On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 03:55:47 UTC+1, Commander Kinsey wrote:
> On Tue, 19 Jul 2022 03:08:55 +0100, Whisky-dave <whisk...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Monday, 18 July 2022 at 19:34:20 UTC+1, Commander Kinsey wrote:
> >> On Mon, 18 Jul 2022 03:03:37 +0100, Whisky-dave <whisk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> > On Tuesday, 12 July 2022 at 23:14:20 UTC+1, Commander Kinsey wrote:
> >> >> On Tue, 12 Jul 2022 11:39:40 +0100, Whisky-dave <whisk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >> >> > We buy quite a bit of Elegoo stuff
> >> >> >> >> > we are going to try these even cheaper as we really only want just black and red (maybe green if we had to) to encourage the students to colour code.
> >> >> >> >> > (most DMM probes come in red and black)
> >> >> >> >> > https://www.rapidonline.com/r-tech-524603-pk-of-20-croc-leads-10-red-10-black-460mm-52-4603
> >> >> >> >> > £5.63 and free P&P
> >> >> >> >> > if we order today they'll be here on Monday
> >> >> >> >> Yes I used Rapid and CPC/Farnell a lot, much cheaper than RS. I just used RS for difficult to get things. I got mains plugs from CPC for 20p each!
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > Mains plugs who buys them
> >> >> >> Me. Things have to be plugged in.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Everything we buy comes with a moulded IEC plug,
> >> >> Until it breaks, or you want to make your own stuff or modify something.
> >> >
> >> > We don't need to do that, I have over 200 IEC leads spare one breaks just replace it.
> >> Wow. A throw away society. I used to replace the microswitches in mice!
> >
> > Mice don;t work at 230V , so there's no risk there,
> 230V isn't a risk. I've had 6 shocks from it, it just makes you jump.

people have died from electric shocks.

>
> And I've yet to see 230V. I get 246V to my house. 230V is just some bullshit from the EU.

around 241V at work, I've seen it as low as 235.
> > but mice are a fiver hardly worth the time,
> > we have a box of old mice and keyboards.
> A switch costs less. Takes 2 minutes to open the mouse and solder a switch in. Very quick if you're doing a load at once.

Our computers tend to come with mice and keyboards , the PC's get replaced about every 4 years.

> >> >> > and a Euro plug too, which we recyle .
> >> >> I wasn't aware you can recycle plugs.
> >> >
> >> > Not sure what happens they get put into a electrical equipment recycle bin or cage and collected .
> >> Copper and other metals extraction would be the main thing I think. I guess there's a fair bit in the plug prongs. It amazes me it's worth recycling a circuit board.
> >
> > yep.
> >
> > But we did have awork experience girl in the other week and she checked through out box of old 74 series chips
> > unbent the legs etc.. and found about £300 quids worth of working chips.
> Those were invented in 1966, WTF was worth that much?

Look up the price of 74HC series. Most are at least 40p each. we buy them in 100s of each type,
mostly 00, 04, 32, 74, 86 .

> >> >> We had German students who brought a load of kit with euro plugs. I asked if they needed adapters but they said if you stick a screwdriver in the earth hole you can get a euro plug to fit in a UK socket.
> >> >
> >> > Our £144k euro kit came with IEC brick PSUs .
> >> What?
> >
> > A kit of bits to teach power electronics at the desktop level 15 kits in total they are powered from a 12V PSU a bit like the ones you get with laptops, the have IEC sockets on them.
> Yeah most stuff was IEC at my uni, but the Germans came in with loads of equipment, and their IEC leads had Euro plugs. Sometimes they'd come and swap them for some UK ones I had a huge box of, sometimes I'd give them an extension strip with Euro sockets, sometimes they'd just use a screwdriver.

we bought the UK versions with UK instruction manuals.
https://www.lucas-nuelle.com/316/apg/15828/UniTrain-System.htm

>
> We got Dell computers once with bricks, for a desktop! They were huge, with a very thick 12V cable to the computer. Trust Dell to do something differently for no reason.

All our Dells have IEC sockets on the back.

> >> >> > Well the FGs, PSUs, scopes and anything else we buy from our supplies does.
> >> >> > I've not put a plug on a lead for over 6 years now, not even at home.
> >> >> I put one on my hair trimmer the other day, a parrot had got hold of it and chewed the wire, which I replaced. Moulded plugs are stupid, you can't move them to another wire.
> >> >
> >> > Never really needed to do that.
> >> Nobody has ever melted a wire with a soldering iron?
> > Not recently and if they do we replace it,
> Aha, so you do replace wires.

Cables not the individual live/earth/neutral wires.
But the PSUs on the irons up up on a shelf only the iron lead is at desk level.
we have about 30 of these, ordered another 3 last week.
https://onecall.farnell.com/antex/690d/soldering-station-digital/dp/SD01910?ost=690d-digital-soldering-station&cfm=true

> > all our irons have silicon leads so don;t melt easily, not had one for years.
> > All irons have stands and we train them to use them.
> Yeah but the wire always gets in the way when you're using it.

Ours don't

> >> >> >> > I've over 200 IEC leads and if we put a plug on anything college says it needs a PAT test cert which is £1.39
> >> >> >> So don't tell them you did it.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > What about the pass/fail stickers the sig on the lable and the date of next test ?
> >> >> Eh? They come round every x years, if something doesn't have a label they test it, what's the problem?
> >> >
> >> > Cost £7k last time they came to check our department.
> >> > They only found about 6 they failed mostly in admin offices.
> >> Wow, just do it yourself.
> >
> > We did have someone that did that but he left and they didn't replace him.
> > If they want it done they'll have to replace him .
> > There's no way I'm checking nearly 5000 items, all get recorded etc...
> Seriously it doesn't take long. Do it on overtime and get more beer money..

We don't get overtime and if we do we get time off inlue so no point.
So checking just my lab would take about 3 weeks. working 7 hours a day.

> >> Some twat did our place once. Failed a PSU I had which had bare wires, at FIVE VOLTS! I just pulled the red sticker off and kept using it.
> >
> > We had that they failed 3 of the 24V irons because they said they were were showing the earth lead that had been exposed.
> Yes earth is well known to be dangerous, zero volts can be fatal.
Well any lead that isn't double insulated is an instant fail according to PAT testing.
Its the visual checks we do without needing the actual tester unit.
They didn't realise they were 24V irons they thought they were mains I suppose.
Of you've done testing you should know that is a fail if it ws a mains lead..

> >> >> >> > but have to wait until someone comes and does the test, it;s been 4 years since the last tests
> >> >> >> Fuck that, I did that PAT testing myself. £80 for a PAT test machine. Takes you a couple of minutes to do it, less if you just put the sticker on it and assume it's fine.

Any fool can stick a sticker on, but they still need writing or printing out with the date (s) added.

> >> >> >
> >> >> > Wanna come and do my lab with over 4500 and that's just what's on my oldish stock list.
> >> >> I'll do it for a lot less than them.
> >> >
> >> > They do it out of hours so start about 6pm.
> >> > We use them because they takes responsibility and have insurance so no-one in the college does should something go wrong.
> >> Fuck responsibility, just make it work. A colleague used an overhead projector (before digital, the acetate ones) where the bulb kept blowing for some unknown reason. He attached a big resistor inline with the power cord without even taping it up. It worked fine. If anyone was stupid enough to touch bare ires that's heir problem.

Not in a teaching environment.

> >
> > Unfortunately the law doesn't see it that way.
> The law never gets involved with things like that.

It does if I get killed at work next of kin get £100k it's in our contract of employment.

> >> >> > Wanna remove all the from pan;es from under the desks to get to the plugs and scokets , and you won't get paid for doing these you have to do them in your spare time.
> >> >> > Plus your name will go on as the resposible person if something goes wrong you'll need to prove it.
> >> >> Never happens.
> >> >> > One tech. said they'd only do equipment they or their students make , provided the dept buy the tester. Well that was before covid .
> >> >> > Not heard anything since then.
> >> >> Seriously, you actually bother testing home made stuff?
> >> >
> >> > yes and student made stuff.
> >> Why?! Do you have severe OCD?
> >
> > I don't the lawyers do.
> Never happens.

Never heard of compensation then , via duty of care .