Never ceases to amaze

[Robotstar5]

Holy poop - I did exactly the same, also in the late 70s! I figured that the 3V motor would just “spin a little faster” if I gave it 240v

I ended up on my back, thankfully on my brothers bed, with a tingling / numb right arm.

Voltage differences, Mrs Robo said she had been given a small fridge to use at the stable but it came without a power lead, she described it which I recognised as a "figure of eight" type so I found one for her.
She bought the fridge home saying it had gone bang when she plugged it into the socket, a quick look at the data plate showed it was a 12 volt unit so didn't last long at mains voltage

 

[bricol]

That custom cut worktop looks like it has plenty of room for a nice wide salmonella strip!

Looks like it would fit perfectly the other way up . . . we've all (nearly) done it . . .

 

[zx9]

There is a museum of technology in Vienna. Incredible place. They had a temporary display the one year on electricity. Came with an age restriction. Quite bizarre some of the things in there to bodge connections. Quite macabre to see some of the aftermath of things that seemed a good idea at the time, that turned out not to have been a good idea. Somebody’s burnt feet in the remains of boots having vaporised themselves by touching overhead lines , lovingly preserved in a specimen jar ,was a step too far….( no pun intended)

But, it definitely brought home the message, don’t mess with electricity

That place is brilliant, Mrs. ZX9 thought we were going to spend the morning in the Technical Museum and the afternoon at Schonbrunn, that did not happen, we got to the palace with just enough time for coffee and cakes before they closed...

 

[redlig]

View attachment 464501

should have use silver duct tape

 

[skotl]

Voltage differences, Mrs Robo said she had been given a small fridge to use at the stable but it came without a power lead, she described it which I recognised as a "figure of eight" type so I found one for her.
She bought the fridge home saying it had gone bang when she plugged it into the socket, a quick look at the data plate showed it was a 12 volt unit so didn't last long at mains voltage

Me and my mate floored his attic when we were 16 to make dodgy hooch. I wired in a couple of lights to the upstairs circuit (of course!) but it was flipping freezing up there.

Mate produced a "3A two bar heater - we can plug that into the light circuit, right?"
"Sure", I said - we plugged it in and it was toasty for 2 minutes before all the lights in the house went pop.

I had to cycle home to get some 5A fuse wire. Fixed the fuse while being berated by Bob's mum, then wiped the dust off the "3A" heater label to find the very important "1" just in front of the "...3A"...

 

[Robotstar5]

Me and my mate floored his attic when we were 16 to make dodgy hooch. I wired in a couple of lights to the upstairs circuit (of course!) but it was flipping freezing up there.

Mate produced a "3A two bar heater - we can plug that into the light circuit, right?"
"Sure", I said - we plugged it in and it was toasty for 2 minutes before all the lights in the house went pop.

I had to cycle home to get some 5A fuse wire. Fixed the fuse while being berated by Bob's mum, then wiped the dust off the "3A" heater label to find the very important "1" just in front of the "...3A"...

My dad put a 13A socket over the bathroom mirror fed off the lighting circuit just to power his shaver, one of my sisters decided to plug a fan heater into it to warm up the bathroom, cue no upstairs lights

 

[mcostello]

You know Chaps, although I am from across the pond We have a lot of things in common. Jamming a piece of wire in a receptical to find out what it really does, going to the local chemist shop for some potassium nitrate, sulfur, and some charcoal etc. What did They think anyone would do with them. What ELSE could be done with them? Shot gun shells, carbide. Got older before messing about with iodine. Not bad for a kid with out any chemistry training.

 

[Shedendman]

View attachment 464511


The last two are the shower cubicle in my Eastbourne hotel last weekend.

Your ferking kidding us right?

 

[Seadog]

Your ferking kidding us right?

I'm not.
In fact, because you can't access the bar until you're inside, it was stiff to turn and ran boiling hot all the time
Maintenance, what's that?

 

[Morrisman]

2 marks for getting the polarity right, and the neat 90* bend.

Polarity doesn’t appear to be an issue with electrical devices themself. I fitted two pin plugs to almost every household device we had when we moved to the far east. And every one of them worked perfect no matter which way round they were plugged.

All gadgets but the freezer, washing machine and one old electric drill had no earth connection too….

The washing machine never worked properly, but that was probably the hz, as it’s 60hz over there, the washing machine brain didn’t like it.

 

[Onoff]

Friends son who is lucky sent it, don't know anything else.
He sent photo of a hob in a new build plugged into a 13A socket a couple of years ago, the house was in use, was there because ring kept tripping
Or just random lecky pics takes

Don't forget some hobs are specifcally designed to be run off a 13A plug. They're intelligent in that you can never draw more than 13A even with all the rings going.

13 Amp Induction Hobs Deals at Appliances Direct

13 amp induction hobs in a range of sizes & styles from brands such as Neff Bosch & AEG. Next day delivery available.

www.appliancesdirect.co.uk

I would advise wiring an electric oven and gas igniter like this mind:

 

[Guineafowl]

Polarity doesn’t appear to be an issue with electrical devices themself. I fitted two pin plugs to almost every household device we had when we moved to the far east. And every one of them worked perfect no matter which way round they were plugged.

All gadgets but the freezer, washing machine and one old electric drill had no earth connection too….

The washing machine never worked properly, but that was probably the hz, as it’s 60hz over there, the washing machine brain didn’t like it.

That’s right - we’re dealing with AC, which doesn’t have a polarity. The L/N thing is a safety system we impose on it.

I have a Bush DAC90 valve radio which could originally be plugged in either way - one way would make the chassis live at 240V. It’s designed so you’d need something metal and poky to actually get a shock. I assume 1950’s children were more disciplined!

 

[Guineafowl]

Don't forget some hobs are specifcally designed to be run off a 13A plug. They're intelligent in that you can never draw more than 13A even with all the rings going.

13 Amp Induction Hobs Deals at Appliances Direct

13 amp induction hobs in a range of sizes & styles from brands such as Neff Bosch & AEG. Next day delivery available.

www.appliancesdirect.co.uk

I would advise wiring an electric oven and gas igniter like this mind:

View attachment 464619

View attachment 464618

Again, one mark for polarity, 1/2 mark for fairly neatly trimmed cable sheaths.

 

[redlig]

That’s right - we’re dealing with AC, which doesn’t have a polarity. The L/N thing is a safety system we impose on it.

I have a Bush DAC90 valve radio which could originally be plugged in either way - one way would make the chassis live at 240V. It’s designed so you’d need something metal and poky to actually get a shock. I assume 1950’s children were more disciplined!

we were more disciplined but more inquisitive with a lot less "DON'T DO ********" messages.

 

[Morrisman]

That’s right - we’re dealing with AC, which doesn’t have a polarity. The L/N thing is a safety system we impose on it.

I have a Bush DAC90 valve radio which could originally be plugged in either way - one way would make the chassis live at 240V. It’s designed so you’d need something metal and poky to actually get a shock. I assume 1950’s children were more disciplined!

I bought a tower PC when we lived over there, and the metal housing gave a strong tingle if ever you touched it. I solved it by wiring the earth tab to the steel window bars in the house. Job done.

 

[Guineafowl]

I bought a tower PC when we lived over there, and the metal housing gave a strong tingle if ever you touched it. I solved it by wiring the earth tab to the steel window bars in the house. Job done.

Not big on RCDs over there, then?

Mind you, it doesn’t take many mA to give a strong tingle. 3 or 4, maybe?

 

[Morrisman]

Not big on RCDs over there, then?

Mind you, it doesn’t take many mA to give a strong tingle. 3 or 4, maybe?

I never saw one over there. When we had our house built we had a great big American style breaker box, with twin pole breakers for everything. The main breaker was 100amps, everything else was 50, 60 or 80, even lighting circuits.
I tried to point out the obvious, but no “ this is the way we do it in the Philippines sir”

After the inspection had been done and the permitted occupancy certificate issued I swapped out quite a few of the breakers for smaller ones.

 

[Guineafowl]

I never saw one over there. When we had our house built we had a great big American style breaker box, with twin pole breakers for everything. The main breaker was 100amps, everything else was 50, 60 or 80, even lighting circuits.
I tried to point out the obvious, but no “ this is the way we do it in the Philippines sir”

After the inspection had been done and the permitted occupancy certificate issued I swapped out quite a few of the breakers for smaller ones.

A lot of countries are a bit backwards with electrics, which puts our wiring bodge pics in perspective a bit.

If I may have a poke at the US for a minute, case in point:
Physics Forums EE section, mainly US members.
Question: Why is it bad to daisy-chain extension leads?
I chipped in with: the long run of smaller cable, and multiple connections might increase your fault loop impedance. Breaker might not trip.

General response: impedance? IMPEDANCE? Oh yeah, right, I’m really concerned about the reactance of short lengths of domestic wiring. Pfft.

They’re a long way behind, particularly with uptake of RCDs/GFCIs, which is literally shocking.

 

[S-Rail]

We were on a job about ten years ago , freezing cold so had the house being renovated with about twenty 500 watt halogens going to keep heat in for the plasters . Chippy comes into replace exterior door and frame . Shortly after every light , body , or stand they were mounted too was giving us all a belt if we touched them . We could work it out at first .

Later on when I was passing through the front door when I noticed the ground / earth bar wire was cut , asked what happened and the chippy said it was drilled through the old frame so had to cut it to get the new frame in .

And voila , the house wasn’t on PME , so every tool , light ,anything with a metal body that was plugged in wasn’t earthed . I don’t personally understand electrics , but a choccy block sorted the problem until the new mains was brought in .

 

[dobbslc]

We get that all the time on site. "Oh yeah that was in our way so I cut it"
The "it" being the 95mm / 120mm / 300mm main earth to the entire job!