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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: 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.