Not On The Same Page!

[leehljp]

My middle daughter and I had a conversation today that was one of those "we are not on the same page" conversations.

Background: This daughter is the one daughter who communicate well when it comes to electrical, mechanical or computers. She is not as adapt at mechanical fixing as most of us on this forum but she can look, see, hear and observe enough with electrical and mechanical sense to communicate easily enough what is wrong.

In the winter of 2010-2011, her Nissan Versa blew a fuse on her heater motor. She figured that out, but asked me to help. Well, we replaced two fuses before it worked again. Soon, (a few weeks later) it did it again. And later, again. It always blew when the fan (whether AC or heater or fan alone) was on the highest speed.

One day last summer, she got the idea that maybe we stuck 10amp fuses in a 15 amp slot, so she called me and asked if it were possible that this could be the problem. I told her it was possible. She double checked and replaced the fuse again with a 15 amp fuse. I didn't hear any more about that - until today.


We came to visit her (Springfield MO) for three days, and today I asked her "Did the fuse change make your fan work at full speed?"
Her: No.
Me: So it still blows at full speed?
Her: No, it doesn't blow.
Me: So it works?
Her: No, it doesn't work.
Me: So, it blows?
Her: No it doesn't blow.

We looked at each other a minute before we finally got on the same page with the word "blows". . . which - the fan or fuse "blows"!

But it is nice to be able to communicate with a daughter about mechanical and electrical (and computer) things.

[jackellis]

The daughter of a long-time friend is leaning toward mechanical engineering. Other than two sons of a childhood friend who had no choice in the matter (their dad is a better looking version of Dilbert), she's the only child of friends and family that is pursuing a technical or scientific degree.

[LCHIEN]

us electrical engineers say the fuse opens or the circuit breaker opens or trips.

[TB Roye]

According to LOML a fuse blows and circut breaker pops. So that is the official meaning.

Tom

[cabinetman]

us electrical engineers say the fuse opens or the circuit breaker opens or trips.

I thought they refer to continuity.

.

[cabinetman]

We looked at each other a minute before we finally got on the same page with the word "blows". . . which - the fan or fuse "blows"!

But it is nice to be able to communicate with a daughter about mechanical and electrical (and computer) things.

That's a great story. It's similar to how some posts are written and the terminology used. Like in your case a simple addition of the word "fuse" in asking if it blows would have made it clear to her.

Without specific words to eliminate misunderstanding, replies to a post can be a possible answer, but way off in relation to what the OP was referring to.

.

[tommyt654]

I got it Hank, (raising arm over and to the back of head)

[leehljp]

That's a great story. It's similar to how some posts are written and the terminology used. Like in your case a simple addition of the word "fuse" in asking if it blows would have made it clear to her.

Without specific words to eliminate misunderstanding, replies to a post can be a possible answer, but way off in relation to what the OP was referring to.

.

I was just thinking the same thing, but not in relation to posts here, - between ministers of all people.

Between LOML and myself, I always think in context of last sentence of a subject and respond accordingly (focus on the direction of the subject). LOML usually thinks in terms of the general subject and anything within the conversation, and often moves away from the focused point of the last sentence.

We have even had conversations about this and she insists that she is right, so I guess that is "right".!


AND another part of mis-communication in conversations often has to do with a person's verbal inflections. Most people use verbal inflections one way and a few - just the opposite. I never will forget a conversation that I had some years ago in Korea with one of my co-workers. I told the co-wroker of an abrupt confrontation between a fellow I was with and a Korean. (The fellow I was with was just plain rude in any context.) My co-worker asked: "Well, where were YOU?" with the inflection on "you". I replied: "I was right there!" He replied: "UGH, English language is SO hard to communicate." After falling out laughing, I told him what city we were in when it happened.

[tommyt654]

Whose on 1st

[Stytooner]

In Germany, the fuse would be kaput.

[LCHIEN]

its like a vacuum cleaner. If its sucks its good. But if it doesn't suck, then it really sucks.

[LinuxRandal]

So is the problem solved? Was a smaller then spec'd fuse, placed in line?

Or could this be the fan resister going bad?

[leehljp]

So is the problem solved? Was a smaller then spec'd fuse, placed in line?

Or could this be the fan resister going bad?

No, the problem was not solved. On high, the fuse will (choose your favorite) "blow", go "kaput" or "open" immediately. So she just does not use the "high" setting. It is out of warranty and without knowing where the problem is - switch or motor, - she didn't want to go to the expense of getting it fixed, nor me for the time involved in replacing both.

The fuse was spec'd, and everything else works OK. She has been thinking of trading it off for the past year but with no other problems except for that, she likes the fact that it is "paid for" more than the idea of a new car with a payment.

[mpc]

How hard is it to get to the fan motor? On many cars it's either poking through the firewall into the back of the engine bay or hangs down into the passenger's footwell. If you can see the electrical connector, try unplugging it... then install a fuse. If the fuse blows/kaputs/fries/burns-up/dies/etc. when you try the switch on HIGH then it's not the motor; it's wiring or the switch or something laying on the backside of the switch (I've found paper clips in all sorts of oddball places behind dashboards!). I'll bet the fuse does die; it'd be odd for the fan motor to kill fuses on HIGH and yet actually operate/run normally at other speeds via the resistor.

Another common problem with blower motors, especially those that hang from the bottom of the big plastic housing: water accumulation. There is supposed to be a drain hose on the bottom of the plastic housing around the air conditioner evaporator (part that chills the air) to drain off the condensation that naturally forms. Even cars without A/C typically have a drain hose simply because water vapors naturally get into the system and can condense. If this hose is blocked, water pools in the housing and eventually can get into the motor. Small leaves are the typical reason for a blocked hose. A stiff wire (coat hanger) stuffed up the drain hose is often all that's needed to fix it. The hose will either poke into the engine bay through the firewall (angled downwards) or will run along the passenger footwell floor and through the bottom of the floor. Sometimes you have to unclip it from the plastic housing inside the car... have a bucket and rags/towels ready for the flood waters! And remove the carpets first if possible.

mpc

[glenns5900]

Many many years ago I worked for a wholesale electronics distributor that sold parts to TV repair shops. We also had walk in do-it-yourself customers.

This guy came in and bought a box of 3AG style fuses for something. About an hour later he came back with the box of fuses and said that they were defective. Every one of them was blown. I politely told him that they did what they were supposed to.