On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:37:12 -0600, Jim Redelfs
wrote:

In article . com,
" wrote:

There is a simple and CHEAP fix for those stupid, wimpy, fuse-in-the-plug
light sets: Cut off that worthless and trouble prone fused plug and REPLACE
it with a REAL (regular) plug. Problem solved. (no joke)

OK, UL-lovers and hand-wringers: Flame away... (pun intended)

You know those fuses were added for folks like my wife who would string
20 together and wonder why their home burnt down.....

If the circuit to which those "20" were connected was equipped with proper
overcurrent protection, that would not happen. If the circuit were NOT so
protected, Christmas lights would be the LEAST of her concern.


The WIRE in those light strings can't handle the 30A that would be
flowing in the first of the 20 connected strings.

BTW, I have one string that is fuseless. I never use that string
first. It's always protected by the fuses in the string it's connected
to.

polarized polugs GFCIs, grounded plugs, and all the rest are there for
our safety and protection.

Add to your list seatbelts, helmets, airbags, lawnmower deadman controls and
the like. It's amazing we have lived as long as some of us have without such
protections. We used an increasingly little-used safety device: Our brain
and common sense.
--
45 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"God was invented by man for a reason, that
reason is no longer applicable."