I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't always
trip as quickly as we'd like them to


"Jethro" wrote in message
...
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:35:26 -0500, "RBM" rbm2(remove
wrote:

Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't always
trip as quickly as we'd like them to

It sure surprised me. I feel if I had not been 'right there', that I
would have had a fire! Now if I haven't damaged the compressor.

Thanks

Jethro



"Jethro" wrote in message
.. .
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

On Feb 12, 7:53�am, Jethro wrote:
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:35:26 -0500, "RBM" rbm2(remove

wrote:
Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't always
trip as quickly as we'd like them to

It sure surprised me. *I feel if I had not been 'right there', that I
would have had a fire! *Now if I haven't damaged the compressor.

Thanks

Jethro





"Jethro" wrote in message
.. .
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. *He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. *I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. *That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. *When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. *I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. *Dumb! *Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. *I think it
should have. *Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

What you did shouldnt of mattered, the compressor is likely defective,
locked up etc but not enough to trip breaker, or receptable was bad
and its time just happened at that moment.

Thats why I avoid loaning or borrowing tools, WAY too much hassle

I wouldn't worry about the compressor. What happened was likely just
localized in the plug.



"Jethro" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:35:26 -0500, "RBM" rbm2(remove
wrote:

Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't always
trip as quickly as we'd like them to

It sure surprised me. I feel if I had not been 'right there', that I
would have had a fire! Now if I haven't damaged the compressor.

Thanks

Jethro



"Jethro" wrote in message
. ..
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

Sounds like his plug just fried out. Nothing to do with being "backwards".
It didn't trip the breaker, because there was no short. Only an open. Put on
a new HD plug and go on.

--
Steve Barker

"Jethro" wrote in message
...
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

They don't break unless there is a short, or overload. Burning a bad
connection in half doesn't necessarily mean either.

--
Steve Barker

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't always
trip as quickly as we'd like them to


"Jethro" wrote in message
...
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

Jethro wrote:
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

Breakers take a finite length of time to trip, and whatever burned
apparently limited the current quickly enough to keep the breaker from
burning but still kept the heat going. Not too unusual, really.

Your plugging it in "backwards" could (NOT did!) possibly have been the
reason, and also why it didn't draw enough current to trip the breaker. I
say that while assuming that the compressor was sitting on a cement floor or
somehow in contact with other earthed surface/s. IF THAT'S THE CASE, THIS
IS A VERY, VERY DANGEROUS EQUIPMENT!!!! IF this is the case, there is a
serious fault with the unit.

Cutting off the ground prong is also the height of stupidity, especially for
something meant to be used where an air compressor is! That thing could
easily kill someone!! Either get a ground put on that unit, or don't plug
it in!
I have to wonder if tripping a breaker might not be why the owner ripped
it out. It's common to want to plug these things into a two prong outlet,
but very stupid if a converter isn't used to provide a working ground for
it. The plug converters cost less than a $ for cryin gout loud!

Jethro wrote:
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:35:26 -0500, "RBM" rbm2(remove
wrote:

Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't
always trip as quickly as we'd like them to

It sure surprised me. I feel if I had not been 'right there', that I
would have had a fire! Now if I haven't damaged the compressor.

Thanks

Jethro



"Jethro" wrote in message
...
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying
any attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

If you did, it clearly is NOT your fault!

"Jethro" wrote in message
...
I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?


For the compressor it does not mater which way it is plugged in as far as
damage to the compressor goes. It is usually safer to plug it in the
correct way. If designed correctly the hot wire will go to the compressor's
on/off switch , then to the pressuer switch and motor and back to the
neutral wire. This makes it slightly safer but if the plug is reversed the
compressor will work just fine if it is in good operating condition. The
120 volt circuit is alternating current and as far as the electricity is
concerned it makes no differance, unlike DC that is found in the cars and
maybe a few other places.

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:36:52 -0600, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Sounds like his plug just fried out. Nothing to do with being "backwards".
It didn't trip the breaker, because there was no short. Only an open. Put on
a new HD plug and go on.

Not short huh? Then why the smoke and black soot? Anyway I changed
the male plug to a new 3-PRONG plug and now all is well and working.
Thanks for comments

Jethro

A bad connection will heat up and fry out. That doesn't mean it was a short
circuit. When a light bulb burns out, it's not a short, it's an open.

--
Steve Barker




"Jethro" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:36:52 -0600, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Sounds like his plug just fried out. Nothing to do with being
"backwards".
It didn't trip the breaker, because there was no short. Only an open. Put
on
a new HD plug and go on.

Not short huh? Then why the smoke and black soot? Anyway I changed
the male plug to a new 3-PRONG plug and now all is well and working.
Thanks for comments

Jethro

In article t, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:

For the compressor it does not mater which way it is plugged in as far as
damage to the compressor goes. It is usually safer to plug it in the
correct way. If designed correctly the hot wire will go to the compressor's
on/off switch , then to the pressuer switch and motor and back to the
neutral wire. This makes it slightly safer but if the plug is reversed the
compressor will work just fine if it is in good operating condition. The
120 volt circuit is alternating current and as far as the electricity is
concerned it makes no differance, unlike DC that is found in the cars and
maybe a few other places.

Absolutely not true -- there definitely *is* a difference between hot and
ground in an AC circuit. About a 120V difference.

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

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

In article , Jethro wrote:
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:36:52 -0600, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Sounds like his plug just fried out. Nothing to do with being "backwards".
It didn't trip the breaker, because there was no short. Only an open. Put on
a new HD plug and go on.

Not short huh? Then why the smoke and black soot?

An arc -- for example, if the wire in the power cord was frayed in (or at) the
plug, and attached to the blade of the plug by only a few strands. Plug it in,
and those little strands vaporize; current arcs over the gap, and poof! smoke
and black soot.

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

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

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
t...
In article t, "Ralph
Mowery" wrote:

For the compressor it does not mater which way it is plugged in as far as
damage to the compressor goes. It is usually safer to plug it in the
correct way. If designed correctly the hot wire will go to the
compressor's
on/off switch , then to the pressuer switch and motor and back to the
neutral wire. This makes it slightly safer but if the plug is reversed
the
compressor will work just fine if it is in good operating condition. The
120 volt circuit is alternating current and as far as the electricity is
concerned it makes no differance, unlike DC that is found in the cars and
maybe a few other places.

Absolutely not true -- there definitely *is* a difference between hot and
ground in an AC circuit. About a 120V difference.

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


Please reread the post. I did not mention anything about the ground. It has
already been established the ground pin has already been cut off. I simply
said it does not make any differance which way a plug is inserted in the
socket if the ground pin is cut off. The compressor would not be harmed.
That only leaves the hot and neutral pins to connect and electrically it
does not mater which way the plug is put in, the compressor will still run
just as well either way if it is not defective.

In article , "Ralph Mowery" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
et...
In article t, "Ralph
Mowery" wrote:

For the compressor it does not mater which way it is plugged in as far as
damage to the compressor goes. It is usually safer to plug it in the
correct way. If designed correctly the hot wire will go to the
compressor's
on/off switch , then to the pressuer switch and motor and back to the
neutral wire. This makes it slightly safer but if the plug is reversed
the
compressor will work just fine if it is in good operating condition. The
120 volt circuit is alternating current and as far as the electricity is
concerned it makes no differance, unlike DC that is found in the cars and
maybe a few other places.

Absolutely not true -- there definitely *is* a difference between hot and
ground in an AC circuit. About a 120V difference.


Please reread the post. I did not mention anything about the ground.

Pardon me -- I misspoke. I meant to say, "... between hot and neutral".

You imply they are interchangeable. They absolutely are not.

It has
already been established the ground pin has already been cut off. I simply
said it does not make any differance which way a plug is inserted in the
socket if the ground pin is cut off. The compressor would not be harmed.
That only leaves the hot and neutral pins to connect and electrically it
does not mater which way the plug is put in, the compressor will still run
just as well either way if it is not defective.

While that is true, it does *not* mean that there is no distinction between
hot and neutral. There absolutely is a difference.

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

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

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Ralph
Mowery" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. net...
In article t, "Ralph
Mowery" wrote:

For the compressor it does not mater which way it is plugged in as far
as
damage to the compressor goes. It is usually safer to plug it in the
correct way. If designed correctly the hot wire will go to the
compressor's
on/off switch , then to the pressuer switch and motor and back to the
neutral wire. This makes it slightly safer but if the plug is reversed
the
compressor will work just fine if it is in good operating condition.
The
120 volt circuit is alternating current and as far as the electricity is
concerned it makes no differance, unlike DC that is found in the cars
and
maybe a few other places.

Absolutely not true -- there definitely *is* a difference between hot
and
ground in an AC circuit. About a 120V difference.


Please reread the post. I did not mention anything about the ground.

Pardon me -- I misspoke. I meant to say, "... between hot and neutral".

You imply they are interchangeable. They absolutely are not.

It has
already been established the ground pin has already been cut off. I
simply
said it does not make any differance which way a plug is inserted in the
socket if the ground pin is cut off. The compressor would not be harmed.
That only leaves the hot and neutral pins to connect and electrically it
does not mater which way the plug is put in, the compressor will still
run
just as well either way if it is not defective.

While that is true, it does *not* mean that there is no distinction
between
hot and neutral. There absolutely is a difference.


Maybe you can enlighten me . What hapens if I cut off the ground pin of any
modern device and plug it in the socket, then pull it out and reverse the
plug ? Motors do not run in reverse, and light bulbs do not suck the light
out of the room.
The main issue is safety if the plug is reversed.

There were some electronic devices made many years ago (usually using tubes)
that had a hot chassie and could be very dangerous to reverse the plug, but
many of them were made before sockets had seperate ground pins.

Doug Miller wrote:
In article ,
"Ralph Mowery" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
t...
In article t,
"Ralph Mowery" wrote:

For the compressor it does not mater which way it is plugged in as
far as damage to the compressor goes. It is usually safer to
plug it in the correct way. If designed correctly the hot wire
will go to the compressor's
on/off switch , then to the pressuer switch and motor and back to
the neutral wire. This makes it slightly safer but if the plug is
reversed the
compressor will work just fine if it is in good operating
condition. The 120 volt circuit is alternating current and as far
as the electricity is concerned it makes no differance, unlike DC
that is found in the cars and maybe a few other places.

Absolutely not true -- there definitely *is* a difference between
hot and ground in an AC circuit. About a 120V difference.


Please reread the post. I did not mention anything about the ground.

Pardon me -- I misspoke. I meant to say, "... between hot and
neutral".

You imply they are interchangeable. They absolutely are not.

It has
already been established the ground pin has already been cut off.
I simply said it does not make any differance which way a plug is
inserted in the socket if the ground pin is cut off. The compressor
would not be harmed. That only leaves the hot and neutral pins to
connect and electrically it does not mater which way the plug is
put in, the compressor will still run just as well either way if it
is not defective.

While that is true, it does *not* mean that there is no distinction
between
hot and neutral. There absolutely is a difference.

Jeez, get the hair out of your arse; you're attempted display of knowledge
is lost the way you're posturing. You're basically arguing with yourself.

In article t, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
et...

While that is true, it does *not* mean that there is no distinction between
hot and neutral. There absolutely is a difference.

Maybe you can enlighten me . What hapens if I cut off the ground pin of any
modern device and plug it in the socket, then pull it out and reverse the
plug ? Motors do not run in reverse, and light bulbs do not suck the light
out of the room.
The main issue is safety if the plug is reversed.

Well, yes, there is that little thing... just safety... that's all.

Please tell me that you don't attempt to do any of your own residential
electrical wiring.

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

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

Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't always
trip as quickly as we'd like them to

It sure surprised me. I feel if I had not been 'right there', that I
would have had a fire! Now if I haven't damaged the compressor.

Breakers clear a circut when they detect overcurrent.
If you don't have an AFCI, they don't give a damn about arcs.

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:11:52 -0500, Goedjn wrote:


Sounds like something shorted inside the male plug. Breakers don't always
trip as quickly as we'd like them to

It sure surprised me. I feel if I had not been 'right there', that I
would have had a fire! Now if I haven't damaged the compressor.

Breakers clear a circut when they detect overcurrent.
If you don't have an AFCI, they don't give a damn about arcs.


Well then, I guess I indeed could have burned the house down - there
was smoke and the plug was super hot.

Jethro

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:59:37 GMT, Jethro wrote:

I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that.

3-prong plugs would be somewhat safer if they were designed to enforce
polarization even with the ground prong removed (since people will do
that, or modify a 2-wire extension cord to accept a 3-prong plug).

Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

That sounds less like a short than a loose connection. The current was
flowing THROUGH that compressor, and was probably never high enough to
trip the breaker. Sparks in the loose connection melted that prong so
that it came loose, and heated the rubber or plastic in the plug
enough to make it smoke. Plugging it in the wrong way PROBABLY did not
contribute to this, it was just an old plug that needed to be
replaced.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Unlike biological evolution. 'intelligent design' is
not a genuine scientific theory and, therefore, has
no place in the curriculum of our nation's public
school classes." -- Ted Kennedy

In article ,
Jethro wrote:
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:36:52 -0600, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Sounds like his plug just fried out. Nothing to do with being "backwards".
It didn't trip the breaker, because there was no short. Only an open. Put on
a new HD plug and go on.

Not short huh? Then why the smoke and black soot? Anyway I changed
the male plug to a new 3-PRONG plug and now all is well and working.
Thanks for comments

Jethro

The smoke and black soot only indicates that something was burning.
It is quite possible to generate enough heat for that without getting
anywhere near to the amperage that will trip a circuit breaker. For
sake of argument, suppose an electric hotplate or electric heater was
plugged in; either generates enough heat to start a fire without
trippig the breaker.


--
There is always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat,
plausible, and wrong." (Mencken)

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf.lonestar.org

Better safe than sorry! While your replacing the receptable replace
the breaker TOO. I myself would try dead shorting the breaker just too
see if it trips. Then replace it no matter what!

The reason I say short it is if that if the breaker doesnt the OTHER
breakers in your panel may be bad too!!

!!!!If your panel is FPE!!!

Attention you have a known well documented fire hazard! The FPE stap
lock breakers are TERRIBLE! just google FPE

REPLACE PANEL IMMEDIATELY!

On 13 Feb 2007 05:38:30 -0800, "
wrote:

Better safe than sorry! While your replacing the receptable replace
the breaker TOO. I myself would try dead shorting the breaker just too
see if it trips.

What happens when it DOESN'T trip?

Then replace it no matter what!

The reason I say short it is if that if the breaker doesnt the OTHER
breakers in your panel may be bad too!!

!!!!If your panel is FPE!!!

Attention you have a known well documented fire hazard! The FPE stap
lock breakers are TERRIBLE! just google FPE

REPLACE PANEL IMMEDIATELY!

I know someone who lost a house (to fire) recently. From her
description it could have involved those non-trip breakers.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Unlike biological evolution. 'intelligent design' is
not a genuine scientific theory and, therefore, has
no place in the curriculum of our nation's public
school classes." -- Ted Kennedy

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:59:37 GMT, Jethro wrote:

I did a stupid thing - but I am curious.

Someone lent me his air compressor on which he had a 3-prong male
plug. He had clipped off the ground, leaving the other two. I
carelessly plugged the thing into a wall receptacle without paying any
attention. That's the stupid part.

I turned my back on the receptacle to flip the compressor on switch
on.
I heard a strange sound, turned around, and a little black smoke was
coming out of the receptacle where I had plugged the male plug in.
Needless to say, I immediately removed the plug. When I did, one
metal prong pulled out of the plug remaining in the receptacle. I
turned the circuit breaker off and removed the prong.

I think I must have plugged the thing in backwards, since the ground
was missing on the plug to prevent that. Dumb! Anyway, I now am
curious as to why the goof did not trip the 15A breaker. I think it
should have. Maybe the breaker is bad?

Agree?

I will replace the compressor plug of course.

Thanks

Jethro

imho:

You can have a high resistance connection that over heated. A
practicle real world example is an electric heater. It's just one
wire into a resistive material and back. Even thought much heat a
break won't trip if the heater is set below the breaker's set point.
So you might have had a a short that acted like a heater, it created a
lot of heat, but the current flow was far below the setpoint.

Now this is a guess. The only way you can positive is to have either
your system checked, or replace the breaker. So get an electrician.

tom @ www.CarFleaMarket.com

wrote:

!!!!If your panel is FPE!!!

Attention you have a known well documented fire hazard! The FPE stap
lock breakers are TERRIBLE! just google FPE

REPLACE PANEL IMMEDIATELY!

Please note that this applies only to breakers manufactured in the US.
The Federal Pioneer plants in other countries used different designs for
their breakers/panels.

Around here (Saskatchewan, Canada) Federal Pioneer is still probably the
most common brand of electrical panel.

Chris