Dave goes on holidays to Hawaii and rants a little bit about a variety of things, yet ultimately manages to tie Sex Toys, big Telescopes, Cable TV, NTSC, UHF Modulation, Renewable Power Generation, and bad product design together in the one blog.
Eevblog #69 – sex toys, telescopes, cable tv, uhf modulation, renewable energy, silly shower taps
ByYTB
Mar 29, 2010
The tap issue is something that irritates me in the United States as well.
Here in Germany if we have shower and bathtub combined, which is a quite common setup, we have a single tap for both, also with usually a knob that you pull to activate the shower. However, you can set your temperature first with the water going straight into the tub and then simply "switch over" to the shower. For regulating temperature and water flow there's three different kinds commonly used. The oldest that has separate valves for hot and cold, just like Dave described, the typical design where you have a single lever where pulling up on it increases the flow, while pushing down on it reduces the flow down to 0, and swiveling it left and right adjusts the temperature. You still have full control as with the two-knob setup, but you can control both parameters individually, like shutting off the shower while keeping the temperature setting. And there is the more luxurious version where you have a real thermostat in there that you set and another knob to adjust the flow. In my previous apartment I used to have one like this as the water pressure fluctuated a lot when people in the apartmens below me used either hot or cold water, leading to my shower constantly changing from too cold to too hot. They are pretty neat, but more expensive.
In the US I have seen taps that look like the most common one in Germany, but the handle only rotates from off to cold to warm to hot. Flow rate can only be set to full or none. Pretty irritating that is. Just as the fixed shower heads that are often mounted so low that I have to twist and turn to get my hair wet and washed. lol
In some showers I have seen something that looks more like a big spherical knob that moves in two directions, usually in/out for flow adjustment and left/right for temperature setting. Admittedly that's quite rare in hotels there and more common in private households. Don't ask me why…
But the weirdest water setup is clearly the British "two faucet" system. I never found out how to properly get my hands washed there when they are either boiled or frozen, depending on which faucet I used. (I know there are historical reasons for this setup, where the cold water was always of drinkable quality, but due to the way the hot water was generated it wasn't necessarily safe to drink and therefore they had to be separated – but come on, it's the 21st century, We have solutions for this…)
Dicator-Dave wants to ban 1 taps because he had to take a cold shower because, because he didn't want to take the 60 seconds to figure out the right position of the 1 tap. omg really … 2 taps = 2 hands = shit. Also not one easy motor-memory positon for the right water setting … But Hawaiians are afraid of change!!
Ok I totally appreciate your blog, but please keep the politics out of it, wind, solar and all other so called renewable energies just don't work well enough, they're not reliable enough yet. America has sunk billions upon billions of dollars I into renewable energy for very little return
that tv is complicated, lets tear it down! =)
There is something else about the single-tap shower that I haven't seen anyone mention either. Its actually a good product design, contrary to Dave's statement. The single tap means that the tap 'knows' the temperature that you have it set to so when the water pressure changes, like when someone flushes the toilet, the temperature doesn't change so you don't get scalded. It's a safety feature! When the pressure drops in one line, the pressure in the other line is lowered as well, to maintain the same temperature. It isn't easily done with a two-tap system.
I know this is an old video, but, I'm working my way through them in order.
The comment about the large black cables that Dave calls cable lines appear to be older style telephone cables. They are so large because they are 50 or 100 pair cables with each pair being an actual analog telephone line. The large cans on the cables are there to hold the 'beans' where they crimp on the house service and where they splice all the pairs from one cable into a new cable. Splices were done with crimp on 'beans' which are single ended rather than inline so they splay out perpendicular from the cable and necessitate the large cans. Those cans are also hinged so that the worker can open one side or both and work on the splices within.
I know this is a very old video, but I have to defend the one taps out there in the world! Where I live most houses have 2 taps, just like in Australia BUT I insisted on installing a 1 tap in my house… Why? Because they are MUCH simpler! You always know the angle at which you like your temperature for a shower, then it's just a matter of lifting the tap and there's your perfect and fast shower! Whereas on the 2 tap you have to be remembering how many turns on each tap, counting, adjusting, and if you want less pressure than you are used too, good luck adjusting that…. 1 tap is just: select your angle then lift!
The single faucet showers are a result of product safety regulations that require anti-scald mechanism in the controls. There is a floating cylinder that is balanced by both the hot and cold pressures that moves if one of the pressures drop and supposedly prevent accidental scalding by the old and young. Though perhaps not this, I am sure you have similar rules in Australia. For example, I see you have outlawed the sale of incandescent light bulbs……..
The problem with renewable energies is the cost. Like it or not, nuclear and fossil fuels are cheaper, and it is argued in the US, allow poorer people to have the benefits of low-cost energy. Also, windmills are ugly to many and kill many birds. Most would rather get their energy from one small plant that they never see than from windmills cluttering up the countryside.
Over half of Americans don't believe in man-caused global warming….so expensive renewables are a hard thing to sell. It sounds fine until their electricity bills double or triple.
The big proponents of it in the US are raving hypocrites who preach to the middle class about global warning and then fly home on their private jets.
Go to google maps, turn on satellite, zoom in, an look at the rooftops of Hawaii nowadays. It's not every house, but holy shit do they have a lot of solar panels. Looks like they listened to Daves rant, haha!
Renewables, what a freaking joke. Nobody want's to listen to the drone of a field of wind turbines. Not to mention wind/solar/cow farts are the most expensive and silly way to produce power. Bring on nuclear plants.
dual taps are common on older houses. while newer ones have a single tap. cheapo. normally one these i just let the tub part run and ajust tell its correct. wastes a lot of water though
DAVE!! We have all sorts of shower controls in the US. Give us another chance.
Not very many people I know here in Murica realize you can still get over the air digital TV and analog TV (<1kW, I think I mentioned this before in another comment) for free rather than get a ridiculous number of channels they will never watch and be overcharged for services they won't use with cable.
Good on ya for pronouncing "Keck" correctly! You'd think it's simple but I have heard anything from "kick" to "kok!"
Good on ya for pronouncing "Keck" correctly! You'd think it's simple but I have heard anything from "kick" to "kok!"
its most done in America by liberals crazy about safety,thinking we are to dumb to adjust water, that some dumb kid is going to turn the hot water on and hurt itself.Just dumb things you have to put up with in this country:( our government has never been good at looking ahead!! but many citizens are doing it alone and they call them preppers!
Just wanted to point out that in homes, it is far more typical that I've seen to have two knobs. It's just in apartments and hotels they seem to favor the single knob taps. Probably fewer parts.
Wow, I just noticed the date of the video and realized had my honeymoon there in Hawaii only one month after this video was uploaded. Brought back memories, such a beautiful place.
fossil fuel… because… Murica
When i was in Derby England I was staying at this hotel that had these sinks with two faucets for hot and cold water to come out of. Like there was one faucet for only hot water and a separate faucet for only cold water to come out of (instead of one faucet to put your hands under to get a mixture of hot and cold) hahaha it blew my mind. Then when we got to the elevator there was one button for one elevator and another button for the other one instead one button for both. Lol I started to take a bunch of these random pictures and was posting them on my facebook.