Beginner's guide to electronics

I've been doing a little household wiring work recently and it's really shown me how little I know about this kind of thing.

Can anybody recommend a nice online guide to electronics, with a particular emphasis on household wiring? I've had a good read of the uk.d-i-y FAQ and it's just a little bit above my level. Something to help bridge the gap from a schoolboy's knowledge up to a working knowledge is what I need.

Reply to
Brian
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BTW, this is Electrics. Electronics is transistor and IC type circuitry.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Depends if you are a physicist or not ;-)

Reply to
Martin Evans

Collin's or Which DIY books? Or leaflets from Wicks etc for specific tasks?

BTW, it's not electronics but electrics. If you want electronics books for basics Maplin have several.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

This is the useful Which book mentioned by Dave....

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Reply to
RzB

such as what Earth is and how it works and, I guess by extension, how AC electrics works on a fundemental level (ie the kind of thing that electricians get taught in their first couple of classes at college).

It's not really practical advice on wiring that I'm after - that will come later. Actually, I understand that kind of thing to a certain degree already.

Reply to
Brian

Then I'd have a look at what Maplin offer. Several books which cover this sort of thing for students - as well as electronics.

But for a practical guide on house earthing you'd need a guide to the 16th edition. TLC sell one.

Hmm.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Would you be this rude to somebody you were speaking to face to face? I suspect you'd get a slap. I mean, come on - an apology is in order. I haven't been rude to you, and I don't know what to deserve such a rude response.

My knowledge of *electronics* comes from school, in what they called Control Technology classes. I know about circuits, about DC voltage, about what some electronic components do, and so on.

What I *don't know* is about AC voltage circuits, or earthing, and so on - what a number of people have pointed out is referred to as *electrics*. I wasn't taught that kind of thing at school. This is what I'm trying to find out about, and this is what I've asked the group for help on. I asked in a genuine way for genuine help - this is how I'm treated?

Reply to
Brian

That wasn't really rude. You might get that later on...

The comment was probably meant to indicate that, in the poster's opinion, you don't know how little you know. It's a LOT more than electric circuits and earthing. You need to know about (and here's a selection):

Types of earthing; what earth fault loop impedance is; what 'diversity' is; what is meant by 'derating' and when to apply it; the difference between a type B and a type C MCB; when to use an RCBO; how to test a newly installed circuit (hint: you need a lot more than a simple continuity tester); different kinds of circuits; limitations of ring final circuits; 2 way and 3 way switching; heat considerations, including different kinds of sheathing;.....

There's a lot more; it was just summarised as 'Hmm'. Or, as I said before, you don't know how little you know. And the knowledge isn't optional.

And that's before we start on Part P; that's the new regulations that limit what you can DIY, except under very stringent inspection and testing conditions.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Indeed!

A good initial list. So, if the OP is (as he now tells us, but failed to do so in the initial query) happy with basic circuit ideas, I'd suggest the following two books in this order:

1) 'Electric Wiring: Domestic', by B. Scaddan, A.J. Coker, & W. Turner, pub. Newnes, now in its 11th edition, ISBN 0-7506-2058-7. It's slim (112pp.), covers the basics, sticks to the Regs nice and close, aimed at the studying-for-C&G market. Reliable. 2) 'Modern wiring practice', W.E. Steward & T.A. Stubbs, Newnes again, 12th edn, ISBN 0-7506-2134-6. More detailed than the previous one, sound, only slightly behind the times in approach ('ooh! look! computer-thing programs to do circuit design!) but good, detailed, worked examples, with equal emphasis on practical skills and electrical design considerations. I suggest this order (the shorty Scaddan first) because the detail in Steward&Stubbs can be intimidating at first.)

There are others around - skimming the electrical sections of the Collins D-I-Y guide is useful to check out the basics; the IEE On-Site Guide is useful; Whitfield's 'Electrician's Guide to the 16th Edn Wiring Regs' isn't bad, though always very firm and sometimes wrong despite his certainty. Most of it is online at

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in their Technical Section, along with a fair bit of other product and practical info.

See - now you've told us what sort of background you have, it's possible to make vaguely sensible book recommendations. Your first message gave us - me at least - very little to go on, and the mixing up of 'electrics' and 'electronics' inspired little confidence that you had any relevant background knowledge...

HTH - Stefek

Reply to
Stefek Zaba

Your requests for help haven't exactly shown any practical knowledge of domestic wiring. And perhaps most of it - to be safe, needs just that - a practical knowledge, not some theoretical 'school' learning of basic physics.

You don't give that impression.

You've been given good advice. Start with a decent DIY book. Collins or Which. Get a TLC catalogue which will show you all the common household wiring bits and the current rating of cables etc. And get a guide to the

16th edition wiring regs from them also - it gives all the various earthing options.

I'm not trying to be clever, but a little knowledge of 'circuits' when applied to household electrics is a dangerous thing. That's where we get things wired in totally unsuitable cable etc because the person knows how a circuit works, but not how to do it using the correct materials.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

On Mon, 30 May 2005 20:04:06 +0000 (UTC), "Brian" strung together this:

You want rude? I can do it to extremes. Think you got off lightly there.

Reply to
Lurch

I'm with the OP ("Brian") on this one. His netiquette might be a little rusty, but I do think I understand where he is coming from because I was once in that position myself.

The thing with household electrics is that there are firm guidelines set down (e.g. in the OSG) which, even if they are blindly followed without in-depth knowledge of the physics of the thing, are practically guaranteed to produce sensible results.

In other words for most practical purposes (and this was what I think the OP referred to when he said he'd already done some wiring work) you do not need to know *why* 2.5/1.5mm cable is used for a 32A ring circuit, or *why* you can only add one accessory on a spur, you just follow the rules and it works.

If I am correct, the OP wants to know the physics of what happens between the transformer and the house: How on earth (no pun intended) is a copper rod stuck in the earth by your front door going to give a couple of tens of Ohms resistance back to another copper rod (or whatever) in the ground at the transformer a quarter of a mile away? Why, in fact, do we need an earth at all? Why do we tie neutral to earth instead of having a totally floating and hence totally safe system? If TN-C-S is possible, why isn't it done everywhere? Why 240V and not

100V or 50V or 1kV? What does "RMS" mean, and why aren't we worried about the peak-to-peak Voltage being a lot more than 240V? Why 50Hz? What are the practical differences between 50Hz and 60Hz? How can the supply company keep the Voltage close to 240V when the load obviously varies enormously through the day? Why do switches have a current rating, and what does that rating mean?

And so on and so on. These are all practical questions which are generally *not* covered in any of the wiring guides or guides to the regulations.

In other words, something a bit more advanced than DC physics taught at age 16. Something that will explain the bit in the regulations (and the OSG and all the guidebooks) which assumes a certain level of knowledge and states that (for example) exposed metalwork should be bonded in a bathroom.

He wants the knowledge to challenge John Whitfield's assertion that bonding is always required in a kitchen, rather than relying on para.

4.6 in the OSG which says that such bonding is not required, without explaining why.

These are exactly the questions I wanted answered some years ago when I started thinking about taking up electrics as a business, and I have yet to find a simple, clear, concise explanation of such matters.

Hwyl!

M.

Reply to
Martin Angove

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