Lost Electrical Skills. Rough Justice.

It does not seem that long ago that I last used one of those horrible mains plugs where the wire twisted round a sort of brass split pin.

Ah, I remember them well - my Grandmother's house had quite a few of them. In some ways I quite liked the minimalist  design - pins, connection to wires, cord grip and cover all held together by one item and no fiddly screws to loose.


If fact one of those taught me one of the fundamental lessons about electricity. I'd been told that one wire was live and the other neutral and that live would hurt if I touched it but neutral wouldn't. So (aged about 6) I spun the lid off the plug while it was still in the socket and tried to figure out which was L and which N ... by touching them in turn, I was surprised that I felt nothing from either - despite knowing that it must have been live as the lamp it supplied was lit. For some reason it occurred to me to touch both at the same time ... and of course that really did hurt! So I learned quite early on the difference between voltage and voltage differences, and so why birds can perch on bare overhead lines without coming to harm. Fortunately my guardian angel was diligent that day.


   - Andy.

It does not seem that long ago that I last used one of those horrible mains plugs where the wire twisted round a sort of brass split pin.

Ah, I remember them well - my Grandmother's house had quite a few of them. In some ways I quite liked the minimalist  design - pins, connection to wires, cord grip and cover all held together by one item and no fiddly screws to loose.


If fact one of those taught me one of the fundamental lessons about electricity. I'd been told that one wire was live and the other neutral and that live would hurt if I touched it but neutral wouldn't. So (aged about 6) I spun the lid off the plug while it was still in the socket and tried to figure out which was L and which N ... by touching them in turn, I was surprised that I felt nothing from either - despite knowing that it must have been live as the lamp it supplied was lit. For some reason it occurred to me to touch both at the same time ... and of course that really did hurt! So I learned quite early on the difference between voltage and voltage differences, and so why birds can perch on bare overhead lines without coming to harm. Fortunately my guardian angel was diligent that day.


   - Andy.