Connect Unisaw to Dryer Outlet

[Norman D. Crow]

He asks in all innocence . . . "What's a stream pressure washer?"

(R, D, & G)

[Norman D. Crow]

Now justaminnit! How many of us are married to this same woman who does this with the house thermostat & heater blower? Mine also used to do this when we had a "fancy" car(69 Imperial) with the thermostat controlled heater system.

[Doug Miller]

No.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Robatoy]

I know why....LOL That stuff was made to build up courage for the day when they run the bulls.

2 Litres, no less. Don't you need a permit for that?

waitasec... you're not trying to hurt me, are you?!?!?

[rob]

[Richard Clements]

you know that was a joke Right? just making sure

[Robatoy]

yup

[Andy Dingley]

Permit a naive question from a Brit

So what does protect the saw ? Suppose there's a circuit feeding a circuit for the drier or the saw, and the saw only requires current. Is there a protective device anywhere to limit this current ? What about the 1A toothbrush ?

[WillR]

Not normally in the North American system...

Occasionally someone might use a power bar with a breaker, or a GFCI=20 outlet with a "breaker" or Circuit interrupter might be a better name.

It's just the way it is...

--=20 Will R. Jewel Boxes and Wood Art

power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those=20 who have not got it.=94 George Bernard Shaw

[Unquestionably Confused]

on 3/23/2005 4:27 PM Andy Dingley said the following:

The device takes what it needs and no more. If it's defective it shorts out and must be repaired or trashed. All that available current is not going to hurt it.

Think about it for a minute in the context of your own home. You run light bulbs on the same circuit as your television set don't you? Do you also run a clock in the kitchen on the same circuit that you plug a portable bread maker into? An electric frying pan? Coffee maker? What protects them (light bulb or clock)? Nothing.

Any electrical equipment that needs current limiting provides its own.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I have a Sears Radial Arm Saw. The motor for that saw has a reset button which provides overload protection. Even though the circuit could provide enough amperage to fry the wiring by overheating in a "stall" condition, the overload sense the heat rise and shuts off power - just as a circuit breaker does - before any damage is done. When you think about it, many appliances or electronic devices have either a small fuse or internal circuit breaker inside to protect them. What they are protecting the device from is an INTERNAL fault, generally, not something in the power feed.

I'm sure there are more learned explanations that neither you nor I would understand but the basic is as previously stated. The circuit breaker is there to protect the wiring so that it doesn't become a resistance element and heat up the house by glowing cherry red within the walls.

[Andy Dingley]

On the contrary - the UK system would give them their own 1A fuse, in the plug.

In my house I have one style of socket, and I can use it for everything from the 3HP cabinet saw or welder down to an unearthed tiny-current clock. All appliances get protected appropriately.

[Unquestionably Confused]

on 3/23/2005 6:32 PM Andy Dingley said the following:

Ah, I see. This is that "ring" or circular scheme that you or one of your countrymen was mentioning when this thread first started, correct?

Okay, it's a US thing then. You DO have your wiring on a circuit breaker though, correct, it's just sitting there with, what?, 40 or 50 amps on it and heavy duty wiring to boot?

What kind of fuse do you have in the plug for your 3HP cabinet saw or welder?

[Andy Dingley]

Yes. The ring has a 32A breaker protecting it against wiring faults. Appliances are protected by the plug fuse.

Biggest plug fuse is a 13A (for 230V), which is what the saw uses.

[George E. Cawthon]

I think you are getting a lot of BS from some people. Yes the circuit breaker protects the wiring. And, yes, lots of appliances have a fuse to protect the appliance. Lights, either built in or table top types don't have fuses. Most electronic equipment has fuses and most motors or appliances with motors have a fuse or circuit breaker that turns it off it the motor gets too hot. Coffee pots and other heat devices usually have a fuse. None of these fuses are in the plug but in the appliance itself.

You might say that the U.S. system is less safe, but actual fires and fire deaths in residences are fairly low and continue to decline. Carelessness is the major cause of fires,e.g., burning weeds sets the house on fire or a guy falls asleep with a cigarette. Fires from appliance failures are relatively rare in homes.

[Roy Smith]

I was surprised to learn recently that most incandescent bulbs are indeed protected by internal fuses. Here's a couple of links (search for the word "fuse" in either one).

[LRod]

[snippage]

I always considered a light to be a fuse in and of itself. In fact, I recall electronic devices that actually had an incandescant bulb in line at some point acting as a fuse.

[George E. Cawthon]

site show the construction, but doesn't show the fuse, and then says there is a fuse. I've never seen a regular screw in with a fuse; in fact I have never seen any kind of incandescent bulb with a built in fuse. In all case where the bulb doesn't work, the element is either broken or burned. In fact, a bulb is essentially a glowing fuse. And, I have never seen a bulb that tripped the line fuse/breaker. A fuse in a bulb, makes not sense.

[George E. Cawthon]

Indeed. That's why the concept of fusing a light or lamp bulb is rather silly.

[Roy Smith]

My guess is that the unlabeled arrow on the left should have said "fuse wire" but got cropped off the image for some reason.

The text in the 2nd link above seems pretty clear -- one of the internal wires is intentionally thinned, and this thin section acts as a fuse. It also explains the reason why -- to protect against shorts caused by internal arcing. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Here's another couple of URLs. The first one has a particularly clear diagram:

[Andy Dingley]

Lamps need fusing because they're small portable appliances whose cables suffer a hard life from being moved around. You're not fusing the bulb as such, you're fusing against cable chafing.