Things that work...but why??
 

Some things just work...but there's no scientific reason for it. Why the hell??

The example that comes to mind today ~ My ATM card sucks. Some places have a hard time reading it. To fix it, the grocery store puts a plastic bag around the card and then swipe it. Surprise, it works!!

What the hell???

When your card gets old the magnetic strip produces a lot of "noise" when swiped. Putting the bag over the card makes the reader less sensitive to the noisy signal so it doesn't screw up the parity check when it reads it.

How in the hell did someone figure that out?

Is the guy that ate the first oyster working at the local Shop N Go?

Has anyone ever figured out the scientific reason for stainless steel removing garlic odor from your hands?

how is babby formed?

Tomato soup, giraffe lasers, dead storks, shopping carts, and gold medals. Duh.

Why does freshly grated cheese taste so much better?

If a sewing machine has two continuous threads passing by each other, why is it that when you are done you can't just grab the end of each thread & pull, unraveling them in the process?

This is techie but very weird. At one particular station there is a bit of wood more-or-less embedded in the track. If we take it away we lose electricity. So long as it's there things run just fine. Clearly nobody told this particular bit of wood that it shouldn't be conducting. We don't really understand it but it's been there for years and it works so we leave well enough alone.

It's all about the surface area.

Makes sense, thanks!

Somebody should start a website where folks can post their oddball questions and have them answered by other folks online.

Yeah and where you can have a bit of craic with the other posters. We could call it the straight craic or something.

There could be multiple reasons especially since London uses a 4th rail system if I understand correctly.

The most likely reason would be a poor neutral in that area. Electricity always needs a return path. The hot wire from your wall won't power anything unless you also have a return line, the neutral. The neutral is a current-carrying conductor, the reason you don't get shocked when you touch it is because it is bonded to earth ground making you at the same potential as the earth (no potential difference between you and the wire). When you disconnect the higher potential wire you get a loss of power which shuts things down. When you disconnect the neutral you might get a loss of power which shuts things down. Sometimes the circuit gets it's return path through the earth (possibly via a piece of wood which is well grounded) rather than through the neutral conductor.

I had a magnet fail at work one night and found the neutral wire had never been connected in the cabinet. The equipment had been running for over a year without a problem though. The magnet was getting it's return through the metal it was mounted on rather than the wire it was supposed to be powered through. If you pulled it off the frame it stopped working (you also get a big shock, don't try it :innocent: ).

I assume you have a maintenance group who could be notified. They should be made aware of it because with any current leakage to ground there exists a safety hazard from the stray current.

Yes, we have a maintenance group. :rolleyes: We also understand how electricity works cos we're super-clever like that. However, at this particular station there is a bit of wood which must be used or we have problems. We do not understand why this is so yet it works. Hence, I posted it to this thread. The issue is probably not going to be solved by some random genius from the internet.

Oh, okay, then just keep the magic piece of wood in place and stop asking stupid questions fuckhead.

Since you want to play detective then it's to do with the ATO system and surges in power. The bit of wood solves this and it's not required anywhere else due to a quirk in that area. But you know what? The thread isn't about posting the minutiae of every little thing but about posting strange things that just work for whatever reason. But I tell ya what, the next time a major metropolitan railway company needs help they'll surely come straight to you with your superduper understanding of electricity. Cos really, they need the help doncha think and gosh nobody here would have ever figured out that whole thing about leaking current without you. Seriously, you are a star. I really liked the idea about how we might think about telling some sort of maintenance staff. That's genius. Cos hey, we never even thought about HAVING maintenance staff before now. I'm going to submit that idea straight away and maybe I'll get a bonus. Or maybe I'll just continue to contributed lighthearted stuff to lighthearted threads and ignore the know-it-all dipshits who think the stuff they remember nursery school is superior to that of people running a company. Yeah, probably the latter tbh.

You're pretty cocky for someone who could be replaced by a brick tied to a string. Go cram your rolleyes smiley up your ass and the piece of wood too. I'm sure there's room.

If by cocky you mean confident then yes, I am. Because I know what I'm talking about. Unlike some spazoid who is bored of an afternoon and tries to solve the problems of the world with their Playmobil physics set. If you can't understand the concept behind posting minor quirky issues then don't play. Now I suggest you take your whiny butthurt pride elsewhere because I don't really feel like tardbaiting today. Or hell, keep whining and spitting for all I care. I'm no longer listening.