Wagger Posted February 10, 2023 Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 Colin, the u/j has rubber inserts for anti-vibration so will not conduct without the wire link across it. It is notorious for hooking up and being broken off. My 1600/6 had this bother when I first bought it. It took just two hrs to remove and sort. You have to remove the bolts from the clamps that hold the splines in place entirely as they are designed to keep the column connected to the rack. Two jubllee clips and some wire would do nicely and be a quicker fix. One at the rack end and the other where you can access the column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted February 10, 2023 Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 5 minutes ago, Wagger said: Two jubllee clips and some wire would do nicely and be a quicker fix. One at the rack end and the other where you can access the column. A good quick way and it'll save your knuckles! Just make sure the wire isn't too long as from memory my uj is quite close to the turret and might get snagged. Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 Thanks! I hadn't realised that about the u/j. Now, reversing (and probably) fog lamps are also on my list - but am reluctant because of my lack of circuitry capability . . . but that's another project!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 Good point, Wagger. I might actually just do that. It does look bloomin' awkward to get to . . plus it'd be more obvious, should it fail - and be an indicator for the next owner (my son?) that this continuity wire HAS to be there and is utterly necessary . . . Thanks. Good suggestion & I like my knuckles!😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Twitchen Posted February 10, 2023 Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 7 hours ago, JohnD said: The WD40 company recognises this and markets a "WD40 Specilialist Penetrant" spray: WD-40 Specialist Fast Release Penetrant Spray (wd40.co.uk) I have never, ever, seen this on sale in the UK! Screwfix have it, and I think I saw it in Halfords; works a treat in my experience. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffds1360 Posted February 10, 2023 Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 Speaking of the car body being insulated from the Earth by the tyres, do you remember the old dangling earth straps? Stopped you being car sick I was told I think Colins confusion being caused by the horns being 'switched' to earth, Not switched to live, maybe? earth being the body via the column push button and uj link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted February 10, 2023 Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 Thank you, Dick - so they do! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted February 10, 2023 Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 56 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said: Speaking of the car body being insulated from the Earth by the tyres, do you remember the old dangling earth straps? Stopped you being car sick I was told I thought it was supposed to stop you getting a static electric shock from the door handle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2023 Thanks Jeffsds1360, you have properly confused me now!! 🤣🤣 Chris, John & Dick . . . all info duly noted, thanks! Those strips dragginv the road (if they ever reached it were, as I recall, supposed to prevent your static sparking when touching the car body, but from what I heard they actually charged it up!! 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 9 hours ago, Colin said: Those strips dragginv the road (if they ever reached it were, as I recall, supposed to prevent your static sparking when touching the car body, but from what I heard they actually charged it up!! No, they would keep the car body at ground potential but the point is that car bodies sit at ground potential anyway, because the tyres are poorer insulators than, for example, your shoes. When you get a static shock off a car door, it's not because the car is charged up, it's because YOU are charged up and you DISCHARGE yourself to the car door. With only the rubber tyres to ground the car, this discharge is slightly muted, so the earthing strip makes the static shock worse. However, this is all irrelevant to the earlier discussion of "earth" points for testing, because in those discussions we mean the vehicle electrical earth which is explicitly not the same as mains earth or true ground potential. In electrical terms, "earth" merely means the reference potential for the circuit in question, which in the case of car wiring is the body/engine block/battery negative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 1 hour ago, NonMember said: When you get a static shock off a car door, it's not because the car is charged up, it's because YOU are charged up and you DISCHARGE yourself to the car door. I haven't suffered from that for years, maybe I need a recharge? Any recommendations for a booster pack 💉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffds1360 Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 and I havn't been car sick for years! Maybe mum was wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 Non-member you are an electrician?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 10 minutes ago, Colin said: Non-member you are an electrician?? I'm a (motorsport) software engineer by trade but I have a physics degree and some experience as an electronics engineer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 What I find confuses/befuddles those who have trouble with auto electrics is that the car body/engine/etc. is, in effect, a wire. This can then be confounded by the earch switched vs supply switched confusion. Once over all that, it's quite easy, give or take relays C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 Excellent Chaps. As you can tell, once my little stupidity is over, it'll be back to the chubby chalks for me! As my wife says:- if it breeds, it's biology; if it smells, it's chemistry, if it doesn't work, it's physics (and, she adds, or something Colin can't work out!!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 I've never really done much electrical work on any of my classic cars but on the Vitesse I've fitted headlamp relays, sorted out the dash wiring, auxiliary fuse box plus other bits. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading up and learning more about car electrics and diagnosis. I would say I'm still in the novice category but it's made me much more willing to tackle anything 12 volts and it's much more forgiving than 415v 3 phase! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 415V 3 phase is what was supplying a Burgundian farmhouse (essentially) I once had! Huge 3 pin circular plugs & sockeys everywhere! Was going to be an arm & a leg to take it back to a 'regular' domestic supply voltage. So I left it! My bro' reckons some of the wiring antics I've tried whilst not understanding what he was getting at in his texts should in theory have set the car alight!! 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 8 minutes ago, Colin said: 415V 3 phase is what was supplying a Burgundian farmhouse (essentially) I once had! Huge 3 pin circular plugs & sockeys everywhere! Was going to be an arm & a leg to take it back to a 'regular' domestic supply voltage. So I left it! The first property we bought here had never been connected to electricity, the nearest cables were 100 metres away. Once the EDF had installed their box I did the whole house - to French norms which meant I needed to do a bit of reading, in French of course 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 and isn't the flow from - to + just to get the molecules confused one reason they all moved to neg earths Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 Once, on ONC Elec Eng (1), our lecturer had us calculate how long it would take an electron to get from Battersea power station to Twickenham Tec. 3 weeks, if I recall, I may be wrong. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 By bus, Doug??!! "The first property we bought here had never been connected to electricity, the nearest cables were 100 metres away. Once the EDF had installed their box I did the whole house - to French norms which meant I needed to do a bit of reading, in French of course 🤔" and with the added fun of that 4th purple (neutral?) wire, Chris??!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 1 hour ago, Colin said: and with the added fun of that 4th purple (neutral?) wire, Chris??!! No, straight forward 3 wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 1 hour ago, Colin said: By bus, Doug??!! An unintended joke?!! A buss bar is heavy cable or metal bar connecting electrical points. So yes, the electron would be traveling by buss some of the way. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagger Posted February 11, 2023 Report Share Posted February 11, 2023 That was fun guys. In the 1970's I worked in an air conditioned factory which had a de-humidifyer. It was very dry and 200 girls on the production lines wore nylon overalls. (And other items). They would 'Charge themselves up' on route to teabreaks and receive a shock off the metal door handles. To make matters worse, the offices had nylon carpets. Our tricks included creeping up behind somebody and slowly stretching a finger towards an earlobe. It was painful. Shaking hands with visitors was quite risky. My instructors told me that they used to 'Megger' aircraft tyres during WW2. (The Megger was that hand cranked device that generated up to 1kv and had a resistance scale). They had to discharge the aircraft on landing in order to prevent static sparks igniting leaky tanks. You cannot 'Win' with this situation. 'Earthing' something guarantees a shock if you ar not at the same potential. 'Earthing' yourself guarantees a shock from an unearthed item that has charged up with static. That's why we all used wrist straps when assembling sensitive components. These straps incorporated a 100k ohm resistor. Three phase three wire systems were designed in order to have three wires carrying the same current in each. That way, the algebraic sum of the currents in all three is Zero. (Being a.c. it flows in opposite directions every half cycle and the phases are 120 degrees apart). This creates minimal radiation and does not waste a conductor. At the point of use (Sub station) the phases are connected in 'Star' with the 'Star' point staked to 'Earth'. In domestic houses, the 'Earth' connection is there in order to protect us. Normally, it carries a very small leakage current but has to be thick in order to carry a massive current if a fault occurs. Sorry about the 'Lecture' length of this. Brain went into 'Freewheel' mode. Apologies for errors, it was all from a long memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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