Who’s really being silenced on Twitter? | Lrd12 Overload Relay

A word of advice: if your idea of working safely on mains-powered stuff hinges on an RCD protecting you it might be a better idea to put down your tools and back away, slowly…

Then there’s the time i went to take apart a computer PSU for the fan, without realising some how I’d left it plugged in (I’d dismantled the entire PC around it, yet left the power lead in?!)

Let us never forget this Darwinian hero. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfyyii_man-electrocuted-on-the-train-india_news

I find it fascinating how the difference has also impacted the very different “styles” of electrical standards, construction, equipment, etc…the US has had to worry about thermal issues in different ways because of the lower voltage, but that also extended to higher voltage equipment as well, and an overall concern regarding fire (particularly in non-residential installations) when at the same time, we had a lot more natural resources piled around so in the US, we focus heavily on metallic enclosure and grounding (and the fact that our neutrals are meaningful when most Euro outlets are non-polar). At the same time, engineers were far more plentiful (and far less expensive) in postwar Europe than in the US, and the electrician:engineer ratio was very different. Likewise, that’s why NEMA and IEC in many ways are so different (NEMA is overbuilt, maintainable, easily specified but expensive and not particularly precise in application, meant for an electrician to be able to come up with the right contactor, etc.) whereas IEC stuff is more resource- and space-efficient but requires specification. Double-insulation is instead the focus in Europe, which doesn’t need any more metal to accomplish.

> those who haven had the opportunity to study electricity or had made the effort to study it. Can’t let Darwin wipe them out when they happens to the target market… Even worse is that there are people that want to build printers on their own, but are not qualified to wire stuff to line voltage safely.

This is very dangerous. Safety regulations are all about keeping mains voltage away from people, inside casings that are earthed or double-insulated. This has the voltage just lying there. Possibly covered with a bit of silk-screened paint. It’s not guaranteed to kill someone, but for the extra money I’d sooner have a non-deadly heater for a 3D printer.

I had a job testing these once, and I can confirm that standard failure mode for overcurrent is some kind of explosion. Usually it was a puff of flame and dust down the leg, but occasionally we’d get a TO220 blown in half

The best tip for buying a portable home generator: Don’t wait until the lights go out. Whether you live in a place at the mercy of snowstorms, hurricanes, heat waves or an outdated electric grid, a power outage can range from an annoyance to life-threatening.

Styling of the Niro is barely distinguishable from the standard car, save the door covering the charge port and subtle teal accents inside and out that indicate to the outside world that this is slightly more eco than everything else. And those eco signifiers tend to be either green or blue, so why not blend them into Nineties-Fantastic Teal?

Jerry is Mobile Nation’s resident nerd and proud of it. There’s nothing he can’t take apart, but many things he can’t reassemble. You’ll find him across the Mobile Nations network and you can hit him up on Twitter if you want to say hey.

My first thought was that the terminals were over torqued rotating the blocks, stretching the pins, and tearing the pads.

It would work, you could try just one winding on its own to start with but beware the voltage surge you get when disconnecting the current, as a minimum it should make a nice spark, even with a small battery driving it, at its worst it is shocking(!) I think the reason for winding your own coils is to get the optimum ampere turns for a chosen voltage, if you use what the transformer comes with you will have to work out what voltage gets you the highest magnetic strength without burning out the winding.