I was watching television this morning when everything went off. Well everything that operates from a power point. The air conditioner and lights wer working.
I went to the power box and tried to turn one circuit breaker from off to on, but it kept clicking right back to off.
As the wiring is a bit complex with separate circuits for the reticulated bore and air con, I didn’t want to fool around too much. I decided to call an electrician.
Being a Saturday morning this wasn’t easy. I eventually got one and was thinking of call out fees etc.
He came, clicked the same circuit breaker that wouldn’t co-operate with me. The thing stayed on and immediate power.
I assured him I had tried it a number of times and it wouldn’t work. He only charged $50 so it was cheap enough but I felt a total goose. And there went my money for a Saturday carton of beer.
You may or may not know this, but a thrown circuit breaker must be flipped to the full off position before it can be turned back on. If you were just trying to turn it on from the thrown position it will just return to thrown.
Circuit breakers flip off went they heat up. You have to let them cool back down before resetting them. Some have a peice of metal inside, like solder, that melts and breaks the cicuit, once it cools down it will work again. If you go right out and keep punching it on you are just keeping it hot.
Enough time had passed while waiting on the electrician so that the breaker would reset.
I think it’s a well. Why the hell anyone would call a well a reticulated bore has got to be interesting. It’s almost as silly as calling a lift an elevator, or a flat an apartment.
Thanks for the info folks. I should have posted here before calling the electrician.
A reticulated bore is - well, it is a bore that is sunk to the water table. It has a network of pipes under the ground to deliver the water around the garden. The motor is electric and sits in the bottom of a pit (about 30 feet down in our case). It is on a different circuit and I think it has different phase power (whatever that means).
The circuit breaker seems to only have two positions- on and off. It had clicked to the off position (there is a button on it for some reason). It may have clicked off as the air conditioning has been on the heat cycle and it has been freezing- like 1 degree) so it has been working pretty hard.
I’m intrigued by the use of the phrase “carton of beer”. I don’t tend to think of beer as coming in cartons - cigarettes do. Beer comes in cases.
Sure, some might argue that a case is specifically a two-four (24), but really, even if there’s only six of em and you’re putting the empties back in, you’re putting them back into the case.Or maybe the box. But not a carton. I’m going to need a drink…
It’s been a while since I’ve had circuit breakers (:(). When the breaker trips, it flips toward the Off position. To reset it, you either have to push it all the way to Off (it’s kind of like a hammer at half-cock), or turn it On, then Off, then On. Basically, the tripped position isn’t actually the Off position.
Thank you Johnny LA. I will make a note of it as in write it down in case it happens again. (I was going to bookmark the page but hey- no power, no desktop).
I haven’t had a chance to try Victorian Bitter (I love trying new beer!) but if I can find it, I’ll give it a shot. Unless it’s always in a can. I hate beer that tastes like alumin(i)um.
VB also comes in stubbies (which are also in a carton of 24). I prefer cans as they are easier to get cold, and when the rubbish man empties the recycling bin he doesn’t deafen the neighbours with the sound of a bin full of glass falling into his truck.
I’m going to need a drink…