Re: Shocking reminder (ON TOPIC)


"Chris Rockcliffe" <chrisrockcliffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:BFBE94A3.74C8A%chrisrockcliffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Fred Pierce9/12/05 12:53 AM
>
>> On Thu, 08 Dec 2005 20:54:34 GMT, "Cathy Cowette"
>> <cathy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>> "Ed Edelenbos" <eded@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>> news:vP-dneYzWvFYVwveRVn-qw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> "Julie" <JLamb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>> news:dn62on$ul1$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>
>>>>> "Ed Edelenbos" <eded@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>>> news:6NmdnYk3YNFMkwvenZ2dnUVZ_vudnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>> As I entered the house, I got a shock at the light switch and then
>>>>>> after
>>>>>> walking across the living room floor and ito the dining room, I got
>>>>>> another. It reminded me:
>>>>>
>>>>> You're getting electric shocks from your light switches and you're
>>>>> worrying about guitars!!! Shouldn't you be more worried about getting
>>>>> hold of an electrician?
>>>>> Julie
>
>>>> Static electrcity.
>>>> Ed
>>>
>>> They don't have static electricity in England, I don't think. Something
>>> to
>>> do with the tilt of the planet. Isn't that so, Julie?
>>> Cathy
>>
>> It's because Lucas is the supplier.
>> fdp
>
> Joking aside, I did get a few mild shocks from lights and dodgy appliances
> whilst in the USA. Mostly in motel rooms - didn't think much too it at
> the
> time. It seemed to be that artificial fibre carpets were the main
> culprit.
>
> My playing partner is a fully qualified electrician who has spent quite a
> lot of time in the USA and even worked on wiring installations over there
> (family living there) and says that the way things are done was an
> eye-opener for him - so I'll take his word on that.
>
> Pure wool carpets are static free. I do get a little mild static buzz -
> possibly from the computer equipment ands monitors around me - but I only
> notice it when I touch the cat as it lands on a non wool carpet. Did make
> me wonder how small animals cope with what for us are very small
> electrical
> charges?

They are very sensitive to very small charges and they react very
negatively!
In fact, the Invisible Fence pet containment systems that are becoming so
prevalent over here operate on a charge that is so faint, it is barely
perceptible to humans, but it will stop a dog in his tracks.

Back in the late 70s I fabricated an all steel "swimming pool" for horses.
It was a huge tank with entry and exit ramps that horse trainers would walk
their horses into, hook them up to a mechanism that led them around the pool
and the horses would swim in a circle for up to an hour. It was great
training for the horses because it was a low impact workout that did not
stress their leg joints.
We finished the pool, coated it, tested the seams and filled it. Then we
tested the heaters, the filter system, the mechanism that led the horses,
etc...
Everything was built and performing to specification.
When they led the first horse down the ramp and it touched the water, the
horse went wild. Rearing up, whinnying, and refused to go in the water. They
tried another horse with the same result. Then another.
No matter what they did, the horses reacted as if they were in pain.
An electrical engineer was called in and he determined that the pool had a
minute electrical charge that was coming from *somewhere* ...the charge was
so small that none of us could feel it, but the horses could definately feel
it.
They tried further grounding to no avail. I don't remember everything they
tried, but the finding was that the pool was picking up this charge from an
overhead power line that was over 500 yards away!
The power company finally came up with a solution, but for a few weeks the
owner of the facility thought he had lost a $200,000 investment.




>
> If you drill through a mains cable here - you really do know about it -
> got
> the T-shirt on that one! The standard domestic voltage is 220-240 for
> starters. I think every domestic plug, socket, appliance, circuit here is
> 3
> pin and has to be earthed.
>
> The Dorgan's hairdrier didn't last very long without a
> transformer/adaptor -
> nor the London hotel's fuse box !! Those UK bathroom shaver sockets are
> confusing too - they look just a bit like American wall sockets.

LOL! That was a comical scene. I had bought a converter kit with several
different adapters. Theresa found the right adapters to go from the socket
to the transformer, but left the step-down transformer out of the loop and
used two different adapters to bypass it......that was quite a pop!
I tried to help the poor man on the desk fix it, but neither of us could
even find the fuse box, so he had to call an electrician.


>
> We do have more stringent electrical safety rules here - perhaps i Europe
> too - although it may not have always been that way. But apparently the
> UK
> does have a very good safety record in this regard - even though we curse
> the wiring in certain plugs and appliances.
>
> I know the vehicle fuel is a lot cheaper over there than we pay - despite
> recent rises - how about your heating oil, methane, propane and
> electricity
> - are they a lot cheaper too?
>

Yes. All energy costs are considerably lower in the US than they are in
Europe, although this winter,
the gap has closed a bit.
Dorgan


.

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