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from the would-you-like-fries-with-that? dept.
the Good Housekeeping Institute's recent publication of a dishwashing guide for all those young people (2 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds in the UK) who have never learned the ancient art of washing up. In a nutshell, use hot water and rubber gloves, pre-scrape and soak dirty pans, change your water halfway through, and wash in the following order: glasses, mugs, cups, saucers, side plates, dinner plates, cutlery, serving dishes, pans, roasting tins.
While not knowing how to wash dishes is kind of a big deal, it's the whole idea of not being to handle oneself as a versatile, independent adult that is most concerning. Young people lack a wide range of practical skills these days, as revealed in a recent study by YouGov. More than half of young people (18-24) do not know how to set up utility bills upon moving to a new place; 54 percent cannot replace a fuse in a plug; 34 percent can't reset the fuse box after a switch has tripped; 37 percent do not know how to defrost a freezer; and 11 percent is clueless when it comes to changing lightbulbs. (You can see the entire sad list here.)
So what? There's an app for that.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 06 2017, @06:57PM (9 children)
This is the UK, all consumer mains plugs have user replaceable fuses, if they don't then they're not legal.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday October 06 2017, @07:53PM (2 children)
And I bet the standardization on those fuses to fit inside the plug at the end of the cord is as haphazard as the rest of the system.
Fuses do serve one purpose better than a breaker:
Fuse blows, you have to get/buy another fuse. Coats $£€. That slows you down, gives you time to think. Second one blows, and even the most clueless person will try to puzzle out why, and maybe fix the actual problem.
Breaker trips: reset that thing and carry on. Trips again, maybe unplug that hot plate or electric kettle. Rinse and repeat 8 times while your mains heat up in the walls.
But fuse don't do as well as breakers in converting an entire house to better detection/prevention of other situations, like GFCI/AFCI breakers.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 06 2017, @08:44PM (1 child)
Yup. The first house that I owned had screw-in fuses.
The first time one blew, I replaced the lot with screw-in (thermal) circuit breakers.
One morning soon after, I found that the water was cold because the electric water heater had popped its breaker.
Reset it and it popped again in short order.
After the 3rd pop, I put one of the old fuses in and that held. Huh??
(The body of the breaker was very warm to the touch when extracting it.)
Got washed up and went to work.
When I got home, I found there was corrosion in the socket where the fuse/breaker screwed in and that was heating up under high demand.
It didn't affect a fuse, but the thermal breaker didn't like it one bit.
Cleaned away the oxidation and Bob's your uncle.
Never had a problem with the breaker again.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Sunday October 08 2017, @09:42AM
Fuses in UK plugs have been absolutely standard for years. Of course the current rating can vary according to the appliance, but usually 3, 10 or 13 amps :-
http://images.esellerpro.com/2272/I/171/73/3A.jpg [esellerpro.com]
AC responder is talking BS or living in an ancient doss house. "Fuses" in the consumer unit (aka fuse box/distribution box) have changed in the last 100 years from re-wirable fuses (standardised) to replacable cartridges (standardised), and finally to miniature circuit breakers (standardised - and now a legal requirement). Yes, you will still find some older houses with actual fuses rather than MCBs, but there have been massive campaigns and subsidies to get older houses rewired to the modern standard.
I must say I have seen more rubbish spouted in this thread, about wiring, than usual. UK electrics are the best and safest in the world, and are the adopted standard for many other parts of the world too. The domestic wiring seen when going aboad, even to other First World countries, is frightening by comparison.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 06 2017, @07:58PM (5 children)
UK wiring standards are daft.
Join the rest of the world. Ring wiring is being phased out in new construction, no?
Too bad you'll still be stuck with those ridiculous preschool-sized plugs though.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday October 06 2017, @09:46PM
I had to look up "Ring Wiring"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_circuit [wikipedia.org]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 06 2017, @11:42PM (3 children)
Dunno about you sunshine but I for one am not powering my beowulf cluster off a spur at the recommended 80% load!
What is daft about it exactly? Not that I currently (sic) need 5kW domestic.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 07 2017, @01:00AM
Replying to my own comment but... kettle [wikipedia.org] =~1kW, toaster [wikipedia.org] = ~1kW and microwave = ~1kW. If you speak our language and don't enjoy a cup of tea with a piece of toast [wikipedia.org], crumpet [wikipedia.org] or potato cake [wikipedia.org] you're doing something wrong. Obviously the British empire did fail to bring civilisation to the savages and the white guilt is all mine -- to be digested with a cup of tea and microwaved baked beans on toasted buttered crumpets! >3kW required YOU SAVAGES!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ledow on Saturday October 07 2017, @02:30PM (1 child)
Those who do not understand the purpose of ring-wiring hate it for no good reason.
1) Reduced cabling costs.
2) Almost doubled circuit capacity
It was introduced during the war purely to halve the amount of copper required.
And it's really not that hard to get your head around it.
P.S. UK wiring standards and plugs are among the safest in the world, purely because they are able to handle much more power - Almost every appliance is fused inside, EVERY plug is fused, EVERY ring is fused/RCD'd, and the main input is fused. Every socket is earthed, every plug is earthed, and (with the exception of "double-insulated" stuff) every appliance is earthed. The plug can't be pulled out of socket, the first pins to disconnect on removal are the power pins (earth is deliberately longer), and even if you have extreme tension on the cables the design of the plugs means that the FIRST LEAD to pull out are the power leads, rendering the device earthed until after the power is removed (allowing things like RCDs further up to operate correctly). Also, the earth pin unlocks the socket, such that the other two pins can be used, with a plastic gate, which means kiddiewinks can't stick pens into the live pins.
Don't criticise what you do not understand.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @12:17AM
I understand how it works perfectly well.
For those who don't, I will give the link someone else already gave to explain it:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_circuit [wikipedia.org]
Note especially the section on "criticisms." (They are objective ones--mostly safety related, but also related to RF interference.)
Ask yourself why NOBODY but the UK (and a couple of its small former colonies) has adopted this "superior" system. Is the rest of the world stupid? Is the rest of the world burning down or getting electrocuted? Or perhaps Occam's Razor can be applied and your support is just nativist pride for your country's own idiosyncratic standard?