Square D electrical panel question

[Mr Macaw]

Utter bullshit. The commonly quoted figure is in fact 15 minutes for 0C. -5C would be 7.5 minutes, it halves for every 5C. But even that is complete and utter s**te. There have been studies done, and it actually takes 2 HOURS to cool the body enough to kill it at 0C. Have you never tried swimming in winter? Have you never fallen through ice or known someone who has? Have you never seen Russians going for an ice swim? They most certainly don't get out after a minute. I go swimming in 0C water myself, and I don't even start shivering until I've been in for 30 minutes, so to say that a few minutes is deadly is absolutely stupid.

[Mr Macaw]

Yeah, it could be something dangerous like 2 volts :-) The wire coming to my house is 300 amps. That thing won't drop much voltage.

Think about it, say it dropped enough to give you a shock (I believe you need 30 volts to even make you feel it) that would mean I'd have 30 volts on neutral with reference to ground. So the voltage drop on the live would be the same. That would mean I'd have 200 volts and 30 volts, a PD of 170 volts. Now they're required by law to provide me with 230 volts +10%/-8%, so anything under 211.6 volts is no good (some equipment wouldn't work, bulbs would be dim etc). 170 is a lot less than 211.6.

I have actually tested the voltage under high load conditions, and it never drops more than about 5 volts (it'll be an equal drop on both conductors) - so I could get a 2.5V shock off neutral - that's less than a lithium torch battery, which I can touch the ends off with wet hands and not even feel it.

[Mr Macaw]

I wasn't backward, you just misunderstood it as I was too brief. What I meant was "Storms like that never happen in the UK, maybe we need more land mass for severe weather?", not "You need more land mass to stop it happening".

[Tony944]

Yeah, it could be something dangerous like 2 volts :-) The wire coming to my house is 300 amps. That thing won't drop much voltage.

Think about it, say it dropped enough to give you a shock (I believe you need 30 volts to even make you feel it) that would mean I'd have 30 volts on neutral with reference to ground. So the voltage drop on the live would be the same. That would mean I'd have 200 volts and 30 volts, a PD of 170 volts. Now they're required by law to provide me with 230 volts +10%/-8%, so anything under 211.6 volts is no good (some equipment wouldn't work, bulbs would be dim etc). 170 is a lot less than 211.6.

I have actually tested the voltage under high load conditions, and it never drops more than about 5 volts (it'll be an equal drop on both conductors) - so I could get a 2.5V shock off neutral - that's less than a lithium torch battery, which I can touch the ends off with wet hands and not even feel it.

[Tekkie®]

DerbyDad03 posted for all of us...

Oh man, put the FD on stand by.

[Stormin Mormon]

Western NY still in the 50s, daytime.

[gfretwell]

SW Florida is 85 in the day

[Mr Macaw]

I don't think they've lost it at all, they've just become accustomed to being warm all the time. I bet if you took someone who never wears one, and someone who does, and placed them naked outside on a cold winter's day, neither would get colder first. One of them might moan about it more but that's all.

If I'm out on a cold day, someone might say "aren't you cold?!" and when I say no they might touch my arm and say I am. I'm the correct temperature inside, but I've removed heat from my skin to keep it inside. People seem to equate their skin temperature with their own temperature.

[Mr Macaw]

How many are you likely to find in houses? (Including older houses and newer ones).

[Mr Macaw]

And you think a wire in the air is safer?!?

[Mr Macaw]

De-caf is as sensible as diet chocolate.

[Mr Macaw]

Same here.

[Mr Macaw]

Shut up.

[Mr Macaw]

Why not make it the right temperature in the first place? I drink hot chocolate, I worked out how long the mug goes in the microwave to make it the correct temperature.

[Mr Macaw]

Vodka and fruit juice is better.

[Mr Macaw]

Shut up.

[Mr Macaw]

WRONG. A lizard or a goldfish will get cold when the temperature drops. They will slow down considerably. We however remain around 37C inside.

Which is a stupid thing to not like. All you're getting is cold skin. So what? Why is detecting a different temperature on your skin any different to detecting that it's dark, or you're walking on softer ground? It's an input telling you about your surroundings, and nothing to be concerned about.

It's very difficult to freeze yourself. You'd need much lower temperatures than are available where you live.

Neither. I wear usually just a pair of shorts. Only add more if I'm going somewhere fancy, then I wear a tshirt.

[Mr Macaw]

Give it a rest.

[gfretwell]

In residential you will run into six 240v receptacles

6-15 6-20 10-30 14-30 10-50 14-50

Two 120v

5-15 6-15 3 in you include real old homes 1-15

It is possible to see a few others but not usual.

6-30 if they have a welder or big shop equipment TT-30 if they have an RV (caravan)

Once you get to commercial, you could see anything including a lot that do not have NEMA numbers (Russell Stoll, IEC etc)

[gfretwell]

If it is hit, actually it is. The dirt/sand around a buried conductor can cause physical damage. Underground hits are pretty rare tho. Overhead hits happen a lot but it usually just blows a fuse. Occasionally a transformer can explode tho.