In the US we have two-wire (no grounded prong) 14 amp rated extension cords with 3-way multitaps on the end, but no fuse. Firemen call these "Extinction cords". Back when I inspected wiring I found a fraternity house where every room was wired with a dozen of these strung in series in most every room. Some of the cords also ran into the attic, where the residents had cut holes in the ceiling and created loft rooms with only one exit. All the cords were stapled onto the walls with metal staples, some of which penetrated the insulaton and were live. "Don't touch that one" the residents said. Try plugging three of these together and powering a few toasters and hotplates ( as the residents were doing) and see how hot the cord gets. It's a wonder the building wasn't on fire when I got there. Why are Extinction cords still legal? I caught my family with one and snipped it into little pieces. They can use a heavy duty grounded cord like I use in my shop, or a power tap. A power tap with a circuit breaks and a grounded cord is a lot safer. The US mains wiring system is the most dangerous by design. 60 Hz is the perfect frequency to defribulate the heart. 120 volts is the perfect voltage to make your arm muscles grab on reflexively, but won't knock you away. Half the housing stock in the US still has ungrounded wiring in all the walls, with two prong outlets, perfectly legal because it is grandfathered in. Most houses over 50 years old have a dozen code violations in the main breaker box alone. Most houses over 80 years old still have knob-and-tube wiring with the insulation fallen off. -- Lawrence Lile Senior Project Engineer Toastmaster, Inc. Division of Salton, Inc. 573-446-5661 voice 573-446-5676 fax John Ferrell Sent by: pic microcontroller discussion list 09/13/2003 09:38 PM Please respond to pic microcontroller discussion list To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU cc: Subject: Re: [OT:] good power distribution Most of the wall plug circuits have 15 amp circuit breakers and 14 or 16 gage wire. Any way you get to15 amps trips the breaker. I am not aware of it being any hazard. John Ferrell 6241 Phillippi Rd Julian NC 27283 Phone: (336)685-9606 johnferrell@earthlink.net Dixie Competition Products NSRCA 479 AMA 4190 W8CCW "My Competition is Not My Enemy" ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Winter" To: Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 2:05 AM Subject: Re: [OT:] good power distribution > (OT tag added) > > On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 20:17:40 +1200, Hopkins wrote: > > > House just down the road had a fire in there lounge > because a multibox got > > over loads :-{ > > So be careful. > > This had never occurred to me before - the American > wiring scheme, where the only fuses/breakers are at the > distribution box, means that there's nothing to stop you > adding dozens of multi-way socket-strips to each other, > and plugging into a single wall socket. So nothing > technical stops an overload until you exceed the whole > circuit's rating - have I go this right? > > (As a matter of interest, in Britain we have fuses in > each plug, with a maximum of 13A - approximately 3kW - > so you can't exceed this via any single socket because > extension leads/multiway strips have a fuse in their > plug too). > > Cheers, > > Howard Winter > St.Albans, England. > > -- > http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! > email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics