Panasonic/National rice Cooker good for only three years!
 

Allow me to vent my frustration and alert others. i've had a National
"Fuzzy Logic" Rice Cooker, model SR-MM10N, for approximately three
years and recently when the unit is not plugged into the mains/ac-power
the display is blank. The display was visibly until a few weeks ago. As
the User Manual explains this is due to the internal Lithium battery
being depleted. Since I live over 130 miles from the nearest Service
Center and have done electronic repair, I decided to purchase both a
Service Manual and a Lithium battery, assuming that since this would be
a regularly-replaced component, it would be relatively easy to replace.


WRONG!

First, it is fairly difficult to disassemble the unit, even with the
Service Manual. It's written in "Japanese-English". After disassembling
the Cooker I discovered that the Lithium battery is _soldered_ to one
of the Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and the board is almost
inaccessable. I do have a low-wattage soldering iron and a
"solder-sucker" but this will be a messy job to say the least. I
reassembled the Cooker without attempting the replacement. I will call
the Service Center tomorrow and ask the cost of battery replacement.
Even discounting the long drive, I'm willing to bet the battery
replacement will cost as much as a new unit! Inexcusable design for a
device whose battery needs to be replaced every few years. Shame on you
Matsushita (the parent company of Panasonic and National)!

I should add that the Rice Cooker is still operable and the display
will work as long as it is plugged in. But why design a unit that can't
continue to work as it did when it was originally purchased?

Yes, the SR-MM10N is an excellent rice cooker. But...

--
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"Kenneth Workman" > wrote in message

> "Fuzzy Logic" Rice Cooker, model SR-MM10N, for approximately three
> years and recently when the unit is not plugged into the mains/ac-power
> the display is blank. The display was visibly until a few weeks ago. As
> the User Manual explains this is due to the internal Lithium battery
> being depleted.
>
> First, it is fairly difficult to disassemble the unit, even with the
> Service Manual. It's written in "Japanese-English". After disassembling
> the Cooker I discovered that the Lithium battery is _soldered_ to one
> of the Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and the board is almost
> inaccessable.

> Even discounting the long drive, I'm willing to bet the battery
> replacement will cost as much as a new unit! Inexcusable design for a
> device whose battery needs to be replaced every few years. Shame on you
> Matsushita (the parent company of Panasonic and National)!

That is something to be aware of. Crappy design as most or us would not
leaved it plugged in all the time.

For what it is worth, I have had a Panasonic rice cooker for about 27
years. It has hit the floor and has had a lot of use. It still works
fine.

I will admit it doesn't have "Fuzzy Logic", but since I don't now what
tht is (other than unclear thinking) I don't miss it.

In article >,
says...
> Allow me to vent my frustration and alert others. i've had a National
> "Fuzzy Logic" Rice Cooker, model SR-MM10N, for approximately three
> years and recently when the unit is not plugged into the mains/ac-power
> the display is blank. The display was visibly until a few weeks ago. As
> the User Manual explains this is due to the internal Lithium battery
> being depleted. Since I live over 130 miles from the nearest Service
> Center and have done electronic repair, I decided to purchase both a
> Service Manual and a Lithium battery, assuming that since this would be
> a regularly-replaced component, it would be relatively easy to replace.
>
>
> WRONG!
>
> First, it is fairly difficult to disassemble the unit, even with the
> Service Manual. It's written in "Japanese-English". After disassembling
> the Cooker I discovered that the Lithium battery is _soldered_ to one
> of the Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and the board is almost
> inaccessable. I do have a low-wattage soldering iron and a
> "solder-sucker" but this will be a messy job to say the least. I
> reassembled the Cooker without attempting the replacement. I will call
> the Service Center tomorrow and ask the cost of battery replacement.
> Even discounting the long drive, I'm willing to bet the battery
> replacement will cost as much as a new unit! Inexcusable design for a
> device whose battery needs to be replaced every few years. Shame on you
> Matsushita (the parent company of Panasonic and National)!
>
> I should add that the Rice Cooker is still operable and the display
> will work as long as it is plugged in. But why design a unit that can't
> continue to work as it did when it was originally purchased?
>
> Yes, the SR-MM10N is an excellent rice cooker. But...
>
>

--
Jerry Bank
Trenton, New Jersey
Music is the language of the gods.

In article >, Elmo
P. Shagnasty > wrote:

[snip]

> > I should add that the Rice Cooker is still operable and the display
> > will work as long as it is plugged in. But why design a unit that can't
> > continue to work as it did when it was originally purchased?
> >
> > Yes, the SR-MM10N is an excellent rice cooker. But...
>
> I *have* to ask this:
>
> if it works when you plug it in, what does it need a battery for?
>
> What functionality does a battery add to any of this?
>
> I know what a rice cooker does. It doesn't need a battery.

I can't argue with your logic with only two exceptions: Panasonic
designed the darn thing to display the time when it's not pluggin in.
Admittedly "eye-candy". But if it's part of the design then I feel it
should continue to work as it did "out of the box". Also, it is
possible to cook by setting the cooking time. To do that one must set
the clock to the correct time before starting to cook. This means one
has to set the clock whenever the unit is plugged in. I do not leave it
plugged in continuousy for safety reasons.

Of course, is is still possible to cook/steam rice with the depleted
battery in place.

--
To respond by email please remove "mypants"! (;oD