Lost Electrical Skills. Rough Justice.

Has no one yet mentioned those cute plugs for putting irons or toasters into bayonet-cap lamp-sockets?

I'm impressed by the school memories: so I'm not alone in that, though I think broadgage preserved more detail!  Much is the same as I remember, especially about large numbers of 150 W incandescents. Other memories are all the clunky metal-handled MEM switchgear at various distribution boards and in the stage-lighting, and a single ELCB for the three-phase supply to an entire infant/middle school (I think I remember one trip; not sure about its type in my early days, but 100 mA RCD when I was 12, and more recently I've been back and seen the usual conversion from TT to PME). Temporary buildings ('Terrapins', years old) with 4 or 6 mm2 FTE along a catenary.  At the age of 6 I got a boiler-house tour, from the headmaster who'd kindly reacted to seeing my interest in where the pipes and wires went, but I was too nervous to remember much of the stuff while under supervision.

B22 lamp holder plugs are still made and are sold on fleabay and the like.

I used dozens only a few years ago, to plug Christmas lights into high level decorative fittings. Each fitting contained four lamps, each 40 watt candle type. For Christmas, two lamps were removed and two sets of Christmas lights plugged in with B22 plugs.


Use for clothes irons, toasters and other class one appliance is hopefully almost extinct.


In my youth, I made some Christmas lights rated at 160 volts, 75 watts. 20 volt 3 watt lamps, 8 lamps in series to make 160 volts, and three strings to total about 75 watts. 

The purpose of these is left to the reader.

A couple of decades ago I had a call from a man who went to school with my aunt and said his socket didn't work! It didn't, as the carer had plugged an extension lead in to run a heater in a bedroom for the gentlemans sister who was ill in the bedroom upstairs and it was a cold winter.

His father had bought the house in 1934 and had electricity put in and a socket.


I'll just leave the rest to you imagination!!

Making off SWA is apparently becoming a lost skill ?

And terminating MICC is not even taught as part of becoming an electrician, now considered to be an optional skill to be learned later if needed.


When I worked for a maintenance contractor I was allegedly the only employee in the area able to terminate MICC.


When working for that company, and later for a competitor, I was often shocked at the lack of basic electrical knowledge. In particular insisting on EXACT replacement parts for common types of relays, contactors, batteries, lamp ballasts and the like.


Also a lack of common sense ! One example was a large armoured cable within a building, 4 core 240mm I think. Power was said to  be present at the supply end, but absent at the load end. Everyone said that "there must be a break in the cable" I pointed out that large SWA cables are very robust and seldom "break" and that if the cable HAD failed that this would have probably resulted in a large bang, damage to the surroundings, operation of the fire alarm, and other conspicous events. The cable also tested as sound from the load end, at 1000 volts between phases or from any phase to earth, but the neutral and the SWA connected to earth, an unlikely result if it had "blown up" en-route.


I found that  two similar cables had been confused, and that in fact the "faulty" cable was connected to a turned off MCCB. I suspected as much, three phases all "dead" but the neutral solidly earthed strongly suggested a sound cable but with an open 3  pole switch, contactor, MCCB, or blown/removed fuses.

.. lights rated at 160 volts, 75 watts. .. three strings to total about 75 watts. 

The purpose of these is left to the reader.


Well all 3 in series would suit a radial display if you had a split phase supply (480 between "phases") or just between normal phases if you wanted the lights to last longer.

Or maybe you used them in series with some other load like a florry tube,  or to charge batteries perhaps, or to provide a light dimming function. There are a number of options. Not least is that for some odd reason you had a 160V supply.?

Mike.

..had a call from a man ..his socket didn't work! It didn't, as the carer had plugged an extension lead in to run a heater ..

His father had bought the house in 1934 and had electricity put in and a socket.

Assuming it was not a 13A plug being forced into a round pin socket - just about possible with some designs- my money is on the socket being on a 5A fused radial, and therefore not man enough for the heater.

Mike.

The night we were taught to make off SWA the workshop technician was our tutor, he had worked for a traffic signal company and really was a dab hand at making off small sizes of SWA.

" And terminating MICC is not even taught as part of becoming an electrician, now considered to be an optional skill to be learned later if needed.

When I worked for a maintenance contractor I was allegedly the only employee in the area able to terminate MICC. "


It was part of the practical syllabus and exam on the AM1 (I bet you didn't know that existed!) run by the CITB until the JIB got hold of it. It then became part of the training towards the AM2 ...

Legh