Blowing a fuse
Every now and then I am plunged into darkness.
Of course, that is a metaphorical darkness, as it is full daylight and there are no lights on; but if there were lights on, and it was night time, I would be in darkness. What actually happens is that everything suddenly powers down and if it weren’t for the battery in this machine, I would be fucked. All my hard work would be lost, and posterity would be the great loser.
What happens is that a fuse blows.
It used to be a 16 amp fuse but I got tired of replacing them so I moved up to a 20 amp. That blew regularly so now I’m on the 25 amp version. Next stop is a cut-down six inch nail.
I don’t know why it happens. I don’t have much running off that circuit, apart from a deep freeze, my wireless network, my laptop, the television, the audio system I hooked up to the television, my router, my XBox [hah! Bet you didn’t know I had one of them?], my printer, a couple of hard drives and a few other things besides.
And there is the shed.
I have noticed that there is a strange coincidence. Whenever a fuse blows, it seems to coincide with herself having a lie-in. I let her have one of them every now and then, as I find that sleep is great for a hangover. So maybe the blown fuse is something to do with herself being in bed?
What the fuck can she be at that she is blowing fuses?
Quite honestly, there are some things that are best left to the imagination.
And there are some things that are best not imagined at all.
I have a very snide comment, but Miss Pat said she would truly slap me up if I posted it. So, being the strong male that I am, I have decided that discretion is the better part of valor.
Snide comments are always welcome. Censorship is not, and especially not by any Missus Pats.
Years ago a colleague was an ex Tv engineer. One of his stories entailed going to a house, the people having complained that for the past few weeks every time they went to the toilet the TV picture went off! The initial reaction was to laugh, they must be imagining it. But he discovered the aerial cable routed through a toilet wall laying across the top of an old style, metal overhead cistern. Over years the arm had gradually pinched through the cable insulation until it shorted it whenever the chain was pulled.
I recount this to demonstrate that some very odd things can happen to cables.
I think you have a faulty connection in the circuit, damaged cable, or a faulty appliance that shorts as it turns on or off. What are YOU doing while Herself is resting and it fuses? Is the shed damp? A bigger fuse is not the answer and may not be not be safe as the fuse protects the cabling from overheating. I’m not a fan of H&S crap but I would suggest you find the real problem.
Start by unplugging anything while it’s not actually in use, like washing MC, dishwasher, even if switched off at a control knob. Then try running things like the freezer from an extension lead off a different circuit to see if the fault moves.
My bet is it is the Deep Freeze. Try plugging it into another circuit.
You may need to raid the bank to buy a new one. Or send herself out to find (yet another) job.
Sorry for the (possible) bad news.
You have electricity there ?
When I was 21, I had my first flat in Dublin, and met an American woman doing the European Tour on her thumb. To make a long randy story short, this 31 year woman of the World, moved in and sent for her ‘things’. When the shipment arrived, she introduced me to a gun shaped object, with a stubby bud on it but with a two pin plug. She made such a fuss over it, I bought a proper plug & fitted it. When she flicked the button, there was an almighty buzz, some smoke, some tears, and then she hit me with the fucking thing. !
A replacement was sent for and I swear, she didn’t say a word until it arrived, and only then to threaten me if I fucked up again. I explained that I needed a step-up transformer for a household appliance to the guy in Pete’s of Parnell Street, and he simply responded, “G’way ya durty fucker”
Happily, it worked. But the story of the heated Kingsize Waterbed and the dimming street lights in Dublin 6 are another story. It was all over the papers in 1975 !
The lesson here? Plug-ins should be unplugged during high usage times. While sports are on the tele, those plug-ins should be secondary. Ya hear?
Thank you all, kind People for your wise suggestions. I think I may have solved the problem. It was simply a matter of a small bit of rewiring, and the shed is now connected into the neighbour’s fuse box. I wonder why I never thought of that before.
Willie – Sport? On the television? Not in this house!
John – Remind me sometime to tell you how I blacked out the village of Cheddar in Somerset.
TT – No. Not when the fuse has blown. [*idiot*]
A. Grandad – The freezer is a relatively new addition to the circuit, and the fuses were blowing before I moved it in. I don’t think that’s the culprit.
Woodsy – You raise some interesting points. What am I doing at the time? Could be dozing? Could be writing crap for this site? Could be writing anonymous letters to the newspapers? My routine varies. You are definitely wrong about the dishwasher. Didn’t I already say she’s having a lie in?
Sports???? Like the “Dancing with the Stars”? “Survivor” and crap like that? Please, let the power go off.
Jayzus! I’d watch the advertisements before I would watch that kind of shite.
I wouldn’t be interested in fuses meself. Cut out the middleman say I. More power to my elbow.
The problem must be in your neighbors home, after all thats where you illegally tapped in to the electrical lines.
Me, myself, personally, I think that the problem is that peat-fired generating stations produce an inferior grade of electricity that’s just not up to the job of handling heavy loads. Think about it, how could a load of coal that’s still in kindergarten school give the same get up and go as the stuff produced in a spiffy brand new nukelar factory.