Dodgy power adaptor: safety

[Bruce Varley]

Sorry, I lack some detail here that people may have appreciated.

I witnessed a near miss last night at a gig, a guy was messing with some
stage lighting that's nothing to do with my outfit, it used those stackable
3-pin plugs, with a male mains connector one side, a female on the other,
and a load cord coming out the side. He was plugging and unplugging live -
as you do :-/ - and as he pulled a plug out, the cover on the female side
popped off, leaving the plug side inserted and the live female stabs fully
exposed. I was close enough to yell at him to put it down, turn off the
power and to not try to refit the cover, which he was about to do. We were
on stage at the time, and by the time I was free to do any followup the gear
had been removed and the crew gone.

The adaptor involved was one of those clear polycarbonate ones where you can
see all the guts inside, I don't know how the cover was attached, but given
what happened, it might not be a very robust setup. If I can find any more
out I'll repost.

 

[atec77]

On 15/08/2011 8:13 PM, Bruce Varley wrote:

Sorry, I lack some detail here that people may have appreciated.

I witnessed a near miss last night at a gig, a guy was messing with some
stage lighting that's nothing to do with my outfit, it used those stackable
3-pin plugs, with a male mains connector one side, a female on the other,
and a load cord coming out the side. He was plugging and unplugging live -
as you do :-/ - and as he pulled a plug out, the cover on the female side
popped off, leaving the plug side inserted and the live female stabs fully
exposed. I was close enough to yell at him to put it down, turn off the
power and to not try to refit the cover, which he was about to do. We were
on stage at the time, and by the time I was free to do any followup the gear
had been removed and the crew gone.

The adaptor involved was one of those clear polycarbonate ones where you can
see all the guts inside, I don't know how the cover was attached, but given
what happened, it might not be a very robust setup. If I can find any more
out I'll repost.


Are they even legal these days ?

--
X-No-Archive: Yes

 

[Dennis]

On 15/08/2011 6:13 PM, Bruce Varley wrote:

Sorry, I lack some detail here that people may have appreciated.

I witnessed a near miss last night at a gig, a guy was messing with some
stage lighting that's nothing to do with my outfit, it used those stackable
3-pin plugs, with a male mains connector one side, a female on the other,
and a load cord coming out the side. He was plugging and unplugging live -
as you do :-/ - and as he pulled a plug out, the cover on the female side
popped off, leaving the plug side inserted and the live female stabs fully
exposed. I was close enough to yell at him to put it down, turn off the
power and to not try to refit the cover, which he was about to do. We were
on stage at the time, and by the time I was free to do any followup the gear
had been removed and the crew gone.

The adaptor involved was one of those clear polycarbonate ones where you can
see all the guts inside, I don't know how the cover was attached, but given
what happened, it might not be a very robust setup. If I can find any more
out I'll repost.

I vaguely recall seeing a similar plug, the cover was held in place by a
single central screw. The contacts and body shape prevented rotation.

I can't find a pic of one like this but someones flogging used ones as
antiques.....

http://www.authenticlightingandhardware.com/bakelite-plug.html

 

[Bruce Varley]

"kreed" <kenreed1999@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:b876cbf4-5121-4e29-80b1-868904bd5c78@g8g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 15, 8:13 pm, "Bruce Varley" <b...@NoSpam.com> wrote:

Sorry, I lack some detail here that people may have appreciated.

I witnessed a near miss last night at a gig, a guy was messing with some
stage lighting that's nothing to do with my outfit, it used those
stackable
3-pin plugs, with a male mains connector one side, a female on the other,
and a load cord coming out the side. He was plugging and unplugging live -
as you do :-/ - and as he pulled a plug out, the cover on the female side
popped off, leaving the plug side inserted and the live female stabs fully
exposed. I was close enough to yell at him to put it down, turn off the
power and to not try to refit the cover, which he was about to do. We were
on stage at the time, and by the time I was free to do any followup the
gear
had been removed and the crew gone.

The adaptor involved was one of those clear polycarbonate ones where you
can
see all the guts inside, I don't know how the cover was attached, but
given
what happened, it might not be a very robust setup. If I can find any more
out I'll repost.

Those are not good. Or the ones with the clear plastic backs and side
entry.
They must be old, you haven't been able to buy these rewirable piggy
back (AKA gay) plugs
for many years

Someone should tell Clipsal, from their website...
http://updates.clipsal.com/ClipsalOnline/ProductInformation.aspx?searchMode=group&first=30&skip=1&code=20302&level=4

I thought that transparent polycarbonate fittings are a relatively recent
thing.

I'd say that this is the fitting I observed.

 

[John Tserkezis]

atec77 wrote:

Are they even legal these days ?

Yes, but as I understand it, you need to specify which outfit you're
from, your papers, rank, serial number and then they'll sell them.

If you're a Joe Bloggs, you wouldn't have been able to to buy them off
the shelf for ~20 years or so?

But yes, I've seen the two part versions break if mistreated. But that
wasn't the problem. It was Joe Bloggs who was using two of those back
to back to create an extension cord because they couldn't be bothered
buying the correct plugs and sockets (which are still available today
off the shelf easily).
--
Now is not a good time to annoy me

 

[atec77]

On 15/08/2011 9:32 PM, John Tserkezis wrote:

atec77 wrote:

Are they even legal these days ?

Yes, but as I understand it, you need to specify which outfit you're
from, your papers, rank, serial number and then they'll sell them.

If you're a Joe Bloggs, you wouldn't have been able to to buy them off
the shelf for ~20 years or so?

But yes, I've seen the two part versions break if mistreated. But that
wasn't the problem. It was Joe Bloggs who was using two of those back
to back to create an extension cord because they couldn't be bothered
buying the correct plugs and sockets (which are still available today
off the shelf easily).
I know I can buy a moulded piggy plug already on a lead but I refer to

the units described, those I can currently buy and able to be
installed and sealed shut with a metal clamp on a clam shell hinged body
, a very different creature and difficult to break in a like manner

--
X-No-Archive: Yes

 

[kreed]

On Aug 15, 8:13 pm, "Bruce Varley" <b...@NoSpam.com> wrote:

Sorry, I lack some detail here that people may have appreciated.

I witnessed a near miss last night at a gig, a guy was messing with some
stage lighting that's nothing to do with my outfit, it used those stackable
3-pin plugs, with a male mains connector one side, a female on the other,
and a load cord coming out the side. He was plugging and unplugging live -
as you do  :-/  - and as he pulled a plug out, the cover on the female side
popped off, leaving the plug side inserted and the live female stabs fully
exposed. I was close enough to yell at him to put it down, turn off the
power and to not try to refit the cover, which he was about to do. We were
on stage at the time, and by the time I was free to do any followup the gear
had been removed and the crew gone.

The adaptor involved was one of those clear polycarbonate ones where you can
see all the guts inside, I don't know how the cover was attached, but given
what happened, it might not be a very robust setup. If I can find any more
out I'll repost.

Those are not good. Or the ones with the clear plastic backs and side
entry.
They must be old, you haven't been able to buy these rewirable piggy
back (AKA gay) plugs
for many years

 

[who where]

On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:50:30 -0700 (PDT), kreed
<kenreed1999@gmail.com> wrote:

Those are not good. Or the ones with the clear plastic backs and side
entry.
They must be old, you haven't been able to buy these rewirable piggy
back (AKA gay) plugs
for many years

As Bruce pointed out, these hermaphroditic plugtops are a current
product and I have not been aware of any other status since their
introduction. While there has been minor change to the style, the
front (socket) plate is still held in place by a single screw.

 

[kreed]

On Aug 16, 10:56 am, who where <no...@home.net> wrote:

On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:50:30 -0700 (PDT), kreed

kenreed1...@gmail.com> wrote:
Those are not good.  Or the ones with the clear plastic backs and side
entry.
They must be old, you haven't been able to buy these rewirable piggy
back (AKA gay) plugs
for many years

As Bruce pointed out, these hermaphroditic plugtops are a current
product and I have not been aware of any other status since their
introduction.  While there has been minor change to the style, the
front (socket) plate is still held in place by a single screw.

All I have seen either have a single screw in the middle of the pins,
or near the cord inlet (clipsal).
I have not had one come apart, but could see how it would happen if
someone tripped over a cord, or pulled it hard enough
in a direction at right angles to the face of the power socket.

 

[Phil Allison]

"Bruce Varley"

The adaptor involved was one of those clear polycarbonate ones where you
can see all the guts inside, I don't know how the cover was attached, but
given what happened, it might not be a very robust setup.

** Had the exact same thing happen in my own workshop one time - very bad.

The clear, polycarbonate (?) Clipsal 463s were a disaster and should never
have received type approval.

AFAIK thee are long off the market and replaced with one made from a less
brittle material.

IME, the event that causes the back to come off is simply tugging sideways
on the lead of the plug in the back inlet.

I still have one or two left and they look cool - but beware !!



..... Phil

 

[terryc]

kreed wrote:

I have not had one come apart, but could see how it would happen if
someone tripped over a cord, or pulled it hard enough
in a direction at right angles to the face of the power socket.

BTDT and IME they rip out of the wall first or tear a plug ot further
down the chain. Caveat, Aus made models from a few decades ago.