The big difference in the electric terminology and installation regulations and practice in each country!

[Megawatt]

We call the power company a couple of things. We have the DNOs or district network operators, who own and run the distribution network, transformers etc including the cable into each property and the main fuse(s) for that property.
We also have the energy supplier who own and maintain the meter for each property. That's who the householder pays their bills to.

The fuse and meter are sealed and we, as electricians, are not supposed to break these seals or tamper with this equipment.

Here is a map of the UK showing the DNO companies. The energy supplier is whoever the householder chooses.

Who’s my network operator?

Your network operator can tell you who your energy supplier is, if you're unsure or don't know.

www.energynetworks.org

 

[Pete999]

Two of the Americanisms I can’t get my head around. A motor starter is a “bucket”, and a motor terminal box a “pecker head”?????

Never heard that before Carl, how about " Receptical" for a socket and although being replace "Knob and Tube" "Romex" "MC Cable" "Pliers are "Klein's" and the best one I ever heard "Pony Panel" I'll leave you lot to work that one out.

 

[Dan]

The concept of a global electrical forum is baffling. It's nice to chat and knock ideas around, but there are so many detail differences in practice that a thread like this is bound to lead to confusion at times and it's quite hard to offer practical advice. Like the enquiry yesterday from a new poster in the US about disconnecting a cable from a meter socket. We don't have meter sockets in the UK and if we did, we wouldn't be allowed to remove cables from them. Sockets, yes, and meters, yes, but meter sockets? To a UK spark, that thread reads like 'What cheese do I put in my car bicycle?'. It's best for the poster to get local advice from someone who services car bicycles and knows which cheese is compatible with which

We will cater for all. Don't worry.

 

[Pete999]

We will cater for all. Don't worry.

Hope so

 

[Pete999]

Hope so

Got some Russian Sparky friends if the Forum can reach that far

 

[Dan]

We have traffic from Russia. Just nobody registered yet from what I can see.

 

[Pete999]

We have traffic from Russia. Just nobody registered yet from what I can see.

Could be restricted Dan, may sound odd in this day and age but believe it still goes on especially with the older generation, which my Friends belong to. 1984 lives on I'm afraid.

 

[Pete999]

I think you have to realise. most of the post Soviet era Russians are a Savvy lot.
But the Soviet era generation are still scare witless of the tap on the shoulder "Ah come with me Tovarich we need a talk, welcome to Lubiyanka".

 

[Pete999]

Remember rewiring some accommodation wi th Staff members from my maintenance gang 2 Sparkies, truing to teach them the 3 plate wiring system was a bit of a chore, they got it in the end, happy days, something and some names I will never forget, happy days. like to think I left my mark, well maybe.

 

[Pete999]

Raceway?

 

[Pete999]

Remember rewiring some accommodation wi th Staff members from my maintenance gang 2 Sparkies, truing to teach them the 3 plate wiring system was a bit of a chore, they got it in the end, happy days, something and some names I will never forget, happy days. like to think I left my mark, well maybe.

Had to supply Boris the Sparky with UK accessories, wondered why the number of switches and sockets was getting out of control, till I was invited for Dinner and Vodka (lots of Vodka) one day at the Russian Foreman's Gaff, MK stuff everywhere, you have to laugh.

 

[EricMark]

I worked for a time on the Falklands, job wise power 24/7 so as UK, but on the camp (countryside) farms only had power so many hours a day, two slots, a morning one to bring freezers down to temperature and allow use of vacuum cleaner etc. Evening slot again to bring freezer down to temperature and get rid of need for candles which it seems had caused many a house fire.

Smaller farms had auto start generators, that would start when anything switched on, but there was a problem going to toilet at night, so battery banks, and DC lighting was used.

This was 1985 to 1990 no mobile phones, even wired phones were single wire and did not work in wind, or where wires had broken inside the mine field, all coms was really 2 meter ham radio, and these also needed batteries to work.

I am sure now they have phones and even internet, but it was a different world where there was no 24/7 230 volt power.

 

[Pete999]

WTF is Raceway

 

[DPG]

Trunking I think Pete.

 

[westward10]

WTF is Raceway

Kanduit.

 

[Pete999]

Kanduit.

Ah Kanduit now I understand

 

[Megawatt]

Raceway?

Pete raceways means conduit, tray cable basically it’s how you get your conductors from point A to point B

 

[Pete999]

Ah Kanduit now I understand

Another one "MASTER , ELECTRICIAN"

Pete raceways means conduit, tray cable basically it’s how you get your conductors from point A to point B

No ? hobestly

 

[davesparks]

Another one "MASTER , ELECTRICIAN"

I believe in the US an apprentice becomes a journeyman when he qualifies, then becomes a master electrician once he has enough experience. I think the master electrician is similar to the JIB approved electrician grade.

I believe this mirrors the way trade apprenticeships worked in this country hundreds of years ago.

 

[Megawatt]

I believe in the US an apprentice becomes a journeyman when he qualifies, then becomes a master electrician once he has enough experience. I think the master electrician is similar to the JIB approved electrician grade.

I believe this mirrors the way trade apprenticeships worked in this country hundreds of years ago.

I have never worked for a union so we don’t come up thru the union way.electricians in the USA or at least myself I have had some great classes but unfortunately I had to come thru the school of hard knocks or the on the job training. Don’t get me wrong I’ve made a lot of mistakes and blew up some stuff but I learned from my mistakes

 

[ipf]

Did they had the equivalent of A, B and C certs, then...…. I'll bet you had to go to Harvard or Yale to get the C...

 

[Taylortwocities]

Now, now Andy78, that's a tad pedantic of you! LOL!
Plus, you ended your sentence with an unnecessary preposition. If we are trying to assist our American friend with the correct terminology for our superior electrical items, we should be careful not to let him think our grammar is inferior...

So, perhaps we should start every sentence with a conjunction, that will really make him feel at home.

 

[PEG]

Right,i can see how that would work...

 

[pirate]

"And" is a conjunction with which one should never start a sentence...except in this example.

 

[JK-Electrical]

"And" is a conjunction with which one should never start a sentence...except in this example.

And your point is?

 

[pirate]

No JK...that is not a sentence, Miss MacKenzie at primary school would hit you with a ruler!
Oh...I see the point now!
It's what i go to school for...some members may not get that.
Odd though, that Miss MacKenzie would probably allow the use of a preposition at the end of a sentence, especially as it made her famous!

Oh...ok...

go for it!

 

[Midwest]

No JK...that is not a sentence, Miss MacKenzie at primary school would hit you with a ruler!
Oh...I see the point now!
It's what i go to school for...some members may not get that.
Odd though, that Miss MacKenzie would probably allow the use of a preposition at the end of a sentence, especially as it made her famous!

Thats the trouble with teachers, they think they know best;

https://www.writing-skills.com/hit-or-myth-you-cant-start-a-sentence-with-and-or-but

Googles good ain't it.

 

[JK-Electrical]

No JK...that is not a sentence, Miss MacKenzie at primary school would hit you with a ruler!

I preferred to be caned on the bum by Miss McSpanker.

 

[static zap]

call the cover on the motor a peckerhead ... was around 1980

Memorable "slang" names help apprentices keep track of things.
The important bits and the odd occasional tool ,never there (always abandoned somewhere ) or in need of a trip to the van to get 2nd spare.
My sons part apprenticeship , included Silly... for Silicone gun. ( Apologies if that's more of a Wet-pants = Plumber's tool)
-A bit of fun at times to break up the day-
Covers are an important safety item.

 

[oracle]

Capital letter at the start, full stop at the end. Anything more complex than that and you're talking to the wrong guy.

Maybe this will help on both sides of the pond..

 

[telectrix]

think it's more that the human brain sees it's wrong and corrects it. if it were just the 1st and last letter, then 100% of poelpe could raed it. ( excludes those with IQ rating in single figures, eg. plumbers).

 

[oracle]

In South Africa, our job description was Master Installation Electrician, being able to install, maintain and certify explosive and inflammable installations.

 

[oracle]

I believe in the US an apprentice becomes a journeyman when he qualifies, then becomes a master electrician once he has enough experience. I think the master electrician is similar to the JIB approved electrician grade.

I believe this mirrors the way trade apprenticeships worked in this country hundreds of years ago.

In South Africa, our job description was Master Installation Electrician, being able to install, maintain and certify explosive and inflammable installations.

 

[oracle]

I preferred to be caned on the bum by Miss McSpanker.

She looked great in the classroom too with her leathers, boots and little whip

 

[norcal]

Polyphase is also an US term for Split Phase Ie 2 phases that’s what I was referring to.

I was 15th/16th Edition always referred it as “Live” things change.

There is still obsolete 2 phase power being used in some areas of the US, Philadelphia is one city where it still exists, I have never seen it though. Polyphase refers to either 2 or 3 phase, it would not refer to what you call "split phase" but is considered single phase.

Two-phase electric power - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[pc1966]

There is still obsolete 2 phase power being used in some areas of the US, Philadelphia is one city where it still exists, I have never seen it though. Polyphase refers to either 2 or 3 phase, it would not refer to what you call "split phase" but is considered single phase.

Certainly I would refer to 110-0-110 style of supplies as "centre-tapped" and not polyphase - that (to me at least) implies phase angles other than 0/180 deg that you can get from a single phase supply & transformer.

As you say, 2-phase exists but is very unusual as 3-phase is better is practically every way. You used to see 6-phase (or more, which can be generated by weird transformer arrangements from a 3-phase input) when feeding large DC rectifiers to get a smoother output, but these days it would be electronically converted and regulated that way.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I still want to know what a master electrician is compared to a journeyman electrician...

can you be a master journeyman....

and what the heck is a pony panel

 

[Zerax]

I still want to know what a master electrician is compared to a journeyman electrician...

can you be a master journeyman....

and what the heck is a pony panel

In London, black cab drivers are "Journeymen" if they don't own their cab... if they do own it, they're "Mushers"... no idea where any of that comes from.

 

[pc1966]

In London, black cab drivers are "Journeymen" if they don't own their cab... if they do own it, they're "Mushers"... no idea where any of that comes from.

That is another thing, when we hear "black cab driver" in the UK we know it is a driver of a black cab (hackney carriage)!

 

[Mark Wright]

Somethings I noticed
Ground = Earth
We don't use EMT conduit only RIGID and no real maths for bends etc.

We don't use those turn things for connecting wires - we use connector block or Wagos

your Light switches often look oblong ours are mainly square - no idea why.

 

[EricMark]

Going back to my dad's time pre-war, an apprenticeship lasted 7 years, the first 5 were spent with one firm, the next 2 were split into 4 x 6 month periods with 4 different firms, where you learnt the things not done in your own firm, those last 2 years you were called a journeyman, this was before apprentices had to go to collage, it was considered when day release was started that the apprentice would gain this broading of his knowledge in collage and the journeymen stopped in the UK. Also it has been for many years that you finished your apprenticeship at around 21 years old, so the 7 years started at 14 years old, by time I started you did not leave school until 16 years old so to finish at same age the apprenticeship needed to be shorter. Now leave school at 18 years old, so instead of day release we have block release in collage, so apprenticeship even shorter.

Being frank I spend a lot of my apprenticeship as a skivvy, doing fetching and being cheap labour, my wife as a hair dresser had to pay to be an apprentice, and learnt how to wash hair. So likely the collage block release does teach more than the old apprenticeship.

 

[Dustydazzler]

The other thing when watching a YouTube video from America/Canada is all the cables are sized by ‘gauge’. The lower the gauge The bigger the cable.

 

[davesparks]

I still want to know what a master electrician is compared to a journeyman electrician...

can you be a master journeyman....

and what the heck is a pony panel

Journeyman is a very old term, it originates in Europe as far as I know and describes someone who has served an apprenticeship under a craftsman but not yet become a master craftsman.

As far as I know Journeyman electrician is roughly similar to Electrician in the JIB scheme, with master electrician being roughly similar to approved electrician in the JIB scheme

 

[Megawatt]

I believe in the US an apprentice becomes a journeyman when he qualifies, then becomes a master electrician once he has enough experience. I think the master electrician is similar to the JIB approved electrician grade.

I believe this mirrors the way trade apprenticeships worked in this country hundreds of years ago.

Dave in the US you have to have 14,800 primary hours which means being superintendent on jobs then you have to take the masters test. We have guys and girls that can get low voltage license which is under 24vac,swimming pool license, limited license, intermediate license, and of course the Masters license

 

[pc1966]

We don't use those turn things for connecting wires - we use connector block or Wagos

Not any more, thank God! But you will occasionally see porcelain versions of the wire nuts in stuff that dates from the 60s or before

 

[Mark Wright]

We also have Ring Circuits that are only really a U.K thing apart from a handful of Asian country's.

In the rest of Europe I think they use more Flex or single core cable the single usually in a flexible conduit.

 

[marcuswareham]

In large scale events, In the UK and EU we use a connector called power lock for our temporary installation supplies rated at 400A and 600A (single pole (5 connectors for 3 phase))

Having worked a lot in America you guys use cam lock connectors which like power lock are single pole and rated at 400A

I struggle to understand why they are still allowed & used as they have the potential to be very dangerous: For these reasons:

• Non-locking
• male to male adaptors
• T adaptors
• Any colour can be plugged into any other colour
• Very large exposed conductors easily touched when unplugged

Powerlock is: locking, will only allow phase to phase or earth to earth connections etc, and has no exposed conductors

I have even seen on TV shoots in the US where camlock is used on a public street and tee adaptors are used as joiners so the side outlet is not used leaving a live exposed conductor on a public pavement.

Although this isn’t a difference in domestic it still might be of interest,

Camlock Tee

Cam lock

Powerlock

 

[Megawatt]

In large scale events, In the UK and EU we use a connector called power lock for our temporary installation supplies rated at 400A and 600A (single pole (5 connectors for 3 phase))

Having worked a lot in America you guys use cam lock connectors which like power lock are single pole and rated at 400A

I struggle to understand why they are still allowed & used as they have the potential to be very dangerous: For these reasons:

• Non-locking
• male to male adaptors
• T adaptors
• Any colour can be plugged into any other colour
• Very large exposed conductors easily touched when unplugged

Powerlock is: locking, will only allow phase to phase or earth to earth connections etc, and has no exposed conductors

I have even seen on TV shoots in the US where camlock is used on a public street and tee adaptors are used as joiners so the side outlet is not used leaving a live exposed conductor on a public pavement.

Although this isn’t a difference in domestic it still might be of interest,
View attachment 58642
Camlock Tee
View attachment 58643
Cam lock
View attachment 58645
Powerlock

Marcus I don’t mean no harm but I have no idea what you are saying. If you are talking about lock out tag out a person could lose their job if they don’t follow the correct procedures.

 

[marcuswareham]

Marcus I don’t mean no harm but I have no idea what you are saying. If you are talking about lock out tag out a person could lose their job if they don’t follow the correct procedures.

No was not talking about lock out tags,

was mentioning observations in how power is supplied for events, in venues in the US (what we meed to plug into)

its basically the same as me saying alot of countries use different plugs, but this one in particular I cant understand for the main fact you can get male to male connectors

maybe it is the wrong place to mention it, if so sorry about that, just find it interesting

 

[pc1966]

Marcus I don’t mean no harm but I have no idea what you are saying. If you are talking about lock out tag out a person could lose their job if they don’t follow the correct procedures.

No the "cam lock" is the make of connector.

Not quite as stupid a design as the 1/4" jack or phono audio connectors where the signal mates first and ground last, but at least they don't try to kill you! (OK, thy might kill your speakers if volume is up high when changing cables, but that is significantly less serious).