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dpb[_3_] dpb[_3_] is offline
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Default Why aren't toasters grounded?

On 8/6/2019 8:49 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Tue, 6 Aug 2019 11:52:41 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 8/6/2019 10:47 AM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Tue, 6 Aug 2019 09:26:38 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 8/5/2019 3:42 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 5 Aug 2019 11:18:22 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 8/5/2019 8:08 AM, Bill Gill wrote:
...

You'll have to work at plugging a 2 prong plug in backward.
The prongs are 2 different widths, so the plug will only
go in one way.
...

That's also a (relatively) recent evolution in the history of the
electric toaster...
I had onwe from the late 40s with a polarized plug - so old it wasn't
a "pop-up"

Nothing prevented them from using the plug; was it the wide blade type
like current? I'm not sure when the polarized receptacle actually was
introduced but it wasn't until sometime in 60s it became required...
e

Although polarized outlets and plugs were introduced in the 1880s,
they were not popular at first and did not become standard until the
mid-20th century. The earliest National Electric Code (NEC) that we
can find that references polarized receptacles is the 1962 edition,
which required outlets to be both grounding (3-prong) and polarized.


I think that's pretty much what I had just said...

I was curious as to what style was on a 1940s appliance--I can't recall
ever having any such until well after then...just curious as would have
required here anyway to have replace the wall socket to use the device
or use a polarized adapter because there weren't any polarized sockets
at all until folks redid the house in the late 70s/early 80s. That
could have been pretty common back then...

All the outlets installed in out (at the time) 88 year old house in
1957-58 were polarized. It was rewired in 1957-58 - had only one
outlet in the kitchen and one light in each room prior to that.
Rewired the whole house with grounded romex.


Still almost 20 yr too late for the 40s toaster, though!

Progressive altho not totally remarkable for by then...reminds me of the
"little house" in which I grew up (that was bought and moved to the farm
when the Army Air Force base for training B-26 pilots was built as it
was on that property west of town) was remodeled in early 50s...I'm sure
the addition which included a new kitchen was 3-wire but don't recall
that the rest of the house was rewired then.

Both houses were re-wired in '47/'48 when the REA power reached us but
that was done with 2-wire. Prior to that were on the 32VDC Delco
windcharger system...but grandparents house was wired K&T when built in
'14/'15 with an essentially modern layout of lights and outlets even
back then. There's still a fair amount of the old cloth wiring
abandoned in place...I don't know about the little house; when folks did
the big house and moved over, it was sold and moved to town so it was
located in its third location in about 40 years...

Reminiscing is interesting...

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