Early Risers.

[grandadbob]

I have been to Sydenham, Staines and Stevenage but for the life of me can't remember why.  As I now live in Sutton it must be something to do with liking alliteration.....

 

....and  

Evenin' all,

Unable to post early this morning due to a computer glitch but all now seems OK. 

We then spent a few hours with Nicki and grandchildren helping to finalise plans for Abbie's 18th birthday bash next week. Apart from that nothing to report.

Enjoy what's left of the day.

Bob.

 

PS Also spent a day in Stavanger on our cruise last year which started from Southampton.

Edited February 15, 2017 by grandadbob

[Smiffy2]

Daisy has now gone home, proud as punch with her new camera and Photostream to show off her work. It's great to see a talent unfolding.

Also good to see her writing some very traditional thank-yous with her fountain pen on proper Basildon Bond..

 

I'm exhausted...

[AndyID]

There is a widespread misconception that the Ring Main is about safety if fact it in inherently unsafe. The reason for the ring main was it was cheaper and easier to do. The problem with a ring main in the UK is the cables used are 2.5mm sq cross section which have a current rating in the 20s in typical installations  however the fuse or circuit breaker is rated 30A or 32A for an MCB. The assumption is that it being a ring the current will pass both ways round the ring keeping the current in the cables below 20A at all times. However should one of the wires fracture or become loose at any point in the ring the ring effectively becomes two radial circuits sharing one fuse. The break will not trigger a fault condition and will function ok but if the break is near one end the longer leg may be regularly carry a greater current than it should. If part of the cable passes through insulation it may cause a hot spot. 

Before you all rush out in a panic it is a low risk mostly the currents are well below the fuse rating. If however you have heavy loads such as heaters on a ring main it could be an issue if there is a fault. One thing you can do is should you replace any sockets or add new to a ring main is to check the continuity of the ring. 

 

In contrast a Radial circuit adheres to the safety rule that any cable has a higher current rating than the fuse which protects it.

 

Don

 

The ring circuit is more to do with minimizing voltage drops on long cable runs than anything else. At the furthest point from the feed the wiring resistance is effectively half for the equivalent radial branch, all else being equal. The heating effect in the wire is negligible (less than 6.7 milliwatts per yard at 30 amps).

 

What isn't negligible is the voltage drop. A 100 foot radial branch will drop around 10 volts over 100 feet at 30 amps. The ring arrangement cuts that in half.

Edited February 15, 2017 by AndyID

[Tony_S]

We have an upstairs ring and a downstairs ring. Same for lighting rings too. Cooker has its own spur with very thick cable.

[laurenceb]

 

 

On one training course we were given a good lesson in Earth return. Using a magneto a bell some wire an and two earth spikes. One side of the magneto was conneted to one earth spike the other to the wire which then connected to the bell which was attached to the other earth spike some distance from the first. Turning the magneto caused the bell to ring. To prove the earth was part of the circuit one of the students usually picked for suitable footware i.e.not thick rubber soles was asked to pull out one of the earth spikes at which point the student discovered he had become part of the earth return.

 

Don  

That was cruel, but funny. I used to do something similar with electric fences

[emt_911]

A very productive day for a change but now everything has come to a grinding halt thanks to a lack of materials. This is now the third day that the supplier has promised delivery and nothing has appeared even though I was promised that they were arriving today. Why do I feel that the last 2 days of the week are going to be very long.

 

On the way to work this morning I was overtaken while on a single carriageway 30mph road. Nothing unusual really but this time one car doing in excess of 60mph was being overtaken himself. I just hope that these complete cockwombles are unable to breed.

 

Time to relax before getting ready for another day

[roundhouse]

I could quite happily live in Portland, OR if I knew that my liver wouldn't be ruined much quicker than at present with all those breweries

 

Today was first day back in London at work for a few weeks.

 

Whilst the trains ran OK (and fairly quiet with spare seats these days), I hadnt missed the packed pavements. On our way towards London Bridge station I was thinking that I really dont like having to dodge people who are not considering others, when only a few minutes later a girl ran smack into the back of my other half. How could she have missed the two of us walking in a set direction - wasnt as if we were wandering around.

 

My other half now has a very sore back.

Edited February 15, 2017 by roundhouse

[AndyID]

We have an upstairs ring and a downstairs ring. Same for lighting rings too. Cooker has its own spur with very thick cable.

 

Apparently it's no longer considered good practice to wire the lighting circuits as rings. We don't have no stinking rings here and I only mention it because I happened to read it here. 

[AndyID]

I could quite happily live in Portland, OR if I knew that my liver would be ruined much quicker than at present with all those breweries

 

 

They just opened a new restaurant on the ski-hill. As I was passing the door yesterday I though I might as well pop in for some lunch. A couple of glasses of Flying Dog IPA also improved my skiing a lot. (I blame the altitude - 6,400 feet)

[Tony_S]

They just opened a new restaurant on the ski-hill. As I was passing the door yesterday I though I might as well pop in for some lunch. A couple of glasses of Flying Dog IPA also improved my skiing a lot. (I blame the altitude - 6,400 feet)

A friend of ours moved to Portland from Boston in the 1980s. She didn't like the Boston traffic and the chance of being injured! Last year she was knocked over on a pedestrian crossing by a cyclist who seemed to be in altered state of consciousness

[JohnDMJ]

I've always wanted to learn how schools function....so badly.

 

I worked as a technician in one and never fathomed this out! When I left, the administrators were dismayed that, with my having sorted out the science department budget and purchasing, how were they going to cope with my successor!

 

 

 

If you look at the old overhead mains power cableing feeding houses you'lll see there are 3 cables strung along the bar one for each phase, plus a 4th wire for neutral.  One phase is drawn off to feed a house along with the neutral to form a circuit.. But a factory or high power user will take all three phases and the neutral.

 

 

Unless you're using delta configuration, which has no neutral!

 

In further to the above on house power: there's also an earth in the circuit. It's not connected to anything, except the shielding of metal objects that may or may not be used to protect humans (and animals for that matter) from faulty devices connected to mains power. Think water main, central heating installation, etc. Frequently, this earth wire goes exactly there: outside the property a large metal rod is driven deep into the ground and connected to this earth wiring. The same method is used to protect pylons from becoming energised* due to the proximity of the high voltage lines. The power plant also has a rod (probably more then one) to complete the circuit.

 

It's worth noting that the nominal voltages on the 3-phase network are 400V AC between them, with 230V AC between any phase and Neutral. The National Grid can have voltages of 330kV and higher, the current (sic ) "flavour of the day" in power transport are 500kV DC connectors. That's a lot of toasters!   For comparison: the "safe" voltages for humans are considered 48V DC or 24V AC to be survivable w/o major injuries.

 

*caused by magnetic induction. In theory it shouldn't happen as each phase is balanced out, but theory and practice aren't always in agreement

 

[edit: the above is valid for Europe (UK and Mainland) but not the US! Numbers for the US are 230V AC between the phases and 120V AC between phase and Neutral. This goes back to the early days of general electrification of society, a phase (sic) skipped by Europe post WW-II]

 

Ain't editing this post here! All I will say is that most UK domestic dwellings rely on the plumbing system for their earth connection; the water supply companies favour blue plastic pipes!

[AndyID]

A friend of ours moved to Portland from Boston in the 1980s. She didn't like the Boston traffic and the chance of being injured! Last year she was knocked over on a pedestrian crossing by a cyclist who seemed to be in altered state of consciousness

 

Oh dear! Sorry to hear that. Hope she recovered.

 

Allegedly, in Boston, an amber light means "accelerate" and a red light "doesn't mean a damn thing". Also, as a courtesy to color blind drivers there, they have a habit of hanging the traffic lights horizontally rather than vertically.

[Tony_S]

Our house dates from 1990. All the domestic water pipes are earth strapped and earth is the sheathing of the power cable entering the house .

[Tony_S]

Oh dear! Sorry to hear that. Hope she recovered.

 

Allegedly, in Boston, an amber light means "accelerate" and a red light "doesn't mean a damn thing". Also, as a courtesy to color blind drivers there, they have a habit of hanging the traffic lights horizontally rather than vertically.

She did but was less mobile for a while due to leg injuries. Not sure how the cyclist fared. Our friend is a very kind person and probably forgave her.

We had been warned about Boston drivers before we went. Oddly enough I thought how civil they appeared to be. We had to drive to Logan airport in heavy traffic one day and it was a lot less frantic than in SE England during rush hour.

[AndyID]

I have to drive an eight foot long copper-plated rod into the ground to earth the shed/shop. The first one went down five feet but but no amount of persuasion would make go further. I did manage to sink another one at an angle, but I'm concerned the bottom may be actually sticking out of the ground further down the hill. I won't know for sure until the three feet of snow melts - in April at this rate.

[AndyID]

She did but was less mobile for a while due to leg injuries. Not sure how the cyclist fared. Our friend is a very kind person and probably forgave her.

We had been warned about Boston drivers before we went. Oddly enough I thought how civil they appeared to be. We had to drive to Logan airport in heavy traffic one day and it was a lot less frantic than in SE England during rush hour.

 

Quite often I used to find myself driving North out of London on the M1 of a Friday evening. Talk about the mad rush of the lemmings!

[Horsetan]

Quite often I used to find myself driving North out of London on the M1 of a Friday evening. Talk about the mad rush of the lemmings!

I do this journey every Friday to get to the stables.

[Tony_S]

I have to drive an eight foot long copper-plated rod into the ground to earth the shed/shop. The first one went down five feet but but no amount of persuasion would make go further. I did manage to sink another one at an angle, but I'm concerned the bottom may be actually sticking out of the ground further down the hill. I won't know for sure until the three feet of snow melts - in April at this rate.

Our house is built on 10 metre piles in order to prevent it moving. Even at 10 metres deep it is probably still clay.

[AndyID]

I do this journey every Friday to get to the stables.

 

 I hope the standard of driving has improved since forty years ago - although I tend to doubt it.

[laurenceb]

Night all

[Tony_S]

I hope the standard of driving has improved since forty years ago - although I tend to doubt it.

Well, forty years ago I didn't drive and I do now so any slippage in standards is probably my fault.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

The boiler was given the OK and once the boiler engineer had gone I went down to the cellar and once more played around with some track. I made a few more tweaks and I think I've reached the final version. Essentially it's the same track plan, but I've swapped 2 single points for 1 - 3 way point and altered the factory feeder a little. It seems to flow a little better now and I also end up with a slightly longer station too!

 

This evening was Sainsbury's Grand Prix night again. Once all the shopping had been unpacked and put away, I did the same with the dishwasher. Once that was completed it was time for a sit down and a beer.

 

I think twisted my knee this morning whilst getting on and off the ladder whilst fixing the guttering. I can still walk ok and driving was ok this evening, it's just I've got a little bit of a dull ache. It seems to be worse after sitting down for a while. Hopefully it'll be ok in the morning, as these sort of injuries usually are.

 

Goodnight all.

[JohnDMJ]

Night all!

[Tony_S]

... twisted my knee this morning whilst getting on and off the ladder whilst fixing the guttering. I can still walk ok and driving was ok this evening, it's just I've got a little bit of a dull ache. It seems to be worse after sitting down for a while. Hopefully it'll be ok in the morning, as these sort of injuries usually are.

Goodnight all.

My knees seem to hurt after using ladders. I don't think I twist them, I think it is due to pressing a rung against them or just under them. It never used to be a problem. Must be age or something.

[emt_911]

Night all