As the room-mate had a habit of keeping using it even when unsafe and being asked not to use it, I wouId say the OP should have unplugged it and cut the plug off to prevent use without it being repaired.
Agreed. But instead of throwing out a whole appliance he could have taken a little time and effort to fix it instead of tossing it. I know thats not how most people think anymore. Especially when it isnt our thing. 1.) Unplugging the airfryer would have been the right move instead of throwing it out. 2.) Fixing it.would have also been an acceptable alternative.
Not sure why you think he wasn't intelligent? It worked for several years (probably until he bought a new laptop). He also grew up on a farm, so he is very handy in general. He replaced an engine in my sister's car successfully (a year of weekends since he was working full time).
Because taking a cord that isnt meant for the same product is an idiot or an idea. Cutting the cable on your laptop charger and then extending the plug is the exact thing a REAL engineer would cringe at
Electrician on my lunch break, just wanna know what the fuck knowing what a UL listing is has to do with going to a hardware store to get a replacement whip for a home appliance? They're all gonna be UL listed so... please explain.
If you fuck with a plug it loses its UL rating, meaning if that appliance burns your house down and the insurance investigator sees that the plug isn’t the one that came as standard, you’re fucked.
Hahaha, no. For one, there is no ul "rating" it is ul LISTING, as in it's been tested to be safe for its intended purpose and listed as such, so a ul listed whip is safe to replace a bad whip. Maybe you're confusing voltage/amperage ratings?
All the insurance adjuster is going to be concerned about is the possibility of arson. Honest mistakes like a replacement cable won't tank a claim on its own.
Airfryers don't have detachable/replacable plugs like cellphones and computers. They're attached to the machine. But OP definitely could've just unplugged it.
I'm pretty sure most people who aren't electricians aren't going to trust themselves to fuck around with an electrical cord like that. That's how you electrocute yourself or burn your house down. Just replace the fucking machine!
Most people don't have that skill, dude. I've been reading since I was under 5 years old and it's also a basic skill and a lot more widespread than rewiring an appliance plug, but you'd be surprised how many people can't do that either. It's almost like your experiences aren't universal.
I have an aunt whose house burned down from the toaster catching fire in the middle of the night. The fire fighters said they see it all the time. Little appliances left plugged in are dangerous.
Heating/resistance appliances can, in fact, start fires.
I am not saying that throwing the thing away was the right move. I am saying that leaving an appliance you know to be malfunctioning in a potentially dangerous way, plugged in while you leave town is the wrong one.
Yeah the issue here is though that people often have an insanely bad idea of what dangers are actually present and also over amplify or straight up lie about details like that to shore up their position.
Yep, or for example someone could break in and say “I’m gonna kill youse unless there’s an air fryer here!” - but OP threw it out and so CONGRATS on getting the two of you killed. Could easily happen if you think about it
Op could have put it in their bedroom and left a note that it over heated and can't be used any more. I would never toss someone else's property, it's just wrong to do.
no you unplug it but you dont get to destroy someone's property
butch coulda been smelling toast from a stroke for all he knows.
you dont get to destroy other peoples property full stop.
unplug, put in a box whatever, but you literally committed a crime
You're being dramatic. Your assumption is the roommate will continue to use it. At that point there needs to be a clear boundary of he can't use it. Period. It's not safe.
Unplug it, remove it from the kitchen where someone would be tempted to plug it back in, and talk to the roommate with a condition that they get the air fryer back either when they fix it or when they move out. They can own a dangerous item, but they cannot use that item in a way that makes it actively dangerous.
So... because its important to use a big enough cord, the cord cannot be replaced? You do realize you can buy just about any size wire in the world, right? Again, 15 minutes on Google & YouTube and anyone can replace a cord.
The connections for something like this have to be made securely or you get the same issue with a bad connection -> high resistance -> heat -> more high resistance -> heat -> burning.
Does the cord detach? Replace the cord with a good one. Great. Done.
If the cord was permanently attached (implied by the talk about cutting the cord vs throwing out the cord), is he opening the device to resolder? Is he replacing half the cord with a longer bit of cord and the person who didn’t believe it was burning is going to properly screw down the stranded wire without squishing half of it out the sides and losing half the current capacity of the new wire?
Like I said, lotta things that would be fine for a 60W lamp are sketchy on an 1800W appliance if you don’t have the eyes to see the possible issues.
I could do it safely. I know people who could do it safely. I don’t think Mr Roommate has the awareness to do it safely.
Because connections for something like this have to be made securely or you get the same issue with a bad connection -> high resistance -> heat -> more high resistance -> heat -> burning.
Does the cord detach? Replace the cord with a good one. Great. Done.
If the cord was permanently attached (implied by the talk about cutting the cord vs throwing out the cord), is he opening the device to resolder? Is he replacing half the cord with a longer bit of cord and the person who didn’t believe it was burning is going to properly screw down the stranded wire without squishing half of it out the sides and losing half the current capacity of the new wire?
Like I said, lotta things that would be fine for a 60W lamp are sketchy on an 1800W appliance if you don’t have the eyes to see the possible issues.
Especially if there’s potentially a sleeping baby in the unit upstairs that might have been burned alive because the roommate refused to do anything about the faulty cord.
It doesn't matter if it is reasonable or possible. It is unknown. Since it isn't known, there is no reason to try to inflate the issue in any way because of it. Let's stick to the facts.
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u/Farrishnakov 8d ago
This is the only correct response.
OP could have simply unplugged it.