Travis

   
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
mili
Posts: 3258
mili Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 2:36 PM Quote
Scottish Dubliner wrote:
Turtleneck wrote:
I liked the plugs in Germany. The sockets were kind of recessed into the wall a bit, so that you'd really have to work at it to touch a prong and electrocute yourself while you were plugging something in. Our plugs make it really easy to zap yourself. It's scary to start letting your kids plug and unplug things. I touched one once by accident. It was jolting.


I've had a few shocks from mains electricity in my time, worked on building sites and as a facilities/maintainence guy. Not fun.

Most UK & Ireland sockets in the home (though not all the time) have a switch on them. So you plug in then switch on the electricity which is a bit safer. Bathroom light switches (by law these days) have either to be outside the bathroom or be a pull-cord switch.


Dubz


I like those switches in sockets, but I'm not a fan of the clumsy and huge plugs.
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
thewishlist
Posts: 504
thewishlist Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 2:43 PM Quote
Turtleneck wrote:
I liked the plugs in Germany. The sockets were kind of recessed into the wall a bit, so that you'd really have to work at it to touch a prong and electrocute yourself while you were plugging something in.


Most German parents are extra careful and buy those plastic child safety devices for the sockets, so their kids can't possibly electrocute themselves anymore - even if they were extremely stupid and tried really hard: http://www.elepso.de/images/produkte/7992-selbstklebend2.jpg

Of course, they also make it kinda difficult to actually plug something in ;D
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 2:51 PM Quote
mili wrote:
Scottish Dubliner wrote:
Turtleneck wrote:
I liked the plugs in Germany. The sockets were kind of recessed into the wall a bit, so that you'd really have to work at it to touch a prong and electrocute yourself while you were plugging something in. Our plugs make it really easy to zap yourself. It's scary to start letting your kids plug and unplug things. I touched one once by accident. It was jolting.


I've had a few shocks from mains electricity in my time, worked on building sites and as a facilities/maintainence guy. Not fun.

Most UK & Ireland sockets in the home (though not all the time) have a switch on them. So you plug in then switch on the electricity which is a bit safer. Bathroom light switches (by law these days) have either to be outside the bathroom or be a pull-cord switch.


Dubz


I like those switches in sockets, but I'm not a fan of the clumsy and huge plugs.


Especially not when you jump out of bed and put your foot straight down on top of an up-turned plug. This is where it's handy being a man, we tend not to have forty types of electrical fucking hairstyling equipment lying around on the fucking bedroom floor in the first place.


Dubz
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Turtleneck
Posts: 7404
Turtleneck Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 2:57 PM Quote
The plug is outside the bathroom? Oh, gee, that's convenient!

In bathrooms now we have some kind of switch that is supposed to cut the electricity if it senses water or something. I don't know exactly. It's got a kill switch on the cover plate, too. I can't find a picture of it.

We have child-proof covers for our wall outlets, too. What worries me is having a child old enough to start plugging things in for herself and always being afraid she'll slip and touch the prong while it's already in the outlet. It's very easy to do here. In Germany, nearly impossible. It's just a better design, I think.
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 3:08 PM Quote
Turtleneck wrote:
The plug is outside the bathroom? Oh, gee, that's convenient!

In bathrooms now we have some kind of switch that is supposed to cut the electricity if it senses water or something. I don't know exactly. It's got a kill switch on the cover plate, too. I can't find a picture of it.


Nah, The light switch is usually by the door to the bathroom, You switch it on as you enter, The only sockets you tend to find in UK/Irish bathrooms are "2pin" or "shaver" sockets most of the time attached to a florescent light above the mirror. Its kinda difficult for me to forget the light in the bathroom as my last three abodes have had no windows in the bathroom (so no natural light).


Dubz
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Turtleneck
Posts: 7404
Turtleneck Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 3:18 PM Quote
But let's say you want to blow dry your hair while someone else is sleeping or trying to watch TV. You can't close bathroom door all the way (unless the cord fits under it). And I like to have a space heater on in the bathroom when I take a shower in the winter because my bathroom is an addition and tends to be about 50ºF, brrrrr! If the cord didn't fit under the door, I'd be out of luck and freezing my patootie off.
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 3:33 PM Quote
Turtleneck wrote:
But let's say you want to blow dry your hair while someone else is sleeping or trying to watch TV. You can't close bathroom door all the way (unless the cord fits under it). And I like to have a space heater on in the bathroom when I take a shower in the winter because my bathroom is an addition and tends to be about 50ºF, brrrrr! If the cord didn't fit under the door, I'd be out of luck and freezing my patootie off.


Suppose that's one of the plus points about living by one's self, no one to annoy you and no one to get annoyed, (no annoyer or annoyee). Central Heating in this place is really quick so I don't have that problem as I've a radiator/heater/towel rail thingy in the bathroom but I can see how it would be a problem, I'd proably solve it by taking a small nick out of the bottom of the bathroom door allowing a cable to be run underneath it then run a wterproof extension lead into the bathroom from another socket (outlet I believe you guys call 'em).


Dubz
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Turtleneck
Posts: 7404
Turtleneck Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 3:33 PM Quote
Here's what is in newer bathrooms. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)
Except this picture is upside down!
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=409492325603&id=7df505592d11a06beb85cc8bce24c2a7&index=ch1

What it does:
When you look at a normal 120-volt outlet in the United States, there are two vertical slots and then a round hole centered below them. The left slot is slightly larger than the right. The left slot is called "neutral," the right slot is called "hot" and the hole below them is called "ground." If an appliance is working properly, all electricity that the appliance uses will flow from hot to neutral. A GFCI monitors the amount of current flowing from hot to neutral. If there is any imbalance, it trips the circuit. It is able to sense a mismatch as small as 4 or 5 milliamps, and it can react as quickly as one-thirtieth of a second.

So let's say you are outside with your power drill and it is raining. You are standing on the ground, and since the drill is wet there is a path from the hot wire inside the drill through you to ground (see How Power Distribution Grids Work for details on grounding). If electricity flows from hot to ground through you, it could be fatal. The GFCI can sense the current flowing through you because not all of the current is flowing from hot to neutral as it expects -- some of it is flowing through you to ground. As soon as the GFCI senses that, it trips the circuit and cuts off the electricity.
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
minnmess
Posts: 8142
minnmess Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 4:10 PM Quote
Today I woke up to a whole page of posts about electrical outlets :P

To add to it, I have 2 lovely new converters to take with me.
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Turtleneck
Posts: 7404
Turtleneck Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 4:13 PM Quote
minnmess wrote:
Today I woke up to a whole page of posts about electrical outlets :P

To add to it, I have 2 lovely new converters to take with me.


You never know what you're going to learn on the board.
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
Scottish Dubliner
Posts: 8299
Scottish Dubliner Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 4:21 PM Quote
Turtleneck wrote:
Here's what is in newer bathrooms. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)
Except this picture is upside down!
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=409492325603&id=7df505592d11a06beb85cc8bce24c2a7&index=ch1

What it does:
When you look at a normal 120-volt outlet in the United States, there are two vertical slots and then a round hole centered below them. The left slot is slightly larger than the right. The left slot is called "neutral," the right slot is called "hot" and the hole below them is called "ground." If an appliance is working properly, all electricity that the appliance uses will flow from hot to neutral. A GFCI monitors the amount of current flowing from hot to neutral. If there is any imbalance, it trips the circuit. It is able to sense a mismatch as small as 4 or 5 milliamps, and it can react as quickly as one-thirtieth of a second.

So let's say you are outside with your power drill and it is raining. You are standing on the ground, and since the drill is wet there is a path from the hot wire inside the drill through you to ground (see How Power Distribution Grids Work for details on grounding). If electricity flows from hot to ground through you, it could be fatal. The GFCI can sense the current flowing through you because not all of the current is flowing from hot to neutral as it expects -- some of it is flowing through you to ground. As soon as the GFCI senses that, it trips the circuit and cuts off the electricity.


Yeah, much the same system here, except it's run on 240volts, the pin at the top of a "UK type" plug is the "Ground", "Earth" or more commonly known now as "Protective Earth". The other two are "Live" or "Positive" and "Neutral". Quite often the "Earth" pin will be plastic as it's not needed to run the device/appliance but the sockets are designed so that you cannot access the other two without inserting an "Earth" pin first (This is also why it is slightly longer on the plugs)


Dubz
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
I Came in Through the Bathroom Window
Posts: 7556
I Came in Through the Bathroom Window Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 4:50 PM Quote
Scottish Dubliner wrote:
The light switch is usually by the door to the bathroom


It was always like that everywhere we went to in Europe. In Argentina the light switch is in the bathroom, so it was quite hard getting used to turning the light on before entering the bathroom. And then, the morning I came back to Buenos Aires I was sleepy and about to enter the bathroom, and I turned on the light of the hall, thinking it was the light switch of the bathroom. My dad saw me do it and started to laugh. I guess it became a habit too late. :oP
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
deebee
Posts: 1892
deebee Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 5:06 PM Quote
Our light stwitch is just outside the bathroom door, however we do have 3 sockets inside just above the sink (very intelligent place to put them!!!) these are for the electric toothbrush, hairdryer etc but I've banned my kids from using the hairdryer over the sink. They have to head into one of the bedrooms and use another because I'm petrified one of them will decide to run the water at the same time.
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
mili
Posts: 3258
mili Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 5:25 PM Quote
deebee wrote:
Our light stwitch is just outside the bathroom door, however we do have 3 sockets inside just above the sink (very intelligent place to put them!!!) these are for the electric toothbrush, hairdryer etc but I've banned my kids from using the hairdryer over the sink. They have to head into one of the bedrooms and use another because I'm petrified one of them will decide to run the water at the same time.


We have the light switch outside the bathroom door and three sockets inside, too. One of the sockets has the emergency fuse system, but it's inside a cabinet, and therefore very difficult to use. The other two have little lids, and are pretty high up. One is not supposed to use any of them when water is running, or straight after shower.
http://www.valaisinliike.fi/images/pr2osapintastip44.jpg
 
Re: Today's News of YOU (part 2)
deebee
Posts: 1892
deebee Posted Mon 24 Jan, 2011 5:53 PM Quote
Oh they look like fancy sockets Mili. Ours are just exposed with no nice covers. I always found that having no sockets in the bathroom in the Uk was a pain. I mean, you can always dry your hair elsewhere but where's the obvious place to plug in your toothbrush ? ........ errrr in the bathroom!
 
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