Electrical descriptions and phrases ......

[imago]

... that are inaccurate or make you laugh.

One of the DNO guys came out with "air insulated" the other day, and it made me think how daft and inaccurate it was. Two bare overhead cables not touching air insulated my 4rse!

It set me thinking that some of the accepted descriptions aren't really that descriptive. Consumer unit for example doesn't provide much information on what it is or does. I'm not keen on main switch, as if it's the first in line surely it should be master switch?

and yes, I have had far too much time on my hands working alone in Wales. :thinking:

 

[telectrix]

swassup?all them sheep ugly then?

 

[imago]

My knees aren't up to chasing them

 

[Darkwood]

Its a common term and just means the wires use sufficient separation between conductors that uses the air as the insulating barrier... i don't see anything wrong with the term.

As for master switch this would imply a switch that isolates all electric to the premises (multiple boards may exist) whereas a main switch could be just reflecting the isolation of the a single board although its open to interpretation tbh.

 

[Silly Sausage]

My knees aren't up to chasing them

Should have gone round Des's, he'd have fixed you up!

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Air-insulated is a valid and standard term, compare gas-insulated or oil-insulated in the context of a substation.

I've always hated 'consumer unit' and usually call them distribution boards. 'Residual Current Device' bugs me, as it could be a device for making it rather than sensing it. The American term is better - Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor - although still not totally correct.

I don't have a lot of complaints about electrical terminology (leaving aside 19th century debate about whether a motor is a dynamo) but what really gets my goat is when people call fluorescent starters 'starter motors'. Aaargh!!

 

[ipf]

and 'flourescent bulb' on a wanted list from a customer....two in one there

 

[SirKit Breaker]

My pet hate, people who say plugs instead of sockets. Can you fit me some more plugs on my wall please behind the telly. Yes love but it will look a bit stupid, and they will be no use to you.

 

[Simonslimline]

Ring main rather than Ring Final.

As we were taught a ring main is an 11kv ring which connects substations together.

Ring Final being exactly that ... a Final circuit.

 

[Darkwood]

Lamp/Bulb enough said!

 

[HandySparks]

I've always hated 'consumer unit' and usually call them distribution boards. 'Residual Current Device' bugs me, as it could be a device for making it rather than sensing it. The American term is better - Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor - although still not totally correct.

Totally agree with you there. It's as though whoever dreamt up these terms ran out of ideas half way through. If you replace 'unit' and 'device' with 'thing', you see how silly they are:
Consumer Thing
Residual Current Thing

'(Current Operated) Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker' and 'Residual Current Circuit Breaker' are much more descriptive.

Another one, of course, is 'Domestic Installer'. Of what?! Plumbing?? (Don't want to get into the full argument here.)

 

[imago]

Air-insulated is a valid and standard term, compare gas-insulated or oil-insulated in the context of a substation.

It may be a 'standard term' but it isn't valid as the air provides no insulation at all. If air was an insulator the cables could be a couple of mm apart and no arcing would occur. "Air separated", but definitely not insulated.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Can you fit me some more plugs on my wall

Would you like 'switch plugs' sir? That was popular in the past. 'Electric fires' annoy me a little but that name came about when the normal method of heating was a real fire, so it's excusable. There are more like that, e.g. ceiling roses were invented when most ceilings did have a rose.

The German for fuse (Sicherung) is rather broad, it basically means 'safety' or 'protection'. An MCB is an 'automatic safety'. I suspect every industry has a pet thing they just call a 'safety'!

If air was an insulator the cables could be a couple of mm apart and no arcing would occur.

They could be, on 230/400V, but there would be too much risk of them touching or getting bridged by debris. Air will withstand 3kV per mm.

 

[Pete999]

An Americanism "raceway" WTFs that

 

[Darkwood]

It may be a 'standard term' but it isn't valid as the air provides no insulation at all. If air was an insulator the cables could be a couple of mm apart and no arcing would occur. "Air separated", but definitely not insulated.

Dry air gives typically about 1000v per mm air is an insulator and is commonly referred to as one.. its the fundamental basis for how things like static and lightning work - if air was classed as a conductor we wouldn't be living in an electric society we know today, every electrical system would either be atmosphere tight or in a vacuum to work. Sorry I just dot get your thinking to suggest air isn't an insulator.