a fairground life

Scorching hot today for a few hours. I did go and get the MOT slot booked, so that's Saturday job lined up. Had an electrician out this afternoon to inspect the wiring on all the rides as part of the annual testing procedure. This also involves the generators switch gear. When I was younger, around the mid seventies, almost everything on a fairground run on 110v dc. The only thing using 240v ac was the amusement arcades. Nowadays 95% of all rides are 415v and all other stalls are 240v ac. A big difference. I must admit though, that there are devices fitted to monitor the flow of electricity and automatically interupt the supply if a fault should appear now. This was not the case with the old 110v stuff. Then the only protection was a 220amp fuse on each line. Only dead short protection. Because the voltage was lower- the amperage was higher and all cables were about 20-25mm in diameter. A join in a main was not a plug but usually two brass bolts through a piece of mica board! No fancy computer controlled lighting boxes then. You had to flash the lights using the Knife (copper bar with handle at one end, if you have seen a frankenstein movie, this is the contactor used to animate the monster) and be careful not to get a flash in the eyes or a burn from the arc!!!When I look back, it's in horror, but then I suppose it's like looking back to the horse & cart or black & white telly. Everything gets better with progress, I think?

I can remember my great uncle arcing the knife to light his cigarette! He always had a good suntan.