Silly question, AC power plugs

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Thu, 17 May 2012 15:25:35 +0100, "Ian Field"
<gangprobing.alien@ntlworld.com> wrote:

krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote in message
news:ak48r7tontcvi50lc1mthrhsirefejootf@4ax.com...
On Wed, 16 May 2012 10:44:03 -0700, Fred Abse
excretatauris@invalid.invalid
wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 16:19:44 -0400, Phil Hobbs wrote:

The British solved that problem by
the traditional method of "add mass until nothing breaks."

Shame they had to go for thick rectangular section pins with contact only
on two sides. About a third of the surface area wasted. The ones I've come
into contact (no pun) with seem to get rather hot on full load.

Nasty clumsy things.

The German Schuko system seems to me to be superior.

Over-designed and too expensive. Typical German stuff.


They've always done it that way!!

....and that has always been a poor excuse.

In WW2 their tanks had to be literally stripped down out in the field if
anything broke.

 

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
<gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.
The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to

a power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

 

[Chiron]

On Thu, 17 May 2012 09:33:33 -0700, etpm wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.
The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to a
power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

I always thought that was the alligator clips that were connected to
mains. Great way to incinerate yourself. Makes a lovely display to
impress your friends as you sparkle and flare... but only that one time,
of course...



--
Celebrity voices impersonated.

 

[Cydrome Leader]

krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz <krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote:

On Wed, 16 May 2012 10:44:03 -0700, Fred Abse <excretatauris@invalid.invalid
wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 16:19:44 -0400, Phil Hobbs wrote:

The British solved that problem by
the traditional method of "add mass until nothing breaks."

Shame they had to go for thick rectangular section pins with contact only
on two sides. About a third of the surface area wasted. The ones I've come
into contact (no pun) with seem to get rather hot on full load.

Nasty clumsy things.

The German Schuko system seems to me to be superior.

Over-designed and too expensive. Typical German stuff.

plus they're large and stupid.

 

[Cydrome Leader]

John Fields <jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 21:42:24 +0100, "Ian Field"
gangprobing.alien@ntlworld.com> wrote:


"Phil Hobbs" <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote in message
news:4FB2BA60.381879AC@electrooptical.net...
news@jecarter.us wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.

To allow you to put the shackle of a small lock through the blade to
ensure the item can't be plugged in for use?

I suspect it's to mate with a small boss on the blades of the socket, to
make it less likely to jiggle loose. The British solved that problem by
the traditional method of "add mass until nothing breaks."


I always marvelled at how the Yanks got away with such flimsy plugs when
half the voltage means twice the current for the same load power.

---
A blade made of brass with a width of 1/4", a thickness of 1/16" and a
length of about an inch is hardly flimsy, and serves us well when we
opt to go to 240V and eke out four times the power available from the
mains without changing plugs.

is this some sort of metric math?

 

[Jamie]

etpm@whidbey.com wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.

The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to
a power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric
Really?

You may want to use spades instead. They have a little nice indent on
them you can use to lock those onto the tong via that hole. This is a
common practice where a device with its own supply is installed in a
cabinet with no receptacle. THis can be done instead of chopping off the
cord to hard wire it or, if the device comes with a all wart, the spades
will lock on.

Guess Edison's brain was working one day.. Who knows, maybe it came
after him?


Jamie

 

[Les Cargill]

Jamie wrote:
<snip>

Guess Edison's brain was working one day.. Who knows, maybe it came
after him?

If you'd ever had your brain come after you, you would not
care to repeat the experience, let me tell you.

Jamie

--
Les Cargill

 

[John Larkin]

On Thu, 17 May 2012 16:52:33 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
<presence@MUNGEpanix.com> wrote:

John Fields <jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:
On Tue, 15 May 2012 21:42:24 +0100, "Ian Field"
gangprobing.alien@ntlworld.com> wrote:


"Phil Hobbs" <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote in message
news:4FB2BA60.381879AC@electrooptical.net...
news@jecarter.us wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.

To allow you to put the shackle of a small lock through the blade to
ensure the item can't be plugged in for use?

I suspect it's to mate with a small boss on the blades of the socket, to
make it less likely to jiggle loose. The British solved that problem by
the traditional method of "add mass until nothing breaks."


I always marvelled at how the Yanks got away with such flimsy plugs when
half the voltage means twice the current for the same load power.

---
A blade made of brass with a width of 1/4", a thickness of 1/16" and a
length of about an inch is hardly flimsy, and serves us well when we
opt to go to 240V and eke out four times the power available from the
mains without changing plugs.

is this some sort of metric math?

What's even more "shocking" than his math is that he uses the same
plug for 120 and for 240.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom laser drivers and controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME thermocouple, LVDT, synchro acquisition and simulation

 

[John Larkin]

On Thu, 17 May 2012 04:16:01 -0700 (PDT), fungus <tooby@artlum.com>
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 16, 2012 7:44:03 PM UTC+2, Fred Abse wrote:

Nasty clumsy things.

The German Schuko system seems to me to be superior.


...apart from the fact that you can plug them
in either way around (ie. live/neutral swapped)
causing massive sparks when you try to connect
your printer to your PC due to the difference
in ground levels.

Nope. The best plugs I've seen are the UK ones.

Apart from having the best shape they also
have a fuse inside the plug so the fuse
rating matches the device (gasp!) and
everything else in the house doesn't stop
working when something shorts out.

They also thought to put on/off switches
on all the wall sockets - incredibly useful.

But the US stuff works just fine. And it's cheap and easy to work
with.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom laser drivers and controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME thermocouple, LVDT, synchro acquisition and simulation

 

[John Larkin]

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:16:58 GMT, Chiron
<chiron613.no.spam.@no.spam.please.gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 09:33:33 -0700, etpm wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.
The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to a
power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

I always thought that was the alligator clips that were connected to
mains. Great way to incinerate yourself. Makes a lovely display to
impress your friends as you sparkle and flare... but only that one time,
of course...

120 volts isn't that big a deal to touch.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom laser drivers and controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME thermocouple, LVDT, synchro acquisition and simulation

 

[Chiron]

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:18:20 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:16:58 GMT, Chiron
chiron613.no.spam.@no.spam.please.gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 09:33:33 -0700, etpm wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.
The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to
a power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

I always thought that was the alligator clips that were connected to
mains. Great way to incinerate yourself. Makes a lovely display to
impress your friends as you sparkle and flare... but only that one time,
of course...

120 volts isn't that big a deal to touch.

Well, yes, I was exaggerating. Even so, grab one clip with each hand and
you could wind up dead if your heart is a bit wonky. Being kind of
careless, I've frequently given myself some highly unpleasant jolts,
which is why I much prefer to play around with low-voltage stuff like
IC's.

If I lived in Europe, I'm sure I'd be dead by now.

--
It looks like it's up to me to save our skins. Get into that garbage
chute,
flyboy!
-- Princess Leia Organa

 

[Chiron]

On Thu, 17 May 2012 18:11:48 -0500, Les Cargill wrote:

If you'd ever had your brain come after you, you would not care to
repeat the experience, let me tell you.

Yeah, I hate when that happens. The Sixties were *good* to me...



--
This will be a memorable month -- no matter how hard you try to forget it.

 

[Jamie]

Les Cargill wrote:

Jamie wrote:
snip


Guess Edison's brain was working one day.. Who knows, maybe it came
after him?


If you'd ever had your brain come after you, you would not
care to repeat the experience, let me tell you.


Jamie


--
Les Cargill
ha.

yeah, that's funny

Never heard of those that talk to themselves? We have a couple at
work actually sit there, start up a whole conversation with who knows?

And it some times ends up with hand slapping, desk pounding, and some
crazy joke that no one else heard while they are laughing at it.

But the funniest part is when they get caught doing it!


Jamie

 

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Fri, 18 May 2012 00:32:14 GMT, Chiron
<chiron613.no.spam.@no.spam.please.gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:18:20 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:16:58 GMT, Chiron
chiron613.no.spam.@no.spam.please.gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 09:33:33 -0700, etpm wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.
The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to
a power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

I always thought that was the alligator clips that were connected to
mains. Great way to incinerate yourself. Makes a lovely display to
impress your friends as you sparkle and flare... but only that one time,
of course...

120 volts isn't that big a deal to touch.

Well, yes, I was exaggerating. Even so, grab one clip with each hand and
you could wind up dead if your heart is a bit wonky.

Only if you're grounded well. Otherwise you're likely to get only a tingle.

Being kind of
careless, I've frequently given myself some highly unpleasant jolts,
which is why I much prefer to play around with low-voltage stuff like
IC's.

That's what I told my brothers (power engineers) when I was in college. ;-)

If I lived in Europe, I'm sure I'd be dead by now.

So would any thinking person.

 

[Les Cargill]

Chiron wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 18:11:48 -0500, Les Cargill wrote:

If you'd ever had your brain come after you, you would not care to
repeat the experience, let me tell you.

Yeah, I hate when that happens. The Sixties were *good* to me...

Heh. I was really thinking of Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove,
and did not consider that aspect of the joke.

--
Les Cargill

 

[George Herold]

On May 17, 12:33 pm, e...@whidbey.com wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold

gher...@teachspin.com> wrote:

Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.

The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to
a power source without a receptacle.  Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

I've got a suicide plug. US AC prongs on one end, bannana plugs on
the other.
Scary!

George H.

 

[John Larkin]

On Fri, 18 May 2012 00:32:14 GMT, Chiron
<chiron613.no.spam.@no.spam.please.gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:18:20 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:16:58 GMT, Chiron
chiron613.no.spam.@no.spam.please.gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 09:33:33 -0700, etpm wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.
The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to
a power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

I always thought that was the alligator clips that were connected to
mains. Great way to incinerate yourself. Makes a lovely display to
impress your friends as you sparkle and flare... but only that one time,
of course...

120 volts isn't that big a deal to touch.

Well, yes, I was exaggerating. Even so, grab one clip with each hand and
you could wind up dead if your heart is a bit wonky. Being kind of
careless, I've frequently given myself some highly unpleasant jolts,
which is why I much prefer to play around with low-voltage stuff like
IC's.

If I lived in Europe, I'm sure I'd be dead by now.

I know guys who are afraid to touch a PCB that they know has no more
than +5 volts on the chips.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc
www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom timing and laser controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer
Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators

 

[tuinkabouter]

On 5/18/2012 2:32 AM, Chiron wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:18:20 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 17:16:58 GMT, Chiron
chiron613.no.spam.@no.spam.please.gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, 17 May 2012 09:33:33 -0700, etpm wrote:

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.
The holes are so you can run a little wire through them to connect to
a power source without a receptacle. Just another variation of the
"suicide cord". I'm surprised you didn't know this as the suicide cord
is just basic electronics.
Eric

I always thought that was the alligator clips that were connected to
mains. Great way to incinerate yourself. Makes a lovely display to
impress your friends as you sparkle and flare... but only that one time,
of course...

120 volts isn't that big a deal to touch.

Well, yes, I was exaggerating. Even so, grab one clip with each hand and
you could wind up dead if your heart is a bit wonky. Being kind of
careless, I've frequently given myself some highly unpleasant jolts,
which is why I much prefer to play around with low-voltage stuff like
IC's.

If I lived in Europe, I'm sure I'd be dead by now.

Ever heard of a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI)or RCD?

Besides that i'm still alive despite the unpleasant 220 jolts without GFCI.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" wrote:

On Wed, 16 May 2012 01:01:49 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


George Herold wrote:

Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?


So the current can flow, of course! ;-)

No, silly! The current in a conductor is carried by electrons, not holes!

Those electrons can't move, without holes!


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Charles wrote:

wrote in message news:iud5r75736lbfqcloqqgqbakpoflio1953@4ax.com...

On Tue, 15 May 2012 11:22:21 -0700 (PDT), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:


Why do US 120 VAC power plugs have holes in the end of the blades?

George H.

To allow you to put the shackle of a small lock through the blade to
ensure the item can't be plugged in for use?

That is correct. There might be other reasons.

The early outlets needed them to retain the plug. Any 'lock' small
enough to go through the holes would be easy to break, with your bare
hands. The metal used in the early outlets didn't flex much, unlike the
newer designs. The contacts were redesigned to make better use of the
better metallurgy, as well.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.