I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?

Probably a manufacturing error, but if the receptacle has only 2 wires,
there is little point to attaching it to the screw anyhow. Most folks
keep the adapter with the appliance anyhow.

It will line up correctly with ONE of the outlets in the pair. These
adapters are designed as an expedient, and not for really permanent
setups. If you are going to use 3 prong fittings, the outlets should be
replaced accordingly. The problem is that in old installations, there
might not be a ground line run, or grouding only through the conduit.
Not sure what the code issue is on this.

In article .com, "tomkanpa" wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.

Plug it into the other half of the duplex outlet.

What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?

Operator error.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

in houses that don't have the ground plugs, it is unlikely that any
ground exists in the box, so no point in connecting it.

Empressess #124457


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tomkanpa wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?

wrote:

in houses that don't have the ground plugs, it is unlikely that any
ground exists in the box, so no point in connecting it.


Good point, those adaptors could give a false impression that there is a
ground connected to whatever's plugged into them.

But, it does help keep the adaptor from "growing legs" and wandering off
to where you can't find it when you need it. G

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."

Eric in North TX spake thus:

Probably a manufacturing error, but if the receptacle has only 2 wires,
there is little point to attaching it to the screw anyhow.

True that; if you look at 2-wire connections to outlets, the metal frame
of the outlet isn't connected to *anything*. The only reason to use that
screw would be if you wanted to attach the adapter to the outlet. It
serves no electrical or safety function.


--
Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War
II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan.
The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second
Lebanon War.

- Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist
(http://counterpunch.org/avnery09022006.html)

On 20 Sep 2006 09:37:04 -0700, wrote:

in houses that don't have the ground plugs, it is unlikely that any
ground exists in the box, so no point in connecting it.

Not True... In many houses built in the 1950's and early 1960's, the
2 wire outlets were wired with BX and grounded (even though the
receptacles had only two prong holes). You had the choice of
replacing a two wire receptacle with a 3 wire receptacle or using one
of these adapters, which would give you a true, if less than perfect
ground. These adapters were created specifically for the 3 wire
appliances of this era... to fit the two holed outlets.

In the Chicago area, it was even better (because of stricter codes).
All the residential wiring city & suburbs was required to be in
conduit. No flexible, non-metallic sheathed cable was allowed for
interior locations. The conduits generally provided a good ground and
running a separate ground wire was not required. Just installing an
outlet in a grounded metal box insured that both the center screw and
both of the round holes were grounded.

Beachcomber

jim evans wrote:

Instead of fooling around with those adapters, why not install a GFCI
or Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter at the outlet nearest the breaker
panel and the will protect all downstream outlets.

http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_...ge_id=35720244

-- jim

But it still won't give you a ground......

So, Better to HAVE a ground too, picture this.

I'm crouched on the living room floor using my good old metal bodied
electric drill with it's three prong plug in my right hand and my left
arm is braced against a radiator.

I drill through the sheetrock and hit the wire behind it going to the
laundry dryer's 240 V receptical. I'd get zapped, and that ungrounded
GFCI outlet my drill was plugged into wouldn't even know it. If there
was a real ground connected to that receptical, The dryer's breaker
would trip, and I'd still be breathing.

Long shot, but you can bet that if something bad can happen, it will
happen to me. Like, if I bought a cemetary, people would stop dying. G

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."

David Nebenzahl wrote:
Eric in North TX spake thus:

Probably a manufacturing error, but if the receptacle has only 2 wires,
there is little point to attaching it to the screw anyhow.

True that; if you look at 2-wire connections to outlets, the metal frame
of the outlet isn't connected to *anything*. The only reason to use that
screw would be if you wanted to attach the adapter to the outlet. It
serves no electrical or safety function.

I was anal enough to check way back when when two prongers were going
out and three prongers were coming in and these adapters were all the
rage, and the ones I checked did have the center screw electrically
connected to the mounting and thence to ground. Maybe varies from brand
to brand.

Beachcomber wrote:
On 20 Sep 2006 09:37:04 -0700, wrote:

in houses that don't have the ground plugs, it is unlikely that any
ground exists in the box, so no point in connecting it.

Not True... In many houses built in the 1950's and early 1960's, the
2 wire outlets were wired with BX and grounded (even though the
receptacles had only two prong holes). You had the choice of
replacing a two wire receptacle with a 3 wire receptacle or using one
of these adapters, which would give you a true, if less than perfect
ground. These adapters were created specifically for the 3 wire
appliances of this era... to fit the two holed outlets.

In the Chicago area, it was even better (because of stricter codes).
All the residential wiring city & suburbs was required to be in
conduit. No flexible, non-metallic sheathed cable was allowed for
interior locations. The conduits generally provided a good ground and
running a separate ground wire was not required. Just installing an
outlet in a grounded metal box insured that both the center screw and
both of the round holes were grounded.

Beachcomber

Absolutely, Except for my most recent rental with the knob and tube
horrorshow, every place I've ever lived has had all the outlet boxes
even with two prong outlets grounded via conduit or BX.

z spake thus:

David Nebenzahl wrote:

Eric in North TX spake thus:

Probably a manufacturing error, but if the receptacle has only 2 wires,
there is little point to attaching it to the screw anyhow.

True that; if you look at 2-wire connections to outlets, the metal frame
of the outlet isn't connected to *anything*. The only reason to use that
screw would be if you wanted to attach the adapter to the outlet. It
serves no electrical or safety function.

I was anal enough to check way back when when two prongers were going
out and three prongers were coming in and these adapters were all the
rage, and the ones I checked did have the center screw electrically
connected to the mounting and thence to ground. Maybe varies from brand
to brand.

Yeah, I guess I've gotten used to working on really old houses (turn of
the century), where you never see that. Grounding? What's that?


--
Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War
II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan.
The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second
Lebanon War.

- Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist
(http://counterpunch.org/avnery09022006.html)

z spake thus:

Absolutely, Except for my most recent rental with the knob and tube
horrorshow, every place I've ever lived has had all the outlet boxes
even with two prong outlets grounded via conduit or BX.

Hey, don't knock knob and tube!

Seriously: this venerable wiring method too often gets a bad rap.
(Disclaimer to the inevitable net-nannies who'll complain: Yes, I know
it's outdated, and I would never propose doing it in new or replacement
work.)

In its day, it was quite reliable, probably easy to install, and safe.
Keep in mind that it was never done with an eye to the house being
remodelled every few years; this was well before the days of yuppies,
house-flippers and exorbitant real-estate prices.

In some work I've done, I've even "grandfathered in" some K&T runs where
it was impractical not to. By the way, in most places in the U.S., so
far as I know, it's still legal to have K&T in your house (but not, of
course, to install it).


--
Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War
II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan.
The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second
Lebanon War.

- Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist
(http://counterpunch.org/avnery09022006.html)

picture this.

I'm crouched on the living room floor using my good old metal bodied
electric drill with it's three prong plug in my right hand and my left
arm is braced against a radiator.

I drill through the sheetrock and hit the wire behind it going to the
laundry dryer's 240 V receptical. I'd get zapped, and that ungrounded
GFCI outlet my drill was plugged into wouldn't even know it. If there
was a real ground connected to that receptical, The dryer's breaker
would trip, and I'd still be breathing.

Some how I doubt it would make a lot of difference if you had the
drill plugged into a ground fault if you nail a 240 volt line with a
metal drill while touching a radiator. It's like; oh good the drill
power supply disconnected, now I only have my body stuck between the
power station and the radiator to worry about zzza-zzza-zzza zap pow,
wish I didn't have a pacemaker. zzza-zzza-zzza, zzza-zzza-zzza
zapzapzap, thank god I was plugged into a ground fault zzza-zzza-zzza,
zzza-zzza-zzza zapzapzap.

In article .com,
tomkanpa wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?


Are you for real?

--
Every complicated problem has a simple solution that doesn't work.

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland
lwasserm(@)charm(.)net

In article .com,
Eric in North TX wrote:

Probably a manufacturing error, but if the receptacle has only 2 wires,
there is little point to attaching it to the screw anyhow. Most folks
keep the adapter with the appliance anyhow.


Actually, IF the wiring is armored cable or IF it is in EMT or other
metal conduit, and IF the conduit/metal sheathing is rated for ground
use and properly grounded, and IF it is a metal outlet box, then the
center screw that holds the cover plate to the outlet WILL be
grounded.


--
Every complicated problem has a simple solution that doesn't work.

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland
lwasserm(@)charm(.)net

Eric in North TX spake thus:

picture this.

I'm crouched on the living room floor using my good old metal bodied
electric drill with it's three prong plug in my right hand and my left
arm is braced against a radiator.

I drill through the sheetrock and hit the wire behind it going to the
laundry dryer's 240 V receptical. I'd get zapped, and that ungrounded
GFCI outlet my drill was plugged into wouldn't even know it. If there
was a real ground connected to that receptical, The dryer's breaker
would trip, and I'd still be breathing.

Some how I doubt it would make a lot of difference if you had the
drill plugged into a ground fault if you nail a 240 volt line with a
metal drill while touching a radiator. It's like; oh good the drill
power supply disconnected, now I only have my body stuck between the
power station and the radiator to worry about zzza-zzza-zzza zap pow,
wish I didn't have a pacemaker. zzza-zzza-zzza, zzza-zzza-zzza
zapzapzap, thank god I was plugged into a ground fault zzza-zzza-zzza,
zzza-zzza-zzza zapzapzap.

Right, meaning the only thing that would save you here would be a GFCI
on the 240v *dryer* circuit, which isn't likely to exist.


--
Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War
II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan.
The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second
Lebanon War.

- Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist
(http://counterpunch.org/avnery09022006.html)

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
Eric in North TX spake thus:

Probably a manufacturing error, but if the receptacle has only 2 wires,
there is little point to attaching it to the screw anyhow.

True that; if you look at 2-wire connections to outlets, the metal frame
of the outlet isn't connected to *anything*. The only reason to use that
screw would be if you wanted to attach the adapter to the outlet. It
serves no electrical or safety function.

Not Always True. In this 1960 house, the boxes were grounded, via the bond
wire being wrapped around the romex under the clamps. No, probably not to
current code, but better than nothing. I replaced the 2-hole outlets with
3-hole, and the 15-buck Magic Meter lit up and pronounced them grounded.
(Half of them were reversed polarity, and most were worn out, so I had to
yank them anyway....) This was old stiff romex with no slack, so I wasn't
about to try to uncoil the third wire to pigtail it to the outlets, and
there was no screw hole in the box for a ground wire.


aem sends...

Eric in North TX wrote:
picture this.

I'm crouched on the living room floor using my good old metal bodied
electric drill with it's three prong plug in my right hand and my left
arm is braced against a radiator.

I drill through the sheetrock and hit the wire behind it going to the
laundry dryer's 240 V receptical. I'd get zapped, and that ungrounded
GFCI outlet my drill was plugged into wouldn't even know it. If there
was a real ground connected to that receptical, The dryer's breaker
would trip, and I'd still be breathing.


Some how I doubt it would make a lot of difference if you had the
drill plugged into a ground fault if you nail a 240 volt line with a
metal drill while touching a radiator. It's like; oh good the drill
power supply disconnected, now I only have my body stuck between the
power station and the radiator to worry about zzza-zzza-zzza zap pow,
wish I didn't have a pacemaker. zzza-zzza-zzza, zzza-zzza-zzza
zapzapzap, thank god I was plugged into a ground fault zzza-zzza-zzza,
zzza-zzza-zzza zapzapzap.


That's eggzactly the point I was making. If the ground pin on the
drill's power cord was plugged into a receptical whose ground pin was
REALLY connected to ground then.....

When the drill bit touched the live wire (only 120 volts to ground, not
240 BTW.) the drill's body would NOT elevste to that voltage, and the
short circuit would cause an overcurrent trip of the breaker feeding
that 240 volt line. Well, the drill body might rise a couple of volts
off ground during the moment it took for the 240 volt line's breaker to
pop, but probably not high enough to even be felt.

But, if the receptical my drill was plugged into had a ground hole which
WASN'T connected to ground, then I'd get fried, whether or not it was a
GFCI type receptical. The GFCI wouldn't trip because the drill bit
hitting the wire does not create a path to ground from the GFCI's hot or
neutral outputs. I described the drill bit hitting a 240 volt laundry
dryer feed just to eliminate it from being a downstream 120 volt
conductor from the output side of the GFCI receptical. If it was, then
the GFCI would trip and save my ass.

Capice?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"What do you expect from a pig but a grunt?"

In article ,
on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 03:43:57 GMT, wrote:

This was old stiff romex with no slack, so I wasn't
about to try to uncoil the third wire to pigtail it to the outlets, and
there was no screw hole in the box for a ground wire.

If you don't have screw holes in the box, you can use grounding clips
that clip onto the edge of the box. You can get a bag of them for a
dollar or two at any hardware store.

You can also buy "self-grounding" outlets that are specifically designed
to ground through the yoke, though they are somewhat more expensive.

--
Seth Goodman

On 20 Sep 2006 09:37:04 -0700, wrote:

in houses that don't have the ground plugs, it is unlikely that any
ground exists in the box, so no point in connecting it.

Not true. Very likely for decades worth of houses.

In article , Seth Goodman wrote:
In article ,
on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 03:43:57 GMT, wrote:

This was old stiff romex with no slack, so I wasn't
about to try to uncoil the third wire to pigtail it to the outlets, and
there was no screw hole in the box for a ground wire.

If you don't have screw holes in the box, you can use grounding clips
that clip onto the edge of the box. You can get a bag of them for a
dollar or two at any hardware store.

It's also trivially easy to drill and tap a hole in the back of the box.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:05:04 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:


Hey, don't knock knob and tube!

Where does the name come from? IIUC, there are barely any knobs and
rarely if ever any tubes.


My friend bought a house with that, at least in the attic, but knowing
him, he's replaced it all.


Seriously: this venerable wiring method too often gets a bad rap.
(Disclaimer to the inevitable net-nannies who'll complain: Yes, I know
it's outdated, and I would never propose doing it in new or replacement
work.)

In its day, it was quite reliable, probably easy to install, and safe.
Keep in mind that it was never done with an eye to the house being
remodelled every few years; this was well before the days of yuppies,
house-flippers and exorbitant real-estate prices.

In some work I've done, I've even "grandfathered in" some K&T runs where
it was impractical not to. By the way, in most places in the U.S., so
far as I know, it's still legal to have K&T in your house (but not, of
course, to install it).

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:49:53 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article .com,
tomkanpa wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?


Are you for real?

I think he's standing on his head.

mm spake thus:

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:05:04 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

Hey, don't knock knob and tube!

Where does the name come from? IIUC, there are barely any knobs and
rarely if ever any tubes.

You must not remember correctly: the knobs are the round posts that the
wires get wrapped around and strung between, and the tubes go into holes
drilled through joists, studs, etc. All ceramic.


--
Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War
II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan.
The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second
Lebanon War.

- Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist
(http://counterpunch.org/avnery09022006.html)

David Nebenzahl wrote:

Yeah, I guess I've gotten used to working on really old houses (turn of
the century), where you never see that. Grounding? What's that?

Well, they weren't sure if that newfangled electricity was going to
just turn out to be a fad.

David Nebenzahl wrote:

In its day, it was quite reliable, probably easy to install, and safe.
Keep in mind that it was never done with an eye to the house being
remodelled every few years; this was well before the days of yuppies,
house-flippers and exorbitant real-estate prices.

In some work I've done, I've even "grandfathered in" some K&T runs where
it was impractical not to. By the way, in most places in the U.S., so
far as I know, it's still legal to have K&T in your house (but not, of
course, to install it).

My gripe with it was the insulation on the runs of wire, which was
cotton impegnated with probably some kind of organic stuff, (anybody
here remember "fish paper" from old electronics?) which was just
completely deteriorating leaving little stretches of semi-bare wire. I
suppose that wouldn't be any better inside conduit, but at least it
would short out and somebody would have to fix it.

mm wrote:
On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:49:53 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article .com,
tomkanpa wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?


Are you for real?

I think he's standing on his head.

I bought some of those adapters, and they all had the holes and prongs
on the wrong ends. (joke).

On 22 Sep 2006 08:06:00 -0700, "z" wrote:


mm wrote:
On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:49:53 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article .com,
tomkanpa wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?


Are you for real?

I think he's standing on his head.

I bought some of those adapters, and they all had the holes and prongs
on the wrong ends. (joke).

I used to know someone who was looking for a triple-female adapter,
one with THREE sets of prongs. This being necessary because she got
her gender mixed up and had 2 strings of holiday lights with the
female ends together and needed to connect them to an extension cord.
--
94 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."

z spake thus:

David Nebenzahl wrote:

In its day, it was quite reliable, probably easy to install, and safe.
Keep in mind that it was never done with an eye to the house being
remodelled every few years; this was well before the days of yuppies,
house-flippers and exorbitant real-estate prices.

In some work I've done, I've even "grandfathered in" some K&T runs where
it was impractical not to. By the way, in most places in the U.S., so
far as I know, it's still legal to have K&T in your house (but not, of
course, to install it).

My gripe with it was the insulation on the runs of wire, which was
cotton impegnated with probably some kind of organic stuff, (anybody
here remember "fish paper" from old electronics?) which was just
completely deteriorating leaving little stretches of semi-bare wire. I
suppose that wouldn't be any better inside conduit, but at least it
would short out and somebody would have to fix it.

Not doubting your experience, but all the old wiring I've seen and dealt
with has had the insulation very intact; I've never seen any such bare
spots. But then again, they weren't in damp locations, which may help to
rot things.


--
Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War
II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan.
The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second
Lebanon War.

- Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist
(http://counterpunch.org/avnery09022006.html)

David Nebenzahl wrote:
z spake thus:

David Nebenzahl wrote:

In its day, it was quite reliable, probably easy to install, and safe.
Keep in mind that it was never done with an eye to the house being
remodelled every few years; this was well before the days of yuppies,
house-flippers and exorbitant real-estate prices.

In some work I've done, I've even "grandfathered in" some K&T runs where
it was impractical not to. By the way, in most places in the U.S., so
far as I know, it's still legal to have K&T in your house (but not, of
course, to install it).

My gripe with it was the insulation on the runs of wire, which was
cotton impegnated with probably some kind of organic stuff, (anybody
here remember "fish paper" from old electronics?) which was just
completely deteriorating leaving little stretches of semi-bare wire. I
suppose that wouldn't be any better inside conduit, but at least it
would short out and somebody would have to fix it.

Not doubting your experience, but all the old wiring I've seen and dealt
with has had the insulation very intact; I've never seen any such bare
spots. But then again, they weren't in damp locations, which may help to
rot things.

Yeah, that being my only experience with knob and tube I assumed 'twas
always thus; but whenever I mention it on hear, everybody says theirs
wasn't in bad shape at all. So I am educated.

Of course, it could be that everybody except my landlady whose
insulation fell apart had the sense to replace it....

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:46:08 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On 22 Sep 2006 08:06:00 -0700, "z" wrote:


mm wrote:
On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:49:53 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article .com,
tomkanpa wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?


Are you for real?

I think he's standing on his head.

I bought some of those adapters, and they all had the holes and prongs
on the wrong ends. (joke).

I used to know someone who was looking for a triple-female adapter,
one with THREE sets of prongs. This being necessary because she got
her gender mixed up and had 2 strings of holiday lights with the
female ends together and needed to connect them to an extension cord.

My grandmother had -- my grandfather probably made it before he died
-- a cord with male ends on both ends. It's been 50 years but iirc
she was using it when I found it and needed just that sort of cord.
But now I can't imagine how that would be!.

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 23:46:24 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

mm spake thus:

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:05:04 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

Hey, don't knock knob and tube!

Where does the name come from? IIUC, there are barely any knobs and
rarely if ever any tubes.

You must not remember correctly: the knobs are the round posts that the
wires get wrapped around and strung between, and the tubes go into holes
drilled through joists, studs, etc. All ceramic.

Thanks. This means I've never seen any tubes, but I'm sure they were
there. I agree about the knobs.

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 17:01:20 -0400, mm
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:46:08 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On 22 Sep 2006 08:06:00 -0700, "z" wrote:


mm wrote:
On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:49:53 -0500, ()
wrote:

In article .com,
tomkanpa wrote:
I recently purchased some more three-prong to two-prong AC adapters. I
know you are supposed remove the screw that holds the face plate on,
plug the adapter in, and replace the screw through the "grounding"
strap on the adapter.
These adapters are also polarized, you can only plug them into the
receptacle one way. And when they are plugged in the only way they can
be, the "grounding" strap does not line up with the screw. It faces 180
degrees from it.
What is the reason for these adapters seemingly not being manufactured
correctly?


Are you for real?

I think he's standing on his head.

I bought some of those adapters, and they all had the holes and prongs
on the wrong ends. (joke).

I used to know someone who was looking for a triple-female adapter,
one with THREE sets of prongs. This being necessary because she got
her gender mixed up and had 2 strings of holiday lights with the
female ends together and needed to connect them to an extension cord.

My grandmother had -- my grandfather probably made it before he died
-- a cord with male ends on both ends. It's been 50 years but iirc
she was using it when I found it and needed just that sort of cord.
But now I can't imagine how that would be!.

Somebody might use one if they had a bad breaker, and wanted to
connect 2 circuits together. That could work if neither circuit was
too heavily loaded.
--
94 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."

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 17:19:39 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 17:01:20 -0400, mm
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:46:08 -0500, Mark Lloyd

I bought some of those adapters, and they all had the holes and prongs
on the wrong ends. (joke).

I used to know someone who was looking for a triple-female adapter,
one with THREE sets of prongs. This being necessary because she got
her gender mixed up and had 2 strings of holiday lights with the
female ends together and needed to connect them to an extension cord.

My grandmother had -- my grandfather probably made it before he died
-- a cord with male ends on both ends. It's been 50 years but iirc
she was using it when I found it and needed just that sort of cord.
But now I can't imagine how that would be!.

Somebody might use one if they had a bad breaker, and wanted to
connect 2 circuits together. That could work if neither circuit was
too heavily loaded.

That might be it. When my grandparents grew up, I don't think they
had electricity at all, not until they moved to America when they were
married and about 20. But my grandfather wasn't afraid of it. I
think he was too poor to be afraid of it, because he had to do his own
repairs. I think he was the first member of my family I ever saw do a
repair.

(I don't remember this but my father was doing something in the back
yard and he hit his finger with a hammer, or came close. My mother
says he just put everything down and went into the house. She cleaned
up. He was a dentist, and he said if he hurt his finger, he wouldn't
be able to work for a week. He wasn't getting rich in a small town,
but he made a lot mroe money at his job than he could save by doing
his own repairs.

Oh yeah, when I was about six, 1953, we needed an outlet in my
bedroom. I don't remember why. In those days the only thing plugged
into the wall was a desk lamp, in the whole room. I don't think that
was at all unusual. My parents' room had a radio and an alarm clock,
and a lamp on each bed table and one at each end of the dresser, and I
think that's all they had too. And we were uppper middle income.
Anyhow, I needed an outlet, maybe because we moved the desk and there
was no place to plug in that lamp. And I don't think my father would
have hired someone cheap. I think he was a real electrician. He did a
very neat, tidy job. But all he did was plug a cord into an outlet in
my parents big closet, drill a hole in the wall just above the
baseboard, run the lamp cord through the whole, staple it as it ran
along the baseboard in my room, and put in a surface mount outlet.

Was that to code in 1953?

I'm going to stop by in a few years and ask to see the inside of the
house, and that's something I will check, if it's still working that
way. I wouldn't be surprised.