ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Inside a light switch from Norway

Thanks for the lists guys. Maybe we should start a "foreign technical terms dictionary" reference thread for all of these?

My Dutch is severely limited as well, in fact about the only thing I can say in Dutch is Dank u veel. And you don't need a degree in linguistics to work out what that means! Still, I've yet to meet anyone from the Netherlands who can't speak at least reasonable, if not fluent, English.

I studied French in school, and a little German (most of which I forgot as I only did it for a year or so), but I've really taken more of interest in languages in recent years. The more you look at the subject, the more you seem to concentrate on the similarities rather than the differences.

I even started looking at Russian a few years ago, and once you have the Cyrillic alphabet memorized it's really nothing like as daunting as it first appears. Only learned a few basic words, though!

I have to say that all of you on the Continent really put we Anglo-Saxons to shame though when it comes to speaking other languages.

Dutch sometimes appears to me as a weird dialect of German, mixed with a lot of English. For example, the number 5 is pronounced somewhere like the English "five", but 55 is composed like in German grammar, don't know about the spelling, but it sounds like "fivefivzich" the "ch" in the throat like in some Arabian words.
It's definitely the most funny language I've ever heard, and the Dutch I know are also quite weird people (I once had the fun of working at a construction project, and it was _really_ cool).
Dutch tourists in Austria are also known as notorious drunks, worse than most other tourists.

Belgian,

Follow up to an earlier message. Since I couldn't find any information on the switch or the package about maximum wire size I tested. I found that 6 mm2 can only be inserted with force. Hence, 4 mm2 appears to be the largest size that can be used.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 07-12-2003).]

Here we go in (DOUBLE) Dutch:

Voltage = Spanning
Current = Stroom
Power = Energie

Phase = Fase
Neutral = Nul or Neuter
Earth = Aarding
Protective Earth = Aardbeschermings

Fuse = Zekering
Fuse box = Zekeringskast
Main fuse = Hoofdzekering
Main disconnect = Hoofdschakelaar
RCD = Differentieelschakelaar

Junction box = Aaftakdoos
Socket = Stopcontact
Light switch = Lichtschakelaar

Blackout = Stroompanne (e spelled out)
Electrician = Electrieker

1 way switch= 1 polige schakelaar
2 way = wissel (which means change)
intermediate = kruis (which means cross)
2 pole = dubbelpolige
push button = drukknop

By the way paul, you didn't answer my last post?:

Paul,
Yes, that's what I meant: a "serial operated cotactor" with push buttons. Is there no shorter word for this in English? In Dutch we call it a "Impulsschakelaar" - schakelaar meaning switch. We use them very often over here whenever we have 3 or more switches for 1 light e.g. long corridors or stairs. What do you use in England in such circumstances? 3 and 4 way switches? Even when you have 5 switches? Hre it would be seen more like a recepy for spaghetti.
Another application is when the push buttons are next to swimming pools, then we use a 12V or 24V version. We can then use very thin wire fore the switches e.g. 0.6 mm2.

C-H,

Thanks but it wasn't that important, I was just curious.


[This message has been edited by Belgian (edited 07-12-2003).]

Sorry Eli -- I remember reading the questions but must have missed them when I went back to post.....

There's no single standard term in English for your Impulsschakelaar. I'm not sure if any of the industrial guys might have a commonly used term for them, but they're just not very common at all in residential work. In electronics we would normally call such a device a latching relay.

Where a light needs to be controlled from two locations we normally wire with two regular 2-way (U.S. = 3-way) switches. For extra control from third and subsequent locations we insert intermediate switches (U.S. = 4-way).

Contactors for remote operation which mount in a panel on a standard DIN rail are easily obtainable, but very rare in residential wiring.

Eltako. For stairway lighting in apartment buildings these have been in use for at least 50 years here and they're slowly gaining in residential too. Personally I don't like them, but it's sure easier only to run 2 wires everywhere instead of running full 3 or 4 way wiring. However, I don't trust anything with too much electronics inside if there's a less complex solution.