Things some idiot got wrong and now can't be put right

[Mr Celine]

UK mains voltage: 650v peak to peak.
325v peak
230v root mean square.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_mean_square

Isn't UK mains voltage still in reality 240V? (Nominally 230V -6% / +10%)

 

[User33236]

Isn't UK mains voltage still in reality 240V? (Nominally 230V -6% / +10%)

It is still really 240v as you say but I measure mine almost daily at work at it's dropped closer to 230v than it was when it used to be quoted as 240v.

It's very stable and typically I see 232-236 volts as opposed to 245-248 before.

 

[TVC]

Pure resistive loads are easy to deal with, but when there is an inductive or capacitive load then it plays havoc with the phasing and that is when power factor comes into play. Large users get charged for having dirty loads and sometimes have to install reactors to clean things up.


Not to complicate things

 

[raleighnut]

OK, can somebody explain what the actual difference is between live and neutral? I mean it's alternating current so they must be the same and just swap over fifty times a second right? Right?

On my Pre-amp advice from Quad is that if there is a hum through the system one thing to try is to swap live and neutral over in the plug as this can solve it.
Also the Poweramps pick up mains from the back of the Pre-amp (control unit) with a 2 prong connector which can be inserted either way up (Earth is provided by the signal lead to reduce 'Earth Loop Hum' which can occur with multiple wires)

 

[lazybloke]

Nominally 230V -6% / +10%

Hmm. When I moved into this house I noticed filament light bulbs had a very short life. Measured the mains supply and it was typically 251v, only just within the +10% limit ; is that the explanation for bulbs blowing? (asks the lapsed Electrical/Electronic Engineer!)

 

[srw]

It doesn't matter - IF you have a system that is designed for not mattering. We have a system that is designed for them being the right way round - single pole switching and fused plugs - and it very much does matter with our system to get blue and brown the right way round.

(I post with trepidation - but back in the day when it was possible, and made sense, to rewire a plug rather than spend £1.49 on a new cable and plug combo like that one I was really quite wary about wiring up twin-core plugs with that sort of connector. Until I realised that all my care was wasted because the connector was symmetrical.)

 

[classic33]

View attachment 353170

(I post with trepidation - but back in the day when it was possible, and made sense, to rewire a plug rather than spend £1.49 on a new cable and plug combo like that one I was really quite wary about wiring up twin-core plugs with that sort of connector. Until I realised that all my care was wasted because the connector was symmetrical.)

Not all were though.

 

[Lonestar]

Ah but I always stayed within the rules anyway of Brown = Live and Blue = Neutral...so I always wired them the correct way even for those connectors.

 

[postman]

I'm colour blind so all my plugs are a sort of smoky charred smelly plastic black colour .

I like that,it made me laugh.

 

[Mr Celine]

When wiring plugs I go to the Hawkwind section of my record collection for a handy aide memoire.

 

[classic33]

When wiring plugs I go to the Hawkwind section of my record collection for a handy aide memoire.

View attachment 353191

Yellow is going round the Green in the wrong direction.

 

[Profpointy]

Yellow is going round the Green in the wrong direction.

Not if start with the other end of the cable

 

[Mr Celine]

Yellow is going round the Green in the wrong direction.

No cord grip.

Track listing wrong. (My original copy isn't a double album.)

No other obvious errors.....

 

[Dan B]

On my Pre-amp advice from Quad is that if there is a hum through the system one thing to try is to swap live and neutral over in the plug as this can solve it.
Also the Poweramps pick up mains from the back of the Pre-amp (control unit) with a 2 prong connector which can be inserted either way up (Earth is provided by the signal lead to reduce 'Earth Loop Hum' which can occur with multiple wires)

If that doesn't work, try drawing round the edges of your cd with a green marker pen

 

[raleighnut]

If that doesn't work, try drawing round the edges of your cd with a green marker pen

Will that stop the needle skating off them.