And Then, A Little Electrickery...

   Further to my recent, riveting posts regards a new tumble dryer and the mention of electrickery, Ripper left a comment that I feel is well worth a read,  especially anyone out there considering a little DIY work that may involve wires, plugs or the ‘installation’ of extension cables as a quick and dirty addition to power outlets.
   Warning to younger readers, this advice contains punctuation and, even more frightening, maths. Apologies in advance for any upset caused but trust me, it’ll be small-beer compared to wot a dose of raw electrickery will do to you. Or the joy of a blackout. Can you even imagine that horror? No Fuse-book? No Watts-amp?
   I thought extension leads on washers had always been a no no, considering that the first thing that comes on in a washing machine is the heater. If that's rated say, at 2000 watts, it draws almost 8.5 amps. I've never seen an extension cable rated at more than around 6 amps fully unwound, often less. Obviously the flex is going to burn.
   Those 4 and 6 way are the worst, there are even 10 way. Fine for computer equipment but you can bet your next weeks pension that some fool somewhere will try one of those in the kitchen with the washing machine, a kettle and a toaster, and perhaps the microwave as well.
   Useful tip that you may or may not already know, when working out electrical loads, first find out the power consumption of the appliance in watts. This is always on a sticker on the appliance, on a washer or drier the sticker is inside the door opening. Then divide by the mains voltage and you get the current draw in amps. This works all three ways - if you know any two values you can get the third.
To find voltage, its wattage divided by current.
To find current, its wattage divided by voltage.
To find wattage, its current multiplied by voltage.
Never load a double socket with more than 13 amps (3120 watts). The two sockets could handle a total of 26 amps but the cable in your wall may not be able to do so.
   Regarding the socket guards, all 13A domestic sockets have an anti-tamper plate which the pins of the plug push aside when anything is plugged in. You don't need the socket guards any more but there's certainly no harm in sticking to old habits like that.
And thus ends with a prank...
   Finally, a top-tip from a friend of Doonhamer; if you have a socket that’s not in use, leave a plug in it to prevent electrickery leaking out... But that’s only common sense.

Quote;  Dave Barry.

“Electricity is actually made up of extremely tiny particles called electrons, that you cannot see with the naked eye unless you’ve been drinking.”