NEMA 1-15R receptacle, legal for new builds until 1968, met code until 1972.
As for earthing. Glass houses and all that.
BS546 plugs - note the huge earth pin, current from 1934 up to 1947 when the standard was changed
QuoteBS546 plugs - note the huge earth pin, current from 1934 up to 1947 when the standard was changedThe 15a variant is still widely used thought the uk as the connector of choice for theater dimmer circuits.
Someone else has noted that it's normal to take the three phases and neutral down the whole street and tap different phases at different points for different building's supplies. It's quite possible that your next door neighbour is on a different phase - something to bear in mind if you're having a party in the garden and someone decides to throw an extension cord over the fence to power the disco lights from the neighbour's mains, while you power the music from your house's mains.
You're missing the fact that the OP is in North America, where a different system prevails. Rather than picking off individual phase+neutral pairs for each property, there's a centre tapped transformer, typically every 1-3 houses (primary connected across two of the three phases), usually on a pole. This supplies two phases at 180º from each other and a neutral. Each phase is nominally 120V with respect to the neutral and 240V with respect to each other. It's normal to bring two phases and a neutral in from the transformer, and bond the neutral to earth at the distribution board. Hefty appliances get a 240V supply, others 120V.
So, three phase is a wholesale change of supply in North America, not just bringing in the missing phases. You'll need a 3 phase transformer in place of the existing two phase.
Somebody missed the "wink". He was taking the piss out of me (in a friendly fashion).
Nah, I saw it, but certain things that are fundamentally wrong drive me nuts, but I'm probably partially insane already anyway...
so what was fundamentally wrong? two-phase power has two phases, three-phase power has three phases, split-phase is a single phase because 180deg doesn't count as a seperate phase
NEMA 1-15R receptacle, legal for new builds until 1968, met code until 1972.
HAHA, that's sure a weird looking version of a NEMA 1-15... Usually the two prongs are centered vertically instead of being based on a back housing that could support the ground prong. Makes sense, though, since production must be extremely limited on those by now.
Someone else has noted that it's normal to take the three phases and neutral down the whole street and tap different phases at different points for different building's supplies. It's quite possible that your next door neighbour is on a different phase - something to bear in mind if you're having a party in the garden and someone decides to throw an extension cord over the fence to power the disco lights from the neighbour's mains, while you power the music from your house's mains.
Usually 3 phase is delivered to a substation that splits the single phases to different streets. It does not make economic sense to put all 3 phases down every street just in case one person wants it as it adds to the cabling required. No point in the OP going frantic. You want an industrial power supply? move to an industrial location.
Whatever is grammatically most correct doesn't really matter, colloquially at least it is referred to as "single phase power" and technical people know that it is a single split phase.
Someone else has noted that it's normal to take the three phases and neutral down the whole street and tap different phases at different points for different building's supplies. It's quite possible that your next door neighbour is on a different phase - something to bear in mind if you're having a party in the garden and someone decides to throw an extension cord over the fence to power the disco lights from the neighbour's mains, while you power the music from your house's mains.
I once worked in a Lab where we discovered that adjacent workbenches were on different phases!
415V 3 phase ceiling drop to the end of each row of three benches and...
Those weird ones are what's available now for replacements. When we were preparing my late grandmother's house to be sold I had to replace a few receptacles in the original ungrounded portion of the house and those were all I could get. They're made that way because it's cheap, they use all the same molded parts as the standard 3 prong receptacles but don't install the ground contacts and the face doesn't have the opening. I think they look stupid but I guess I can understand not making a niche item like ungrounded NEMA-15 receptacles the same way they used to.
Someone else has noted that it's normal to take the three phases and neutral down the whole street and tap different phases at different points for different building's supplies. It's quite possible that your next door neighbour is on a different phase - something to bear in mind if you're having a party in the garden and someone decides to throw an extension cord over the fence to power the disco lights from the neighbour's mains, while you power the music from your house's mains.
I once worked in a Lab where we discovered that adjacent workbenches were on different phases!
415V 3 phase ceiling drop to the end of each row of three benches and...
So what? There is exactly 0 issues with that.
Even for the garden party, there is absolutely 0 issues supplying AV tech from different phases. What may be a real issue tho, is you may have two different potential in between yo grounds/neutrals, if you bring the power from two very different places. Big AV setups are alway powered from threephase anyway.
Usually 3 phase is delivered to a substation that splits the single phases to different streets. It does not make economic sense to put all 3 phases down every street just in case one person wants it as it adds to the cabling required. No point in the OP going frantic. You want an industrial power supply? move to an industrial location.
That is not unfortunately the full truth.
Calculate how much power you can transfer with a single phase using amount X of copper. Then calculate same, using the same amount X of copper split for three phases.
As what you said, is a mathematically proven nonsense. Also, having separate loads on each phase create load imbalances and a lot more issues and stupid inconveniences.
Someone else has noted that it's normal to take the three phases and neutral down the whole street and tap different phases at different points for different building's supplies. It's quite possible that your next door neighbour is on a different phase - something to bear in mind if you're having a party in the garden and someone decides to throw an extension cord over the fence to power the disco lights from the neighbour's mains, while you power the music from your house's mains.
I once worked in a Lab where we discovered that adjacent workbenches were on different phases!
415V 3 phase ceiling drop to the end of each row of three benches and...
So what? There is exactly 0 issues with that.
Even for the garden party, there is absolutely 0 issues supplying AV tech from different phases. What may be a real issue tho, is you may have two different potential in between yo grounds/neutrals, if you bring the power from two very different places. Big AV setups are alway powered from threephase anyway.
Exactly!
I don't understand that the problem would be, or the reason for the facepalms??!
That is all perfectly normal, other than any potential ground loops.
It has nothing to do with the number of phases on the supply.
Whatever is grammatically most correct doesn't really matter, colloquially at least it is referred to as "single phase power" and technical people know that it is a single split phase.
Single phase... Sure... Split phase... Sure!
It is just most certainly not TWO PHASE!
Because it was back in the '80s
Well, you can call it whatever the fuck you want on your side of the pond, I suppose, but here that is ALWAYS considered EXPLICITLY WRONG. You would probably be thrown off the jobsite here for saying things like that because it would be obvious you don't know what you're talking about and that's how people get killed. It is NOT two phases! It is one single phase from the supply, just center tapped. Here, you never, ever, ever call that two phases, that would refer to TWO of the actual MAIN supply phases.
You wouldn't ever have three center tapped transformers feeding a site.
If you get a three phase supply, it is three different, non-center-tapped transformers supplying 120-120-120, hence the reason you get 208V for commercial/industrial stuff.
QuoteBecause it was back in the '80sfor once the uk wiring regs got sensible,it used to be no outlets on a different phase less than 6 foot apart,then it was allowed as long as you fitted warning labels,now it dont matter
Here, for decades our kitchen counter plugs have normally been required to have both phases available on a single plug, so if you casually stick your fork tine or skewer or whatever in the top HOT and another in the bottom HOT of a duplex plug, you get a marginally nifty 240V hairdo, but probably not quite the same as the one you have when you wake up from the smouldering slam against the wall that you folks would get from what would be your 380+ volt ZAP!
Here, for decades our kitchen counter plugs have normally been required to have both phases available on a single plug, so if you casually stick your fork tine or skewer or whatever in the top HOT and another in the bottom HOT of a duplex plug, you get a marginally nifty 240V hairdo, but probably not quite the same as the one you have when you wake up from the smouldering slam against the wall that you folks would get from what would be your 380+ volt ZAP!
Thankfully, you can't put a fork or a skewer in ours..
Because it was back in the '80s, pre RCD days. We would often have extension blocks strung between benches, lots of test gear, High power RF amplifier development and 415V between the live pins on adjacent mains 13A sockets.
Thankfully, you can't put a fork or a skewer in ours..
Because it was back in the '80s, pre RCD days. We would often have extension blocks strung between benches, lots of test gear, High power RF amplifier development and 415V between the live pins on adjacent mains 13A sockets.
How else would you do it though? If you've got a 3 phase drop to a row of benches you're going to either have the entire load on one phase, or you'll have adjacent benches on different phases somewhere in the row.