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[YouTube]: American is impressed by sensible British mains plug design

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Monkeh:

--- Quote from: james_s on October 22, 2022, 08:58:36 pm ---Another thing worth noting, light sockets throughout the world have no safety mechanisms that I've ever seen, a person can easily insert a finger in an empty socket and receive a shock. Is that really so much different than being able to touch part of a plug you're not supposed to touch?
--- End quote ---

The difference being those you can turn off, and you don't have to interact with them regularly.


--- Quote ---Electricity is dangerous, it's easier to teach people how to handle it safely than to try to protect against every possible abuse.
--- End quote ---

Swiftly followed by..


--- Quote ---Being able to kick/pull a plug out of a receptacle is in many cases a feature and not a bug. If you trip over a cord it's usually better to pull the plug out of the wall than to yank the appliance onto the floor or trip and fall, possibly injuring yourself.

--- End quote ---

Because it's easier to make a crappy socket than teach people not to trip over cables strung wildly around where they don't belong?

b_force:

--- Quote from: themadhippy on October 22, 2022, 09:09:58 pm ---Even a table lamp with an es lamp base?

--- End quote ---
What is the question here?

Any lamp fixture has to be grounded (and therefore connected to a ground), any lamp base is either grounded or double insulated?
A regular light bulb doesn't care, a modern LED bulb also doesn't care?

Monkeh:

--- Quote from: b_force on October 22, 2022, 09:33:24 pm ---
--- Quote from: themadhippy on October 22, 2022, 09:09:58 pm ---Even a table lamp with an es lamp base?

--- End quote ---
What is the question here?

Any lamp fixture has to be grounded (and therefore connected to a ground), any lamp base is either grounded or double insulated?
A regular light bulb doesn't care, a modern LED bulb also doesn't care?

--- End quote ---

It's not very double insulated when you're screwing in the lamp.

b_force:

--- Quote from: james_s on October 22, 2022, 08:58:36 pm ---Because they have been in use for over 100 years and people just know not to touch the prongs.

--- End quote ---
I find it very hard to believe if that is just a personal subject thought, or something actually being considered?
For the last one, I hope not, because from a bigger perspective, that is extremely poor argumentation.

Most schuko sockets used to be also totally open (as in, one could put a pen, or metal object in it).
I forget when it was introduced, but since a few years a "child safety" little press cap inside the sockets in mandatory by standards.
I absolutely hate them (also remove them on my own bench), but I totally get why it became mandatory from a bigger picture.
Before people also knew very well that it was not safe to put a metal object inside those things and it also very rarely happened.

In this case it's a cost vs hazard analyses.
It's not if it very rarely happens, it's about the issues that are being created WHEN it happens.
For any exposed pins, there is no excuse for. 115Vac or not, that doesn't matter.
Some other wire or something else could get stuck in between (I have seen it), and create a spark or something that starts to smolder.
I really fail to see and understand with any kind of logic why flimsy hanging plugs are a feature, I am really sorry.
Mostly because the other end is meant for this.

What people did in AUS and NZ  was sensible to this, just add a insulating sleeve to the pins.
Easy to implement, very cost effective, and will prevent any major issues.

TimFox:
Here is an American plug with which I am impressed.
Unfortunately, it is not at all common, and this is the only example I have seen.
It is a molded 3-prong plug for US 120 V service, at the end of the attached cord for a relatively modern toaster (that has no internet connection).
Note the finger hole that makes it very easy to safely unplug the cord from the wall socket, thus removing the temptation to pull on the cord.

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