When men were real men

[pErvinalia]

Yeah, same here with gas and electricity. Interestingly, Australia and New Zealand use the exact same standards for electrical work (literally, the one shared set of Standards), but in New Zealand you can wire up heaps more than here. In Australia, electricians are very wary about telling you how to do something. But if you want to know how to do something, just look on NZ electrical forums, and there's always some pros there giving tips and advice. I wired my whole house (although I got an electrician in to do the switch board and safety switches) from reading the Standards and learning off the internet. It really is very simple. Although, one safety advantage that I had was I was off grid with solar. So I could physically isolate my grid from the house wires. I am always slightly more nervous doing it in a house that is on the live grid.

[Jason]

[MrJonno]

Lol. They come with instructions. It's just three wires.

Regarding gas, it's fucking simple. You could kill yourself and your (or someone's) neighbours in your car. But you do it because it's pretty safe if you know what you are doing. Gas is even simpler. As long as you test for a leak. Fuck, you don't even need to do that. You can smell a leak (well with the gas here you can).

16


Wiring a plug is considered 'hard' enough to be on the GCSE (16 + school exams), probably haven't done one for myself in over 20 years there simply hasn't been a need. It may be easy but like forging a sword its a pretty obsolete kind of skill . Let's face it most electrical goods will wear out long before the plug does

[pErvinalia]

You know nothing, Jonno Snow.

[MrJonno]

You know nothing, Jonno Snow.

That didnt stop him having a very good time with the red head despite not knowing much, being able to wire a plug wouldn't have helped him either

[surreptitious57]

It used to be that when you bought any electrical appliance over here that you had to wire the plug but now they
are all pre wired and sealed so that you cannot open it other than where there is a plastic lip that you lift up when
changing the fuse. It is all done in the name of health and safety but wiring a plug is simple to do. Long as the wires
are in the correct place and are long enough and the correct fuse is used that is all you need to do. The only tool you
need is a screwdriver and it takes less than five minutes. But not allowed to do it anymore in case you get electrocuted

[Svartalf]

I'm happy with that, if I tried to do wiring, I WOULD get electrocuted.

[surreptitious57]

Only if you were colourblind or illiterate
for it really is as simple as simple comes
So much so that even a child could do it

[mistermack]

One dangerous electrical thing I've noticed lately is the cheap three or four-way adapters on sale.
The ones where you have a plug, a short cable, and then three or four sockets, expanding the capacity of a single wall socket.

The quality of the electrics seems ok, but if you step on one of the cheap ones, they crack up like a biscuit, leaving the live internals exposed to the world. As many are left lying on the floor, it can't be just me that has stepped on them. They are made of a stiff, brittle plastic, rather than the more pliable, very tough plastic that the normal-priced ones are made of.
If I had young kids around, I would have thrown them out, but I just use them behind stuff, in a place where nobody can step on them. I'm too tight to do the sensible thing.
But if you are buying some, don't get tempted by the very cheap ones.

[MiM]

I don't think you have been able to by anything like that over here for more than 20 years.

[mistermack]

I don't think you have been able to by anything like that over here for more than 20 years.

They've got them in the 99p shop in Gloucester. Dunno how they get away with it.

Mind you, what can you expect for 99p ?

[JimC]

I don't think you have been able to by anything like that over here for more than 20 years.

They've got them in the 99p shop in Gloucester. Dunno how they get away with it.

Mind you, what can you expect for 99p ?

The testing regime probably doesn't involve them being stood on...

[surreptitious57]

I have a six point adapter which usually costs between five to seven pounds so
ninety nine pence does seem a bit extreme so I would not buy one that cheap
One thing that you should not do with them is overload them by having other
smaller adapters plugged into them so you have more plugs than sockets on
the main adapter. This is dangerous because it can short circuit the system
Though most modern fuse boxes can automatically circumvent that anyway

[Jason]

It won't short circuit the system but it may cause there to be an excess of current (amperage) drawn through the socket due to all the presumed devices plugged into the splitters.

[pErvinalia]

Which could short circuit the system as the wires melt and fuse together.