On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:33:02 +0100, Jim mused:


I've applied for a new mains electric supply to a flat at my address.
They sent me a form to fill in. They ask me how many rooms at the
address, and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Can someone translate this into layman's language?

Erm, well how many rooms means how many rooms. e.g kitchen, dining
room, lounge, 3 bedrooms & bathroom. 7 rooms there.

Phases, for simplicity just tick the box for single phase. If you
don't know what 3 phase is then you don't need it. It's generally
reserved for commercial installations or installations with huuuuge
amounts of power requirements, like mansions and large properties with
all electric heating.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

I've applied for a new mains electric supply to a flat at my address.
They sent me a form to fill in. They ask me how many rooms at the
address, and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Can someone translate this into layman's language?

Thank you,

Jim

On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:39:35 +0100, Jim mused:

On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:33:02 +0100, Jim wrote:


I've applied for a new mains electric supply to a flat at my address.
They sent me a form to fill in. They ask me how many rooms at the
address, and then: "How many electrical phases?"

PS - They also want to know the number of "motors and welders" at the
address. Should I count things like washing machines, mixers, computer
cooling fans, and boiler flue fans?

They're after more like hoists and cranes.

Problem with these forms is they are exactly the same as the ones for
a large industrial manufacturing plant so most of the questions are
there to confuse you.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:33:02 +0100, Jim wrote:


I've applied for a new mains electric supply to a flat at my address.
They sent me a form to fill in. They ask me how many rooms at the
address, and then: "How many electrical phases?"

PS - They also want to know the number of "motors and welders" at the
address. Should I count things like washing machines, mixers, computer
cooling fans, and boiler flue fans?

Thanks,

Jim

and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Go on. Ask for 5.

and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Go on. Ask for 5.

Jim wrote:

Thank you for clarifying. Can you also help with the "motors" question
in this thread? Do they want me to add up literally *all* the motors
in my house, inlcuding PC cooling fans?

The ones they would be interested in are big induction motors that may
have a poor power factor (and often big switch on surges). That tends to
rule out most domestic equipment. I would be tempted to answer that as
"none, just ordinary domestic appliances"

--
Cheers,

John.

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\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:30:21 +0100, Lurch
wrote:

Phases, for simplicity just tick the box for single phase. If you
don't know what 3 phase is then you don't need it. It's generally
reserved for commercial installations or installations with huuuuge
amounts of power requirements, like mansions and large properties with
all electric heating.

Thank you for clarifying. Can you also help with the "motors" question
in this thread? Do they want me to add up literally *all* the motors
in my house, inlcuding PC cooling fans?

t.i.a.

Jim

On Fri, 18 May 2007 18:07:53 +0100, Jim mused:

On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:30:21 +0100, Lurch
wrote:

Phases, for simplicity just tick the box for single phase. If you
don't know what 3 phase is then you don't need it. It's generally
reserved for commercial installations or installations with huuuuge
amounts of power requirements, like mansions and large properties with
all electric heating.

Thank you for clarifying. Can you also help with the "motors" question
in this thread?

I did, half an hour ago.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:38:30 +0100, Lurch
wrote:

They're after more like hoists and cranes.

Problem with these forms is they are exactly the same as the ones for
a large industrial manufacturing plant so most of the questions are
there to confuse you.

Many thanks!

Jim

On Fri, 18 May 2007 18:07:53 +0100, Jim wrote:

|!On Fri, 18 May 2007 17:30:21 +0100, Lurch
wrote:
|!
|!Phases, for simplicity just tick the box for single phase. If you
|!don't know what 3 phase is then you don't need it. It's generally
|!reserved for commercial installations or installations with huuuuge
|!amounts of power requirements, like mansions and large properties with
|!all electric heating.
|!
|!Thank you for clarifying. Can you also help with the "motors" question
|!in this thread? Do they want me to add up literally *all* the motors
|!in my house, inlcuding PC cooling fans?

And one motor per hard drive.
--
Dave Fawthrop sf hyphenologist.co.uk 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Completely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

On Fri, 18 May 2007 18:06:14 +0100
John Rumm wrote:

Jim wrote:

Thank you for clarifying. Can you also help with the "motors"
question in this thread? Do they want me to add up literally *all*
the motors in my house, inlcuding PC cooling fans?

The ones they would be interested in are big induction motors that
may have a poor power factor (and often big switch on surges). That
tends to rule out most domestic equipment. I would be tempted to
answer that as "none, just ordinary domestic appliances"


Interesting thought: I have lots of big induction motors inmy workshop,
although I only ever run two at once (dust collector plus, say
thicknesser). What would a supplier do differently about my supply if
they knew about this (which they don't, they think it's a Bungalow with
a Garage)? Change my meter form the 'whirling whatsit' perhaps?

R.

What would a supplier do differently about my supply if
they knew about this

Charge you extra for lack of power factor correction:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Factor_Correction

On Fri, 18 May 2007 19:13:30 +0100, TheOldFellow
mused:

On Fri, 18 May 2007 18:06:14 +0100
John Rumm wrote:

Jim wrote:

Thank you for clarifying. Can you also help with the "motors"
question in this thread? Do they want me to add up literally *all*
the motors in my house, inlcuding PC cooling fans?

The ones they would be interested in are big induction motors that
may have a poor power factor (and often big switch on surges). That
tends to rule out most domestic equipment. I would be tempted to
answer that as "none, just ordinary domestic appliances"


Interesting thought: I have lots of big induction motors inmy workshop,
although I only ever run two at once (dust collector plus, say
thicknesser). What would a supplier do differently about my supply if
they knew about this (which they don't, they think it's a Bungalow with
a Garage)? Change my meter form the 'whirling whatsit' perhaps?

That's not big. As I mentioned previously, the form is intended for
every type of supply imaginable. As a basic rule of thumb, if it has a
13A plug on it, then I doubt they'll be interested.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

What would a supplier do differently about my supply if they
knew about this

You're probably fine - there are guidelines on the freqency of starts,
and DIY use won't generally be an issue - commercial use where you
might be doing 60 starts an hour, or several hundred welds might be
though, particularly once you take the startup current into account
(although in theory the supply they have installed should be big
enough to take this...)

On Fri, 18 May 2007 19:50:58 +0100
Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote:

What would a supplier do differently about my supply if they
knew about this

You're probably fine - there are guidelines on the freqency of
starts, and DIY use won't generally be an issue - commercial use
where you might be doing 60 starts an hour, or several hundred welds
might be though, particularly once you take the startup current into
account (although in theory the supply they have installed should be
big enough to take this...)


Thanks for the reassurance. It is indeed, only a hobby.

R.

On Fri, 18 May 2007 18:11:44 UTC, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

And one motor per hard drive.

Two. Unless it's fixed head.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Jim wrote:
I've applied for a new mains electric supply to a flat at my address.
They sent me a form to fill in. They ask me how many rooms at the
address, and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Can someone translate this into layman's language?

Thank you,

Jim
The answer you want, 7unless you intend to run large workshop macjinery is

ONE.

Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 18 May 2007 18:11:44 UTC, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

And one motor per hard drive.

Two. Unless it's fixed head.

Head assembly tends to be moved by a voice coil these days... much
faster than using a motor or stepper.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 18 May 2007 20:05:12 UTC, John Rumm
wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 18 May 2007 18:11:44 UTC, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

And one motor per hard drive.

Two. Unless it's fixed head.

Head assembly tends to be moved by a voice coil these days... much
faster than using a motor or stepper.

I know...but technically I'd class that as a motor!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Bob Eager wrote:

And one motor per hard drive.
Two. Unless it's fixed head.
Head assembly tends to be moved by a voice coil these days... much
faster than using a motor or stepper.

I know...but technically I'd class that as a motor!

Better not forget the motor in the headphones then ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 18 May 2007 21:53:25 +0100, John Rumm
mused:

Bob Eager wrote:

And one motor per hard drive.
Two. Unless it's fixed head.
Head assembly tends to be moved by a voice coil these days... much
faster than using a motor or stepper.

I know...but technically I'd class that as a motor!

Better not forget the motor in the headphones then ;-)

And the motor parked on the drive.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

In message om,
" writes

and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Go on. Ask for 5.

Yu might laugh, I once got talking to some blagger down the pub who
claimed he had worked on 3 phase and 4 phase installations


--
geoff

and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Go on. Ask for 5.

Yu might laugh, I once got talking to some blagger down the pub who
claimed he had worked on 3 phase and 4 phase installations

Rare, but not unknown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypha...er_phase_order

wrote:

and then: "How many electrical phases?"


Go on. Ask for 5.

That's another keyboard that will take a few days to dry out :-)

Thanks

Dave

In message , Lurch
writes
On Fri, 18 May 2007 21:53:25 +0100, John Rumm
mused:

Bob Eager wrote:

And one motor per hard drive.
Two. Unless it's fixed head.
Head assembly tends to be moved by a voice coil these days... much
faster than using a motor or stepper.

I know...but technically I'd class that as a motor!

Better not forget the motor in the headphones then ;-)

And the motor parked on the drive.

Why John, gotta new one ?


--
geoff

In message .com,
" writes

and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Go on. Ask for 5.

Yu might laugh, I once got talking to some blagger down the pub who
claimed he had worked on 3 phase and 4 phase installations

Rare, but not unknown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypha...er_phase_order

I think he would have problems counting up to 4, let alone handling
lektrick

--
geoff

"Jim" wrote in message
...

I've applied for a new mains electric supply to a flat at my address.
They sent me a form to fill in. They ask me how many rooms at the
address, and then: "How many electrical phases?"

Can someone translate this into layman's language?

Thank you,

Jim

Why don't you ring the number on the form and ask?
Most houses are single phase, it's only factories or some shops and
workshops that are 3 phase.
Each street has 3 phases, so as you went along each was on a different one.
So it used to be like this -

1. red
2. yellow
3. blue
4. red
5. yellow
6. blue

and so on. You get 415v between phases and 240v between each phase and
earth.
The colours have changed now, but they are the ones you find on most
underground cables.
It's for people with gigantic demands for power, or more than that of the
average house.

Just make sure that your mains cable coming in to the house is not split
between 2 houses. This used to be common practice in the 50's and 60's in
some areas! It's caused a lot of house fires when the cable between the
street and houses has become overloaded - especially after people had
storage heaters installed.

wrote in message ...
On 18 May,
raden wrote:

I think he would have problems counting up to 4, let alone handling
lektrick

Prolly got confuddled with star and delta.

Maybe he was working on motor control circuits where multiple phases may be
generated and used.

The question is silly anyway..

Electrician.... three phases
Electrical engineer.... a few phases
Electronics engineer... what's the resolution of my scope?
Physicist (me).. infinite
Mathematician...... Cos something.
Handyman..... what's a phase?

Pete wrote:

So it used to be like this -

1. red
2. yellow
3. blue
4. red
5. yellow
6. blue

No, R-Y-B-B-Y-R-R-Y-B-B-Y-R etc., usually.

--
Andy

In message , "dennis@home"
writes

wrote in message ...
On 18 May,
raden wrote:

I think he would have problems counting up to 4, let alone handling
lektrick

Prolly got confuddled with star and delta.

Maybe he was working on motor control circuits where multiple phases may be
generated and used.

No, you're confusing him with someone who has a clue


--
geoff

On 18 May 2007 09:56:33 -0700, " wrote:

|!
|! and then: "How many electrical phases?"
|!
|!Go on. Ask for 5.

In the dim and distant past I ran *two* phase motors.
If you want to confuse them ask for 2.

--
Dave Fawthrop sf hyphenologist.co.uk 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Completely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

Andy Wade wrote:
Pete wrote:

So it used to be like this -

1. red
2. yellow
3. blue
4. red
5. yellow
6. blue

No, R-Y-B-B-Y-R-R-Y-B-B-Y-R etc., usually.

Was this just tradition, or is there justification for doing it this
way? (like it uses all the phases but creates the smallest number of
adjacent properties that are on different phases?)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:

[R-Y-B-B-Y-R phase order]

Was this just tradition, or is there justification for doing it this
way? (like it uses all the phases but creates the smallest number of
adjacent properties that are on different phases?)

http://groups.google.com/group/uk.d-...e=source&hl=en

--
Andy

In article ,
"Pete" writes:
The colours have changed now, but they are the ones you find on most
underground cables.

We are just having an additional 2MW supply installed at work,
and all the new 3-phase supply cabling is still R-Y-B in that.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 19/05/2007 00:52, wrote:

We effectively used a 12 phase supply at work.

Many new motherboards use 4 or 8 phases internally.