Well, much of the "fires" due to faulty wiring are because we have
*had* wiring as a general condition in most houses since the early
1900s, so after 100 years or so it gets a little tired, and when overloaded can fail. Of course, 100 years ago, y'all had very nice green lawns and gorgeous buildings.... but little electricity other than the very wealthy. Other fires are due to just plain idiocy on the part of users, such that would occur here, there or anywhere else. Very damned few fires are caused by properly utilized wiring even if
100 years old.
As to wire-nuts, what would you propose? Per the code, they must be enclosed, the expectation is that the wires are first twisted together, then the nut is attached, and the internal threaded section is spring-loaded. Are you seriously telling me that wire-nuts are not permitted in your country?
De gustibus non est disputandum. Electricity has been working for us over here a good deal longer than it has been working for you over there. The typical poor-man's rowhouse (900 sf, 100 sm) in Philadelphia has been wired since 1913. Parts of NYC have been wired since the late 1800s...
On the other hand, there is something to be said for observing the experiences of others for 50 years or so before taking the plunge... Cell phones are a similar item. The US started Analog, only slowly went digital because of legacy issues, Europe dropped the first nearly
10 years of teething, the Middle East and third-world went right to Tri-band....
My "rich man's" rowhouse built in 1916 in Philly, which was quite deteriorated by 1975 when I moved in had a meterboard marked "Philadelphia Electric Company 1925" on it. I call it a "rich man's" house because it was 1200 square feet, had a basement, hardwood floors and some expensive (at the time) finishing touches.
When I moved in it had 25 amp 240 volt service with a four circuit fuse box. I upgraded it to a 16 circuit fusebox and later had the whole thing replaced with 200 amp service.
To follow the Philly theme, Willingboro, New Jersey (originaly Levittown) houses were wired with aluminum wire because of a copper miner's stike in South America. By the 1970's the wires broke inside the walls, arced over and caught fire.
Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/
No, he IS saying it is in use. Some of it has been replaced, but not all of it.
Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/
As late as about 1980, my father in law's house still had some original ca
1906 wiring. It was cloth over rubber, like telephone wire. In fact, it probably was. Part of the house had been rewired so you could use a hair dryer or clothes iron. Fuses were short pieces of bare small gage wire between two terminals. You had to turn off the main power switch (It had a big handle) to change a "fuse". I hope the new owner did some electrical work.
When an appliance has its own fuse, a faulty appliance disables itself. With unfused plugs that most countries use, someone can and likely will plug the faulty appliance into another socket at some point, and be exposed to the danger again, possibly several times as it changes hands.
The fuse only need be rated to supply the appliance, so most protective fuses will thus be of much lower current rating (typ 3A) than they would be on unfused plug circuits. This improves discrimination greatly, helping to ensure more faults are cleared quickly and safely.
Many plugs not having them means lots of damaged and failed connections due to repeated movement and strain. Sale of gripless plugs has been illegal here since the early 70s.
I used to use gripless plugs years ago, and all the bad connections, wires coming out and most-strand-broken conductors that happened then are rarely seen with today's gripped plugs.
What happens is the copper flex deforms to fit the connector and screw. Having used both modern connectors and old wraparounds, the modern one is much more reliable. The greater contact area of wraparounds is of no benefit in practice, screws provide more than enough contact area.
I'd agree with you there, and hope 2 pin UK plugs become permitted one day, probably only premoulded ones on appliances to stop their misuse.
However when 2 pin rewirable plugs are sold it is inevitable some will be misused on 3 core leads.
not legal here.
The only time EU 2 pin plugs are sold on appliances is when a UK adaptor is permanently attached to the 2 pin plug, bringing it up to UK standards. These are seen now and then on imported goods that were orignally intended for the (non-UK) european market.
Also there are 2 very similar types of 2 pin plug which sometimes causes confusion. The modern EU ones cant fit a UK socket, the pins are too fat and too closely spaced. Forcing doesnt work. There are also historic French plugs that look similar and do fit our sockets with a bit of fiddling, but very rarely does one see one of those used over here. They have 4mm pins. I dont think I've seen one in over 20 years.
waggly sockets are unheard of here, but common in US.
Means goods are switched safely rather than by pulling the lead out, which damages socket contacts by arcing, leading to overheating and fire. Also means many appliances and cords arent left live when not in use. Most UK sockets are switched, though not all.
We have a bit of an issue with socket positions here. The great majority of sockets are low down, and this doesn't stop the switches being used. However new builds now require them high up for dubious PC reasons, transforming trailing leads into trip hazards, which I think will only cause more injuries and electrical faults.
...which naturally dominates a price-led market. A political issue AIUI.
Here our cheapest stuff has 3 solid pins, half insulated pins, cordgrips, shutters, screw connections on plugs and all sockets, and is normally solid reliable equipment.
It seems to be political why the US doesn't want to stop the sale of unsafe accessories and the deaths that result.
Yes. Entirely political. We are the Land of the Free. If people want to electrocute themselves, they have that right. Most of us in America are grownups, who know better, and so don't need nanny queen to wipe our ass for us.
"N Cook" wrote in news:f5vldk$9p4$ snipped-for-privacy@inews.gazeta.pl:
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Some are used only in industrial and commercial situations though.
Not shown is the NEMA 10-xx configuration, which is used for the aformentioned 120/240V appliances that use a neutral for chassis grounding and as a return for internal 120V loads. They basically have angled hot prongs with a straight or L shaped neutral prong (appropriately sized for the load). FWIW, the NEMA 10-15 plug is exactly the same as a typical Australian plug, less safety features.
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