dishwasher camera

[Harondel J. Sibble]

Earlier this year I came across a nice dish washer camera where they took a
camcorder with light and stuck it in a large glass jar to track what happens
during a cycle, but can't seem to find that info anymore.

I need to find something similar as our dishwasher is not washing very well,
have checked all the filters, adjusted soap amounts etc.

Now I do have a waterproof camera, but it's not really designed for this sort
of stuff

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/OS770SW/OS770SWA.HTM

I guess I could buy the underwater housing, but I'd like something generic
enough to put other camera's in.

Any suggestions for something locally available and cheap that can handle say
60-90 minutes in the dishwasher?

I have the starfrit lock and lock containters (silcone seal), both plastic
and glass, but I think my wife might object to using them for this
"experiment".

Other suggestions?
--
Harondel J. Sibble
Sibble Computer Consulting
Creating Solutions for the small and medium business computer user.
he...@pdscc.com (use pgp keyid 0x3AD5C11D) http://www.pdscc.com
Blog: http://www.pdscc.com/blog
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[Steven Smethurst]

Hello 

A GoPro would be prefect for this project too bad its $399

http://gopro.com/hd-hero3-cameras

How about a mason jar ? 

That should be water proof. 

--
- Steven Smethurst

W: abluestar.com 

P: 604-318-3744 

[Dave Hylands]

Hi Harondel,

On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 12:24 PM, Harondel J. Sibble <he...@pdscc.com> wrote:

Earlier this year I came across a nice dish washer camera where they took a
camcorder with light and stuck it in a large glass jar to track what happens
during a cycle, but can't seem to find that info anymore.

I need to find something similar as our dishwasher is not washing very well,
have checked all the filters, adjusted soap amounts etc.

Now I do have a waterproof camera, but it's not really designed for this sort
of stuff

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/OS770SW/OS770SWA.HTM

I guess I could buy the underwater housing, but I'd like something generic
enough to put other camera's in.

Any suggestions for something locally available and cheap that can handle say
60-90 minutes in the dishwasher?

I have the starfrit lock and lock containters (silcone seal), both plastic
and glass, but I think my wife might object to using them for this
"experiment".

Other suggestions?

MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) sells (at least online, and presumably in the store, but I haven't been in a while) these Pelican cases:
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/GiftIdeas/PaddlingGifts/PRD~5013-004/gsi-lexan-utility-box-xsmall.jsp

You just need to check what size you need.

[Stefan Wiswedel]

Canning jar?

[Harondel J. Sibble]

DOH!!!

I should check my closet space, I have several of those lexan boxes of
various sizes, plus a few Pelican cases I used for geocaching for my bt gps
receiver.

Thanks for the reminder.

I could put an led light in one container and the camera in the other.

[Harondel J. Sibble]

Yes, to the mason jar, I think that's what I saw them use, but I remember
they had to do some extra work to make sure the jar was watertight.

"should be" waterproof.... my camera would survive a leak, my wife's OTOH,
that'd get me in the doghouse quickly.

[Harondel J. Sibble]

Drool, now I have to figure how I can justify buying one of those ;-)

On 28 Dec 2012 at 12:27, Steven Smethurst wrote:

> Hello
>
> A GoPro would be prefect for this project too bad its $399
> http://gopro.com/hd-hero3-cameras
>

[Stevemopolis]

You may have issues with optical distortion using a mason jar...

 

On another notes, check that the jets on the rotating sprayer gizmo in the bottom of the dishwasher aren't partially plugged.  That was the problem with mine when it stopped washing properly.

 

Steve

 

[Steven Smethurst]

Hello 

I been trying to find a reason as well for months.

They look amazing but my current camera does just about everything I need. 

[Harondel J. Sibble]

Yup, that's exactly my problem too.

[Kevin]

Can you turn on the camera remotely?  Check the offline temp specs and dry heat the jar in the oven, then add lid.  Mason jars are normally sealed by suspending them in boiling water for several minutes.  As it cools it forms a bit of a vacuum inside.  

Alternatively, you could apply plumbers putty to the inside and rim of the jar, it repels water and should enhance the seal sufficiently.

You may want to run the dishwasher in low heat mode or eco or whatever it calls it.

[Derek Anderson]

Many consumer devices (including the gopro) are going to have trouble with the heat; and the gopro is a bit pricy to kill that way.

60C is a max temp for lots of parts, and though they can handle much higher temps than that, I would shudder to think what a lipo cell blowing up inside a mason jar might do to the camera/dishwasher.

$0.02

[Stevemopolis]

Run the dishwasher with cold/warm water and don't use the dryer cycle since the object of the exercise is to see what the dishwasher is doing mechanically during the wash cycle.

 

Steve

[Kevin]

Most dishwashers are just impeller pumps with a couple solenoid valves...  The spinning parts you could see move with the water pressure.

[Harondel J. Sibble]

Here's another cheaper option

https://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10834&cs_id=1083408&p_id=10159&seq=1&format=2

[Daniel DeGagne]

How about running this dishwasher on a cold cycle? Turn off the hot water connect to be sure?

[Harondel J. Sibble]

that requires pulling the machine out from under the counter, not something I
am keen to undertake.

I'll go with the plan of waterproof camera inside sealed lexan container.

I won't need a full cycle run anyways, just want to see what's happening with
the spray arms and such.

The Monoprice camera was suggested as a much cheaper, general use,
alternative to the Go Pro camera.

[James Baxter]

I have disassembeled and repaired a few dishwashers in my time. they are simple devices.

top 2 issues in dishwashers imo are:

  a) crap got stuck in a pipe. broken glass/plastic/ nasty food item.  Causes slower flow of water through entire system, results in slow/ poor preformace water jets.., ie: water is not sent with any force from the sprayers to the items in the dishwasher.  FIX: decouple each hose, both ends run water though in a sink to test, clean if slow flow detected.

b) a solenoid got jammed.  This is usually the case when the washer stops, or fails to stop at one of the many stages of the fill/washing/ drain cycle.  FIX: test each with externally applied voltage ie: can you make the solenoid flip on/off (should be audible click)  dismantle and clean/fix, or more likely buy replacement (rusted).

-DrChaos

--------------------------------------
 James Baxter
 Dynamic problem solver
--------------------------------------

[Harondel J. Sibble]

I suspect it's the first item as cutlery in particular is NOT coming out
looking very clean, dishes and such are usually okay, but occaisionaly
(rarely) some items are still dirty or greasy.

This dishwasher has a nesting spray unit that rises up into the middle of the
cavity and my money is on that being the largest part of the problem.

[Stephen Young]

My dishwasher is over 50 years old, functional for the last 43 or so, and plumbing problems are not expected (crossing fingers!) for another 20 years.  Quality of the work is excellent.  Maintenance is a given but unit is amazingly versatile, even outside that particular field.  The downside is the time consumed, but I have its CPU doing background data processing at the same time so it is not really a loss.

There is an optional fast drying function but I rarely use it unless I am supporting my redundant dishwasher, a better looking unit but not as efficient (don't tell her I said that).

SDY

(Cheapily supporting the Slow Food Movement, the Slow Dishes Washing Movement, the Slow Dishes Drying Movement and the Slow Bowel Movement2)

---

From: Harondel J. Sibble <he...@pdscc.com>
To: vhs-g...@lists.hackspace.ca
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 2:25:14 PM
Subject: Re: dishwasher camera

[James Baxter]

The Dr recommends:

a) acquire a case of beer and 3/4 or a free weekend day.

b) flip on offending unit onto its backside.

c) disassemble plumbing, clear/clean tubes (laborious boring job, requires beer) yes, this can be a 2 person job.

Note, many machine don't have proper hose clamps (ones that use a screw/bolt system for tightening) so i replace with real ones from the HW store.

if you wanted to "man-up" your dishwasher, you Could install a more powerful pump, or if you are like me, create a small step up circuit and over voltage your pump say by 15%.

--------------------------------------
 James Baxter
 Dynamic problem solver
--------------------------------------

[Daniel DeGagne]

I believe most redundant dishwashers run on chocolate, flowers, the odd candle light dinner, followed by chocolate.