Scary lectrics

[N. Thornton]

In message Tg4wd.382$ [e-mail] From: Lobster ( [e-mail]) Subject: Re: Re-wiring - high current through junctions - problematic ?

> Hi guys, >> >> I'm re-wiring up my place, as part of renovations. >> It was last wired about 50yrs ago, so needs it :-) >Hey, wasn't it a Harry who was posting last week about his mate 'who knows >about electrics' who had wired an electric shower as spur from a ring main? >Hmmm....

I was alerted to summat up before even reading Harry's post: just look at the title.

Its not very reassuring, but at least lets face one fact: I've seen and lived with far worse, seen it many times. Unfortunately there are no shortage of UK houses with wiring that would be improved by this ill informed person having a go. sounds scary, but there is worse about.

One of the worst I saw was an industrial site, a factory full of sewing machines. It had been closed down, and a visit soon apparented why. Each machine was supplied by 2 core bell wire that went straight up in the air and was choc blocked onto whatever odd bits of wire/flex/cable/more bell wire happened to be strung across the factory just above reach. There were several rows of this overhead. One choc block failure, or one pull on the bell wire, and that overhead would have come down live, and with bare ends. And thats industrial wiring...

Another unusual one I saw was a large retail premises that looked like an installation from somewhere around WW1. I dont know the actual install date, but on the wall was a switch fuse that did not use a removable fuse wire carrier, the bare unenclosed fuse wire was removed by undoing its end holding scerws - with it still in circuit of course. When the fuse popped it would have sprayed all over the box. Naturally no tool was needed to open that box, in fact it was sitting there open and bare as we walked round. The large shop was (very poorly) lit by 4 big filament bulbs on the high ceiling. We're talking a furniture shop, not small.

Bell wire and choc blocks seem to be the bodgers favourite, I still remember the wall lights in a pub where you had to look twice before picking up the salt and pepper, because the famous bell wire choc block combination was nestling comfortably among the condiments.

I think anyone thats lived in a round pin wired building long past its rewire-by date, with disintegrating perished rubber wiring, missing and ineffective earths, occasional burnt wiring smells and dimming lights, would know there's worse than our OP here. He may kill someone, or 2 or 3, but at least he's unlikely to kill en masse.... unlike this chap:

Arse, I cant find the link. Its an American guy that used a shampoo bottle as a float, cut a hole in it and taped a double mains socket in there. It was for his pool, so he could float in the water while watching his portable TV - I guess he must have figured out how to make that float as well! Classic stuff.

NT

[Owain]

"N. Thornton" wrote | Arse, I cant find the link. Its an American guy that used a | shampoo bottle as a float, cut a hole in it and taped a | double mains socket in there. It was for his pool, so he | could float in the water while watching his portable TV - I | guess he must have figured out how to | make that float as well! Classic stuff.

One of the photo/volation forums on

?

Owain

[BigWallop]

I was asked, a good while ago now, to have a look at some tube heaters in a bar in Edinburgh, ok, it was the Artisan Bar in London Road if anyone is interested, and when I removed the wooden front covers of the wall seating I was amazed to find multi core alarm cable going into each and every heater in series around the walls. Seven heaters in total had been connected with multi core. Each cable had been stripped back and the individual stranded conductors had been wrapped to form, in essence, two thicker wires.

When I said that the heaters needed to be rewired quite urgently, as the cable between them was now burned through, I was told that they couldn't need all that much work done, because they had just been sorted by a guy that comes in the bar who knows about these things.

I showed the manager the wiring and how badly burned it was and he nearly took a fit. When told how close they had come to having a fire, he nearly fainted. It was then he told me of the burning smells that customers told him about, and to which he'd been replying "Yes, but it's only the new heaters settling in".

Why didn't the fuse blow? Because it wasn't a piece of fuse wire in the holder. No, it was a piece of 2.5 mm csa' copper wire. The heaters also didn't have any earth, so that wouldn't have helped anyway. The only thing to act as a fuse was the strands of multi core cable in the first, second and third lengths under the wall seating.

Yes. It still goes on till this day.

[Lobster]

I was thinking more along the lines of

(a terrific site for those that don't know it!)

David

[Andrew Gabriel]

My grandfather owned a factory which made dresses and I remember visiting that quite often in the 1960's. No bellwire, indeed no wire at all. There was a giant motor at the end of the long seamstress table driving a shaft the length of the table. There were probably some 10-20 sewing machines along the table, and each one had a belt drive tapped off the passing drive shaft. I think there was a foot operated clutch pedal for each machine.

In spite of how lethal the whole lot would look today, I don't recall any injuries resulting from the open drive shaft or drive belts. I do recall a few occasions when one or other steamstress managed to sew one of their thumbs or fingers into a dress, for which a bottle of brandy was kept in the office. (These industrial sewing machines were much more powerful than anything you might have at home, and would go through fingers without any hesitation.)

Another dangerous area was the cutting table. This is where some

30 or so layers of material were rolled out onto the table, the pattern pinned to the top, and an electric knife was used to cut round the pattern by hand, through all 30 layers of fabric in one go. I never got to see how the knife worked; as a child I was kept away from it, and to this day I'm still mildly curious as I can't imagine its mechanism. It cut through the fabric effortlessly, like a hot knife through butter. It was suspended from the ceiling on a contraption which allowed it to move anywhere over the cutting table but was weighted or sprung to hover about 1' above the table until it was pulled down into the pile of fabric. My grandfather had a cutter, but when she wasn't in, he did the cutting himself. Anyway, one day he managed to slice the tips off two fingers whilst doing so. They were stitched back on and recovered except for the feeling in them.

[Andy Dingley]

A lineshaft. Usually in the ceiling, but the rag trade had these under the counter ones.

One of my neighbours is a house built around 1903. In the garden is a large shed, built along with the house as a small commercial workshop. It still has a functional Crossley gas engine in there, driving a few lathes and drilling machines by the original lineshaft.

Actually they're exactly the same as the machines several of us have at home 8-)

A Pfaff 1222 (a fairly small domestic) will go through a finger too.

I was offered one of those cheap a while ago, from a retiring chap who repaired sewing machines and built special feed feet for them. We turned it down as simply too dangerous !, but did buy a few hundred yards of 2" Velcro and a large Harrison lathe that takes two of us and an engine crane to move. That's with practice and three moves of the damnable thing - first time it took four of us..

[N. Thornton]

In message uUCxd.3653$ [e-mail] From: BigWallop (spam.guard@_spam_guard.com) Subject: Re: Scary lectrics

heaters in a

connected with

You say in series, you mean each was getting 240/7 v? At least that would explain why nothing blew.

Bodge artists note, its cheaper to use lightbulbs for heating...

NT

[Andy Burns]

But if you're cold blooded you might need some very dark sunglasses ;-)

[BigWallop]

Yes, they were connected series. That's why they didn't heat anything bar the cable either. The end one heated slightly more than the rest, so I was told. :-)

[N. Thornton]

thats certainly one option! Or

1. run 2 in series
2. put them in black flammable wooden boxes (no Im not suggesting anyone does)
3. paint the bulbs black (a recipe for accidents)
4. point them at something dark, and preferably flammable
5. Just pretend its Ibiza, like you say

(dont try 2 3 or 4.)

In message uUCxd.3653$ [e-mail] From: BigWallop (spam.guard@_spam_guard.com)

anything bar

I'm still shakin me head!

Sounds like he might just as well have connected all the burger alarm wires in series and plugged in.

NT