Wheeee. Now THAT was scary ...

Nothing has changed here. She still uses the same hairdrier she's had for years, since she was a teenager. The modern ones, she says, have _too_much_ power, the old one is really gentle.

And yes, she always switches it off at the socket!

Andy

A lot of professional radio and broadcast equipment we use doesn't even have an on/off switch.

Its never intended to be switched off anyway!...

heating boiling. The theromstat must have become closed circiut permanatly.

They're not very reliable. Stuck-on t'stats have happened to me a couple of times over the years, but more common is stuck-off, which is safer. New stats have an overheat one-shot cut-out, which is good. My current immersion has been retro-fitted with one of those.

Immersion elements aren't all that good, either. I've had several fail, not through over-use, just normal wear and tear. Looking at immersion specs, the normally-priced ones are relatively low quality in a very competitive market and the really good ones are a helluva price.

They're all required to have RCDs at the plug this side of the Pond (or at least I've never seen one that doesn't), but of course that didn't stop my wife's one from overheating enough to crack and warp the handle.

When I took it apart there was a crimp-connector adjacent to the speed switch which had failed (due to moisture, poor fitting, or being under- spec I don't know) and the plastic shroud was a charred mess. Once the shroud had gone it wasn't hard to imagine it melting its way into the adjacent switch too, possibly with interesting consequences.

Dodgy gadgets, they are...

Please expand on "RCD required at the plug" is this just for hairdryers? Is this an RCD plug? RCD socket? or RCD feeding the circuit?

Cheers

Chris

ersion heating boiling. The theromstat must have become closed circiut perm= anatly.

They do lok rather cheap and nasty.

I didn't see a choice when I brought mine, think it was about =A315 in B&Q.

Shold really think about getting the whole tank replaced.

Yes, RCD plug, and *mostly* just for hairdryers, but I think things such as hair straighteners might generally (possibly always) have them too; I suppose it's useful for anything that might get used in a high moisture environment such as a bathroom.

cheers

Jules

since there won't be a socket in the bathroom, where does the user plug it in?

Where Jules is, it's rare to _not_ have sockets in the bathroom.

I thought this group was UK diy.

Jules has been reading Usenet news for at keast two decades, by my calculation. He has only been in the USA for a little while, relatively. So he has 'grandfather' rights! (and the different perspective is interesting)

Joules I thought they came in amps/volts ;-)

or as calories if you're on a diet.

Heh, thanks! I don't think I had usenet access prior to UKC days, so it would have been 1993 - so yes, not too far off 20 years now (gulp!). I think I've just crossed my 5 year mark over here, although I was heading back and forth for a couple of years prior to that.

I think alt.home.repair is probably the uk.d-i-y equivalent this side of the puddle, but the crowd aren't nearly as nice - and for general DIY problems this group seems to win hands-down for decent advice, too.

Maybe I need a .sig that explains things, or something!

cheers

Jules

I wasn't far off, then...I thought you were a year or three earlier aty UKC.

My Usenet started in about 1983, AFAIR.

I was a bit later. 1987 IIRC - but not with this identity

It was certainly modem to (UKC?) stuff on a VAX.

Well, you can install decent UK wiring in your wooden house, for starters. :)

Not so much the wiring as the voltage.

Ha ha! :-) Yes, it is all a bit Mickey Mouse over here, even with modern standards. Plus about half of the wiring and fittings in our place (including various out-buildings) is ancient, so there's a right pile 'o old fuseboxes, knife-switch disconnects etc. too.

We're talking about a country where even the President's pants state can't be kept secret - what chance of a fake Moon landing.