3 prong outlet, which way is up?

And don't forget that the machine fixes itself too.

Reply to
DerbyDad03
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"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:v8ouk.23432$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com:

Yea, they're pretty sophisticated these days ;-)

Reply to
Red Green

At least they could use the same ends as the 10' cords. Those ends allow 2 or 3 wall-warts instead of just one like those 6" cords.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

Reply to
alta47

Actually, a partially unplugged cord like that could be a fire hazard in its own right since contact area of the blades are seriously minimized depending on how far it's come apart. Those coins only alerted you to a possible fire hazard, actually. And I'll be that couldn't happen again in a million years. Just for grins, I tried sliding some coins down the wall just now and couldn't get any to hit the prongs. However, Murphy says ... .

I just look at the cord that's going to plug into it; if it seems to want a particular direction, that's how I install the receptacle. No codes except possibly some few local codes seem to care about it.

In the bedroom where the mattress is nearby the window ac, I use those screw-on plug covers to insure they can't be rubbed loose or pushed around should the bed move over and touch them. They only cost a buck or so apiece and work like a charm.

Cheers,

Twayne

Reply to
TWayne

SAY what? Please cite section/para. Proposed changes, anything to verify that from any good source.

IEEE thinking is ground down, so if it "falls out"the ground is the last connection to break. And at work wherever I've worked I've never noticed plugs installed in any particular orientation. In fact, that's where I got my idea to check what's going to plug into it, and orient it to what the plug might suggest. Another bldg I saw, they used cable ties to tie the cord to the conduit so it couldn't be pulled on/out etc.

TIA for the references; it'd be nice if they did settle that out once and for all,

Twayne

Reply to
TWayne

Looks will have nothing to do with it. Safety and protection harm will be the reasons, if that contention is a fact.

Reply to
TWayne

Most cords are made for ground down; you're right. Not all, however and window ac units seem to be one I see all the time that are different. The refrigerator is that way, IMO, because those outlets are usually high on the wall and not near the floor. Many cords have the gnd prong closest to the equipment on the cords if you should keep track.

Reply to
TWayne

The "invisible" reason would be the type of cktry in the warts types. To some styles, as it used to be with TV sets, the polarity of hot/neutral was important. But if an item is fully Class II designed, then it doesn't need polarization. They can also use polarity to meet certain safety ratings, such as having to cover more than one receptable position. You don't find many polarized wall warts anymore though.

Reply to
TWayne
[snip]

For the ones (wall wart power supplies) I've examined, the prongs of the plug are connected directly to the ends of the transformer primary. There seems to be nothing special about one or the other. This doesn't stop some manufacturers from using polarized plugs.

Would these ratings be nonsense, or is there actually some benefit to using polarization here?

Why would a low-power device be designed to prevent use of a receptacle?

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

True; many will use whatever is cheapest and already on the market.

It's a UL/CSA/ETL thing. To me it's nonsense, but that's what the specs require for many of them. One reason I still recall is, due to the weight of the warts, they do not want more than one hung on a vertical outlet on the wall. I used to have to spec supplies for our telecom equipment (R&D) which meant passing all the safety agencies. I try when I can to get things with warts that have cords on both sides; the primary and secondary both; more wire to hide, but more fit to a power strip. I haven't seen a polarized direct plug in in a long, long time though IIRC.

As I mentioned above, the weight of the wart/s on the receptable seemed to be the main reason. They aren't really considered "low power" because you have line power coming into it and processed to produce whatever kind of output/s was/were required. IIRC too, there was some magic weight where even a non-polarized wart had to extend far enough to negate using any receptacle next to it. We accomodated that by adding a lip to the far end that covered most, not all, of any receptacle in the opposite side.

There was more to all of this, but I've been out of the business for a long time. I know Ault used to have a great web site with all the UL/CSA and MOU plain language requirements on it; don't know if they still do.

Cheers,

Twayne

Reply to
TWayne

re: Another bldg I saw, they used cable ties to tie the cord to the conduit so it couldn't be pulled on/out etc.

Obviously I don't know the specific situation that you speak of, but this could be a safety issue.

I once got hung up on a 400 VDC power supply and if a co-worker hadn't been able to unplug it, I wouldn't be posting this right now.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

400V DC? Is that considered HV? In my working days I sued to deal with 27KV DC. THat is HV! While one is working another guy stands by in case. That was rule.
Reply to
Tony Hwang

Ask a lineman if 480V is high voltage. :)

Reply to
metspitzer

How many tries do I get?

Can I put a square night stand, like the ones commonly used beside the bed, in front of the outlet?

How about using a square end table?

How about a chest of drawers?

Can I use a metal tray or a coat hanger?

It may never start a fire in a home, but it would certainly cause enough of a spark to be careful in a place where they are using oxygen.

Reply to
metspitzer

Magic marker a smile on the plastic outlet insert.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

He says the outlets look stupid, not the poster. How stupid of me to waste my time on such a stupid reply to a stupid comment. This whole usene group has gone stupid. Do you think? Yes. Now, stupid, I'm stupidly talking to myself. That's stupid.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Good thing you didn't have pennies behind fuses.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

posted for all of us...

Laziness! Do your research prior to posting...

Tekkie - I approve this advertisement/statement/utterance.

Reply to
Tekkie®

I would have to guess the other way looks stupid because nearly every one is installed the other way.

There are only two arguments that seem to make sense.

Ground up, does appear to have a slight safety advantage. Notice I did say SLIGHT.

Ground up does not work well with all plugs (then again ground down does not work well with some other plugs.)

I don't intend to loose sleep over it, but all my plugs that get added or worked on are ground up.

Is that the opposite of "sleep tight"?

Reply to
PanHandler

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