uptime

[Qqmike]

oshunluvr
Candles are a measly #8

... and does that count Roman Catholic candles lit all over the house? ;-) Maybe it's the area I live in ...


Vinny, same here, after taking that kernel update the other day (that caused my problems, that oshunluvr got me out of and now I know how to get myself out of),

From 33 days down to 2 days:

mike@mike-desktop:~$ w
 13:31:15 up 2 days,  2:09,  3 users,  load average: 0.22, 0.12, 0.07

[NickStone]

...mixing aluminum wiring with copper outlet boxes is a fire problem.

I think you need to upgrade your spell checker, aluminium is spelt like this. a l u m i n i u m

[NickStone]

... and does that count Roman Catholic candles lit all over the house? ;-) Maybe it's the area I live in ...

There's no such thing as "Roman Catholic candles". Normal candles are used in churches.

[Qqmike]

NickStone
I think you need to upgrade your spell checker, aluminium is spelt like this. a l u m i n i u m

Ha! :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium

Funny thing, as kids we would goof around, acting like idiots, pronouncing aluminum as aluminium. I'm sure many who grew up is USA remember this antic, which would have been 1950-1960's.

[vinnywright]

Ha! :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium

Funny thing, as kids we would goof around, acting like idiots, pronouncing aluminum as aluminium. I'm sure many who grew up is USA remember this antic, which would have been 1950-1960's.

he he yes I remember doing this as well ,,,,,,,,,,, but as @NickStone is from England he would be correct in HIS spelling and pronunciation of it on that side of the pond

VINNY

[Feathers McGraw]

Funny thing, as kids we would goof around, acting like idiots, pronouncing aluminum as aluminium.

We did this too, only we'd pinch our noses and say it alooooominum

[Qqmike]

Yeah, on "aluminum" it's down to us (that would be USA) and Canada only.

[GreyGeek]

Aluminium writing is a big contributer to house fires. Aluminum needs three times the cross sectional area to carry the same current as Copper, IIRC. And, contact resistance is a LOT higher because Aluminum almost instantly corrodes to form an inert layer of Aluminum Oxide, so it is almost impossible to get a SUSTAINED metal to metal contact between Aluminum and any other wire. Oxygen creeps into the metal surrounding the contact points and oxidizes the Aluminum, gradually increasing the resistance until the heat generated is sufficient to melt insulation or combust cellulose products like wood or fiber board. I had that happen on a socket in the kitchen of my house. The Aluminum wire corroded away at the contact point and disconnected from the circuit. When I saw that I had an electrician pull all the Aluminum wire and replace it with Copper wire, and upgrade the fuse panel to 200 amp.

[Qqmike]

NickStone
There's no such thing as "Roman Catholic candles". Normal candles are used in churches

I think you have a good sense of humor, or perhaps you are literalistic, taking everything I say literally!

[vinnywright]

Aluminum is what the wires that bring the power to your house is made of

?? and thay have been up there a long time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, = uptime ,,,,,,,,,,, LOL



VINNY

[jlittle]

Aluminum needs three times the cross sectional area to carry the same current as Copper, IIRC.

Well, wikipedia says 28.2 nΩ·m for aluminium and 16.78 nΩ·m for copper. And given the densities are 2.7 and 9.0 respectively, so Al is better by weight. However, that does not speak against your complaints about Al:

And, contact resistance is a LOT higher because Aluminum almost instantly corrodes to form an inert layer of Aluminum Oxide, so it is almost impossible to get a SUSTAINED metal to metal contact between Aluminum and any other wire. Oxygen creeps into the metal surrounding the contact points and oxidizes the Aluminum, gradually increasing the resistance until the heat generated is sufficient to melt insulation or combust cellulose products like wood or fiber board. I had that happen on a socket in the kitchen of my house. The Aluminum wire corroded away at the contact point and disconnected from the circuit. When I saw that I had an electrician pull all the Aluminum wire and replace it with Copper wire.

Wikipedia adds

Aluminum can "creep," slowly deforming under load, eventually causing device connections to loosen, and also has a different coefficient of thermal expansion compared to materials used for connections. This accelerates the loosening of connections.

Then you add, stirring my curiosity:

and upgrade the fuse panel to 200 amp.

That sounds freaky. I suppose it would be equivalent of about 100 A on 230 V, but having seen the whole in a wall blown before a 50 A fuse blew I wouldn't want 100 A near my house.

[oshunluvr]

Most houses here in the US that are newer or "well appointed" need a 200 amp panel to supply enough current to everything. It's not like the 200 amps is attached to every outlet - just to the panel. A 100A panel is minimum at 120V here in the states. Standard circuits are 15A except for electric ovens, stoves, Jacuzzi tubs, heating/cooling, and clothes dryers.

Here's a good story: When we bought our 1911 Craftsman in Long Beach in 2003, it (in a very un-California way) had a detached garage in the rear of the house to one side - about 12ft/4m corner-to-corner away from the house. The clothes washer and dryer (gas dryer) were in there and it was a two-car single door so it had a heavy duty door opener as well. The power and hot and cold water were both run to the garage in the air from the corner of the family room to the garage! That's right: Unsupported 12ft. runs of copper pipe and a 1/2" conduit just hanging there in the sun and wind. Unbelievable right?

I immediately set about re-routing the water lines under the ground (only took a day), but the electrical had to wait. As we moved in, I installed my new 50" Plasma TV in the family room. A couple days later I was enjoying my new TV and my wife walked behind me on her way to the garage with a load of laundry. As soon as the washer started the first spin cycle, the TV went dark. The circuit breaker tripped! A few minutes of research and I discovered not only was the wire to the garage just hanging there, is was attached to a single 15A circuit from the family room. One single 15A circuit was powering the entire 400 sq. ft. family room outlets, backyard lighting, and the garage and everything in it.

Needless to say my next call was to my electrician. We ran a new 50A run from the panel under the house to a new sub-panel in the garage, added a 30A outlet to plug in my RV out there, and added a second 15A circuit to the family room for the TV/Stereo equipment. Never popped a breaker after that.

[GreyGeek]

Aluminum is what the wires that bring the power to your house is made of
?? and thay have been up there a long time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, = uptime ,,,,,,,,,,, LOL
VINNY

The High Voltage transmission lines are made of stranded Aluminum alloy with steel threads added for strength. The largest lines have a diameter of 31 mm. Electric current travels on the outside of a wire, not the inside. Between the house and the low voltage transformer on the pole in the back alley was usually insolated solid copper wire, as was the house, but more recently Aluminum alloy is increasingly being used unless the architech specifies otherwise.