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scott wrote:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europlug
We use those (or used to) for some devices but most have this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Australian_dual_switched_power_point.jpg
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Invisible wrote:
> That worked for about 20 minutes, and then the ends unhooked.
> Frustrated, my dad picked up the ends again... and then got up off the
> floor and UNPLUGED THE HEATER before repeating this action. ;-)
As a kid, about 5, for some reason still unknown to me today, I got it
in my head that I should unplug the clock that was on top of a dresser,
so I crawled underneath the furniture, grabbed the plug, slid my fingers
behind it to get more leverage, and >Thump< a nice 110V hit. From that
day forward, I've had a very healthy respect for electricity. But, no. I
wouldn't recommend anyone make contact with live wires. It's just asking
for a trip to the morgue.
--
~Mike
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Gail wrote:
> Next thing I was sitting with my back to the wall of the server cupboard
Wow. I'm glad we only use half the voltage here. I've been shocked a few
times in the US, and while it leaves you shaking a bit, I can't imagine
it being bad enough to knock you down. I mean, I wouldn't want to repeat
the experience, it's like stubbing your toe: not especially dangerous.
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
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Mike Raiford wrote:
>> Not something you think about every day - until you realise that less
>> civilised countries just use a plain metal stick so it's frighteningly
>> easy to pull out of the wall, plug in backwards, electrocute yourself
>> with by touching the pins while inserting/removing, insert random
>> objects into the socket, etc.
>
> Heh, that's not a jab at the U.S. style plugs, is it?
Nooo, at at all... </sarcasm>
> Our wall sockets
> are just the right size for a determined toddler armed with only a
> screwdriver to, err, well ... That's why we invented any number of
> different solutions to prevent determined toddlers armed with
> screwdrivers from sticking the end of the screwdriver in the appropriate
> slot and causing a simultaneous power and life failure. :)
Hmm. It's like natural selection, but backwards: the kids who get bored
quickly enough don't figure out how to do it and survive to reproduce! :-D
> So, can't a kid stick something metallic in a British design socket?
Nope. As the Wikipedia article explains, there are sprung-loaded plastic
covers that only move out of the way as the earth pin is inserted.
So you'd actually need *two* pointy things - one to poke the earth
socket, and another metallic object to insert into the live socket. Oh,
and some coordination. I'm sure if you try hard enough you can kill
yourself, but seriously... ;-)
(Interestingly, Wikipedia also points out that the "safety covers" you
can commonly buy are actually ideal for opening the pins so you can kill
yourself. Neat, eh?)
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Mike Raiford wrote:
> As a kid, about 5, for some reason still unknown to me today, I got it
> in my head that I should unplug the clock that was on top of a dresser,
> so I crawled underneath the furniture, grabbed the plug, slid my fingers
> behind it to get more leverage, and >Thump< a nice 110V hit. From that
> day forward, I've had a very healthy respect for electricity. But, no. I
> wouldn't recommend anyone make contact with live wires. It's just asking
> for a trip to the morgue.
[Another safety feature of the BS1363: partially insulated pins. You'd
need very thin fingers to touch live by the time it's inserted far
enough to make contact...]
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Mike Raiford wrote:
> Somewhere on Youtube there's a video of a backhoe making contact with a
> (I think) 15kv overhead line. Needless to say, the backhoe was no more.
If you can think of it, it's probably on YouTube.
I heard some guy has one of those mains grid transformers in a shed at
the end of his garden. (I don't know how common this is in other parts
of the world, but it's not "rare" in the UK.) Apparently one day the
whole street lost power, and this shed looked "like the 5th of
November". Apparently when the power company finally turned of the
circuit, there was a bit of a crater.
Damn, I would *not* want to be around that crap! o_O
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Darren New wrote:
> Wow. I'm glad we only use half the voltage here. I've been shocked a few
> times in the US, and while it leaves you shaking a bit, I can't imagine
> it being bad enough to knock you down. I mean, I wouldn't want to repeat
> the experience, it's like stubbing your toe: not especially dangerous.
...which reminds me of the time I stood on an upturned BS1363 plug,
barefoot.
Trust me, it hurt.
It hurt *almost* as much as a split second later, when I grabbed a
red-hot gas fire griddle to support myself as I hopped around in pain.
I had a griddle pattern on the skin of my hand for, like, a month after
that...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> Nope. As the Wikipedia article explains, there are sprung-loaded plastic
> covers that only move out of the way as the earth pin is inserted.
Is it guaranteed that the difference in potential between the earth pin
and the physical ground is always very close to zero?
Because AFAIK there may be surprisingly large potential differences
between the earth pins of neighboring buildings at some places.
--
- Warp
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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>
> Hmm. It's like natural selection, but backwards: the kids who get bored
> quickly enough don't figure out how to do it and survive to reproduce! :-D
>
That explains a lot, actually ... :)
>> So, can't a kid stick something metallic in a British design socket?
>
> Nope. As the Wikipedia article explains, there are sprung-loaded plastic
> covers that only move out of the way as the earth pin is inserted.
Sounds similar to what we have installed over our plugs. Essentially,
you have to slid the cover over as you plug something in. The drawback
is if you have older plugs that don't hold firmly, the plugged-in device
will slip out.
> So you'd actually need *two* pointy things - one to poke the earth
> socket, and another metallic object to insert into the live socket. Oh,
> and some coordination. I'm sure if you try hard enough you can kill
> yourself, but seriously... ;-)
Ah, so only the most determined toddlers with a good bit of hand-eye
coordination, and manual dexterity will be successful.
--
~Mike
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Warp wrote:
> Is it guaranteed that the difference in potential between the earth pin
> and the physical ground is always very close to zero?
>
> Because AFAIK there may be surprisingly large potential differences
> between the earth pins of neighboring buildings at some places.
I'm not an electrical engineer, so I couldn't say. I do know that on
many appliances the earth pin is physically connected to the metal
chasis of the appliance, so I *hope* it's similar to the
surroundings...! o_O
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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