My wife has a boiler type of sterilizer in her clinic, that she uses to sterilize metallic instruments before storing them. She gets them autoclaved before they are to be used. She could primarily autoclave them, but she does not use them often, and the effect of autoclaving does not last for more than 24 hours. She does not like to just get them washed and dried after use, because they can still harbor bacteria and viruses.
The sterilizer started leaking water one day. The electrician could not repair it, and advised us to get it sent to the manufacturer.
"I think the rubber washer has gone" she declared. "Can you fix it?"
"I would love to" I said. She knew I loved to fix things like this. So she smiled and handed it over.
The sterilizer had an electric resistance element inside it, which came out of one side through a circular opening. A disc shaped rubber washer was fitted between the element and the inside wall of the sterilizer, to prevent leakage and also for electric insulation. It had stiffened and broken into pieces from repeated heating and cooling. We removed it. But we could not find a suitable washer anywhere. Finally an electrical shop offered us a washer. It was thinner than the original one.
"What if I put two of these?" I asked the shopkeeper. "The combined thickness of the two should be equal to the original one."
"Yes. You should fit two washers" he agreed and sold me two washers. Good salesmanship, I can see it retrospectively. I fitted two washers, one above the other, between the element and inside of the sterilizer. My wife filled it with water and it leaked promptly. I started thinking about what had not worked properly. Finally I had an idea. 'Maybe water leaks between the two washers, and if I use only one washer, it won't leak.' So I removed one washer and refitted the element. My wife tried it, and it did not leak a single drop of water.
"So the thickness of the washer had nothing to do with it" I said. "One learns as one works, what?"
"Yes" she said, happy that I kept learning and solving her problems. :-)
The sterilizer started leaking water one day. The electrician could not repair it, and advised us to get it sent to the manufacturer.
"I think the rubber washer has gone" she declared. "Can you fix it?"
"I would love to" I said. She knew I loved to fix things like this. So she smiled and handed it over.
The sterilizer had an electric resistance element inside it, which came out of one side through a circular opening. A disc shaped rubber washer was fitted between the element and the inside wall of the sterilizer, to prevent leakage and also for electric insulation. It had stiffened and broken into pieces from repeated heating and cooling. We removed it. But we could not find a suitable washer anywhere. Finally an electrical shop offered us a washer. It was thinner than the original one.
"What if I put two of these?" I asked the shopkeeper. "The combined thickness of the two should be equal to the original one."
"Yes. You should fit two washers" he agreed and sold me two washers. Good salesmanship, I can see it retrospectively. I fitted two washers, one above the other, between the element and inside of the sterilizer. My wife filled it with water and it leaked promptly. I started thinking about what had not worked properly. Finally I had an idea. 'Maybe water leaks between the two washers, and if I use only one washer, it won't leak.' So I removed one washer and refitted the element. My wife tried it, and it did not leak a single drop of water.
"So the thickness of the washer had nothing to do with it" I said. "One learns as one works, what?"
"Yes" she said, happy that I kept learning and solving her problems. :-)
