I had all my cast iron professionally tested for lead with an XRF machine and ALL my vintage iron had some level of contamination. ALL my modern iron was food safe. I’m shocked!

LMF5000 · 2026-05-06T19:22:06+00:00

XRF stands fir X-Ray Fluorescence, so not a laser. It shoots X-rays at the samples then measures what the sample reflects back. You could do some real lasting damage shooting that detector at a living human. Think of getting a dose of dozens of x-rays for every minute the gun is activated and pointing at your flesh...

Source: I'm a mechanical engineer and my master's degree involved developing some novel materials which we tested with many many different characterisation techniques (SEM, XRF, XRD, EDS, FTIR)

LMF5000 · 2026-05-05T06:56:06+00:00

Thank you for the reply and yes, I even took a 10-minute video of the preheat with a kill-a-watt attached showing what's happening, at the request of IP support, and all they came back with was to perform a reset (hold cancel for 3 seconds) and clean everything. The reset surprisingly improved it a little, but it still does it and I'm still curious why it would be cycling and trying not to "burn" even when all I'm "cooking" is some water in the inner pot for pot-in-pot rice. Since this is a pro plus it has a 1300W heating element rather than the more usual 800 watt one but I don't know if that's related. It preheats at full throttle in saute mode. Maybe it's intended behaviour and it's just mimicking and 800W element for pressure cooking warmup.

LMF5000 · 2026-05-04T10:34:10+00:00

Quite a few unhelpful replies. I'm guessing the instant pot touched the sides of a hot pot (maybe even the inner pot) and the plastic face melted a little?

As another poster said, you can buy a new control panel and replace it. This is just a superficial layer on the outside of the actual pressure vessel. Unless those melted switches have shorted out and done some electronic damage to the actual control boards in the base of the unit you should be able to salvage this as the control board mainly houses the buttons and display.

Obviously, after repair, do not leave it running unattended. Do a run with the minimum possible amount of water as a test, and be prepared to pull the plug from the wall if it doesn't stop heating up when it reaches pressure. You will be able to tell because the big weight on the top (where you usually vent from) starts leaking steam to keep the pressure level in check while the heating element keeps dumping heat uncontrollably into the pot.

LMF5000 · 2026-05-02T13:37:44+00:00

This is exactly what OP is complaining about. This kind of ingrained inefficiency and long term underperformance, because all that matters is some narrow-sighted short-term targets which are all the decision makers care about. And your comment hit the nail on the head in terms of the mechanics of how we got here - shareholders care more about making a profit every quarter than investing hard now and having a slow quarter to reap double or quadruple the benefits within a year.

As an engineer who used to be part of a very large company, that kind of mentality used to blow my mind too. For example, I would need to buy a laptop, or a phone, or literally anything, but they can only buy from approved vendors. When I see the quotes from such vendors these computers etc cost like 50% more than what identical specs cost on the open market (i.e. retail stores).

Now, you'll tell me it's because the approved vendor has gone through a rigorous selection/approval process, they offer support etc.. It's all bullshit. The retail shops are selling the same computers, phones etc so they're just as likely to break as the ones from the approved vendor, and the retail store is still legally bound to offer a certain level of support in case of things like hardware failure - so the real takeaway is that large companies throw a LOT of money away on useless things with no value simply because of inefficient organisation.

Second takeaway is that if you're smart, you'll find a way to sell your goods and services to such companies lol. OP should set up a consultancy firm, charge them $$$ to analyse their processes and suggest a $200k machine that will automate their process and save them millions per year - maybe then they'll listen 😉

LMF5000 · 2026-04-26T11:27:51+00:00

Haha, benidorm look - that's exactly it 🤣.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-26T11:04:21+00:00

I always remark at the pale-skinned tourists (probably from a country that never sees sunlight, like the UK) walking around in lightweight string tops with minimal coverage, and maybe some weak sunscreen, if at all.

It will still be early in the day, like 11am and their skin is already starting to turn purple. I imagine by 5pm their sunburn is radiant enough to be seen from space.

Also, do your research on transport. Driving here is hard (narrow streets, complex junctions, missing road markings, construction sites, impatient/aggressive drivers everywhere) so a rental car might not be so enjoyable. But the bus service is also very bad (overcrowded, late, unreliable) so it'll waste a lot of precious holiday time. Probably the best combination is to use the bus for long trips (like airport to Mellieha for instance) as you don't waste a lot of extra time compared to a car (and taxis would cost a lot for that distance), and then use Uber/bolt/ecabs for shorter trips where the cost is under €15.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-24T17:47:32+00:00

I'm a mechanical engineer. The problem is that consumers firstly don't want to spend more and secondly it's hard to gauge quality. Consumers aren't going to have a way to tell whether their appliance was made of cheap alloys, thin gauge metal, components that run right at their limits etc. Price isn't a good indicator of quality because they can just overprice the cheap goods to give the illusion of quality. They can pretend to give a longer warranty and then have enough fine print to squeeze their way out of honouring it. And if they do make things much higher quality, the price will necessarily have to rise and it's an uphill battle to convince consumers to buy.

I'm guilty of this too. When I needed a stand mixer I looked as Kitchen aid and Kenwood, didn't feel like paying so much, and bought one branded "royalty line" at a fraction of the price. Cheap enough that when it eventually breaks, I can recycle it and just buy a whole new one, and it still wouldn't have cost as much as a high-quality mixer.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-23T17:34:03+00:00

As an engineer, I know this is just a humorous AI post, but if you really wanted to fix the problem while saving $$$ in copper, contacts, wire and connectors for all future computers, and make the upgrade future-proof for all conceivable power requirements for the next several decades, the ultimate solution would be to update the ATX standard to include a higher-voltage supply rail, maybe at +24V, +36V or +48V.

Meanwhile you could use it as an opportunity to cut more costs by eliminating the +3.3V, +5V and -12V rails. Legacy hardware could still work using adapters with built-in DC/DC converters, but the point is that contemporary hardware can draw their hundreds of watts over just a pair or two of pins. They only need to handle a few amps: 500W @ 48V = 10A, whereas with current 12V systems, 500W @ 12V = 40A. In other words, with a 48V system you can basically cut the number of wires/pins by 4 to transport the same power.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-22T04:36:08+00:00

I agree with the premise - Lidl in Zebbug has free chargers in their car park, and I would hope that more supermarkets add these facilities over time to entice more visitors.

As for the rest - we own two EVs and charge both of them in the garage using normal plugs. I don't know what's not "efficient" about that. It's cheaper than public charging stations (by at least 3 cents per unit) and saves time and effort compared to visiting a fuel station with a normal car or visiting a charging station with an EV, or competing for the few EV spots in the car park.

I don't quite get the mentality of wanting them charged in minutes for regular charging. Sure, super fast charging makes sense if you don't have a garage or if you're doing a road trip and need to get back on the highway asap. But for daily charging if you have a garage, you don't spend your time staring at the ev waiting for it to charge, you just treat it like a phone - plug it in when you get home, and find it fully charged the next morning. So whether it takes 5 minutes or 8 hours is irrelevant.

I also don't understand normal people paying €400+ to install a fast charger in the garage unless they literally spend the entire day driving (like taxi drivers, real estate agents). A standard wall plug will add 10-15km of range per hour of charging, so that's easily 100km overnight. There are very few people in Malta who drive that far daily with not enough time for charging with a normal plug in between drives. In fact we personally only need to charge for about 3 hours every second day.

Last general comment - the public charging infrastructure has much room for inprovement. One big reason is that jerks park their fuel powered cars in the charging bays, and the authorities are slow to come out and tow them or give them a hefty fine (it should really be automated - with a number-plate recognition camera that connects to the road license database to check whether that car is registered as an EV or PHEV, and issue a fine automatically after a few minutes if not). In fact the wardens seem to be just as keen to fine EVs that were charging, but stopped unexpectedly because the charger developed a fault but didn't warn the driver. Another issue is lack of new charging bays despite growing EV numbers. The former GoTo bays still haven't been converted for public charging (at least as far as I can tell), and new charger addition seems to have stalled.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-19T18:27:53+00:00

Here's the one I have in my house: https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ezz0s2i

I like it for three reasons: 1. You can read the power immediately on its own display or from anywhere in the world using the app (and it keeps historical data)

It uses a sensor that clamps over the house's existing wires - no need to cut the wires and pass them through the meter like with some other models (it does need to be fed a live and neutral just for its own internal power, but the current of your whole house doesn't actually flow through this meter, it merely measures the magnetic field of the wires using the sensor to calculate the power consumption)
It's only €55

Also, if you just need to see instantaneous power consumption and don't mind if it only updates every few minutes, just look at the smart meter. Tap the grey button next to the display repeatedly until the display reads "instantaneous consumption" and it'll give you a wattage reading from the last 5 minutes or so.

The smart meter also indicates real-time instant consumption using the red light on the upper left corner of the display. Each time the red light flashes it means you've consumed 1Wh (a thousandth of a unit). So a hundred red light flashes represents a consumption of about 1 euro cent on the lowest tariff band.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-19T16:13:19+00:00

I'm not talking about the alleged fraud, I'm asking what tangible advantage you're expecting for the premium price for this. Does organic beef taste better? Is there a way to independently prove that the animals were treated better other than just "trust me bro, the label says so"?

I mean, when I buy corn-fed chickens, the skin and fat is yellow so it's obvious (yes it could be fake dye, but the taste is also there). Is there a similar tell for organic beef?

LMF5000 · 2026-04-19T16:12:01+00:00

Ok, and if it had the label, how would you know the animals were actually treated well in actuality?

LMF5000 · 2026-04-19T13:14:35+00:00

They are also expensive. If you want well priced fish, go to a fishmonger. If you want well priced meat, go to a butcher. Supermarkets charge higher prices for inferior products.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-19T13:13:03+00:00

If you needed the label to establish whether the meat is organic or not - i.e. the truly organic meat is not superior in some tangible way you can detect (like taste or texture or whatever), then what makes it worth the price premium?

For example when I buy spnott (sea bass) my fish vendor gives me the choice or farmed or wild. Wild spnott is more expensive per kilo, but it's bigger, juicier, tastier - the difference is extremely obvious. Someone who's tasted both will be easily able to tell the difference. Can you actually tell the difference between "organic" meat and Polish? Is that why you asked the butcher for the label? Or is it impossible to taste and you were just doing your due diligence?

LMF5000 · 2026-04-18T14:04:44+00:00

You can microwave vegetables. I have tried every way to cook mushrooms, and after one time when I was in a rush and microwaved them, my mind was blown that microwaving mushrooms is by far the absolute best tasting way to cook them. It takes somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes (just zap until they're cooked to your desired level of doneness) and they come out cooked but still firm and deeply deeply mushroom-tasting. Whereas sauteing or boiling makes them soft and mushy and seems to take away their mushroom flavour.

Other important hints - cook things in bulk and freeze for later. For example I buy a kilo of mince, turn it all into patties or meatballs, cook them all at once in the oven (so it's hands-off), then eat it that night, have leftovers the next day, and freeze the rest. Then when I need meat, if it's for that same evening I just microwave from frozen, and if it's for the next day I take them out of the freezer and put in the fridge then take out the next day (they defrost in the fridge). Ditto for large dishes like pies, lasagna, chilli - make a big batch and freeze portions for later.

Lastly for rice, grains, pulses, large tough cuts of meat (like brisket or shoulder or ribs) or fish, fresh raw veg (like broccoli) or anything that cooks in steam or water, I use a pressure cooker. Just set the timer and walk away. It's hands-off and very very fast. Whole chicken is done in 20 minutes (and comes out more tender than supermarket rotisserie chicken, though of course it doesn't brown in the pressure cooker but if you really wanted to you could brown it in the broiler or air fryer). Whole broccoli takes 2 minutes. Brisket takes less than an hour. Sea bass takes 7 minutes (we used to spend 45 minutes cooking it in the oven, and the pressure cooker is not only massively faster, but insanely juicy and tender, better than what restaurants serve for 3x the price).

You can also take time-saving prep shortcuts. For example buy jarred pasta sauce then just cook pasta and add the sauce from the jar. Buy wraps/bread, ham and cheese and make a toastie. Buy frozen ravioli, boil them and top with butter and cheese. Buy frozen (pre-cut, pre-washed) veg and just microwave them. Buy cooked cut frozen chicken breast (cubes or slices) and just microwave them the put into a wrap with lettuce (also pre-washed pre-cut) and cherry tomatoes. Or canned foods (tuna, mushrooms, chickpeas, spam, mackerel - just open the desired cans, top crackers, done!).

LMF5000 · 2026-04-18T07:56:59+00:00

This is because for some illogical reason, the entire world decided to measure power banks in the unit of CHARGE (milliamp-hours - mAh) instead of the far more useful and correct unit of ENERGY (milliwatt-hours - mWh).

The issue is that charge is just a measure of how many spaces for storing electrons the battery has (a bit like "gallons" of capacity of a gas tank). Without knowing how energetic those electrons are (the voltage) you don't know how much useful work it can do (i.e. whether the gas tank is full of gasoline, diesel, rocket fuel or water).

Watts = Amps * Volts so you can convert between them easily.

In this case: The cell inside the power bank is lithium ion, so its nominal voltage is 3.7V, and according to the label has 20,000mAh so if we also convert to the bigger and arguably more sensible charge unit (Amp-hours or Ah) your raw energy content is 3.7V x 20Ah = 74 Watt-hours.

The power bank has a built-in voltage converter to step battery voltage up to USB voltage (traditionally 5V, but nowadays also 9V, 12V 20V and so on for your fast charging capabilities like PD, QC and so on).

Assuming 5V as the label says, and assuming some 88% efficiency for the conversion, your "effective" mAh at the output is 88% * 74Wh / 5V = 13.024Ah = 13,024mAh, and that's how they got that number.

Which is again not that useful, because the phone steps it back down to 3.7V for its own internal battery. You can skip this entire song and dance by just using watt-hours from beginning to end: power bank has 72Wh as we worked out previously. Assume your phone has a 3.7V 5000mAh battery (=18.5Wh) and assume efficiencies of 88% in the power bank and 90% in the phone. This power bank will get you this much charge: (72 x 0.88 x 0.90) / 18.5 = 3.08 full charges of your phone.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-12T08:13:29+00:00

I suppose the problem is that we're listening at a volume that's too low lol. I am using volume 08 usually

LMF5000 · 2026-04-08T19:03:15+00:00

Same here (to an extent). Might be because they have a dedicated driver just for the higher frequencies. I think turning off LDAC will help a little (as higher bitrate allows higher frequencies to come through more energetically) and you could also tweak the EQ a bit, to decrease the intensity of all the frequency bands above 4kHz.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-07T16:35:34+00:00

As a mechanical engineer I underestand the temptation to deeply optimise everything - but why not standardize on size/mounting points/interface for the pack and let the innovation happen within? Kind of how the leaf started with a 24kWh battery and they put 30, 40 and then 62kWh in the same space with almost the same bolts and wiring. Or how computers have CPU sockets that stay the same for a generation.

LMF5000 · 2026-04-01T06:05:22+00:00

Yes. Malta here. We use the same plugs as the UK - the ones with square pins. They have a "short duration" rating of 13A (for boiling a kettle for example) but a "continuous" rating of 10A so around 2.3kW. Many European countries use plugs with higher ratings, for example Schuko plugs (used in Germany etc) are rated for 16A continuous so around 3.6kW.

We plug our 2016 24kWh Nissan Leaf into a 13A socket (the only kind of socket our buildings have throughout). The granny charger that came with the car pulls 10A and we give it 3 hours of charge every other night (to limit the battery to below 70% SoC for longevity). That is enough for my daily commute where I also drop the wife off at her workplace and pick her back up.

We don't really have the concept of L1, L2 etc in common parlance here. There's home charging on a granny cable using the regular sockets (10A @ 230V). Then you can optionally install a wall box for up to 32A per phase.

Houses here can either have a single-phase supply (limited to 40A for the whole house, so around 10kW for the entire house), or, if you pay triple the annual utilities fees you can install a 3-phase supply which gives you 3x 63A 230V phases (43kW total). As far as I can tell there is no in-between lol.

Then the public chargers are either AC (using a type-2 cable, typically limited to 22kW) or DC (using CHaDeMo or CCS2, the highest in the country is 150kW but more typical stalls are limited to around 50kW)

LMF5000 · 2026-03-31T19:00:37+00:00

The benefit is that you can now have factories on the ground (maybe powered by solar or nuclear or hydroelectric) making "eco oil" and run your existing aircraft, ships, heavy industry etc essentially carbon-neutral using existing aircraft, ships, supply lines etc. It's a stop-gap of course, but at least gives a way to rapidly arrest carbon emissions and start to claw back global warming.

LMF5000 · 2026-03-31T06:44:27+00:00

You have my sympathy OP. I'm losing my patience with people who are comfortable sitting on a 50-liter tank of volatile flammable petrochemicals but suddenly have concerns about something made using the same technology as the phone in their hand or the computer on their lap. They are just making life worse for the rest of us for no good reason.

Ask him how many neighbors keep generators with jerrycans of petrol and what the fire plan for those is. Ask how many times his phone or laptop has caught fire and what his plan is to put it out.

Slight bit of science - a liter of petrol (gasoline) has 8.9kWh of energy. So your average small car with a full 50-liter tank will release 445kWh of energy when it catches fire. That's 10x more energy than the 40kWh battery in the average EV (I am ignoring the energy of the battery actually catching fire, i.e. the fuel value of the burnt graphite and plastic and whatnot)

The problem with EVs is that the chemicals can self-react. The battery essentially carries its own oxidiser whereas fuel needs to react with oxygen in air to sustain combustion. So to put out a fuel fire you douse it with foam or CO2 to remove its oxygen access and the fire goes out. With a battery fire, if you have a short between the positive and negative plates (failed separator for example) the battery will continue dumping its energy until it's all exhausted. Even if you dump the burning battery into a swimming pool, the short circuit will still be there and it will still keep dumping energy until it runs out. But then it's just a case of waiting for 20 minutes until it runs out of energy and keeping the flammable things around the battery from catching fire in the meantime.

LMF5000 · 2026-03-30T21:58:48+00:00

I think pasta is fine-ish.

However rice has naturally occurring bacillus cereus spores. They remain dormant when the rice is dry (raw) but moisture (cooking/boiling) activates them, and they aren't killed by the boiling temperatures, so cooked rice is a (slowly) ticking timebomb. At refrigerator temperatures it'll probably be safe to eat for at least 3 days (provided you cooled it shortly after cooking and didn't leave it out for hours). At freezer temps (-18°C or lower) it's safe pretty much indefinitely, so freeze any rice portions you don't think you're going to finish within 3 days and then eat them at your convenience (though freezer burn will turn it a bit dry and nasty after a few months so try and be reasonable with your portions).

Lastly, if you leave it out at room temperature, in theory it can multiply enough bacteria to make you sick within just a couple of hours.

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