It has happened 3 times already.
When my wife turned on the 32amp switch for the induction hob, a spark was seen followed by a exploding sound and the power tripped.
So I called the agent that sold me the induction hob. Based on their technical support's analysis, the probably cause is a faulty PCB unit in the induction hob.
To replace the PCB cost $350 and 2 units have to be replaced in my 4 burner induction hob.
Also, the other cause could be poor ventilation for the induction hob. That one I understand cos the hob sits above my kitchen cabinet. So next time, I will open the cabinet doors when we cook.
Another probable reason is that moisture may have seeped into the induction hob due to spills.
For whatever reason, I am happy the induction hob can still be used.
Just checked out a similar 4 burner induction hob. It cost around $1699.
Seriously, I think I will replace rather than repair.....
Wednesday 8 August 2012
Dishwasher Door Lock Replacement
Yesterday after 4 years, the dishwasher door decided to give up :-(
It simply refused to close. A call to the service centre in Singapore gave me the earliest appoint on Saturday. That meant 4 days without dishwasher.....but I had no choice but to accept it.
That was until my wife checked on Youtube. There was a video that explained the probable reason the dishwasher door could not close. It was due to a broken lock.
Today, I called the service centre and they had the part in stock. I paid $51 for the door lock. But that meant I saved $60 in service charges....and not to mention the ability to use the dishwasher today.
The process of changing the lock was pretty straight forward. The Youtube video did help. The process of changing the door lock is not too intimidating but it helped that my wife was around to assist in holding the partially dismantled door.
The problem with the lock was a broken spring.
It just reminds me of how sometimes we take things for granted. The dishwasher has been dutifully washing the dishes almost everyday. But I only feel the importance of it when I have to do the dishes by hand.....thank God for his grace that I was able to replace the lock today.......and I did not have to do the dishes by hand.
God is Good! I feel so loved.
It simply refused to close. A call to the service centre in Singapore gave me the earliest appoint on Saturday. That meant 4 days without dishwasher.....but I had no choice but to accept it.
That was until my wife checked on Youtube. There was a video that explained the probable reason the dishwasher door could not close. It was due to a broken lock.
Today, I called the service centre and they had the part in stock. I paid $51 for the door lock. But that meant I saved $60 in service charges....and not to mention the ability to use the dishwasher today.
The process of changing the lock was pretty straight forward. The Youtube video did help. The process of changing the door lock is not too intimidating but it helped that my wife was around to assist in holding the partially dismantled door.
The problem with the lock was a broken spring.
 |
| Picture of the broken door lock. The spring snapped after 4 years. |
God is Good! I feel so loved.
Friday 3 August 2012
iPhone, My LCD went dead....
My iPhone 3GS aw showing signs of age.... At almost 2 years old, the LCD panel started to develops a grey line at the bottom of the display.
So.... I thot perhaps I could get a replacement LCD from eBay and change it myself. After all, YouTube had many DIY videos.
So I ordered a LCD from eBay for 12USD. Waited for 1 month, the LCD arrived.
It looked kind of funny. The packaging was fine, bubble wrapped and the box looked alright but there seemed to be a blot of black on the LCD and there were 3 lines.
This being my first time seeing a real LCD panel, decided to give it a try. I replace it according to the YouTube videos and viola, the LCD was really faulty.
I tried to use back my old LCD unfortunately it was also damaged already.
Lesson learned:
1) I will not buy electronic stuff from eBay in future even if it is very cheap
2) get a professional to fix it
I got the LCD replace at a phone repair shop for $55. Done on the spot in 10 minutes.
I was penny wise and pound foolish.
So.... I thot perhaps I could get a replacement LCD from eBay and change it myself. After all, YouTube had many DIY videos.
So I ordered a LCD from eBay for 12USD. Waited for 1 month, the LCD arrived.
It looked kind of funny. The packaging was fine, bubble wrapped and the box looked alright but there seemed to be a blot of black on the LCD and there were 3 lines.
This being my first time seeing a real LCD panel, decided to give it a try. I replace it according to the YouTube videos and viola, the LCD was really faulty.
I tried to use back my old LCD unfortunately it was also damaged already.
Lesson learned:
1) I will not buy electronic stuff from eBay in future even if it is very cheap
2) get a professional to fix it
I got the LCD replace at a phone repair shop for $55. Done on the spot in 10 minutes.
I was penny wise and pound foolish.
Why does my electricity keep tripping?
It has been happening occasionally.
Halfway through dinner, no electricity. Middle of the night, no electricity.
Halfway cooking, no electricity.
I was angry and asked Jesus for help. Should I shift to another place? What can it be? The wiring in my home was re wired 3 years ago. Everything is new. Why does it happen after 3 years?
Later that evening, I was searching the internet and came across a forum. It seemed that there was someone who had the same problem as me.
In the forum, he mentioned that he changed the MCB for the water heater from 16amp to 20amp and apparently it sort of solved the frequent tripping His electrician apparently installed a 16amp MCB for the water heater.
After reading the forum, when I checked my MCB, I also found out that the MCB for my aircon was 16amp. My aircon was a system 4 and from what I recall, the trip occurs when I am using the aircon.
To cut the long story short, I bought a new 20amp MCB the next day. The best part of it was it cost me only $3.30.
The shop assistant was very helpful when he heard I was going to change the MCB myself and advising me to I ensure the main electricity is shut off.
The Job
The job was relatively simple. Remove the old MCB and replace with a new MCB.
But the problem was the metal bar that kept all the MCBs together. I think I had to unscrew about 10 screws under all 10 MCBs just to remove the metal bar.
By the time the installation was over, my palms were tired and sore from twisting the screwdriver. Also there was no fan as there was no electricity. Ha ha. My shirt was soaking wet.
I understand how an electrician feels now and why we pay them so much for their work. It's working under such conditions everyday for them. For me, it's only 20 minutes and I am already feeling hot and sweaty.
Thank God for leading me to read that forum. Everything is running in tip top condition now. There is no electricity trip thus far and I say that there will not be anymore electricity trips in future. Amen!
Halfway through dinner, no electricity. Middle of the night, no electricity.
Halfway cooking, no electricity.
I was angry and asked Jesus for help. Should I shift to another place? What can it be? The wiring in my home was re wired 3 years ago. Everything is new. Why does it happen after 3 years?
Later that evening, I was searching the internet and came across a forum. It seemed that there was someone who had the same problem as me.
In the forum, he mentioned that he changed the MCB for the water heater from 16amp to 20amp and apparently it sort of solved the frequent tripping His electrician apparently installed a 16amp MCB for the water heater.
After reading the forum, when I checked my MCB, I also found out that the MCB for my aircon was 16amp. My aircon was a system 4 and from what I recall, the trip occurs when I am using the aircon.
To cut the long story short, I bought a new 20amp MCB the next day. The best part of it was it cost me only $3.30.
The shop assistant was very helpful when he heard I was going to change the MCB myself and advising me to I ensure the main electricity is shut off.
The Job
The job was relatively simple. Remove the old MCB and replace with a new MCB.
But the problem was the metal bar that kept all the MCBs together. I think I had to unscrew about 10 screws under all 10 MCBs just to remove the metal bar.
By the time the installation was over, my palms were tired and sore from twisting the screwdriver. Also there was no fan as there was no electricity. Ha ha. My shirt was soaking wet.
I understand how an electrician feels now and why we pay them so much for their work. It's working under such conditions everyday for them. For me, it's only 20 minutes and I am already feeling hot and sweaty.
Thank God for leading me to read that forum. Everything is running in tip top condition now. There is no electricity trip thus far and I say that there will not be anymore electricity trips in future. Amen!
 |
| The old 16amp MCB |
Thursday 2 August 2012
Plumbing - changing stop cock ball valve
This is not the first time that I have had to do this.....the plumber that installed my plumbing used really lousy materials. In the last 2 years, I have had to change numerous stop cock ball valves in my toilets....
2 days back, my wife told me that the toilet is leaking.....and it is coming from a joint. Such comments can be a bit frightening cos you never know what is the cause of it.
When she pointed to the pipe joint that connects to the inlet of the toilet bowl, the picture became clearer. Oh no, not again!!!!
Went to the hardware shop, paid $4.20 and replace it in the evening. Previously, I used to have leakages after replacing it, this round it was perfect. That was because I said a prayer before I started work....Thank you Jesus!
2 days back, my wife told me that the toilet is leaking.....and it is coming from a joint. Such comments can be a bit frightening cos you never know what is the cause of it.
When she pointed to the pipe joint that connects to the inlet of the toilet bowl, the picture became clearer. Oh no, not again!!!!
Went to the hardware shop, paid $4.20 and replace it in the evening. Previously, I used to have leakages after replacing it, this round it was perfect. That was because I said a prayer before I started work....Thank you Jesus!
Fibre at Last - Who shall it be?
August marks an exciting month....things are supposed to go faster.
I made my choice of service provider for my Fibre Broadband service......it was with Starhub. No brainer actually cos I was on their cable broadband service and it meant just switching a broadband service plan.....but still with a 24 month contract.
Well, I did give a thought about going with M1. Considering their $39 a month 100mbps plan was the lowest in the market. But truth of the matter is.....that would mean paying about $20 more a month for me. And what is the point of having cable broadband from Starhub and fibre broadband from M1.
In the end, I chose Starhub because the top up was like $18 more a month to upgrade from 16mbps to 100mbps. In reality, on my iPad, I could get only about 32mbps uplink and 18mbps downlink. But I did feel the difference when downloading files.
Was considering not to install fibre broadband 2 months back, but I am really happy I installed it now.
I made my choice of service provider for my Fibre Broadband service......it was with Starhub. No brainer actually cos I was on their cable broadband service and it meant just switching a broadband service plan.....but still with a 24 month contract.
Well, I did give a thought about going with M1. Considering their $39 a month 100mbps plan was the lowest in the market. But truth of the matter is.....that would mean paying about $20 more a month for me. And what is the point of having cable broadband from Starhub and fibre broadband from M1.
In the end, I chose Starhub because the top up was like $18 more a month to upgrade from 16mbps to 100mbps. In reality, on my iPad, I could get only about 32mbps uplink and 18mbps downlink. But I did feel the difference when downloading files.
 |
| The white box is the ONT and the other is the wireless router/gateway |
Was considering not to install fibre broadband 2 months back, but I am really happy I installed it now.
Thursday 19 July 2012
Time to chill and watch them swim
Some people listen to music, some use aromatherapy but for me, its having an aquarium.
Things that went through my mind when choosing an aquarium:
a) Location of power supply - yes, I had 1 power supply that could power the pump and lights
b) Do I have time to maintain - well, I chose a low maintenance tank and my lovely wife is helping with the feeding.
c) Are my kids ready? - yes, all were briefed that no fishing is allowed in the house.
d) What type of aquarium should I buy? - At the shop, decided to go for a all-in-1 tank that had lights, pump and the tank is full covered to prevent suicidal fishes from jumping out.
e) Budget - $100 was the max I was willing to spend.
Learnings:
When my wife and I first started setting up the aquarium, enthusiasm was high. We spent quite a considerable sum of money on fishes. Why? Because the fatality rate was high. It's easy on hindsight when you already have a "seasoned" aquarium to say.....dun buy so much fish......you must let the aquarium get enough bacteria blah blah blah....have patience....please....who can wait so long?
Come on! If you spend almost $100 on an aquarium, you would want to have beautiful fishes inside right??? and immediately too....Duh...
If possible, start with CHEAP and yet still beautiful fish....
After countless retrieval of dead fishes from my aquarium and becoming good friends with the "uncle' at the aquarium shop (cos I keep buying fishes from him), I decided one Sunday afternoon to "invest" in those live fish that the aquarium sell as food for other bigger fishes.
I bought 2 bags of baby carp/gold fishes for $3. Out of the numerous fishes, all died except 2. At the same time, my friend gave me a pair of guppies. The female was pregnant and she gave birth to over 30 babies. From the 30 guppy babies, they multiplied until today.....the population is quite stable.
Seeing my 2 gold fish swimming (Adam and Eve), one Sunday I decided give them more friends by adding an additional bag of live fish into the aquarium. Surprisingly, the fatality rate was very low this time. Only 2 died.
In summary, it seems like the aquarium is quite healthy already.....bacteria, water and all factors.
Can guppies and gold fish live together?
Yes, I have guppies, goldfish.carp, 1 Oto and 1 prawn living together.
Fishfood
These are what we feed them.....mixture so they dun get bored.
Happiness
Its not expensive to maintain, yet it brings our family countless hours of discussion, talk and fun just watching them feed or swim around. Indeed, we sort of get the feeling of how happy Daddy God feels when he looks at us.
 |
| The setup was below $100. |
a) Location of power supply - yes, I had 1 power supply that could power the pump and lights
b) Do I have time to maintain - well, I chose a low maintenance tank and my lovely wife is helping with the feeding.
c) Are my kids ready? - yes, all were briefed that no fishing is allowed in the house.
d) What type of aquarium should I buy? - At the shop, decided to go for a all-in-1 tank that had lights, pump and the tank is full covered to prevent suicidal fishes from jumping out.
e) Budget - $100 was the max I was willing to spend.
Learnings:
When my wife and I first started setting up the aquarium, enthusiasm was high. We spent quite a considerable sum of money on fishes. Why? Because the fatality rate was high. It's easy on hindsight when you already have a "seasoned" aquarium to say.....dun buy so much fish......you must let the aquarium get enough bacteria blah blah blah....have patience....please....who can wait so long?
Come on! If you spend almost $100 on an aquarium, you would want to have beautiful fishes inside right??? and immediately too....Duh...
If possible, start with CHEAP and yet still beautiful fish....
After countless retrieval of dead fishes from my aquarium and becoming good friends with the "uncle' at the aquarium shop (cos I keep buying fishes from him), I decided one Sunday afternoon to "invest" in those live fish that the aquarium sell as food for other bigger fishes.
I bought 2 bags of baby carp/gold fishes for $3. Out of the numerous fishes, all died except 2. At the same time, my friend gave me a pair of guppies. The female was pregnant and she gave birth to over 30 babies. From the 30 guppy babies, they multiplied until today.....the population is quite stable.
Seeing my 2 gold fish swimming (Adam and Eve), one Sunday I decided give them more friends by adding an additional bag of live fish into the aquarium. Surprisingly, the fatality rate was very low this time. Only 2 died.
In summary, it seems like the aquarium is quite healthy already.....bacteria, water and all factors.
Can guppies and gold fish live together?
Yes, I have guppies, goldfish.carp, 1 Oto and 1 prawn living together.
 |
| Happy after food... |
 |
| Another pregnant guppy |
 |
| The goldfish like the bottom half whereas the guppies take the top part of the tank |
Fishfood
These are what we feed them.....mixture so they dun get bored.
Happiness
Its not expensive to maintain, yet it brings our family countless hours of discussion, talk and fun just watching them feed or swim around. Indeed, we sort of get the feeling of how happy Daddy God feels when he looks at us.
Wednesday 18 July 2012
Home made musical instrument
One day my daughters came home and said that they needed to have home made musical instruments as part of their school work.
My wife went on youtube and surfed to this video. I thought it was interesting.
With a few snips, an ordinary straw could become a oboe.
No wonder people in the past did not need PSP, DS, phone games to entertain themselves. The video is so refreshing. Why not try it yourself?
My wife went on youtube and surfed to this video. I thought it was interesting.
With a few snips, an ordinary straw could become a oboe.
No wonder people in the past did not need PSP, DS, phone games to entertain themselves. The video is so refreshing. Why not try it yourself?
 |
| Ironic that I took the photo of the straw with the iPad as background. |
 |
| Close up of the "straw" oboe |
Ants! Dun go for the trail....get to the root
Ants....how to get rid of them.
About a couple of weeks ago.....ants, the tiny ones started crawling on my kitchen worktop. My wife was tracing the trail and it led to multiple "suspected" corners....
Insecticide spray was used. Great, the ants would disappear for 1 day. Then it cam back again....arrrgh.
Finally, after a prayer, I got the prompting in my heart to use ant bait instead. I seemed to remember buying 1 long strip before that had a couple of capsules. After some digging at the storage boxes, I found 1 capsule left.
I sprinkled the bait sparingly along the trail where the ants were seem to be crawling.....then went to bed.
Its been a few days now....no more ants. Yippee.....indeed the chinese idiom is correct "chop grass rid root". Better to get rid of the ant colony than to get rid of the ant trail.
The silent ant destroyer Golden Hammer (Prime supermarket sells it for $2.10 but I bought mine at a hardware shop for $2.50)
About a couple of weeks ago.....ants, the tiny ones started crawling on my kitchen worktop. My wife was tracing the trail and it led to multiple "suspected" corners....
Insecticide spray was used. Great, the ants would disappear for 1 day. Then it cam back again....arrrgh.
Finally, after a prayer, I got the prompting in my heart to use ant bait instead. I seemed to remember buying 1 long strip before that had a couple of capsules. After some digging at the storage boxes, I found 1 capsule left.
I sprinkled the bait sparingly along the trail where the ants were seem to be crawling.....then went to bed.
Its been a few days now....no more ants. Yippee.....indeed the chinese idiom is correct "chop grass rid root". Better to get rid of the ant colony than to get rid of the ant trail.
The silent ant destroyer Golden Hammer (Prime supermarket sells it for $2.10 but I bought mine at a hardware shop for $2.50)
Sunday 15 July 2012
Fibre Broadband at last....
Ok what I meant was that I finally changed my mind to let the guys from Opennet come into my home to install the fibre termination point (TP)
When I received the letter from Opennet inviting me to install the TP, I was a bit apprehensive. I HATE any drilling or running wires in my home.
But upon a chance visit to my friend's home, he gave me a good idea on where to install the TP.
So.....the consideration was this.
a) No need to run the fibre from your front door to the electrical points next to your TV. This is because the NIMs project was canned....
b) You can always use a wireless router to "WiFi" your home.
c) Best to install the TP next to an electrical point
d) When subscribing for your Fibre Broadband package, choose a provider that give you 2-in-1 residential gateway (RG) plus Wireless Router device. Saves on getting an extra plug if you need to get a Wireless router yourself.
Finally on the fateful day on 6 July, the contractor from Opennet came to install my fibre TP.
The contractor did a good job at my request to drill 1 small hole through the wall to accommodate the fibre. After which he ran the trunking down vertically to the TP.
This was the final result:
Next project is to choose a Fibre Broadband provider.......so many choices......again
Ok what I meant was that I finally changed my mind to let the guys from Opennet come into my home to install the fibre termination point (TP)
When I received the letter from Opennet inviting me to install the TP, I was a bit apprehensive. I HATE any drilling or running wires in my home.
But upon a chance visit to my friend's home, he gave me a good idea on where to install the TP.
So.....the consideration was this.
a) No need to run the fibre from your front door to the electrical points next to your TV. This is because the NIMs project was canned....
b) You can always use a wireless router to "WiFi" your home.
c) Best to install the TP next to an electrical point
d) When subscribing for your Fibre Broadband package, choose a provider that give you 2-in-1 residential gateway (RG) plus Wireless Router device. Saves on getting an extra plug if you need to get a Wireless router yourself.
Finally on the fateful day on 6 July, the contractor from Opennet came to install my fibre TP.
The contractor did a good job at my request to drill 1 small hole through the wall to accommodate the fibre. After which he ran the trunking down vertically to the TP.
This was the final result:
Next project is to choose a Fibre Broadband provider.......so many choices......again
Monday 2 July 2012
Survellience Camera for home....should I do it?
Currently considering the available options for *cheep* and workable solution. Why cheap? Because I do not need professional quality as I do not forsee myself using the video in the courts. Its more of just doing it for fun.
30 July - saw that Az***h was having a promotion on ip camera at Challenger. Went to look at their online manual, called their tech support and it seemed its not so simple to setup the camera to view from a mobile phone. Argghh these DDNS and port forwarding are so complicated. So I gave up!
2 Aug - asked the Starhub technician that installed my fibre broadband on how to open the port in the D-link router / gateway. He game me a good answer. Go buy a d-link ip camera as they have already setup the DDNS for you. Sure will work one. And they even have a iPhone app.
I left it as that......
Will post more when I have the time to search around.
30 July - saw that Az***h was having a promotion on ip camera at Challenger. Went to look at their online manual, called their tech support and it seemed its not so simple to setup the camera to view from a mobile phone. Argghh these DDNS and port forwarding are so complicated. So I gave up!
2 Aug - asked the Starhub technician that installed my fibre broadband on how to open the port in the D-link router / gateway. He game me a good answer. Go buy a d-link ip camera as they have already setup the DDNS for you. Sure will work one. And they even have a iPhone app.
I left it as that......
Will post more when I have the time to search around.
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