vja4Him

The large fridge never did work properly from the beginning. I got ripped off! Got it from Craig's List, no returns. We measured the Voltage for both Refrigerators, and it was 120 Volts for both. When I turned on a lamp, the Voltage did not decrease. Turned on the portable air cooler, which dropped the voltage to 117 volts, which went back to 120 when we turned the air cooler off.

My roommate tells me that he is a refrigerator expert, and the reason my refrigerators on the patio are not cooling properly is because they are plugged in with an extension cord. Is there any truth to this? He says the refrigerators are not getting enough power, and will not get cold enough, because they need to plugged into a wall socket. The patio has a solid roof, and the sides are covered with tarps, so the refrigerators are not exposed to the sun. We have three refrigerators on the patio: 1) 4.7 cubic feet, 2) 14 cubic feet, 3) 21 cubic feet. The big one is the main problem, and has not been working properly ever since I got it over a year ago (from Craig's List). In the cold weather it will get colder, down to around 40 Degrees F. (4 Degrees C.) when the outside temperature is in the low 20s F. (-7 to -5 Degrees C.). But in the hot weather, it gets up to 70 Degrees F. (21 Degrees C.). The freezer compartment will freeze, but it takes several days or even a week for some items to freeze completely). This fridge has a large computer board that looks like the mother board of a computer. The medium-sized fridge (14 cubic feet) works pretty good. During the summer I put a few one-quart bottles of ice, which I change out once a week, so it's working ok. The freezer works just fine, and the fridge temperatures maintain an average of around 35 Degrees F. (2 Degrees C.) During the winter, this fridge works perfect!!! The small fridge, 4.7 cubic feet, is working perfect, and has been for years.

Where would you find lexan drinking containers?

Thanks for the information! Strange that when I put the plastic jugs with the No. 2 in the freezer, there is stuff floating around when the water thaws out.

Well ... I'm still working on my experiment with freezing my water for drinking when I'm out riding my bicycle (which I do a lot, as I'm living car free). This is what I've found out so far: 1) The one-gallon water containers (the ones you buy at the store) are no problem. I have over a dozen of them in the cabinet and on our pantry shelves. I only clean them with very hot water, and I check them freqently, and still have not found any of the gross stuff floating around in them. All of these containers have the #2 Triangle 2) Several square plastic containers (new from Wal-Mart) don't seem to be good for freezing water, as there is stuff floating around when the ice melts. These containers (I have two) have the #5 Triangle. 3) It seems that this stuff floating around in certain containers seems to be plastic, not bacteria. 4) When I freeze water in Sobe glass bottles, I have NO problem with the water getting cloudy! So, I have about a half dozen Sobe bottles (Orange/Carrot drink, my favorite!) saved. I wash them out with very hot water, let air dry. Then fill then up with water, and keep them in the refrigerator. About two hours before I go to work (or three or four hours in the warmer weather) I put the Sobe glass bottle in the freezer with the freezer set to high. I keep the water bottle pouch on the table to remind me to take the bottle out of the freezer (otherwise, I will forget and the glass bottle will break after it's been in the freezer too long). The water stays very cold most of the day. When I put the glass Sobe bottle in the freezer for only two hours (leave about three inches of air space from the top), I can start drinking the water by the time I get to work. So far, I've had no problems with freezing the glass Sobe bottles. I've left them in the freezer for as long as 6-8 hours, and none have broken yet. We did have a few break when they were left in the freezer for several days. I've also found that I can freeze an extra Sobe bottle for a little longer, say 4-6 hours, then put the bottle in the refrigerator for the next day. 5) I found a good plastic container (from Wal-Mart) that I can use to freeze drinking water without the gross stuff floating around. They are the grey, Arctic Zone, water bottles that come with a nice cooler pouche and clip (I can clip these to my handlebar bag on my bicycle, which seems to be secure so far). These containers have the #4 Triangle. 6) The 59 ounce Minute Maid Pomegranate Blueberry plastic containers that have the stuff floating around when I freeze them, are ok if I only keep the container in the refrigerator! No stuff floating around anymore! These containers have the #1 Triangle. 7) The 64 ounce 100% orange juice containers which have the stuff floating around (not ice) that looks gross when frozen are also ok if only kept in the refrigerator. These containers have the #2 Triangle. Keeping the 59 oz and 64 oz plastic containers with water in the refrigerator come in handy, so I can mix up some Kool-aid or lemonade for the kids. That way the drinks are already cold! I have also found that I can turn up the refrigerator all the way (to #9) and have the freezer turned up all the way too, and still do NOT have any problems with gross stuff floating around in our drinking water!!! 8) I'm still freezing small (8 oz) plastic containers that I put in my cooler for work. There is gross stuff floating around everytime when the ice thaws out! I don't drink that water though. I have cleaned them out thoroughly many times. So, my conclusion is that freezing water in certain drinking containers causes the strange stuff floating around. I believe the gross stuff floating around (some looks fuzzy, some looks more chunky, or small like thin slices, but it is definitely NOT ice! I know this because, even several days later, when all the ice has long melted, there is still this gross stuff floating around). Freezing my drinking water in glass and the grey Arctic Zone plastic drinking bottles is no problem. Keeping drinking water in the refrigerator does not produce the gross stuff floating around in the water.

Before experimenting with these water bottles, I never even realized that I may have been ingesting lots of plastic over the years (52 years now!). I've eaten lots of food that has been frozen .... I'm trying to get away from frozen vegetable though. I mostly buy fresh produce and try to eat it quickly, like in a couple days. Some items we do keep around for awhile though, like potatoes, carrots, celery, apples, oranges .... but not frozen!

Yes, my conclusion is that the plastic from the bottles is flaking off and floating around in the bottle. I also think that the bleach could be helping the process along of breaking down the plastic. I notice that some of the reusable water bottles I bought have a warning to "Not use bleach for cleaning, just warm soapy water." I will buy a couple more metal water bottles and experiment with keeping the cap off, or loose (would that work too?). I'm concerned about the meat in the freezer causing a strange taste in my water though .... Maybe I could move all of the meat from that feezer (we have three freezers) ...

So far, cystal clear drinking water everyday. Haven't tried drinking from the metal containers yet though. I put one in the freezer, and I think that ruined the metal container! The bottom bubbled out. I put the metal container in the fridge, and even after the water melted it still won't stand upright. Even the cheap $1 plastic water bottles from China are holding up ok .... I can see now why Wal-Mart was selling them for only $1. The drinking spout won't stay open because it's so loose that it falls downward. So I just unscrew the cap and drink from the container instead. Works ok I guess ....

Thanks for your comments! I've never had diarrhoea from drinking lots of water. In fact, when I'm going to be riding my bicycle a long ways (for me that's anything over probably 10 miles), I will usually take along at least one gallon of water. If I'm riding 25 miles in one day, I will drink all of that one gallon of water, plus more before I leave home, and a little more when I get back home, and several glasses of juice and milk in addition to all the water! Never have had problems with diarrhoea in all my life, except when I have the flu really bad. Yes, I do plan on informing my dentist friend of the Kangen SCAM ... !!! BTW, he is not our dentist. However, I've heard from people that he does excellent dentist work. I have a feeling that my friend will not believe me, and might not even read the facts. But I will try, softly, then a little stronger. I would like to print out some information to give to anyone who is considering spending a ton of money on a worthless contraption. My uncle was warned by other professors at the university where he has taught Mathematics (Fullerton University) for many years (and my aunt taught Bio-Chemistry) not to buy an ionization water system, but just a good water filter. He uses a one-stage water filter and has good drinking water. We use a three-stage water filter. I would agree that the companies pushing this rubbish are terrible villains ...

Well, my experiment with disposable bottles has come to an end! I keep getting bottles with stuff floating around, even the new bottles. So, today I rode over to Wal-Mart and bought 15 reusable water bottles, six different kinds, including two different metal bottles. Most of the bottles have the triangle symbol with either #2, #4, or #5. Three of the bottles, from China, have nothing on the bottles at all. For only $1 each, thought I might as well give the China plastic water bottles a try .... I have a bunch of these new reusable bottles in the freezer and some in the frig. So tomorrow at work I'll find out if the water is good .... My guess is that the water will be just fine ....

I just wish that my dentist friend had done some reading and research on his own before he sunk $4000 into a worthless investment .... Now, I have to set my oldest son straight, who spends lots of time at the dentist's house, playing video games with his son, and guess what they drink lots of .... Kangen magic water ... They all claim that the Kangen magic water makes you poop a lot, and even gives you diarrhea, which is supposed to be evidence that Kangen water is cleaning out your body, and starting the healing process ... Is there any end to this nonsense ... ???

That's exactly what I thought is happening. I think some people call it "hypersuggestion," or something like that. Even though I'm not a scientist, I've had lots of science classes in college, and I take my education seriously. I did have to take Physics three times, but I didn't give up! I also have some experience with physical and medical problems, and I know that some things are difficult even for the doctors to figure out. If I wasn't careful and sensible, I could probably convince myself that orange juice, or pomegranate-blueberry juice, or cranberries, any number of things is what is healing me ... !!! I know people who would swear by certain juices, or fruits, to be healing them. I just have to shake my head and wonder .... I've also read that sometimes people who seem to be getting better, might actually be getting better, but their progress could have begun long before they started whatever it is they think has the healing powers. And sometimes the people who do have some progress with their symptoms are the ones who are more agressive with trying to get better. Often they will do many things to better their health, not just drinking certain kinds of liquid, but start exercising, make changes in their diet, move to an area that may be healthier, or like myself, give up driving altogether, and ride a bicycle for life .... Several doctors told me that I should stop exercising! Can you believe that? My own x-wife (when we were still married) told me that I should go ahead with the disability papers, so I could just stay home and collect government assistance. No way, not for me ... I never thought that with all of my medical and physical problems that I would be living car-free! Wasn't too long ago, about three years ago, it was difficult for me to ride to work only two or three miles each way. And no way could I handle riding everyday. Now I can ride to work 10 miles each way, plus riding another five miles or farther, do pick up a bunch of groceries and run errands, and still be in good enough shape to do it all over again the next day! The body is an amazing system, even just left alone! A little exercise, with caution, and some serious changes in diet, finding ways of relieving stress, etc. can often have long lasting healing powers too!

Thanks for sharing that webpage! It's a little technical for me, although makes sense. Brings back memories of Chemistry years ago .... So people are being duped into spending lots of money on devices that are basically useless ... I'm wondering about the testimonies that people give ... Are they disallusioned into thinking that they are gaining some kind of health benefits?

Does anyone use the Kangen water system? A dentist friend just bought the system, and claims that drinking Kangen water has made him feel more healthy, stronger, energetic and more. He gave me a dvd which I just started to watch. Kangen water seems like it's almost too good to be true ... !!! If this is for real, then everyone should be drinking Kangen water. Unfortunately, you can't keep the water for more than a couple days, because the water breaks down, and looses its special properties. I'll search for some webpages to post .... I wish that I could afford to buy the Kangen system, but it's way out of my price range ... Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedHere is an interesting page I found: http://www.kangenscam.com/ Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedThis articles seems to reveal the dishonest marketing scheme of Kangen, and the truths about comparing other ionization systems with Kangen: http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2007/02/kangen-water-fact-or-myth.html

Good news ... !!! I'm making some progress ... Some of my water bottles have clean water in them! I put some in the frig instead of freezing to see what happened. Several bottles still had fuzzy stuff floating around, and some had what appeared to be an oily film, that looked sorta like a clear jellyfish ... !!! Totally gross ... Several bottles that were frozen remained clean, and several in the frig also remained clean. I also took one of my water jugs and put in the frig with the cap off for several days. The water was still crystal clear! I'm using hot water from now on though to continue cleaning the water bottles and water jugs. I've had the water filter for a little over one year. I'll have to try experimenting with tap water too. In the past when I allowed tap water to stand in a pot overnight, there was white crystal-like stuff in the bottom of the pan. I think that might be calcium deposits (?).

This has turned out to be an interesting science experiments, and I love science experiments! I don't have any metal containers. I will buy one or two soon .... I will also buy several plastic water containers that are designed for reuse. Strange thing is though .... I've been reusing the nonresuable water bottles for years, and only encountered this problem recently, and even brand new containers still have the stuff floating. Not all of my water bottles have this gross stuff floating around though .... After using only cold water, mixed with either bleach, or both bleach and baking soda, I'm now switching to using hot water with the baking soad and bleach. Will see if that makes any difference .... In the meantime I'll be pouring water from the one gallon water jugs into a drinking glass, until I find a solution to keeping the water in the frozen water bottles clean. I might even try the hydrogren pyroxide experiment .... How much should I use for cleaning the water bottles?

Would our water filter clean out the chlorine from the water? The filter we have is the Equinox EQ-10. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedI'll take a picture next time I see stuff in the water bottles. Sometimes it is a lot, and I mean a whole lot! You don't have to strain your eyes at all to see the stuff. Sometimes there are large flakes, like somewhere around 1-2 mm in size. Sometimes the stuff looks fuzzy (almost like some kind of mold?), and sometimes the stuff is almost like granules. I just checked one of my Sam's Clear (from Wal-Mart) that I've had in the frig door for about three days now. There is about half left (of the original flavored drink, not water). I looked at it very closely, and there is nothing floating around in it! That surprised me, as I thought for sure I would have to dump it out.

How would that much dust get into the water bottles?

I notice the stuff floating around in the water bottles after I remove the bottles from the freezer (after some of the ice water has melted, of course), and before even opening the cap!

So, even if the bottles have the #1 inside the triangle, would they be ok to reuse for drinking water?

I'm not just paranoid ... !!! I don't like the idea of drinking water that is clouded with gross looking stuff ... !!! If you can handle drinking that kind of crap, then go for it ... !!! Not me ... I like clean, crystal clear water ... !!! Something has obviously happened recently, because the water in all of my water bottles was clean. This problem just started happening recently. Also, I have a very sensitive stomach, and also suffer from extremely serious acid reflux. So I have to be very careful with what I eat and drink. I need to be drinking lots of clean water everyday. I used to use only rice to clean out the water bottles. But when I noticed the gross stuff floating around in my water, I thought that bleach should clear up the problem. When it didn't I used more bleach, then added baking soda. I will find out soon enough if what I'm doing works. If I still see the gross stuff floating around, then it must be the plastic breaking down and floating around in the water, which I will not drink. I noticed that all of our water bottles (except one, which has the #7) have a #1, which is the plastic you are not supposed to reuse. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedDoes anyone know if hot water or cold water would be more effective when using bleach for cleaning water bottles ... ???

Most of the bottle I'm using to freeze my drinking water originally had only water in them. Several bottles I'm using had Mountain Dew, or Sam's Clear, or Vitamin Water, or tea. I always rinse out the bottles with the hottest water we can get from our tap (which is really not very hot, because the landlord keeps the hot water heater turned down). But usually the hot tap water is hot enough that I can't hold my hand under it for very long. I'm wondering if maybe the plastic is coming off from inside and floating around? But, I don't think that is the problem, at least not with all of the bottles, because even brand new water bottles have had stuff floating around -- like flakes, or fine powder, fuzzy stuff .... I've been cleaning all of the bottles we use with both bleach and baking soda. Will see if that takes care of the problem .... I've been checking all of my one gallon water jugs really good. Everytime I pour water from them, I pour a test sample into a clear container first, and hold up to the light or window to see if there is anything floating around. So far I have not found any sign of contamination in the one gallon water jugs. I've also checked the water coming out from the tap (both hot and cold), and have not found any sign of contamination there either. So, the problem is obviously coming from the water bottles. I'm hoping they just need an extra thorough cleaning .... Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged I only use the bottles for water. Some (but not very many) originally had something else, like Sam's Clear, or tea. I want to get the bottles clean, so I don't see any more stuff floating around, which looks really gross, especially the stuff that looks fuzzy ... Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedMy bicycle is my only transporation, and I carry lots of water bottles with me when I'm out riding. I'm wondering if perhaps at least one of the problems could be the heat? We live in a hot valley, with temperatures in the 90s and triple-digit. Maybe the heat is speeding up the action of bacteria when I'm out riding ... ??? Seems like this problem I've noticed has been worse within the past several weeks ... Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedI notice that the Sam's Clear (from Wal-Mart) doesn't have a number for the type of bottle, but does say this: Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine. Does that have anything to do with plastics? I like to use these bottles the most, because they fit perfectly in all my water bottle cages, and in the pouches of my saddlebag. They never leak, and even when they fall off the bike, they don't break! Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedHere are some of the brands of water bottles I use: -- Niagara -- Arrowhead -- American Falls -- Crystal Geyser -- Kirkland -- Sunny Select On the bottom of all of these bottles is the triangle symbol with a number 1 inside the triangle. I read the article on Which Plastic Water Bottles Don't Leach Chemicals, which mentions that a #2, #4, or #5 is ok, but not #1. Could all that stuff I see floating around be from the plastic breaking down?

Would it be best to use cold water and bleach, or hot water and bleach, for cleaning our water bottles and water jugs? I've read numerous pages about how to clean water bottles, but haven't found anything yet that clearly states whether cold or hot water and bleach is best for killing the bacteria that collects in water bottles. A friend of mine swears by his method of using a little rice mixed with water, shake it around for half a minute, then rinse. I've tried that, but still have problems with stuff floating around in my water bottles (after they have been rinsed really good, air dried, then filled with filtered water (from our home filter), and then frozen. So, I'm back to using bleach. I've read that mixing bleach and baking soda is a good solution for cleaning water bottle. I'm just wondering if hot or cold water is better, or does it really matter? Maybe alternate - one time use bleach (and/or baking soda) with hot water, then the next time with cold water ... ??? Some sources claim that you need to rinse with hot water first, then rinse with cold water as well. I think it might have something to do with breaking the bonds of the bleach ... ??? Not really sure about that. I'm not a chemist!