Expecially with, say, an old TV or radio. With new electronic gear,
defeating the plug so you can plug it backwards will usually result in
loss of operations some how; e.g. deficient spike/surge protection on a
laptop, picture problems on a TV set, interference & noise on a radio,
etc..
Personally I've never seen one misused. Anything that's not a proper
Class II appliance always has the polarized blade, proper Class II
devices do not.

Long discussion over nothing though.


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:39:27 -0700 (PDT), marlboroman
wrote:

Has anyone ever figured out why they put one wide and one narrow on a
plug that does not have a ground?

OK, I understand that on a lamp it's a good idea, or the socket shell
and bulb threads will be live if the hot side of the power line is
connected to that part of the socket.

But, lets say I have a all plastic cased electric power tool. (Like
all of them made in the last decade or more). I'm holding plastic,
which does not conduct electricity. It dont matter which side of the
power line goes to which side of the motor on AC. What's the point of
having that wide terminal? Is the only reason to **** off the user,
particularly those of us who are older and dont have the best eyesight
anymore. I cant see any other reason.....

My grinder does a quick job of narrowing that wide prong though !!!
.


The wide blade is the neutral. The smaller blade is the hot side. It
may not make a difference if the two are reversed, but not always.

On Sat, 1 Nov 2008 12:10:21 -0400, "TWayne"
wrote:

Expecially with, say, an old TV or radio. With new electronic gear,
defeating the plug so you can plug it backwards will usually result in
loss of operations some how; e.g. deficient spike/surge protection on a
laptop, picture problems on a TV set, interference & noise on a radio,
etc..
Personally I've never seen one misused. Anything that's not a proper
Class II appliance always has the polarized blade, proper Class II
devices do not.


A lot of holiday lights (particularly miniature and LED) have
non-polarized plugs. Also, some "wall warts", including the one that
came with my new bluetooth headset. The use of a non-polarized plug on
these things makes it more versatile.

Long discussion over nothing though.


"Phisherman" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:39:27 -0700 (PDT), marlboroman
wrote:

Has anyone ever figured out why they put one wide and one narrow on a
plug that does not have a ground?

OK, I understand that on a lamp it's a good idea, or the socket shell
and bulb threads will be live if the hot side of the power line is
connected to that part of the socket.

But, lets say I have a all plastic cased electric power tool. (Like
all of them made in the last decade or more). I'm holding plastic,
which does not conduct electricity. It dont matter which side of the
power line goes to which side of the motor on AC. What's the point of
having that wide terminal? Is the only reason to **** off the user,
particularly those of us who are older and dont have the best eyesight
anymore. I cant see any other reason.....

My grinder does a quick job of narrowing that wide prong though !!!
.


The wide blade is the neutral. The smaller blade is the hot side. It
may not make a difference if the two are reversed, but not always.

--
54 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"The government of the United States is not, in
any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

Bob F wrote:
"Claude Hopper" wrote
It would have been better to have redesigned the plug completely instead
of just widening a prong and adding a prong. A completely different plug
would have been almost impossible to modify to fit the old styles and
less safety bypasses would have been done.
Except for the need for "upward compatibility". How would you like to move to a
new house, and have nothing plug in?

The UK did redesign its plug and socket )and wiring system) during the
war and postwar years to the now current 3-pin, fused 13A type. At
that time, of course, there were far fewer electrical appliances in
use, and a massive post-war housebuilding programme.

The postwar system uses unlimited numbers of 13A sockets (outlets) for
general use within a limited floor area, wired on a ring and protected
by a 30A fuse or 32A circuit breaker. This saved copper and allowed
more flexibility than having a small number of sockets per fuse. It
was considered unsafe to allow appliance flexes to be connected to
such a high rated circuit with no further protection, and the plug/
socket combination had to provide the fuse. It was decided to place
the fuse in the plug, and to use a new plug configuration so that
older unfused plugs could not be used.

Fixed space and water heaters must be supplied by individual circuits,
and good practice now is to provide a separate circuit for the kitchen
which now has a large number of high load appliances unforseen in
1942.

See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_1363

Owain

On 11/14/08 02:49 pm wrote:

The UK did redesign its plug and socket )and wiring system) during the
war and postwar years to the now current 3-pin, fused 13A type. At
that time, of course, there were far fewer electrical appliances in
use, and a massive post-war housebuilding programme.

The postwar system uses unlimited numbers of 13A sockets (outlets) for
general use within a limited floor area, wired on a ring and protected
by a 30A fuse or 32A circuit breaker. This saved copper and allowed
more flexibility than having a small number of sockets per fuse. It
was considered unsafe to allow appliance flexes to be connected to
such a high rated circuit with no further protection, and the plug/
socket combination had to provide the fuse. It was decided to place
the fuse in the plug, and to use a new plug configuration so that
older unfused plugs could not be used.

One thing I really liked about the UK system was the availability of
plugs with integral switches, so that appliances without a built-in
switch could still be turned off without pulling the plug.

And, IIRC, separate circuits for lighting and sockets.

Perce

On 11/15/08 11:47 am I wrote:

The UK did redesign its plug and socket )and wiring system) during the
war and postwar years to the now current 3-pin, fused 13A type. At
that time, of course, there were far fewer electrical appliances in
use, and a massive post-war housebuilding programme.

The postwar system uses unlimited numbers of 13A sockets (outlets) for
general use within a limited floor area, wired on a ring and protected
by a 30A fuse or 32A circuit breaker. This saved copper and allowed
more flexibility than having a small number of sockets per fuse. It
was considered unsafe to allow appliance flexes to be connected to
such a high rated circuit with no further protection, and the plug/
socket combination had to provide the fuse. It was decided to place
the fuse in the plug, and to use a new plug configuration so that
older unfused plugs could not be used.

One thing I really liked about the UK system was the availability of
plugs with integral switches, so that appliances without a built-in
switch could still be turned off without pulling the plug.

However, I couldn't find any of those the last time I was there -- 8
years ago.

And, IIRC, separate circuits for lighting and sockets.

Forgot to mention that the plug-mounted fuses came in a range of current
ratings: 2A, 5A, 7A, 10A and 13A, IIRC. I think the plugs normally came
with a 13A fuse, but one was supposed to install a fuse appropriate to
the appliance to which it was to be connected.

Perce