Power points, and power leads.... aaarrrgh!!!

[artme]

Ever noticed problems with the arrangement of power points?

I have had a number of problems over thee years and I wonder
if the manufacturers ever do their homework in this area.

Sometimes the male fitting on a lead has the lead coming out to
the left , sometimes under the vertical pin, sometimes, just for
fun, just slightly tilted to the left or right of this position, but mostly
straight from the back.

I have had trouble with all this nonsense because, when using double
outlets or a bank of outlets these varying lead arrangements mean that
one lead may not allow another lead to be used on an adjacentoutlet.

The space between the outlets on a bank may not be great enough to allow
the use of some plugs in adjacent outlets. This is particularly so with some
charging devices.

I have tried in vain to find outlet banks that have a more generous space
between adjacent female outlets.

I am now officially P&^%&* off!!!

[maggs]

I'm pretty sure they do it on purpose to get you to buy two 8 way boards to get to use all 8 of them. This has annoyed me forever too. About 15 years ago I sat down and started sketching up some power boards that would allow for all these issues. The problem was that I would have needed to use single points and plates to get the clearances I wanted and they ended up too big. Now that I have a 3D printer I might revisit the idea and print my own face plate gangs that have a reasonable spacing. Then snap in the points like the factory ones do. They could also be made to allow rotating 90-180 degrees or so to allow using those pesky plug packs next to another plug.

You're not alone on this issue for sure.

Steve

[crowie]

Just cut the plug off and fit the type of plug you want....easy fix and they are cheap...
Ask a sparky mate over a cuppa to help out if you're not confident with the fitment of a new plug...
It's 5min job, a couple of dollars, a cuppa & biscuit; DONE.

Sorry Arthur for being so lighthearted on the issue but life's to short to let these little things stuff up ones day... Cheers, crowie

[jimbur]

And the plugs that don't leave room to work the switch once they're in.

[DavidG]

Weather / dust protected.
4 normal and 2 wide spaced individually switched sockets and 3 usb power ports.
With a RCD and MCB

Love it.

[Chief Tiff]

Australian plugs and power points seriously drive me NUTS!!!

Plugs: Cables entry at from the bottom, angled to the left, angled to the right or worst of all; straight in so the whole assembly sticks out three or four ruddy inches or pulls if you so much as look at it...extension cord locks?
Flimsy little contacts that bend as soon as you look at them.
Power adapters/transformers etc too large or stupidly hanging off to one side so they take up TWO sockets.
Cheap and nasty plastic that somehow costs a lot for what you actually get.

Sockets and wiring: Manufactured from thermoplastic so they melt or burn nicely
Awfull switches with tiny little miserable little contacts
No pattresses needed to mount sockets. C clips? How in the name of various acts of fornication can these be an acceptable method of mounting a socket in plasterboard?
Cables just laying around above ceilings? I remember cable clips; they were nice...
Sockets above sinks and draining boards? "S'allright Mate, just gotta make sure it's more than six inches above..."
Tree wiring systems? "I'll fit all the extra sockets you want mate; if you start dragging too much current the CB will knock'em all off"

I miss my pommy stuff. Big chunky plugs that actually all fit together on one powerboard and have all the cables coming out the same way. Impossible to pull a plug out of a socket by pulling on the cable. Absolutely no need whatsoever to lock a plug into an extension cord! Oh, and a FUSE in the plug rated to the actual equipment so you don't have to just rely on a circuit breaker. And all that for around than 2 bucks each! All plugs, sockets and switches made from thermosetting plastics. Loop wiring so cable currents are actually halved and the circuit breaker will trip well before the cable starts to get warm. Sockets fitted into either EARTHED or DOUBLE INSULATED mounting boxes that are securely fixed to the wall and don't let baby lizards crawl into the switches. Switches! Switches that operate with a satisfactory "click" when operated, not a "fizzle" as the baby lizard inside it takes up smoking. Absolutely no mains sockets or hand switches allowed in a bathroom or within TWO METERS of a kitchen sink. Which is earthed, along with all the copper piping in the house. But not to a little copper stake in the ground. Which is also connected to the Neutral return line. ###???

Oh crap; I just remembered: SWER lines!!! How in the name of all that's holy can it be regarded as remotely safe to feed a power supply using only the Live conductor and have the Neutral line just connected to the aforementioned earth stake poked into the ground? Seriously, how hard can it be to run TWO cables?



Standing by for the invitations to return from whence I came........

[jimbur]

Jeez, can't you be satisfied with the ashes. Must admit that most of what you say is valid though.

[artme]

Just cut the plug off and fit the type of plug you want....easy fix and they are cheap...
Ask a sparky mate over a cuppa to help out if you're not confident with the fitment of a new plug...
It's 5min job, a couple of dollars, a cuppa & biscuit; DONE.

Sorry Arthur for being so lighthearted on the issue but life's to short to let these little things stuff up ones day... Cheers, crowie

Should not need to do this., AND my money is limited. I should not have to spend extra.

Weather / dust protected.
4 normal and 2 wide spaced individually switched sockets and 3 usb power ports.
With a RCD and MCB

Love it.

What about permanently mounted points?? This unit is superb for its intended purpose BUT not for what has worked its way up my nostrils!!!

Australian plugs and power points seriously drive me NUTS!!!

Plugs: Cables entry at from the bottom, angled to the left, angled to the right or worst of all; straight in so the whole assembly sticks out three or four ruddy inches or pulls if you so much as look at it...extension cord locks?
Flimsy little contacts that bend as soon as you look at them.
Power adapters/transformers etc too large or stupidly hanging off to one side so they take up TWO sockets.
Cheap and nasty plastic that somehow costs a lot for what you actually get.

Sockets and wiring: Manufactured from thermoplastic so they melt or burn nicely
Awfull switches with tiny little miserable little contacts
No pattresses needed to mount sockets. C clips? How in the name of various acts of fornication can these be an acceptable method of mounting a socket in plasterboard?
Cables just laying around above ceilings? I remember cable clips; they were nice...
Sockets above sinks and draining boards? "S'allright Mate, just gotta make sure it's more than six inches above..."
Tree wiring systems? "I'll fit all the extra sockets you want mate; if you start dragging too much current the CB will knock'em all off"

I miss my pommy stuff. Big chunky plugs that actually all fit together on one powerboard and have all the cables coming out the same way. Impossible to pull a plug out of a socket by pulling on the cable. Absolutely no need whatsoever to lock a plug into an extension cord! Oh, and a FUSE in the plug rated to the actual equipment so you don't have to just rely on a circuit breaker. And all that for around than 2 bucks each! All plugs, sockets and switches made from thermosetting plastics. Loop wiring so cable currents are actually halved and the circuit breaker will trip well before the cable starts to get warm. Sockets fitted into either EARTHED or DOUBLE INSULATED mounting boxes that are securely fixed to the wall and don't let baby lizards crawl into the switches. Switches! Switches that operate with a satisfactory "click" when operated, not a "fizzle" as the baby lizard inside it takes up smoking. Absolutely no mains sockets or hand switches allowed in a bathroom or within TWO METERS of a kitchen sink. Which is earthed, along with all the copper piping in the house. But not to a little copper stake in the ground. Which is also connected to the Neutral return line. ###???

Oh crap; I just remembered: SWER lines!!! How in the name of all that's holy can it be regarded as remotely safe to feed a power supply using only the Live conductor and have the Neutral line just connected to the aforementioned earth stake poked into the ground? Seriously, how hard can it be to run TWO cables?



Standing by for the invitations to return from whence I came........

Spot on Chief!!!

And no I will not tell you where to go or even insult your unfortunate birth.

[maggs]

No replacement plug top that I have ever seen is comparable in quality, safety or durability as an original moulded plug. They all eventually come loose and place all the stress of daily use directly on the cable. Sooner or later they become unsafe during normal usage.

During my R.A.N electrical apprenticeship in the mid 70's we had an assignment to review safety standards of general electrical appliances. We figured out that it was super easy for a plug top to be partially removed from the socket and still maintain electrical contact with the socket pins. Anything conductive stuck into this gap could be fatal or start a fire. I believe our instructor reported this to the relevant authorities. 30 years later they finally made plug tops with insulated pins extending almost to the end of the pin preventing this happening.

I'm not holding my breath for any convenience fixes anytime soon considering it took decades to fix a safety issue. Of all the advances in technology we are still using an almost century old technology for electrical connections. Surely we can do better than this.

Steve

[DavidG]

Search E-Bay for "rack power rail"

[artme]

Search E-Bay for "rack power rail"

Checked them out. Essentially none that I saw solves the problems talked about above.

[A Duke]

Mags, I have to disagree about the moulded plug top. Some of them just have the wires stuck through holes in the pins and rely on the plastic or rubber to hold it there,
I have lost count of how many I have had heat up and have had some lose their earth continuity all together.
Anyone here know the Crabtree plugs and sockets? Now there was a plug.
In my opinion the most dicey are the American power board that just have 2 slots the whole length of them and you space your parallel 2 pin plug tops along them depending on how many you are using No wonder they are chicken and use 120V over there.
As for ring mains and fuses in plug tops, they are both specifically banned in the Australian wiring rules.
Regards

Ps May be about time for the Mod to put up the Electrical Disclaimer.

[maggs]

Mags, I have to disagree about the moulded plug top. Some of them just have the wires stuck through holes in the pins and rely on the plastic or rubber to hold it there,
I have lost count of how many I have had heat up and have had some lose their earth continuity all together.
Anyone here know the Crabtree plugs and sockets? Now there was a plug.
In my opinion the most dicey are the American power board that just have 2 slots the whole length of them and you space your parallel 2 pin plug tops along them depending on how many you are using No wonder they are chicken and use 120V over there.
As for ring mains and fuses in plug tops, they are both specifically banned in the Australian wiring rules.
Regards

Ps May be about time for the Mod to put up the Electrical Disclaimer.

I should have qualified the moulded plugs as being quality made ones. I agree there are some (mainly Chinese) that are not up to scratch from the factory.

There have been many plug track systems developed over the years and some were of excellent design but all seem to have failed the scale of economy test for general domestic use.

Steve