2 February 2021 | Video, Wireless Wonderland |
I finally managed to read Arthur Firstenberg’s book, The Invisible Rainbow.
The well-documented book chronicles the multitude of effects of everything from the first telegraph lines and electric lighting to modern day wireless systems. The data is plentiful and the effects are… well, not very good.
But I found myself with more questions than answers..
For example, why did 5 children get cancer at 1 school in Spain after the first digital cellular tower was turned on? What about the other schools or hospitals with antennae next to them? They were all over the world!
At the same time, it’s hard to discount the stories as just, “correlation does not equal causation”. At this point, there’s simply too much data out there to ignore it or try to explain it away.
If you’re looking for answers or solutions, this book doesn’t have any. What it does have is a fascinating look at the LONG history of the negative effects of various types of EMFs on human, plant, and animal life – over literally hundreds of years.
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7 November 2017 | Do-It-Yourself, Energy, Video |
If you’ve ever accidentally chopped through a wire or electrical cable, you know how much fun it can be to try to repair it so that it stays waterproof, dust proof, weatherproof, etc.
I recently had just such a fun experience myself. It turns out that there are quite a few nice products out there to make the splicing process WAAAAY easier.
Keep in mind that the type of splice you use depends greatly on the application – and even the type of wire (solid vs stranded).
A wire splice for an automotive-type application must be pretty strong, because vibration is obviously an issue.
An underground electrical cable doesn’t have to withstand vibration, but it definitely needs to be waterproof!
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5 September 2017 | Energy, How Does it Work?, Video |
Extension cord reels, or rolly cords as I like to call them, are seriously handy.
Nobody likes spending 30 minutes untangling a 50m extension cord.
Trouble is, usually we use them incorrectly!
It turns out you have to read the fine print: You can only use the full capacity of the reel if you fully unwind the rolly cord.
Oops!
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29 August 2017 | Do-It-Yourself, Energy, Video |
First, remain calm. Second, watch this video!
A tripping circuit breaker or GFCI/RCD/differential breaker can be really annoying. It normally doesn’t happen.
When it does, the end result can be that you run around the room with your undies on your head, screaming like a wildperson.
Obviously, if your vacuum cleaner is charred and black and there’s a funny smell in the room, you’ve just figured out why the breaker tripped. But usually, the problem is a bit more subtle than that…
It turns out that with a bit of work, you can often cleverly narrow down the problem to one gizmo and save yourself some money – without setting anything on fire!
Yay!
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22 August 2017 | EEK!, How Does it Work?, Video |
I usually see people freak out when they open the door of their circuit breaker panel. No more!
Note that I’m using European breakers and EU-type panel design as my example, so if you’re in North America or certain other countries, you’re not gonna see the same thing. Still, the general principles are the same.
Also keep in mind that there are far more gizmos that you might find in your panel: combined GFCI/circuit breakers, timers, and even a nifty gizmo that turns off circuit B when circuit A is energized.
Having said all that, if you just need a basic intro to breaker panels of all types, this is a good place to start! Then follow up with a book or an internet search for your specific location, and Bob’s your uncle.
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24 June 2017 | EEK!, Energy, How Does it Work?, Video |
Why does AC electrical power come in 3 phases? What the heck is a “phase”, anyway?
In this episode of the EEK! Series, you’ll learn about 3-phase power and its advantages.
In short: fewer wires, more power, and the Earth itself is a conductor.
In addition, 3-phase industrial motors are more efficient and don’t require a starting capacitor since the 3 phases are “rotating” already.
Be sure to watch EEK! #1 and EEK! #2 first!
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28 May 2017 | EEK!, How Does it Work?, Video |
This first video in the EEK! series explains basic concepts of electricity in simple, practical terms.
Learn about conductors, insulators, voltage, current, power, volts, amps, and watts. It’s not as difficult to understand as it sounds.
No crazy math or physics required!
Check out EEK! Episode 1 below…
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10 May 2017 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
Everything you need to know about powering various electric and electronic things when traveling internationally. Plug adapters, voltage ratings, transformers, and all that jazz made simple!
Note: My audio recorder ate the good sound 🙁 so I’m afraid we must make do with highly-processed Backup Audio this time. Always have a backup!
Anyhow, watch the video below.
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16 May 2009 | How Does it Work? |
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of upgrading old electrical wiring in a residence, you know that a separate earth ground wire was generally not used in the past. In such cases, you find yourself with 2 wires: live, and neutral.
Now, you might want to install a grounded outlet without redoing a lot of wiring. A common method of getting around this little problem is to install the new 3-conductor outlet by tying live to one prong, neutral to the other prong, and then using a jumper wire to connect neutral to the ground connection inside the outlet.
“Theoretically, this should work just fine!” you reason.
It turns out that theoretically, you are in fact correct. Practically speaking, adding a “ground” in a 2-wire installation by tying neutral and ground together has several serious – and possibly dangerous – drawbacks.
Here’s the scoop.
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I finally managed to read Arthur Firstenberg’s book, The Invisible Rainbow.
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