When was the last time you changed a plug?
I was pondering this question earlier today while I rewired a 4-way adaptor to have a longer lead. When was the last time that I actually had to change a plug. While I was a child I changed plugs all the time. I loved to play around with electrical gadgets that I had acquired through jumble sales and alike. These items often required a plug to be connected and therefore I spent quite a number of weekends messing around with screwdrivers, wire clippers and even in some cases soldering irons.
I remember that in school, both primary and secondary, I was taught how to change a plug. I was taught the colours of the wires inside a cable and how they related to the electrical mains supply. I understood which terminals within a plug these had to be connected to and I knew how to strip the cable to the correct lengths.
These days most electrical items come with a plug moulded onto the wire. It is rare that you have to change a fuse let alone rewire the plug. Before today I really can’t remember the last time that I saw the inside of a plug. Are children even taught, what was once considered a necessary life skill, in schools?
So I ask you, when did you last wire a plug? What colour is the earth wire? Does blue connect to the neutral terminal or the live terminal? Finally, is it the earth or the live terminal that has the fuse?
Loading ...
August 5th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
The last time I wired a plug was in Science in high school, where we had to learn how because it was very important!!
Earth wire is green/yellow, live is brown (because the ground is brown and if you touch it you’ll be killed and buried) and neutral is blue? Do I win a major prize?
Here in America most plugs don’t even have earth prongs, it’s a disgrace. I feel like I’m in danger of being killed whenever I use a computer.
August 5th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Wow, what a fancy AJAX comments submission system!!
August 6th, 2007 at 7:58 am
You win the prize of not electrocuting yourself or others while changing plugs.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
I changed a plug on my hoover on Thursday. Actually I change plugs and do electricity style things quite frequently. I even had my soldering iron out last month fixing the transformer for my electric piano.
That being said, I still have to look up the colours!
August 7th, 2007 at 7:44 am
I changed a plug about 4 months ago – I sold my old fridge and it was wired through the back of my kitchen cabinets, so i had to cut the plug off (it was a moulded one) and strip the end and apply new plug.
I didn’t need to look up the colours – like you I spent many happy hours faffing around with plugs and things and trying not to blow myself up when I was a child (and a teenager, and an adult too if I’m honest).
It did lead me to wondering how they got it in there in the first place though, unless they put the fridge in place, and built the kitchen around it.