How do I plug it in!?

I don't know whether I'm in shock or just amazed....

In a way I can ( sort of ) understand the amount of people in here who genuinely don't know how to wire a plug - for whatever reason / excuse they give....

But seriously - it's 3 wires... sometimes 2.... and it's the most basic electrical thing you would do in a normal household ( apart from changing a lightbulb, or fuse )

I'm just going to bite my lip - and leave it 5 years until I read threads about the 18-30 age group having to check the Internet to see whether a lightbulb has to be screwed clockwise during a change, or it is necessary to turn the switch off first.
 
Heliospherez said:
I don't know whether I'm in shock or just amazed....

In a way I can ( sort of ) understand the amount of people in here who genuinely don't know how to wire a plug - for whatever reason / excuse they give....

But seriously - it's 3 wires... sometimes 2.... and it's the most basic electrical thing you would do in a normal household ( apart from changing a lightbulb, or fuse )

I'm just going to bite my lip - and leave it 5 years until I read threads about British people being having to check net to see whether a lightbulb has to be screwed clockwise during a change, or it is necessary to turn the switch off first.
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I once got called out to a hobble because a table lamp had tripped the mcb and i quote the power wouldn't turn back on. Turned up with all my test gear to find that the guy still had the faulty lamp plugged in and was trying to turn the power back on, he hadn't throught of unplugging the lamp and trying.
Turned out the lamp was a cheap chinese model and was missing a grommet, the the pvc sheath had worn away connecting the line to the cpc...
 
Heliospherez said:
I don't know whether I'm in shock or just amazed....

In a way I can ( sort of ) understand the amount of people in here who genuinely don't know how to wire a plug - for whatever reason / excuse they give....

But seriously - it's 3 wires... sometimes 2.... and it's the most basic electrical thing you would do in a normal household ( apart from changing a lightbulb, or fuse )

I'm just going to bite my lip - and leave it 5 years until I read threads about British people being having to check net to see whether a lightbulb has to be screwed clockwise during a change, or it is necessary to turn the switch off first.
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theres a difference between beeing capable off changing a plug and flat out saying you wouldnt be able to.

why would most people ever have to change a plug in their lifetime? how often do plugs fail? why would the average person be able to remember what colour wires go where?

as i said before, i can happily solder connectors onto lipo packs, build a pc , build rc helis etc, ive changed the heating element in our oven , ive fixed our tumble drier atleast 3 times.

i still wouldnt be 100% certain which wires go where in a plug unless i checked and i dont understand why i would even have this in memory with 100% certainty when ive never ever needed to change a plug
 
It's obviously one of those things that is no longer taught by parents - or by schools these days then.

It's just one of those other sayings we managed to remember from years ago..... bRown - Right - bLue Left. With the earth at the top.
 
Heliospherez said:
It's obviously one of those things that is no longer taught by parents - or by schools these days then.

It's just one of those other sayings we managed to remember from years ago..... bRown - Right - bLue Left. With the earth at the top.
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we wired a plug in one lesson when i was about 13, im 31 now and obviously dont have as good a memory as some others.

dont new plugs have a tag attached telling you anyway?
 
arknor said:
we wired a plug in one lesson when i was about 13, im 31 now and obviously dont have as good a memory as some others.

dont new plugs have a tag attached telling you anyway?
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depends n where you buy them, wholesale lots not so mucha nd i doubt any bought from a proper (non b&Q) place will keep packaging for a plug.
But a 5 sec internet search could easily remedy it,
 
Abraxaz1 said:
tbh in most modern homes, the rcd protecting the circuit will trip well before the fuse and most appliances will not have the correct fuse rating anyway, i.e. cheap lamps often come with what ever fused socket is cheapest at the time. The number of times you open up a plug and find a 15amp in a lamp that requires a 3 amp at max.

and it will work on all appliances as all electronics work in d.c. not alteranting current, therefore the a.c. sine wave needs to be conditioned by passing it through a transformer then a full wave rectifing bridge which will produce a ripple d.c. wave form, The wave then needs to be further conditioned by using a capacitor to smooth the voltage drop. Either a zener diode or in most modern electronics a voltage regulator which gives the required voltage, the polaritiy of the feed has no impact as its a sine wave. Only D.C. supplies are effected by polarity issues but as no home comes with standard d.c. feed.

The only reason why domestic cable comes with colouring systems is to help fault finding and to prevent shorts happening from cable miss wiring.
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There are many many homes out there with no RCD protection at all. 15amp 1362 fuse in a plug top from factory? 13amp maybe but they normally bang 5amp in there (done a lot of pat testing in my time)

The more people with no idea about how the electric works in their home the better for the likes of me, when I first went to college to become an electrician there was only me and one other lad who could actually wire a plug, so it doesn't supprise me many people can't.
 
bitslice said:
If anyone in here needs to be shown how to wire up a plug, then really they are too stupid to operate a computer and need to take the whole thing back to the shop.

:eek:
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I don't know how to re-wire a plug.

trollface.jpg
 
Lol, awkward meme post is late... :p
arknor said:
dont new plugs have a tag attached telling you anyway?
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Bizarrely even moulded plugs that cannot be rewired have such a tag, which if left on makes a sticky residue after a while. I cut them off.

My pet hate is people who change a fuse but leave the indication pointing down, so if I'm checking the plug is correctly fused I have to remove the fuse first, just leave the number face up, makes life easier :)
 
Isn't that why they're colour coded? Brown 13A, black 5A and red 3A.

It worries me that some people stick a 13A in everything, because the proper 3A "keeps blowing."

That's an indication that there's something wrong with your appliance, not with your choice of fuse.
 
Snograt said:
Isn't that why they're colour coded? Brown 13A, black 5A and red 3A.

It worries me that some people stick a 13A in everything, because the proper 3A "keeps blowing."

That's an indication that there's something wrong with your appliance, not with your choice of fuse.
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You're talking rubbish, the nails in my Marshall are working fin

(I bet Snograt will know some people who replaced fuses with small nails).
 
Bits of 2.5mm copper from twin and earth in the BILL and MEM rewireable switchfuses in factory switchrooms is always a classic:p
 
Stuff didn't used to come with a plug on, around 15/20 years ago someone realised that if you sell an electrical product that needs to be plugged in, then you need to sell it with a plug attached otherwise it isn't working out of the box as described. Now people have no real need to wire a plug so they don't know, is my theory.
 
mollymoo said:
Stuff didn't used to come with a plug on, around 15/20 years ago someone realised that if you sell an electrical product that needs to be plugged in, then you need to sell it with a plug attached otherwise it isn't working out of the box as described. Now people have no real need to wire a plug so they don't know, is my theory.
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It isn't really a theory but absolutely true.
Laws were introduced where no appliance could be sold without a plug and proper fuse fitted.
Even our domestic appliances at the factory had to be re-designed so that plugs and leads were fitted but obviously not on the all electric cookers that needed large ampage and instead we now put ready made moulded plug leads in the packing in the oven.
No kid today really needs to know how to wire a plug.
 
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