Thread: Shrouded extrension cord sockets

The shroud is to stop small children inserting their fingers in the gap that can be produced when the plug is part removed but still be live.

This is also why you find new appliances have the bottom 10mm or so of the pins on the plug insulated.

15amp cords/plugs aren't common in households so they haven't been hit with this law.

Wait and 15amp cords/plugs will become the same.

Originally Posted by zuffen

The shroud is to stop small children inserting their fingers in the gap that can be produced when the plug is part removed but still be live.

This is also why you find new appliances have the bottom 10mm or so of the pins on the plug insulated.

15amp cords/plugs aren't common in households so they haven't been hit with this law.

Wait and 15amp cords/plugs will become the same.

Time to stockpile then...

Still plenty around without shrouds

Hi,
The most obvious one is when working on a sheet iron roof, the plug can come partly loose and the edge get between the plug and socket when the lead dangles over the edge causing the roof to become alive or a big bang. The sheath is designed so that the active prongs (A & N) are disconnected before they become exposed. It does not need to much imagination to see other scenarios, like a lead in metal shavings, the lead to your grinder over the edge of the sheet you are grinding etc.

Hi zuffen,
The 1/4" insulation is for the likes of the cook who hung his thin metal tongs between the 2 plugs in a double GPO it worked well until one day it slipped in and shorted the active of one to the neutral on the other with a resulting bang. A case of the Devil looking after his own it could have just gone in on the active and electrocuted him next tine he reached for it.

You will notice the earth pin is longer than the active and neutral pins.

Then the earth pin is always at the bottom of a GPO.

The reasoning is the plug will come out of the GPO top first (remember Mr Gravity) thus disconnecting the power but leaving the earth pin in contact for a few moments longer,

This is a 100 year old design.

Interestingly the Poms do it the other way with the earth pin on top.

But hey they're Poms, and they wire their own hoses and you have trouble buying appliances with a plug connected to the lead! You do your own thing over there.

I was raised by a sparky and have great respect for 240volts but that doesn't stop me working with it respoectfully. particularly when finding a sparky nowadays who knows what he's doing is so hard.

Hi zuffen,
You raise some interesting points even if you are a bit hard on the Poms.
Your point on the longer earth (ground) pin is correct but more important it makes contact first. In the bad old days when tools etc. were made of cast metal (or the good old days before every thing was made of plastic, depending on your point of view) if you had a tool in one hand and pluged it in with the other it is important to have the earth protection connected before any power.
The reason tools are sold with out plugs in some countries is they don't have the luxury of a single standard socket in ever house. 2 pin 5 amp, 3 pin 5 amp, 3 pin 15 amp, the fused 13 amp 3pin and may be still some of The Crabtree system.
The wiring system for the 13 amp (square pin) fused plug is also very foreign to AU/NZ it is ring wired where the last point is looped to the breaker or fuse. This is specifically banned in AU?NZ regs as is using a plug with a fuse in it. Being able to rate your plug fuse to the appliance and cord you are using does have some advantages.
As for their earth being at the top you will notice all the cords come out the bottom of the plugs and thus pull straight down and not out as in the most common AU plug, out the back. Also all theirs are more substantial and the socket encase the whole pin and not just squeeze the side as in our flat pins so are less likely to come out at an angle.
On the subject of different regs the Americans have their light switches upside down to us.
Hope this is of some interest and not too much of a thread hi-jack.

Originally Posted by A Duke

Hi zuffen,
The 1/4" insulation is for the likes of the cook who hung his thin metal tongs between the 2 plugs in a double GPO it worked well until one day it slipped in and shorted the active of one to the neutral on the other with a resulting bang. A case of the Devil looking after his own it could have just gone in on the active and electrocuted him next tine he reached for it.

Cant say I have heard that one, but I could image some twat actually doing that. The Darwin Awards are full of such brainiacs.Yeah there are several applications, some already mentioned, that are made safer with the shrouded setup. Then of course apps like attaching some plug packs to extension leads that are a PIA.I'm with Gerbilsquasher and will stockpile a few of the older type. Its a bit like those compact fluoro lights v's the old style incandescent units. Not all apps suit the new style.