Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Marks DTM Calib]

Lol, get your head round them and electrical becomes simple.....the maths does not get any easier mind!

[tigers_gonads]

my basic understanding of electrics is appalling frankly, i dont get it on the whole, as some of you may well have noticed. This is something i intend to change and have noticed other members have a similar problem/fear/issue/phobia or whatever with sparks as i do.

Main problem for me is experience, i dont have contact with it professionally, and i only really learn best when hands on. There is nout wrong with the car to try and fix and learn. So before it plays up i thought i should stock up on a meter at the very least and try and learn a bit. Would also be nice, on the side, to know why the lights in the kitchen go dim when i turn the kettle on...?
So, any recommendations ?

Seen talk of avo meters, amp meters and clamp meters, and of course have no idea on the differances and their applications. I wonder if their are any tutorials on line, or what ever, that may help.

Cheers

Chris. :-)

im a sparky mate.
pm me and i will give you my mobile number so i can talk you through a few causes

[KillerWatt]

And hence why a sparky is not a real engineer.

If you start with the atom and move onto the electron, then you really will confuse him 

LOL....if you saw what it costs to keep local government happy, and what the penalty is if you screw up....I suspect you'd think twice about continuing to work 

[feeutfo]

my basic understanding of electrics is appalling frankly, i dont get it on the whole, as some of you may well have noticed. This is something i intend to change and have noticed other members have a similar problem/fear/issue/phobia or whatever with sparks as i do.

Main problem for me is experience, i dont have contact with it professionally, and i only really learn best when hands on. There is nout wrong with the car to try and fix and learn. So before it plays up i thought i should stock up on a meter at the very least and try and learn a bit. Would also be nice, on the side, to know why the lights in the kitchen go dim when i turn the kettle on...?
So, any recommendations ?

Seen talk of avo meters, amp meters and clamp meters, and of course have no idea on the differances and their applications. I wonder if their are any tutorials on line, or what ever, that may help.

Cheers

Chris. :-)

im a sparky mate.
pm me and i will give you my mobile number so i can talk you through a few causes

Thats a very kind offer thankyou, i think its ok ish, depends what ring main i used when i wired up the kitchen lights....i think. They are under cupboard lights that shine on the work top, plus 2 more that back light the glass fronted units.

 Iirc they are in an extension lead to a double 3pin socket, wire runs up the wall to the light switch. So they are on same ring main as the kettle, and dish washer.

 Next double socket along is the 100wat outside light(again, wire runs up the wall to the light switch) and deck lights. Turn the kettle on when all or any of those lights are on and they go dim, led deck lights(yes, they have a blue option) dont appear affected and dishwasher on makes little odds. Its not correctly done but its all fused. What do you think?

[Marks DTM Calib]

Nothing truely in-correct about the install.

The sort of issues you are seeing are due to source resistance being higher than it ideally should be.

Which points at the ring main the sockets are on......from my experience (which wont be as much as a sparky), most of the times I have see this (assuming the installation of the ring is correct) it has been a broken wire at the back of a socket.....easiest way to find is to disconnect the wiring at the consumer unit and measure the ring resistance and then work around checking sockets.

[feeutfo]

Nothing truely in-correct about the install.

The sort of issues you are seeing are due to source resistance being higher than it ideally should be.

Which points at the ring main the sockets are on......from my experience (which wont be as much as a sparky), most of the times I have see this (assuming the installation of the ring is correct) it has been a broken wire at the back of a socket.....easiest way to find is to disconnect the wiring at the consumer unit and measure the ring resistance and then work around checking sockets.

By "correct" i was thinking it really should be wired to the lights ring main. But i didnt have the skills or know how to tap or cut into it, wouldn't know where to start, plus running wires up the wall and across the ceiling with joists in the way, looking for wires to cut into, bugger that....

If on the lights ring main then kettle couldn't affect it obviously, not that i knew it would dim at the time.

So you think there is a wirings issue and not just the extra draw from the kettle? Its not a massive drop in brightness, just noticeable

[Marks DTM Calib]

Nothing truely in-correct about the install.

The sort of issues you are seeing are due to source resistance being higher than it ideally should be.

Which points at the ring main the sockets are on......from my experience (which wont be as much as a sparky), most of the times I have see this (assuming the installation of the ring is correct) it has been a broken wire at the back of a socket.....easiest way to find is to disconnect the wiring at the consumer unit and measure the ring resistance and then work around checking sockets.

By "correct" i was thinking it really should be wired to the lights ring main. But i didnt have the skills or know how to tap or cut into it, wouldn't know where to start, plus running wires up the wall and across the ceiling with joists in the way, looking for wires to cut into, bugger that....

If on the lights ring main then kettle couldn't affect it obviously, not that i knew it would dim at the time.

So you think there is a wirings issue and not just the extra draw from the kettle? Its not a massive drop in brightness, just noticeable

I suspect a ring main fault....which is more serious.

Do the simple loop check from the consumer unit for live and neutral.

[tigers_gonads]

kin ell, you should never wire any lighting into a 30 amp ring main unless it is stepped down useing a fused spur with a 5 amp fuse in it !!
if you get a fault on your lights, the lighting wire will burn before the fuse goes 

[feeutfo]

kin ell, you should never wire any lighting into a 30 amp ring main unless it is stepped down useing a fused spur with a 5 amp fuse in it !!
if you get a fault on your lights, the lighting wire will burn before the fuse goes 

ok, but if i buy a stand alone light, of any sort, with a plug, does it not plug into the 30amp ring main? Thats my thinking anyway?

[Marks DTM Calib]

kin ell, you should never wire any lighting into a 30 amp ring main unless it is stepped down useing a fused spur with a 5 amp fuse in it !!
if you get a fault on your lights, the lighting wire will burn before the fuse goes 

I read it as there is a lighting setup connected to a standard fused plug which is in turn plugged into a socket on the ring main.

[tigers_gonads]

arhh that better 

"note" learn to read the whole thred carefully 

as long as you have a 3 or 5 amp fuse in it then thats ok 

are all the sockets on a ring main or are some of them spured off ?

[feeutfo]

kin ell, you should never wire any lighting into a 30 amp ring main unless it is stepped down useing a fused spur with a 5 amp fuse in it !!
if you get a fault on your lights, the lighting wire will burn before the fuse goes 

I read it as there is a lighting setup connected to a standard fused plug which is in turn plugged into a socket on the ring main.

Cant remember exactly but i'm sure there is a transformer involved somewhere with the light kits......

[feeutfo]

arhh that better 

"note" learn to read the whole thred carefully 

as long as you have a 3 or 5 amp fuse in it then thats ok 

are all the sockets on a ring main or are some of them spured off ?

All sockets are as they where when we moved in, dont know what spurred off means?

[Marks DTM Calib]

arhh that better 

"note" learn to read the whole thred carefully 

as long as you have a 3 or 5 amp fuse in it then thats ok 

are all the sockets on a ring main or are some of them spured off ?

Even if it was a spur, it should make little difference as the dimming lights will be due to the in-rush current on the kettle causing a volt drop on the supply somewhere due to I²R losses

[tigers_gonads]

a ring main is where your live / neutral / earth starts at the fuse board and goes to the 1st socket.............. then from the 1st to the 2nd and so on till you reach your last socket then you go back to the fuse 

a spur is where you take a 3rd wire ( live / neutral / earth and take it to another socket ( a max of 4 sockets can be spured off a ring )   

a radial is where you come out of the fuseboard ( like in a ring ) and go upto a max of 4 sockets then stop !   these are normally on a 15 or 20amp fuse