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Lost Electrical Skills. Rough Justice.

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I went to give an estimate today. Fuse board renewal. A holiday chalet. Some family members had stayed, aged early 20s. A rewireable fuse had previously blown on a lighting circuit. The young guests had no idea how to replace the fuse wire even though  a new fuse wire card was there.


 I am feeling very old. I am listening to Bananarama's "Rough Justice," 12 inch version, 1984.

It still sounds good on vinyl.


Fuse wire is dead....long live fuse wire.


Oh, to be young again.


Z.




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    Terminating MICC was taught by a guy who did his apprenticeship at Britons carpet factory then worked for the MEB, looking back I did have good tutors.
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    mapj1:
    .. 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.




    Yes, used in series with a 4 foot 40 watt fluorescent tube. A local shop had a number of twin four foot fluorescent fittings that contained no chokes. Each tube was in series with a special  bulb of 160 volts 75 watts.

    They wanted to connect Christmas lights to these fittings instead of the special bulbs, so I made several strings of Christmas lights each of which was 160 volts at 72 watts, close enough and worked fine.


    AFAIK the special ballast lamps are no longer available. Philips listed them into the 1980s I think.


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    mapj1:
    ..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.


    Call me cynical, but my take on this was that there never was any wiring, just a pretence. With plenty of bedding, who needs heating? Perhaps Oxford had gone all luxurious in Mike's undergraduate days? ?


  • 0
    mapj1:
    ..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.


     


    It was a 13A socket as someone in the distance past had changed the 15A to 13A but naturally left the lead cable in.

    Lighting was lead and the whole place had just a 15a MEM switchfuse for the socket and a couple of 'porcelain ceiling roses' with 5a fusewire into lead 1.044 twin cable for lighting. 


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    The mention of Terrapins earlier is a happy coincidence I was talking to some people in the pub and they mentioned about Terrapins the animal. Its some sort of turtle I think anyhow it got me thinking that when I was at infants school  back in the 1870s  we had temporary buildings which I thought were called terrapins but I thought am I mis remembering it?  I didn't say anything cos I didn't want to seem foolish but now you've confirmed it was that I am remembering properly. We were sat in class one day and someone working on the flat roof  must of dropped something heavy cos a bulb shattered and dropped all over the desk  we were ushered outside whilst a cleanup was done.
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    I assume you meant you were at school in the  1970s really ... (and are not 150 years old ..)

    `

    Terrapin Modular Buildings Ltd  of Milton Keynes are still going strong, as a rival to Portakabin. 

    Yes it is spelt the same way as the animal. Usually the context of the conversation allows you to determine if it is one of these, or one of those ?

      

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    Kids today have about as much ability to put a plug on a flex as Mr Bean
  • 0
    ebee:

    Kids today have about as much ability to put a plug on a flex as Mr Bean

    Well at least in this clip he manages it thought not in any way we woudl recognise. Sadly the pop-up advert obscures the bit in the last 30 seconds where he screws the plug onto the flex...


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    Hey mapj thanks for that I think that you would be able to tell which one is meant. There is one of those little buildings in a school near me loks like the one in the foto
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    Back in in the 1870s things were not like today

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