> Neat, and totally impossible in the U.S. Not to mention the whole 
> polarized plugs thing.

In the UK too.  In fact the whole system is polarized, the "neutral" pin of 
the AC is always connected to Earth at the substation, so essentially one 
pin is always close to Earth voltage and the other carries the AC signal. 
This means that some equipment might be designed only to switch the "live" 
side, if it was then connected the "wrong" way round, it could be very 
dangerous.  Nowadays I suspect nothing is actually wired like that, given 
that it's always possible someone uses an adaptor, takes it abroad and then 
gets electrocuted!

Post a reply to this message