From: Kent A. R. <kn...@er...> - 2010-11-29 23:18:53
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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 |