Question about reversed-polarity in an AC outlet

The US plug / socket is pretty crappy. I remember a house I worked on which had been wired with some bizarre sockets never seen before or since which had exposed brass on the surface at 240 VAC. Tried to convince the homeowner to have them all changed but she wouldn't hear of it. A couple of weeks later a grandchild got a shock off one (non-fatal).

N

Grow up.

N

No point making it too easy for people to win the Darwin Prize.

N

Bugger all grownups have any common sense either.

Hands up any guy who hasn't done one of these - or something just as dumb (my hand is not up!).

N

But how far should society go?

You can get killed falling downa flight of steps also.

Should steps be illegal? :)

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Ok you're right. No ground because we have a neutral doing the same thing anyways. Hot breaks loose in a metal junction box and rests against the case. well the lights are out now so you need to go find the problem. Trace it down to the junction box. Grab an aluminum ladder climb up on it(hopefully there is no moisture on the floor, or on your body from sweat..well with all the hard work you've been doing tracing the problem). Grab onto the box to unscrew the cover and hopefully ohms law is on your side. In most cases the shock doesn't kill you but the fall from the ladder does. By the way, do you know what voltage level is the number 1 killer in electrical accidents? Yes, 110 volts. Because too many people think like you. The higher voltages would kill you much faster but the people who deal with them know and respect the dangers. I'd also like to venture a guess you either have no kids or don't deserve them if you do. Kids are adventourous with the unknown. They don't know better. PROTECT THEM!

"NSM" wrote in message news:p0VSd.23215$0h.15664@clgrps13...

Yes based on what I have seen. In USA the sockets could easily be with metal threads. So the way the power is applies is best to be so that the neutral is on the threads... Anyway you can see also bases constructed like those bulb sockets with plastic threads and contact on the bottom.

--
Tomi Engdahl (http://www.iki.fi/then/)
Take a look at my electronics web links and documents at 
http://www.epanorama.net/

Of course not; I'm merely pointing out that there IS a very legitimate reason, pertaining to safety, for doing to polarization the way it is done. And so, if you DO happen to be rewiring a lamp or just replacing the plug, a polarized version might be a good idea.

Re the first question, quite a few; it's not such a big deal to me that I'm going to go back and retrofit everything. But as to the second question - never. It's not a habit I'd want to encourage in myself.

Bob M.

It is grounded on the building main panel.

So all the grounds, neutrals and isolated neutrals will meet at the house main panel in normal gounded neutral power distribution.

In addition to this there are some countries where some different approaches are used.

--
Tomi Engdahl (http://www.iki.fi/then/)
Take a look at my electronics web links and documents at 
http://www.epanorama.net/

Not in the US. How about: "AC plugs in the US are not allowed to be fused"? At one time they were allowed, till the polarized outlets and plugs were in common use.

--
Beware of those who suffer from delusions of adequacy!

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Check the dictionary for "ingenuous."

[snip]

You and me, both!

About 15 years ago, oldest daughter is house-sitting while my wife and I went to Australia.

Upon our return, she reported a feeling like she was being shocked in our shower.

Further investigation found a failing neutral.

I found ~15VAC being shower head and drain.

So I adopted a policy of bonding sewer pipes as well as the standard water-pipe bonding.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

In parts of Asia one of the three phases is grounded. Scared the crap out of me when I went to install a surface grinder bought from there - had to rewire it.

N

Trace

ladder

deal

you

Your lack of logic is extremely confusing. I got 98% on my written tests to pass my trade exams. Three phase services are easy to install. I triple check all single phase installations against the regs just to be sure. I take extra precautions in certain cases over and above the regulations just in case. Unlike you, I never leave metal ungrounded, in fact I am a firm believer in bonding all metal parts under sinks, tubs etc. so no potentials can ever develop. But you go ahead, run ungrounded conduit and see how soon it bites you in the ass.

N

And you can be convicted of first degree murder if your wife takes a header down them.

N

Yep. There was a case in Kiwiland many years ago where the metal backing of some wall board got energized via an un-insulated ground, and the metal grab bar gave someone a shock. Now all grounds there must be insulated.

N

There may be a fuse inside a piece of equipment, but not in the AC plug in the US. If the fuse is in the plug some idiot can take a pair of dykes and clip the wide part off a plug and reverse it. This would leave the item hot when the fuse blows. By having the fuse on the inside of the equipment they have to do more tampering. You can still get hurt, but the idiot who gets hurt can't sue you because of his stupidity. Most electrical rules and regs are written by insurance boards. If you don't meet their standards, you don't get insurance, or they can refuse to pay out after something happens when they can prove someone didn't follow the rules.

Some cheap imported Christmas lights have very small fuses in the plug because they have a link that arcs and shorts around blown bulbs. After you lose enough bulbs you will get a chain reaction and have a loop of wire across the plug. No fuse in this case would cause a fire before the 15 or 20 amp circuit breaker could trip.

--
Beware of those who suffer from delusions of adequacy!

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida