to keep this old basement unit running is that stuff
> made 30 years ago was made with lots of metal in the mechanicals and not
> with cheap plastic that becomes brittle over time.
>
> The dogs don't seem to mind that the plastic interior is cracked.

I thought you were claiming in the good old days they made stuff that didn't
crack?

> But all that's pretty much irrelevant to the question I was asking:  I
want
> a simple way to be warned when the drain tube connector clogs with dog
hair
> and dust.  That's a pretty simple *technical* request.  It might even
> produce a useful idea for others who've had drain tube clogs even in the
> high efficiency, $1000 boxes.  My furnace filter whistles when it gets
> clogged.  I want my refrigerator condensate "filter" to chirp or close a
set
> of contacts when *it* is clogged.

Your furnace can do this because it's already moving air and can detect the
blockage.  A passive drain doesn't afford the same option.  I think Bass
made a good suggestion, a pair of moisture sensors, one at the top and the
other at the bottom of the drain tube.  If there's water at the top and not
at the bottom then you've got a problem.  And if the water's below a certain
temperature it'd be a sign there's possible freezing developing.  Is water
not moving or is it too cold?  If either of those conditions is true then
you'd got a problem.  I'd think a threshold on the temperature could
likewise be an early warning indicator but then I don't know how fast it
freezes up.

Yeah, there's probably a grain of truth to the notion of continuing to use
an existing device instead of a new one.  But I doubt it.  Besides, if you
keep using that same one you're depriving the industries and all their
employees of work.  Gotta keep those wheels turning, right?  <grin>

-Bill Kearney