Man dies charging phone in the bath ...

[tooki]

Yeah, that was already posted earlier in this thread...

[Ian.M]

@firewalker,
NANDblog posted that in reply #60.  Its been debunked as a hoax set up by an IT convention setup/teardown crew.

[rs20]

[Ian.M]

<ROTFLMAO> 

[Ampera]

There's an easy fix for most of the issues with NEMA 1-15 - simply complete phasing it out.  You already cant install new NEMA 1-15 outlets, so ban the NEMA 1-15 two pin plug on new equipment or as a retail item, and introduce a requirement for all new NEMA 5-15 outlets, extension cords etc. to have shutters for the line and neutral, opened by the ground pin (an improvement to the existing tamper resistant requirements in many states) and a label prohibiting 2 pin plugs, and tighten up the requirements for retention force.

Of course that doesn't help with the unshrouded pins issue, but with only 0.06" blade thickness to work with, its difficult to shroud the pins without increasing the risk of them breaking off in the socket.

With the average life of modern electrical goods being as low as it is, and the gradual reduction is sockets that would accept them, that could remove half the NEMA 1-15 plugs from consumers within five years, rising to 9/10 within ten years

Some concessions may be needed for repair parts sold only to a licensed electrician, with a sizeable fine if they are resold other than as parts used during a repair, and rewards for reporting contraventions funded by the fines.

You sound like a person who has never lived a year in the US.

Our plugs aren't falling out like crazy, and they hold in fine enough. If you're not a dumbass, you can live your life without a single electrical issue. There are also plugs that are WAY too tight. I have a UPS that is by design, incredibly tight on the plugs. You have to REALLY pull to get it out.

NEMA 1-15 and 5-15 on plugs are interchangeable. We don't need a ban on 1-15 plugs, that would probably just piss people off. We also REQUIRE shutters on our sockets on new installations that are opened by the top two sockets, although I have never seen this.

The US standard is gonna stay. We've had it for almost 100 years now, and it doesn't cause enough harm to people in order to replace the standard.

[Red Squirrel]

One thing I hate is how lot of electrical items such as timers still have only 2 prongs.  How hard is it to add the ground, really?  It just makes it harder to plug stuff like a power bar when it's only 2 prong.    One thing that would be nice to see for those situations though is a 2 prong to 3 prong converter, it could simply consist of a GFCI.  It would provide some level of protection even though there is no real ground.   I made my own so I can plug a power bar in a Christmas light timer for my tree and other lights, but it's much more bulky than something that could be manufactured in a small plug like device.

[Ampera]

There are cheater plugs that have a ground tag hanging out. You're supposed to connect the tag to something like a radiator or vent, or some other large piece of grounded metal (Taps, ovens, etc.) but often people forget this (I have walked into my great grandmother's basement before and have seen florescent tube lights connected to like really wimpy 1970's NEMA 1-15 extension cables with the ground just off to the side)

[helius]

(US) appliances expected to be used in a wet environment, like hairdryers, pressure washers, or shop vacs, have GFCIs built into the cord to provide extra safety, with or without being grounded to the outlet.

[rrinker]

 Both the timer and the RF remote outlet I use to control outdoor decorations have grounded connections all the way through (plug and socket) as well as having protective covers to keep the wet out (though I use them on my porch, and if they seriously get wet back against the house, we are having the storm of the century).

[tszaboo]

The advantage of mine is that you can make it cheap. The plug can just be looped sheet metal, and the outlet, which would require some plastic rings to insulate, could be something similar.

Funny thing is, there is a standard, the entire world is using for power. It is finger proof, smart, small and reliable. Millions of equipment is using it, in every single country.
I'm talking about the IEC 60320 plugs of course. A power strip with IEC E or C plugs woutl be fraction of the size of what we have. Look at this:

It is simple, elegant, compatible with everything.

[Monkeh]

The advantage of mine is that you can make it cheap. The plug can just be looped sheet metal, and the outlet, which would require some plastic rings to insulate, could be something similar.

Funny thing is, there is a standard, the entire world is using for power. It is finger proof, smart, small and reliable. Millions of equipment is using it, in every single country.
I'm talking about the IEC 60320 plugs of course. A power strip with IEC E or C plugs woutl be fraction of the size of what we have. Look at this:
http://uk.farnell.com/productimages/standard/en_GB/269190-40.jpg
It is simple, elegant, compatible with everything.

And it's even available with shutters!

[CatalinaWOW]

That would be too easy!  I mean people can already buy adapters from all of the worlds standards to IEC.  Where is the pain in that? 

[BradC]

That would be too easy!  I mean people can already buy adapters from all of the worlds standards to IEC.  Where is the pain in that?

I tend to think the incompatible plug standards at least makes people think a bit about frequency/voltage before plugging stuff in. I have fond memories of my Aunt coming over from California in the 80's and plugging her hair dryer in using a straight adapter. It didn't appear to be very happy about running at over double the voltage (we were 250V back then).

At least the act of having to use an adapter has prompted many a "is this going to be ok?" questions.

[CatalinaWOW]

That would be too easy!  I mean people can already buy adapters from all of the worlds standards to IEC.  Where is the pain in that?

I tend to think the incompatible plug standards at least makes people think a bit about frequency/voltage before plugging stuff in. I have fond memories of my Aunt coming over from California in the 80's and plugging her hair dryer in using a straight adapter. It didn't appear to be very happy about running at over double the voltage (we were 250V back then).

At least the act of having to use an adapter has prompted many a "is this going to be ok?" questions.

With the attitude of many I have seen on this thread there also an easy solution for that problem.  Just mandate that all equipment be designed to accept everything from 45-75 Hz and 90 to 270 volts.  Means a few extra parts and some more volume, but what the heck.  Maybe a little hit in efficiency, but who cares about that outside of tree huggers.  Oh, and none of that stuff that requires setting a switch or jumper like much current test gear.  Full automatic detection and changeover as required.

[Monkeh]

That would be too easy!  I mean people can already buy adapters from all of the worlds standards to IEC.  Where is the pain in that?

I tend to think the incompatible plug standards at least makes people think a bit about frequency/voltage before plugging stuff in. I have fond memories of my Aunt coming over from California in the 80's and plugging her hair dryer in using a straight adapter. It didn't appear to be very happy about running at over double the voltage (we were 250V back then).

At least the act of having to use an adapter has prompted many a "is this going to be ok?" questions.

With the attitude of many I have seen on this thread there also an easy solution for that problem.  Just mandate that all equipment be designed to accept everything from 45-75 Hz and 90 to 270 volts.  Means a few extra parts and some more volume, but what the heck.

What, you mean like pretty much every <1.5kW SMPS not made solely for the US market already does?

[BradC]

What, you mean like pretty much every <1.5kW SMPS not made solely for the US market already does?

Which is cool if your device is electronic. Things like motorized appliances (blenders, hair dryers, drills, grinders), heating appliances (hair dryers, heat guns, soldering irons)... well another story perhaps.

[Zbig]

Funny thing is, there is a standard, the entire world is using for power. It is finger proof, smart, small and reliable. Millions of equipment is using it, in every single country.
I'm talking about the IEC 60320 plugs of course. A power strip with IEC E or C plugs woutl be fraction of the size of what we have. Look at this:
http://uk.farnell.com/productimages/standard/en_GB/269190-40.jpg
It is simple, elegant, compatible with everything.

I didn't realize there are power strips like that. Must get some for my "lab" NOW!

[Monkeh]

What, you mean like pretty much every <1.5kW SMPS not made solely for the US market already does?

Which is cool if your device is electronic. Things like motorized appliances (blenders, hair dryers, drills, grinders), heating appliances (hair dryers, heat guns, soldering irons)... well another story perhaps.

Anything which actually has a voltage dependence is, of course, another story. But a lot of stuff doesn't (soldering irons? Really? They don't have to be fixed voltage or even selectable, you can drive them purely switch mode and it's not even expensive.. mine doesn't even have a heating element).

[tszaboo]

What, you mean like pretty much every <1.5kW SMPS not made solely for the US market already does?

Which is cool if your device is electronic. Things like motorized appliances (blenders, hair dryers, drills, grinders), heating appliances (hair dryers, heat guns, soldering irons)... well another story perhaps.

Which one of these are you carrying from a 110V country to a 230V one? I cannot imagine someone putting a blender in the check in baggage.

[Iwanushka]

What, you mean like pretty much every <1.5kW SMPS not made solely for the US market already does?

Which is cool if your device is electronic. Things like motorized appliances (blenders, hair dryers, drills, grinders), heating appliances (hair dryers, heat guns, soldering irons)... well another story perhaps.

Which one of these are you carrying from a 110V country to a 230V one? I cannot imagine someone putting a blender in the check in baggage.

Problem is not taking necessities when traveling, but buying stuff from other countries especially from US and hopping that it will work in EU, AU,NZ and so on and vice versa.

Also while we are on this topic, this situation is fu**ed up, I'm traveling to US from time to time, thus I had to buy new shaver because mine had trafo in the "brick" and hotel room did not have 220 socket in the bathroom or it was broken all the time.....

[Ampera]

What, you mean like pretty much every <1.5kW SMPS not made solely for the US market already does?

Which is cool if your device is electronic. Things like motorized appliances (blenders, hair dryers, drills, grinders), heating appliances (hair dryers, heat guns, soldering irons)... well another story perhaps.

Which one of these are you carrying from a 110V country to a 230V one? I cannot imagine someone putting a blender in the check in baggage.

Hair dryer, which was a specific example given previously of a device that someone wanted to use on 250v.

[tom66]

It's not fair that extension leads aren't allowed in the bathroom, how else am I supposed to make bath toast or shower coffee?

[station240]

And they're at it again 
At least this person survived, so be it with some odd burns.

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/man-nearly-electrocuted-after-falling-asleep-with-his-iphone-charging-in-bed-20170402-gvc2dv.html

The next morning, Day woke up and rolled over. As he did so, a dog-tag necklace that he was wearing happened to catch on the exposed prongs of the charger head, which had come loose from the extension cord.

The metal chain suddenly became a conductor for the electricity - and it travelled straight to Day's neck.

His niece alerted him to a sign of what had happened: There was smoke coming out of the extension cord.

Day's shirt was singed, with a small hole burned out. There were strips of skin and flesh missing where the metal chain had scorched his neck. And the pattern of the necklace was burned into parts of his hands where he had gripped the chain to try to tear it off.

Oh boy, he turned the chain around his neck into an electric heater.

[Brumby]

What, you mean like pretty much every <1.5kW SMPS not made solely for the US market already does?

Which is cool if your device is electronic. Things like motorized appliances (blenders, hair dryers, drills, grinders), heating appliances (hair dryers, heat guns, soldering irons)... well another story perhaps.

Which one of these are you carrying from a 110V country to a 230V one? I cannot imagine someone putting a blender in the check in baggage.

Don't laugh.

Once when working behind the retail counter, I had someone tell me they had moved from the USA to Australia and brought several appliances with them.  Some of them worked fine - but then they told me of one in particular.  A vacuum cleaner.  Using the "appropriate" adapter, it apparently worked REALLY TERRIFICALLY ... for nearly two weeks before it collapsed into a smoking heap.  A couple of minutes of explanation and telling them what to look for and they went on their merry way.  It was a productive discussion, because they were able to comprehend the basics.

A month or so later they came into the shop again and I was pleased to hear they had not encountered any more problems - but they did ditch a couple of other appliances and bought new ones locally.