[Avodah] RHS on shabbat - electricity

[Eli Turkel via Avodah]

I wrote to Rav Schachter and got the following reply

if you have an electronic water meter I would assume that you would have a
problem of Kosev
because by causing the water to go through the faucet, you cause a record
to be kept of how much water was used and that is a melocha of kosev.
Perhaps it is a psik raisha d'lo nicha lei

we would have to investigate further what the nature of the system is.

-------------------------------------
: Did he discuss the status of electronic water meters on shabbos? This is a
: hot topic in Israel because they are being installed all over.

You might wish to look at the thread "If you have an electronic water
meter, can you turn on your faucet on Shabbos?"


[Email #2 -micha]

>> Overriding the switch is against American law and so prohibited by dina
>> demalchuta.

> overriding what switch is this referring to?

American (among others) law requires that all dishwashers operate only
when the door is closed. This is mainly to prevent injuries by someone
sticking his hand into the machine while it is operating. It also prevents
water from exiting while the machine is operating.

A mechanic could override this mechanism and allow the machine to
operate while the door is open but would be violating secular law and
dina demalchusa.

 From a halachic viewpoint the problem is that closing the door would
allow the machine to turn on later via a shabbos clock. RHS feels that
intrinsically running the washing machine on shabbat via a shabbos clock
is allowed however closing the door on shabbat to allow the shabbos
clock to work is problematic


[Email #3 -micha]

> I understand such a law applying to
> people *selling* dishwashers, but is it really illegal to modify an
> appliance which is your property and you use in your own home?

I am not a lawyer and can't answer the legal question. However I did find
http://www.shopyourway.com/questions/1219029

The short answer is you can not bypass the door to run the dishwasher
open. This model does not use door switches it uses a sensor and even if
the sensor is bypassed the control will read this as an error. You will
not be able to bypass the door sensor to run the unit with the door open.

thus in newer models it is not possible to run the dishwasher with the
door open by disabling some switch. Thus, RHS is back to his premise
without the need for legalistics

-- 
Eli Turkel