Hi Hutch,

Haven't heard from you in a while!

I can't remember how long ago you said you left the U.K., but the split-load panels have really only started to become common here since the 1980s, at least in domestic use.

The busbars I referred to aren't really that heavy, more like the "comb" arrangement you mentioned and usually just screwed into the plastic casing with a couple of self-tapping screws. (No, distribution equipment ain't what it used to be! Remember all those old MEM units that were built like a tank?)

I suspect that the panels used in the R.S.A. are pretty much the same as those in use here now. I think most of the British manufacturers sell throughout English-speaking Africa due to the influence of the colonial past.

The split between the GFI and non-GFI sections is generally the same here as you described. You won't find split-load panels so much in rural areas because of the TT grounding (earthed to local rod only). A split-load arrangement for this would need the use of two separate main GFIs, and the price starts going up considerably.

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BTW South Africa went metric in 1970 and after that date anything imperial was deemed illegal. My wife as a young girl at the time remembers receiving notice from the Post Office that an item posted from abroad was an illegal item and had been seized by the authorities. It was found to be a 6” school ruler – a present from her grandmother in Scotland which bore both imperial and metric measures!

Oh boy, is this gonna get me going!

In recent years we've had metric forced upon us to the extent that shop-keepers are now being prosecuted for selling a pound of bananas. I understand that schools teach only metric now, even though the majority of the population still think in Imperial. The everything-must-be-metric brigade want to abolish traditional English units entirely. Gas pumps are liters now, and shops must weigh items in grams by law, though fortunately we have a few people who are willing to stand up to the bureaucrats and defend their rights by ignoring the dictats of their local Trading Standards Authority.

The whole situation has gotten completely out of hand. [Linked Image]

Go here for some information:
www.footrule.org

On the ruler issue, about two years ago I was looking for a replacement tape measure. The one I was still using (Imperial only) was finally getting rather tatty after more than 40 years of use by both my parents and myself.

Finding a dual inch/metric tape is easy. But there are times when due to the way the tape has to be held, it's far more convenient to have the graduations right across onto both edges, and I wanted one with inches right across.

I had no luck finding one anywhere here. I even tried a big mail-order place in the West Country which has almost every wood/metalworking tool conceivable. They had single-scale tapes all right, but only in metric. "For your convenience, we now stock tapes graduated in only metric units."
But none "for my convenience" graduated in just feet and inches.

I did finally manage to find a Stanley tape that fit the bill. You guessed it -- I had to get it sent from the States! So far as I'm aware, there are no laws (yet) about importing Imperial-only measuring devices, only about using them for certain things. But then the way things are going, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that I've broken some EU directive on the matter.

P.S. The bureaucrats have "allowed" us to keep beer and milk by the pint and miles on the roads, but only as a temporary "derogation." In other words, they'll be going sometime in the future whether we like it or not. Even sleepy Ireland has been changing distance signs to kilometers in the last few years.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 06-29-2002).]