More Power To Ya

The electrical code avoids considerations of which bad thing is safer and which is less safe. Per the NEC, the one with the junction box is automatically unsafe, for several reasons. It is improper use of the jbox (not mounted to the building)(also, to my knowledge, the jbox is not listed for use with flexible cord); modification to the power strips and use not in accordance with manufacturers instructions; the fittings where the cord enters the jbox *appear* to be improper (can't see them clearly, so I'm not sure of that); and based on the picture, it looks like the box is lying flat on the floor - which means there is no ground screw.

In one sense it is, because it limits the total drain: the breaker in power strip 1 has to carry the full load of power strip 2 also.

In most under-desk configurations, the only devices that contribute appreciably to the load are the PC and the monitor (desktop laser printers are another story). When 5 of the 11 outlets have "wall warts" in them, each one blocking 2 outlets and drawing less than 30 watts, the total load is not a consideration. It may be a physical hazard, with someone getting their feet tangled in the rats' nest of low voltage wiring (printer, scanner, PDA, etc).

More about me:

Mr. Know-it-all to the rescue, here! ;-)

Sounds like Mr. Navy Safety is being somewhat of a nervous nellie.

Actually, it looks to me to be functionally equivalent to having two power strips plugged into a "Y" adapter; this can also be accomplished with a duplex outlet. And their plug looks heavy-duty - it could be rated for 30 amps, as could the wire from the plug to the box - they don't say one way or another. Just because something looks crappy doesn't automatically make it unsafe.

If the internals of the box are unsafe, why didn't they show us that?

Your daisy-chain below isn't intrinsically unsafe - in fact, it might afford a slightly greater level of protection, in that if power strip

Cheers! Rich

Wats> Someone posted a followup with a URL which has pictures of some really

In article , snipped-for-privacy@bellatlantic.net mentioned...

Picky, picky, picky.. Okay, suppose the amateur electrician included a fourth wire pigtail in the green ground splice, and then connected the pigtail to the metal box.

Yeah, I know. That takes care of only one problem.

Well, you hit that nail on the head right nicely. That's exactly the way it is under most desks. I had to give one lady a few feet of split loom tubing to keep the mess of wires under control.

As for the other followup that mentioned 6 versus 4 outlets, I only did four for convenience. Some come with 4, but most of thm seem to be 6 outlet strips.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@aol.com mentioned...

Or burn up in the process? Seen that happen, too..

Whereas On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 03:36:36 GMT, Rich Grise scribbled: , I thus relpy:

That's not the poin. The point is that box was used, which in this application intrinsically unsafe.

Rather than lighting an undersized core on fire.

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