OT a little bit - does coolant conduct?

[tim eh?]

...electricity I mean.

[Ross]

In short, yes.

[tim eh?]

In short, yes.

Thanks Ross, guess I'll go fix that leak right now.

[Tiger]

Yep, it is water...water does conduct electricity.

[Ross]

Pure H2o not.
Long answer here;
http://sancarlosradiator.com/electrolysis.htm

[whiskychaser]

H2O conducts electricity. Thats why you dont have any rocker switches or power sockets in your bathroom:) Depends on the circuit, distance, current etc. The 12V one I saw on Mythbusters the other day failed miserably:D

[ryan roopnarine]

H2O conducts electricity. Thats why you dont have any rocker switches or power sockets in your bathroom:) Depends on the circuit, distance, current etc. The 12V one I saw on Mythbusters the other day failed miserably:D


You don't GFCI electrical outlets in bathrooms in the UK?

[whiskychaser]

You don't GFCI electrical outlets in bathrooms in the UK?
The light switch has to be either outside the bathroom or if its inside its normally a toggle switch on the ceiling which you operate with a string. With the exception of a shaver socket (powered by a transformer-not mains!), sockets just arent allowed. The standard circuit breakers installed in houses are only for overload protection and wont stop you being killed. So if you are using, say, an electric lawnmower, you would put an RCD into a socket and put your plug into that. Should I have just said 'NO'? :D

[ryan roopnarine]

they have these in the US and canada for all recent (<20 year old) construction for power distribution in bathrooms, as well as outdoor outlets
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question117.htm

I have no qualms about the protection ability of them. As they get older, you find that gfcis here will start tripping at the slightest provocation (IE, false leakages). IIRC, they protect against as low as 4-5ma, whereas a rcd is much higher 10-25, IIRC.

I did not know what the deal with the shaver outlets was....good to know.



The light switch has to be either outside the bathroom or if its inside its normally a toggle switch on the ceiling which you operate with a string. With the exception of a shaver socket (powered by a transformer-not mains!), sockets just arent allowed. The standard circuit breakers installed in houses are only for overload protection and wont stop you being killed. So if you are using, say, an electric lawnmower, you would put an RCD into a socket and put your plug into that. Should I have just said 'NO'? :D

[Tiger]

Ryan, UK use 240V power for everything... not like us that we use 120V.

240V really hurt when you get shocked. Don't ask how I know. I work with electricity all the time and 120V live is easy to handle and mild shock. 240V really grabs you and hurt. Now if we add water to the equation.... youch!

[tim eh?]

OK I was under the impression that tap water conducts but pure H2O doesn't. Tapwater conducts because of all the salts/ions/etc in it but they say to mix deionized water with coolant so I figured coolant would also be 'deionized' somehow even tho it must have piles of stuff in it.

Anyway - fixed the leak... found another one... sigh...

MAN I STILL keep finding PO's slackoffs - wood screw in the throttle assembly.... nice one.
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7039&stc=1&d=1264654481

It is a B to get to I'll give that much... but still... if I can do it....
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7040&stc=1&d=1264665278

Anyway... it was leaking all over the sensor plugs that run beside the engine so I thought it might be screwing with my electricals... but of course that wasn't it.

[Ferret]

The light switch has to be either outside the bathroom or if its inside its normally a toggle switch on the ceiling which you operate with a string. With the exception of a shaver socket (powered by a transformer-not mains!), sockets just arent allowed. The standard circuit breakers installed in houses are only for overload protection and wont stop you being killed. So if you are using, say, an electric lawnmower, you would put an RCD into a socket and put your plug into that. Should I have just said 'NO'? :D

Lets not forget that building regulations also exclude mains outlets within a certain distance of the bathroom door, to stop appliances being plugged in outside and used in the bathroom.

I was watching the mythbusters one about this the other day where they were throwing toasters and hairdriers in the bath!

[Tiger]

Really? I gotta find that episode. They got too much time on their hand. Entertaining though!

[Ross]

OK I was under the impression that tap water conducts but pure H2O doesn't. Tapwater conducts because of all the salts/ions/etc in it but they say to mix deionized water with coolant so I figured coolant would also be 'deionized' somehow even tho it must have piles of stuff in it.

Anyway - fixed the leak... found another one... sigh...

MAN I STILL keep finding PO's slackoffs - wood screw in the throttle assembly.... nice one.
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7039&stc=1&d=1264654481

It is a B to get to I'll give that much... but still... if I can do it....
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7040&stc=1&d=1264665278

Anyway... it was leaking all over the sensor plugs that run beside the engine so I thought it might be screwing with my electricals... but of course that wasn't it.
H2o doesn't conduct electricity. Tap water does.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01755.htm

[whiskychaser]

Lets not forget that building regulations also exclude mains outlets within a certain distance of the bathroom door, to stop appliances being plugged in outside and used in the bathroom.

I was watching the mythbusters one about this the other day where they were throwing toasters and hairdriers in the bath!
I didnt want to get into that but wtf:D We have got 240v and the mains fuse (the one they seal) is 50amps. Unless you have mini circuit breakers in your consumer unit, you can get all that down the line to the radio you like to listen to while having a bath. MCBs will trip if a bulb blows but they wont save you life cos they are not fast enough. Ryan mention GFCI which I believe stands for 'ground fault circuit interupter'?. Thats a misnomer. Its not our elcb (earth leakage contact breaker), its the US term for an RCD. Talk about seperated by a common language!:D While Ross may be right in theory, if you drop your electric toothbrush down the toilet while visiting the UK, I'd advise you resist the temptation to retrieve it:D

[Ross]

I didnt want to get into that but wtf:D We have got 240v and the mains fuse (the one they seal) is 50amps. Unless you have mini circuit breakers in your consumer unit, you can get all that down the line to the radio you like to listen to while having a bath. MCBs will trip if a bulb blows but they wont save you life cos they are not fast enough. Ryan mention GFCI which I believe stands for 'ground fault circuit interupter'?. Thats a misnomer. Its not our elcb (earth leakage contact breaker), its the US term for an RCD. Talk about seperated by a common language!:D While Ross may be right in theory, if you drop your electric toothbrush down the toilet while visiting the UK, I'd advise you resist the temptation to retrieve it:D
Hence, my long and short answers.
Oh yea, regardless of location or line voltage if my toothbrush goes in the loo I ain't fetchin' it!

[ArnZ!]

Dads 4x4 had a higher than usual voltage running in his coolant, resulted in his alloy radiator leaking. Silly radiator place should have used copper in the first place.

[ryan roopnarine]

Dads 4x4 had a higher than usual voltage running in his coolant, resulted in his alloy radiator leaking. Silly radiator place should have used copper in the first place.

that's indicative of a grossly inadequate grounding system, not a necessary fault with the radiator. i know i've seen ford tsbs with a coolant voltage check and suggested additional grounding points to prevent heater core/cooling system failures.