Lost Electrical Skills. Rough Justice.

Mapjs story about the non working socket in his customers house makes me wonder if the house was wired with all the lights except the one in that room wired to one 5 amp fuse and the socket and lamp in the room wired to a different 5 amp fuse  which blew when a 2 kilowatt heater was plugged In

'twas not me, but normcall - I was just  rising to the challenge of guessing why it did not work.

But yes, we are spoilt nowadays with separated lights and power, 3 pin plugs, ADS  and all the rest of it.


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.
this sort of thing, flameport website

They fitted into the bayonet lamp adaptors as a quick source of emergency power.
like this

It is that long ago of course, and I remember it well, it must be more like 40 years actually, dad and I  put the freezer (itself a new and shiny thing) on the lights circuit while we rewired the sockets into a ring, and just tucked the earth out of the way for the duration.

Of course it would be  no more dangerous now than it was then, but nowadays we'd be having kittens.

Once we had the wiring sorted the "power from the lights"  kit was never needed again.?


Mike

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.

Sorry Normcall was an honest mistake. My grandmother had her electric blanket plugged into one of those lamp adaptors the crazy thing was she had a table lamp plugged into a proper socket right by the bed to be fair I think sockets in that room were a late addition and she just couldn't be bothered to change anything. I recall seeing a card of fusewire that had 5 10 and 15 amp wire on the 10 amp I think said heating circuits  5 lighting and small plugs and 15 large plugs I suppose homeowners would know if there plugs were large or small

A supply of "silver paper" from a fag packet was a replacement fuse to many back then

As we have diverged a little onto prefabricated and modular buildings, it should be pointed out that Portacabin and Terrapin are not just different brand names but different TYPES of structure.


Portacabin are known primarily for the manufacture of fully prebuilt structures that are ready for immediate use. Size is limited to that which can be transported by road. They are available either empty, or ready fitted out for uses such as site offices, mess rooms, and even living space. A crane is needed to off load a portacabin.


Terrapin are known primarily for prefabricated buildings, supplied flat packed for assembly on site. Site work is minimal compared to a conventional building, but SOME site work is required. Almost any size building can be constructed from modules that are transported by road. 

A crane is often used to unload the modules, but in an emergency each piece can be unloaded by a team of men.

I am losing my skills. When I occasionally come across incandescent lamps I have to remind myself that they get very hot to the touch. Too much exposure to L.E.D. lamps I suppose. Very sad. I must remember that they take a few minutes to cool down. Blistered fingers are a good reminder.


Z.