Today, during a storm-related power failure, I jerry-rigged an inverter from my car to supply the essentials. In doing so, I managed to blow up the fridge, smoke and all. The power came back on 5 minutes later. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, in an attempt to be frugal, I tried to repair my own sometimes-faulty toaster. Turns out I unplugged the wrong kitchen appliance, which I only discovered by electrocuting myself while pulling it apart. Now it's definitely broken, will need replacing, and I have a burn. FML
Today, my refrigerator defrosted itself. FML
Today, I woke up to find my power was out. After taking a shower in the dark and being unable to make myself lunch, my power came on two minutes before I had to leave for school. FML
Today, I heard that there was supposed to be a huge blizzard heading our way, so I went out to stock up on groceries. After spending $600 on food, I drove home and packed most of it into the fridge and freezer just in time for our power to go out. FML
Today, my power went out due to a huge snow storm. I was in desperate need of candles and flashlights. I had to walk to the store since the roads were closed. I walked 4 miles in the blizzard. When I got home, the power came back on. FML
Today, I drove to a party after getting my car back from the shop. A thunderstorm started as I made my way there and upon arriving, the power went out. The guests decided to watch the storm from the front windows when someone mentioned how funny it would be if a tree fell on my car. Seconds later, one did. FML
Today, I bought an expensive air purifier to combat potential wildfire smoke. The next day, a freak flood knocked out my power. I sat in the dark, breathing in ash. FML
Today, I was driving home from a long day at work fixing people's electronics. When I got home, I got a call from work saying I needed to go back and help a customer with their TV again. When I got there, after an hour of driving, I realized I'd accidentally kicked the power cord out. FML
Today, while cleaning up, I dropped a box of thumbtacks, spilling them all over the floor. As I fumbled to pick them up, the power went out. FML
Today, my roommate decided to turn off all appliances in the house to "save" electricity. This included the refrigerator. FML
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Top comments
Chazzster 32
Electronic engineer here, and son of an appliance repairman… (1) If you leave the door closed on the refrigerator, the food will keep for about a day. It was far less urgent than you imagined to get power to the refrigerator… (2) I am assuming you didn’t actually re-wire anything but used an existing inverter and your car’s battery and then powered the fridge via an extension cord. Appliances have a label that tells how much power they require. And adding other things adds to the load. I assume that you overloaded the inverter (which should have had a maximum power rating) causing the Voltage at the fridge to drop too low. Motors (like the compressor) don’t like brown out conditions and draw even higher currents than normal. Long thin extension cords just make it worse… The only consolation is that compressors (the most expensive part of a refrigerator) are sealed and don’t smoke when they fail. So hopefully it’s something else that burned out… And finally, I agree - If you don’t know what you are doing leave electricity alone.
TomeDr 25
If you don’t know what you’re doing, electricity is NOT something to mess with.
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Comments (2)
TomeDr 25
If you don’t know what you’re doing, electricity is NOT something to mess with.
Chazzster 32
Electronic engineer here, and son of an appliance repairman… (1) If you leave the door closed on the refrigerator, the food will keep for about a day. It was far less urgent than you imagined to get power to the refrigerator… (2) I am assuming you didn’t actually re-wire anything but used an existing inverter and your car’s battery and then powered the fridge via an extension cord. Appliances have a label that tells how much power they require. And adding other things adds to the load. I assume that you overloaded the inverter (which should have had a maximum power rating) causing the Voltage at the fridge to drop too low. Motors (like the compressor) don’t like brown out conditions and draw even higher currents than normal. Long thin extension cords just make it worse… The only consolation is that compressors (the most expensive part of a refrigerator) are sealed and don’t smoke when they fail. So hopefully it’s something else that burned out… And finally, I agree - If you don’t know what you are doing leave electricity alone.