Re: [Emc-users] OT: Coil Tying

[Kent A. R. <kn...@er...>]

On 11/29/2010 4:48 PM, andy pugh wrote:
> On 29 November 2010 21:33, Kent A. Reed<kn...@er...>  wrote:
>
>> But...what's up with photo 54 of 56?  Looks like there's a war story
>> waiting to be told about that one.
> That's what I found when my cooker stopped working.
> A 3kW (13A) cooker wired though 1mm2 (7.5A) wire on a dedicated
> circuit with a 40A breaker.
> The earth wire on the rear side was loose, and fell out, Not that that
> matters as on the front side it was clamped to the insulation not the
> conductor anyway.
> You will also note that the neutral wire is not actually clamped in
> the (oversize) terminal block, but is actually loosely wedged down the
> side.
>
> All in all, I consider myself lucky to still have a house rather than
> a pile of cinders.
>
To quote a colo(u)rful Aussie friend of mine, "too right!"

The houses in the area we moved into when we came east were built in the 
early 1970s at a time when building codes were allowing the use of 
alumin(i)um wire in place of expensive copper wire.

By dumb luck we chose to buy a home that had been properly wired, but 
not everyone was so lucky. Because of their current draw, 
cookers/stoves/ovens were a particular problem as aging, oxidized 
connections began to overheat. Then the heating/cooling cycles at the 
connections accelerated the problem by loosening up the screw connections.

I personally know only one couple who have experienced a house fire, but 
I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Regards,
Kent