[Pinball wizard]

Good article for those of you who DYI.

18 Basic Electrical Terms You Should Know | Family Handyman

[Michael G.]

Originally Posted by Pinball wizard

Good article for those of you who DYI.

18 Basic Electrical Terms You Should Know | Family Handyman

Thanks
The next time I hire a electrician, I'll quiz him as he comes through the door.

[photo1902]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

Thanks
The next time I hire a electrician, I'll quiz him as he comes through the door.

They appreciate that

[retiredguy123]

They left out "electrocution".

[Marathon Man]

Uh, yea. If have to read a definition of 'voltage', then please do not attempt DIY electrical work.

[BobnBev]

Originally Posted by Pinball wizard

Good article for those of you who DYI.

18 Basic Electrical Terms You Should Know | Family Handyman

Good info, thanks for posting it.

[La lamy]

Nice refresher. Thanks.

[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by Pinball wizard

Good article for those of you who DYI.

18 Basic Electrical Terms You Should Know | Family Handyman

What a *wonderful* article. Thank you for sharing. Electricity shall always remain the equivalent of "magic" to me, no matter my attempts at understanding it - and, I've tried. Have had to settle for learning about the history of electricity. And *that* has also been wonderful. I can't even make an "alt+ code" work for the nabla symbol. . . ∇ - had to copy and paste it.

Both electricians and electrical engineers are held in the highest of esteems by me. Basically, magicians. . .

[NoMo50]

Somewhat curious that the article discusses the term "volts," but neglects to mention the term "amps." If someone fancies themselves a home electrical DIYer, they had better understand both.

Yes...voltage can be compared to the pressure of water running through a hose, but amperage equates to the volume of water through the hose. In an electrical shock scenario, it is not the voltage that can hurt/kill a person, but the amperage. That is why you can have a device such as a Taser, that can deliver a shock at 50,000 volts, but (generally) will not cause permanent damage...very low amperage. Using the water hose analogy again...compare the effects of being hit by a Water Pik versus a fire hose.

[dolphin]

Originally Posted by Pinball wizard

Good article for those of you who DYI.

18 Basic Electrical Terms You Should Know | Family Handyman

Excellent. Information

[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by NoMo50

Somewhat curious that the article discusses the term "volts," but neglects to mention the term "amps." If someone fancies themselves a home electrical DIYer, they had better understand both.

Yes...voltage can be compared to the pressure of water running through a hose, but amperage equates to the volume of water through the hose. In an electrical shock scenario, it is not the voltage that can hurt/kill a person, but the amperage. That is why you can have a device such as a Taser, that can deliver a shock at 50,000 volts, but (generally) will not cause permanent damage...very low amperage. Using the water hose analogy again...compare the effects of being hit by a Water Pik versus a fire hose.

They did, however, under "circuit breakers", bring up "ampacity". Definitely a new term for *me*. :-)

[Velvet]

Good article. Thank you for sharing.

[Ramone]

[Nothing much on DC here. Those of us using Electric Carts would like to understand it more. Fuse where, attaching an inverter to run AC products through cig lighter, running an air pump, etc.

[drstevens]

Good point, as I would definitely add that current is the flow of electricity measured in Amps, or milliAmps (mA). A word of caution: don’t ever use your multimeter on the amp or milliamp scale, unless you really understand, basic electricity, as you can damage the meter and possibly yourself.
Also, I would add the term “Power” to your vocabulary.
Power is voltage multiplied by amps, and is measured in watts. The power company charges you by the kiloWatt hours that you use. If you want to understand your electric bill, you need to understand Watts. And if you look at the label on most electrical equipment, you’ll see the term Watts and almost never Amps, except with motors.
Too much info to go into detail here, but if you want to contact me, I would be glad to elaborate.
I taught and directed the electrical/electronics technology program at Ohio University for 37 years, was also an electrical contractor, and had a journeyman wireman license out of local 134 of the IBEW in Chicago Illinois.
Stay safe!

[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by Ramone

[Nothing much on DC here. Those of us using Electric Carts would like to understand it more. Fuse where, attaching an inverter to run AC products through cig lighter, running an air pump, etc.

DC (direct current), in general (for most) 12 VDC (volts DC) the negative of the battery is grounded, and fuses are installed on the positive battery for each of the circuits. Now having stated this Yamaha gas golf carts have ONE fuse on the negative side I do not know why.

For an electric cart ( 36 VDC to 72 VDC) and adding auxiliary equipment you need to know the capability of the 12 VDC adapter supplied with your cart. These tend to be limited, and devices like an air pump may need more power than what the 12 VDC adapter can supply.

For example a typical 36/48 VDC to 12 VDC may be capable of 10 to 15 amps. This is used to power all of the lights and any other 12 VDC equipment on the cart, adding additional load could cause the converter to become overloaded, and shutdown or fail.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other electrical questions. (Retired professional electrical engineer.)