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DerbyDad03

wrote:
On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 19:04:54 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "
wrote:

On Dec 16, 8:11 pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I bought a few sets of Philips mini Christmas lights this morning. As I was
putting them on the tree, I noticed something about the plugs and sockets.

1: The plug does not have a wide neutral prong.
2: The socket on the back of the plug will not accept a wide neutral plug
because there is no wide neutral slot.
3: The socket at the end of the string *will* accept a wide neutral plug
since it has a wide neutral slot.

I wonder why that it is. Yes, it allows me to string together lights from
other manufacturers that use a wide neutral plug, but there is no guarantee
that the neutral is actually connected to the neutral because the Philips
plug doesn't force the user to orientate the plug in any given manner.

Why not build the plug and socket at the start of the string with a wide
neutral prong and slot or build the socket at the end without one? Why mix
and match?

I thought by law that all new electrical stuff, unless double-
insulated, had to have polarized plugs. You may have bought some
really old lights.

It really has nothing to do with double insulated in this case. The 2
pin (2 wire) bulbs are not polarized (no screw shell) so there is no
requirement to polarize the string.

That doesn't address the question of having a wide slot on the socket at
the end of the string but not on the socket at he plug end.

If you have other sets of lights with a polarized plug (I do) you can't
plug them into the plug end of the Philips sets, you have to plug them into
the socket end, which is not always what I want to do.