How can I stop birds pooing in our glass conservatory roof?

googler

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Just yesterday my daughter was asking why birds don't die when they sit on the power lines. I know, of course, but trying to explain it in language that a 6 year old will understand ?????

Demonstrate it. Best form of learning.

Take a battery, a test light matching the battery voltage, and connect one side of the battery to the light, then the other, to show no light. Then connect both to make a circuit, and let her observe how only a circuit will light the light.

Alternatively, take a low-voltage battery, with two leads connected, and touch one, then the other to her tongue. Nothing happens. Touch both to her tongue, and the tingle will tell her that the circuit has been made......

essjae

Davesnave wrote: »

It came as quite a shock to me to find that when linesmen work on the lines, they simply ground them using long poles and thick cables.

Until I saw them doing that, I'd imagined them ringing Fred in the control room somewhere, who'd throw a switch.....

Actually the control room does switch the circuit out at the substation at each end before linesmen work on it - this may be done remotely or by someone on site operating equipment.
Then they use earthing poles to attach a flexible connection between the line and an earthing point.

The isolation stops the current running through the line, and the earthing ensures that the line is at zero voltage, and creates a low resistance path for the current to take if the circuit is inadvertently re-energised.
(This is a very simplified explaination!)

The reason that birds can happily perch on the lines while operational is that there is virtually no voltage difference between the points of contact (ie their feet), thus no current flows between these points (V=IR if anyone remembers their GCSE Physics!).
Similarly, it is possible to carry out work on the lines while they are energised, but it requires special techniques - basically you can't touch the ground or the other lines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG0KB4XODXk

Davesnave

essjae wrote: »

Actually the control room does switch the circuit out at the substation at each end before linesmen work on it

Thanks for that very full explanation.

diamond_dave

Tell her to use the toilet like everyone else!

cyclonebri1

googler wrote: »

Demonstrate it. Best form of learning.


Alternatively, take a low-voltage battery, with two leads connected, and touch one, then the other to her tongue. Nothing happens. Touch both to her tongue, and the tingle will tell her that the circuit has been made......

Then wait for social services to arrive;);)

cyclonebri1

Davesnave wrote: »

Thanks for that very full explanation.

I'm guessing the grounding is just in case Fred back at station flips the wrong switch at some point, the ground cable are just a second line of defense?

Edit,

Actually just read the full reply to DS, so that was a total waste of this post guessing something that had already been fully explaned:o:o