Shine a Light

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

I’ve been wondering why there are so many ME Forum members who hide their light under a bushel or a bench.

When trying to learn more about members, most searches reveal “This member does not have a public profile”

Come on guys, you’re surely not too busy to tell us something of yourselves?

 

Sam

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

What about yourselves?

[Anonymous]

I’ve been wondering about that too. At least I do have a profile; whether it imparts any useful information is another matter.

 

One thing to take into consideration, at least in Europe, is that everybody’s light is a bit dim, now that the EU have banned the sale of incandescent light bulbs. It’s probably not legal to hide it under a bushel either. After all it’s not even a metric unit.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Sam, I’m naturally a private kinda person, save for a few trusted friends. With the increasing cases you hear about identity theft, especially on the internet, I myself are a bit reluctent about having a pulic profile. Maybe I’m being a little paranoid.

Regards Nick.

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

They may have banned the sale but they have not banned the use!. I stocked up enough to survive until the next generation LEDs come along.

 

In the meantime you can get (legally) a halogen style lamp, looks like a car bulb inside a normal glass shell that works just like the old ones.

[adyParticipant @ady]

I’m called Shirley at the weekend if that helps.

 

 

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hey Andrew

 

Maybe a bit dimmer but surely much longer lasting and cheaper to run !  (The dimmer bit I find fairly appropriate – witness my waste bin whilst the cheaper to run certainly doesn’t apply to the hobby! ) As far as “bushel” goes it appears that the root is from the French “boissiel” so maybe  “Le Bushel” would metricate it ?

 

I too have thought a bit about the profie and tend toward Nick’s viewpoint. I do think however that a profile does add interest so will give it some thought. Maybe just where in the world and range of interests would help?

 

Sam I was very interested to read yours – quite a trip through life. My No2 son is in Melbourne which he likes. I have not visited yet ( 24hrs on a plane really doesn’t appeal) and  I shudder at some of the summer temperatures you get there.

Regards

 

Norman

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Kwil, it might not be long for your LEDs to turn up GE in the states made its last incandesant bulb yesterday. The question of profiles was asked last year with no result, never mind we’re slowly getting to know each other–well sort of.  Ian S C

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

For what it’s worth (probably not a lot) I’ve had a profile ever since I joined the site, and unfortunately it’s not out of date yet – you’ll see what I mean if you read it. The identity theft comments are slightly curious – since you get to choose exactly what you put in your profile, and in general identity theft is related to financial information, I really don’t see what harm it does, as long as you are sensible about the content.

 

As for ady – well, TMI. But now the cat’s out of the bag, I have to ask –  doesn’t any weekend engineering workshop activity tend to put runs in your stockings from time to time?

[Anonymous]

My experience of the new style lightbulbs is that they do reduce the electricity bill, but by no means as much as you might expect from comparing wattage ratings. The more expensive ones do seem to last longer, but I’ve had a number of the supermarket own brand ones fail very quickly. Also their power factor is appalling, ok for the consumer, but not so good for the electricity generator.

 

I’m also not entirely convinced about the overall energy savings, given that the bulbs are more expensive and complex to manufacture, and to dispose of afterwards. Which all takes energy!

 

Having said all that, I run them in all my most used lights, and as the other bulbs fail I replace them with energy saving ones.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 22/09/2010 22:44:21:

Also their power factor is appalling, ok for the consumer, but not so good for the electricity generator.

 

It’s more complicated (as usual). The major power-factor issue the generating companies have had to deal with is the industrial load – which shows up primarily as inductive.

 

Compact fluorescents show up as an effectively capacitive load which actually helps offset the inductive load of industry. That’s why the generating companies, far from ruing their use have actively campaigned for them. At least here in North America and I can’t believe it’s different in Europe. (They were giving them away free at one time).

 

Incidentally, we haven’t been able to buy regular incandescent bulbs here for some time. It really screws you if you have any dimmers or electronic timers because the regular compact fluorescent won’t work. They are starting to come out with special versions for those cases …. at 10 to 20 times the cost

Edited By Sid Herbage on 23/09/2010 01:57:57

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

Well, I like my little hooligan lamps, both as machine lights and as track lighting systems around the house. Not very impressed with the energy efficient miniflourescents, you turn them on and the place looks darker. I do have one high output LED light,  very good but I have not put it into service yet, just bought it out of curiousity. It is a great little spotlight, not so good if you wanted general lighting.

 

If you use half a dozen or so 100 to 150 Watt halogens in your workshop, they will take care of heating as well as lighting. Take care with them if you are doing dusty activities like boat building, I think they are potentialy a bit of a fire risk.

 

On the profile thing, well, I do have one, but it does not contain any of my bank account details.

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

Well there you go fellas! I knew there would be some interesting tales to tell.

At a rough count from 11 replies, there’s about 50/50 with/without profiles. They (the profiles) make very interesting reading, and undoubtedly provide even more authenticity to postings from those who offer useful and responsible advice.

Thanks for your compliments Norman. You’re right about the 24 hour trip, which is even worse if you have to change planes. Trudging with hand baggage all the way across an airport half way through the journey would sap anyone’s energy. But, having said that, Melbourne’s worth a visit, especially around (our) spring. Breaking the journey with a couple of days stop-over, is a good recommendation.

Like genealogy, which has taken a lot of my time, there are so many interesting stories to be told, so give it a go Nick.

Interesting profile Steve G. You’re a model engineer.

I enjoy your comments Andrew J, and am impressed with your profile.

I called Shirley at the weekend too, but there was no reply. But please! Not a word to SWAMBO. Only joking luv.

Regards to all,

Sam

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

I would not recommend to anyone to do a 24 hour flight without any significant break. A stopover gets even more necessary as we get older and more prone to things like deep vein thrombosis. I would also recommend that anyone travelling from Europe to the Antipodes should make sure they come via an Asian stopover rather than the USA. This is not because the USA would not be an interesting place to visit, it is because the US immigration service and the department of homeland security have combined forces to make your stay as unpleasant as possible.

 

regards

john

[adyParticipant @ady]

US immigration has always been a nightmare, it was bad enough in the 1970s.

You start filling their daft paperwork out halfway across the atlantic.

“are you, or have you ever been a member of, a terrorist organisation?”

 

I find it weird that each year millions saunter unhindered across the border with mexico carrying no more paperwork than a pack of luck strikes…while those of us who do it legally get the 5th degree.

 

Same language…different culture.

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Same language, no culture, at least at the border and I am not so sure about it being the same language either.

Edited By KWIL on 23/09/2010 09:08:43

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I run mainly Compact fluorescent lamps, The government chickened out of banning incandescant bulbs a year or so ago, but they may disapear any way. When I can I’ll try LED lighing. The only problem I had filling in the paper work first time into the States back in the 70s was getting the date in the wrong order, they put the month first, where as we put the day first, but I think 1/2 the plane got it wrong (Air New Zealand DC10). Ian S C

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

As you have gathered I despise CFLs, they give a lousy coloured light, difficient in certain colours, dull, age rapidly (up to 6 years, lasted 13months as a hall light) dimmable ones are horrendously expensive and of course contain mercury. I used to work for the Generous Electric company so I know how they think. Interestingly, the Corporate Website GE.com makes no mention of having ceased production of incandescent lamps.

[Anonymous]

Sid,

 

Ah, that explains a lot. I wondered why the power generators were so sanguine about the poor power factor of the bulbs, all is now clear. I got my first energy saving bulb free from the original Powergen, when it was an electricity generator rather than a supplier. They must have bought a cheap lot though, as it was rubbish and failed very quickly.

 

Are you in Canada or the good ol’ US of A?

 

Many years ago I worked for a company that developed an electric vehicle drive system. At one end it had a large DC battery and at the other a three phase output to the motor. The system was bi-directional, so a three phase input on the motor terminals could be used to charge the battery. I can’t say I was ever convinced about the large scale potential of electric vehicles, and this proved to be the case. In looking around for other applications for the system it was realised that if the three phase output was connected to the mains, and the battery was replaced by a large capacitor the system could be used as a power factor corrector, up to about 150kVA. The only losses would be due to switching losses in the inverter and ripple current in the capacitors. I thought this was an excellent use of the system, but sadly the company was closed before it had a chance to suceed.

 

Sam,

 

Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad at least one person enjoys my posts. I consider myself very fortunate that a peasant like me had the opportunity to go to King’s and to do research at Cambridge. No thanks to my school though; it could all have been so different.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

I went to Oxford University, I delivered 24 tonnes of bricks……………..

 

John S.

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Andrew, I’m in Canada …. and I discovered I was slightly wrong about the supply of regular incandescent bulbs here. They are still around but you do have to dig for them. They may even simply be left-over stock. Also there are still some specialist bulbs (fan bulbs etc) about.

 

Scientific American had an interesting piece a few months ago looking at hybrid vs full-electric cars throughout the US. Turns out it’s not a simple choice. Depending on how the the electrical supply is generated  in specific areas, a full electric car (that has to be recharged from the supply) may actually be dirtier in some localities than the hybrid which is running on gas (petrol) part of the time.

[John OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

I was at Canterbury university in 1980, they were doing work on AC motor controls then, and I did a project in that area. They had just built an electric car as a test bed. The motor contol part worked fine, but then, the motor control part has never really been the problem with electric cars. Even with 1905 style technology, you can get quite respectably high efficiency out of the electricity to mechanical part of the conversion. The real problem has always been the weight of the necessary battery pack and of course its cost. The lithium cells have helped there, but there is still a way to go I think.

 

Most of the types of inverters likely to be used for DC to three phase conversion inherently have diodes between each output and the DC rails, either for protection or because they are inherent in the devices. This means that such devices will generally inherently provide regenerative braking. The Canterbury car was set up that way, the first bit of travel on the brake pedal slowed down the AC frequency to give nicely proportional braking from the motor, but when you pressed harder it started working the hydraulic brakes. With half a ton or so of batteries in a mini size vehicle, you sometimes needed that. It also had a built in limited slip differential. There was a motor for each (front) driving wheel, both driven off the same controller. To a limited extent, one motor could go faster than the other, eg around corners. However, if one motor started to slip, eg on wet grass, it would only slip up to syncronous speed at most, and the other motor would continue to drive.  Quite nice, if only we could find a battery with the same energy density as a tank full of petrol.

 

Of course , the inverter back then that took a box the size of a computer case will now almost fit in my pocket. 

 

regards

John

[Anonymous]

John S,

 

Makes sense, even dreaming spires need maintenance, unlike perspiring dreams.

 

Andrew

[Richard ParsonsParticipant @richardparsons61721]

 

Sam’l  you comment why no profile? Model Engineers are a lonely secretive lot. We go to our workshops (the place which SWMBO calls our ‘play room’ and stay there with luck for hours. The dog might visit us occasionally, but it usually leaves when something goes wrong.  It does not like the language which would make the hairs on the head of a Billingsgate fish porter stand on end. My shop has many cobwebs in it my SWABBO is afraid of spiders. Nuff said!

My only public appearances are at the Supermarket (for portering and payment duties) and at the local Kocsma (a place where you can get delicious liquid refreshments from barrels and brown bottles).

John -So it was you who left those confounded bricks there.  I nearly fell over the damned things leaving the Angle and Greyhound one night on my way to visit the Port Mahon! (Yes they are both real inn signs).

Edited By Richard Parsons on 24/09/2010 13:18:38

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

John S, so that’s why they call them red-brick universities!

 

Beware what you put in your profile – the SO might find out what you spend all the hard-earned on.

 

I have been an enthusiastic CFL user for years. Our house is cursed by three-socket fittinmgs meant for three 40W canlde bulbs. as much use as a chocolate fireguard. We have three 100W-equivalent CFLs in each one – much better!

 

Neil

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