Popcorn Makers & Disappointment!

Grrrrrr! Well, I am going to vent here, so be forewarned! *laughing*

We LOVE popcorn. It is our favorite snack. We are not crazy about the high fat, microwave in a bag kind, which is also very expensive. We like to be able to adjust the fat content, salt content, get good flavor and save money. (Did I mention that we LOVE popcorn??)

Back in May of 2006, we saw this marvelous looking popcorn popper at Lowe's. It was a bit pricey, but it looked like it would work well for us. It is by Cuisinart. It was the Easy Pop CPM-800. Since we live in a very tiny RV, the diameter size was very appealing. The similar type of poppers we had seen were much wider in the base. Here is a picture of it:




We were able to add less oil and still get great popcorn. It was a wee bit soggy at times, but we did not mind too much since it helped the salt we put on it to cling. You could not pop more than one batch in a row as it would get too hot, but overall, it worked pretty good for us. Then it up and quit on us. (Did I mention that we LOVE popcorn?)

Well, Cuisinart sent us a new one...for $10 bucks and the cost of shipping the old one back. We did not really think we should have to pay anything since it was their product gone bad. However, we figured if it was one replacement, we would just do it, after all, it was still cheaper than the $50 it cost us originally.

Well, that scenario repeated itself twice more, only those times it was actually something on the plate that broke that kept it from snapping onto the base fully. So, we were actually out another $20 plus double shipping. The money was adding up.

We figured we were OK, though, since the one they sent us at the end of January of this year is a newer model that obviously had been improved. The design was much better, so we figured our "problems" were over! NOT!




The plate on this newer model has to be plugged into the base unit perfectly. You cannot see to line the prongs up. We did pretty well with it for quite a while. Then we had difficulty getting it to line up. It did not take much of a push and snap, it broke. Something inside the base where the plates plugs into it broke off.

So, here we go again. They sent us another one...for another $10 plus. What we typically did was to send the old one back in the box the new one came in. Well, getting down to the post office is not so easy when you live in the country and gas is so high. We did not have a chance to mail off the broken one when the new one we got also broke...same way. We had only used it maybe 4 times?

This time I told Dave that he could call...I was done with it. He had a lengthy call with Cuisinart, even talking to the supervisor. No go. They wanted the old ones back...both of them, at our expense. THEN, they would either send us another one (which is going to have the same design defect) or they would mail us a coupon for half our original cost on a Cuisinart product.

Naturally, Dave thought that was ridiculous and I agree. We told them that we would tell everyone we know about this...including on the blog. They did not care. So, here you go folks!

I would NOT recommend Cuisinart. Their popcorn makers are cheaply made in China and their warranty is not very good.

The idea is a great one! The popcorn it makes is good! The quality is the pits.

Heaters...What Fun! Not!

Our RV is about 24 years old. So is the forced air propane heater in it. We noticed after we bought the RV about oh...I don't know...six (?) years or so ago...that the forced air heater works kind of funny. This is what it appears to do.

It heats up and works really well. However, once it reaches the right temperature, it starts blowing cooler air, apparently in an attempt to cool itself down. I am not sure why it would need to do that, but that is what it appears to do. Of course, even cool air through a hot furnace will come out hot at first. So, if you accidently turn it up too hot, you have to bear with it while it cools down. There is NO way to turn it off!

You can turn it down so that it switches to cool air, once the furnace is cool enough for the air to not heat up on the way through. You can even turn the on/off switch to off, but it will keep blowing. Typically, it blows cool air and then stops. Then it starts blowing cool air again. I presume that is because the heater is not really totally cooled down and so it kicks back on to cool it again. It will do that quite a few times and then it finally shuts off for good.

Well, it was a little chilly this morning and I wanted to warm things up fast, so I kicked the heater on. The long and short of it is that the fan won't shut off at all now. I turn it down. I turn it off, but the fan just keeps blowing. I think it is in cahoots with that pink bunny on TV. You know the one...he just keeps banging on his drum!

Dave thinks the sensor that tells it that the heater is cooled off is not working. So, it keeps thinking it is still hot. I have tried turning the heater back up and down a few times in the hopes that it would kick it...but nope. The heater runs on 12 volt, so, turning off the power won't kick it off, either. We can turn off the power and disconnect the 12 volt batteries...but, if it is the sensor...then as soon as we turn the power back on, the fan will come back on.

So, I have been sitting here for hours with the hum of the heater fan in the background. I even put a fan under the kitchen sink and aimed it at the heater in the hopes that it might help. The heater is turned down and it is turned off. But that fan just keeps on blowing!

I am just so thankful that it is not stuck on while heating! At least we aren't using propane and roasting! Well...what do you expect for a heater that is this old. To be honest, we are amazed it lasted this long. And actually, the heater works just fine. So does the fan. It is the sensor that is apparently not working. Or maybe a switch?