Period Electrics

[Flyfisher]

The biggest problem with older electrics is that many relied upon the cold water pipe (the mains) to provide an earth.
While the pipe in the street remains metal that will still work (although not comply with the regulataions) but if the water company or your plumber replaces the metal pipe for plastic the earthing and whole house is immediately made dangerous.

Agreed, although I would add that the earth wire as a safety concept has always seemed rather rudimentary to me - however, I appreciate it was better than nothing and more or less all that was practical in times past. But modern over-current and leakage devices are far superior and require a far more determined form of abuse to become dangerous.

As for modern electricians.... tell me about it.
Many are just in it to make a few bob and quality and skill is often lacking.
Then there are those that think anything that hasn't been installed by themselves is "dangerous love", "don't comply" etc.
Unfortunately there are plenty who exhibit next to nothing in understanding of electrical circuits when they go wrong... but expect you to pay them while they are learning.
I could go on.........

Yes, it's that last bit that winds me up as well. And not only with electricians!

Fault-finding is a definite skill that requires understanding and experience. Last time I spoke with the electrician I'm using to help me sort our house out, he told me he had taken on a young apprentice. I thought this was a wonderful thing until he explained it was only a one month placement as part of a training course. No doubt he will graduate from his training course with all the required knowledge to install a compliant electrical system but I do worry that there's a big difference between formulaic knowledge and understanding and experience. Whatever happened to multi-year apprenticeships with a solid mix of theory and practical training?

I could go on.........

 

[philpjuk100]

Had to take the iee regs at work (16th edition) and my house which was wired in the 80s does not comply with these and they now have the 17th edition. Am I worried? not really.I had a new boiler fitted last month and the installers sparky fitted earth wires all over the house,many running in trunking alongside copper pipes connecting to both end of the same pipe! (it`s the regs sir!) I remember in the 50s having adaptors in sockets with loads of plugs in them,nails in fuses,flexes repaired with elastoplast and my mums iron plugged into a ceiling lamp drop! I cannot remember anyone getting electrocuted or any fires but times have changed.I also remember my grandparents had a great "flaming torch" lamp on the newel post in the hall fed by bell flex stapled to the top of the bannister and covered with many coats of paint,on the landing the cable disappeared into the back of a socket! phil

 

[Flyfisher]

I remember in the 50s having adaptors in sockets with loads of plugs in them,nails in fuses,flexes repaired with elastoplast and my mums iron plugged into a ceiling lamp drop! I cannot remember anyone getting electrocuted or any fires but times have changed.

I suppose the people electrocuted or burned to death would have a different tale to tell . . . if they were still here.

As for adapters, there's nothing wrong with them really as long as they are correctly fused (something the old 50s ones probably weren't). That's why there's a proliferation of multi-way socket strips these days, to accomodate all our chargers and various other gadgets. Let's face it, a dual socket in the corner of the room is of little use for the average 'study'. I'd be surprised if there's a household in the land without at least one socket strip somewhere.

The desk I'm typing from is near two double sockets but still requires 6-way and 4-way socket strips for the ten plugs. Am I worried? Not really, because the socket strips are fused so it's impossible to draw more than the rated current.

Actually, I was surprised there were ten plugs, so I checked:

- PC
- PC screen
- Second PC screen
- PC active speakers
- External hard drive
- iPod dock/charger
- Phone charger
- Printer
- Radio
- Table lamp

A second PC screen might not be so typical, but I'd say everything else is pretty average.

13 amp sockets really are overkill for the vast majority of requirements these days. It's rather ironic that the old-fashioned 5-amp connectors were phased out before the proliferation of low-power devices, although they were not fused so might not have been an ideal solution. Funny old world.

 

[Feltwell]

Extension leads, cable reels and wiring accessories happens to be my business these days, as some of you know.

FF is quite right, multi-adaptors are perfectly safe as long as they are fused to 13 amps. Our biggest is a tower type that has 12 sockets, but you can't overload the wall socket due to the fuse.

We actually sell some adaptors to the Fire Service - they give them away on home visits if they find dangerous use of unfused, overloaded adaptors.

Incredibly though it is still perfectly legal to sell the plug-in type double and even treble adaptors that contain no fuse. We do sell these - as well as fused versions which are much more popular, but for some retailers price is everything.

We do sell 5amp and even 2amp wall sockets which take small round pin fused plugs, they tend to be used for plugging in table lamps in hotels, especially in the Middle East. Not used much in the UK and certainly not used for residential purposes. Many domestic appliances do take more than 5 amps though - most things with a heating element really.

My university had a type of 3amp sockets in all it's residences, to try and limit the student's power consumption! They were a complete pain in the arse, students were always overloading them and tripping the supply to the whole floor. As they needed special (expensive) plugs the first thing everyone did was buy a normal 4 way adaptor, change the plug for the special 3 amp one, then plug their electronic kit into the normal 4 way adaptor. Students then of course did not have computers in their rooms, mobile phones to charge etc - I'd like to think the university has got rid of that system by now, but I'm not convinced they have!

 

[Flyfisher]

Incredibly though it is still perfectly legal to sell the plug-in type double and even treble adaptors that contain no fuse. We do sell these - as well as fused versions which are much more popular, but for some retailers price is everything.

That's very surprising, considering how simple it would be to outlaw them.

Here's a wonderful example of period electrics that I found in our house. The 3-way adaptor was, of course, un-fused, but it's the plug wiring that is a masterclass in how not to do things. I'm sure you'll all spot the mistakes - the only thing you can't see is that the flex is 3-core but the earth wire had been cut back at the plug end. Well, it saves going to all that bother connecting it up!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

How nice to see a properly restrained flex - so often some bodger doesn't bother with those last screws. Clearly this person took their time. :lol:

 

[philpjuk100]

Reminds me of showing my new wife how to fit a plug many years ago,she asked "why three wires?" I tried to simplify it and the earth wire was easy,she then asked about the other two so I said "the electricity comes up one and returns down the other".The next question was"if they get it back why do we have to pay for it?" phil.

 

[Feltwell]

The biggest problem with older electrics is that many relied upon the cold water pipe (the mains) to provide an earth.
While the pipe in the street remains metal that will still work (although not comply with the regulataions) but if the water company or your plumber replaces the metal pipe for plastic the earthing and whole house is immediately made dangerous.

Hmm, which reminds me, I must put an earth wire across to the now-redundant lead water pipe that comes into my house, after I replaced it with plastic not long ago....

Actually I've got an earth provided on the incoming power by the electricity supplier, but an extra link to the now-redundant lead water pipe won't do any harm.

 

[Penners]

My late mother-in-law used to believe that, if you left the plug out of a socket with the switch left on, the electricity would leak into the room.

That's actually not as silly as it may sound, if you don't really understand what eletricity is.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

My late mother-in-law used to believe that, if you left the plug out of a socket with the switch left on, the electricity would leak into the room.

That's actually not as silly as it may sound, if you don't really understand what eletricity is.

James Thurber's mother-in-law believed the same.

Doesn't it?

 

[Tom]

....and my mums iron plugged into a ceiling lamp drop!....

Oh yes, I remember my Nana had a set-up like that in a flat she used to live in. And things had that burgundy-brown coloured twisted cord or black and white braided cord. Oh God, am I really THAT old? :shock:

 

[Penners]

Doesn't it?

No good asking me.

I'm not a 'competent person'.