In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes:
[]
The switch originates from DC supplies which were used in some areas
(long before 13A outlets) where you have to switch off before unplugging,
as unplugging alone won't stop DC current flow (you just draw a long arc
out of the socket). However, switches on socket outlets had become the

That is interesting background; thanks. (Real fault currents will
sustain an arc in a. c., too - I used to work in the switchgear industry
- but that's arcs in the kiloamps range, where there's enough residual
plasma for it to re-establish after the zero. And fault currents tend to
be inductive, too.)

expected norm. Even though no longer a regulatory requirement, absence
of them was seen as being "cheap", so they are retained solely by
consumer demand.

I just knew it (-:!

(Other designs of plug don't lie in wait for your bare feet either ...)

No, they just break instead, which you discover when you are in the
middle of plugging them in next time and suddenly have a hand full of
live metalwork. ;-) 13A plugs should normally survive being stepped
on.

I will say that throughout my time in Germany, I never had one fail in
the way you describe, though I'm sure it could happen. (Mind you, the
BS1363 can have just its live half plugged in, i. e. with the back off,
which I don't think any of the others can!) But it wasn't the survival
of the _plug_ I was talking about - it was my b* foot! You've obviously
never stepped on one lying in wait!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

"Forget computers; it's hard enough getting humans to pass the Turing test."
- David Bedno