Child proof receptacles.

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sparkyboys

Senior Member
Location
Columbus, ga
Ken9876 said:
A problem I see with my four year olds is the blades of a plug are still hot when pulling the plug out and their fingers will fit in that space. Good thing they grew out of messing with plugs and outlets, I was considering bubble covers for a while. I think making some kind of switching device in the outlet would be good, however I think it would required major changes to the outlet and blades and would never happen. Maybe if the hot prong was deeper so it disconnected sooner.
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here in utah they do use switch receptacles/ the top being hot and the bottom being switched. i still have a hard time understanding that one myself on how its wired
 
480sparky

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
sparkyboys said:
here in utah they do use switch receptacles/ the top being hot and the bottom being switched. i still have a hard time understanding that one myself on how its wired
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You don't understand how to wire a split (half-hot) receptacle?

splitrecep.jpg

Black is hot, red is switched, white is neutral & green is ground.
 
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iwire

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
don_resqcapt19 said:
I do think the two object issue is a real issue with the residential TRs. Many of the injuries in the report used to prove the need for TRs involved burns. To me that indicates the use of two objects and this design of TR does not prevent the use of two objects. (they are better than an non-TR device and will prevent injuries, but I wish they did a better job of preventing the insertion of two objects)
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I can not disagree with you Don but want to point out that the second object could often be a metal device plate.

The older and much more expensive ($20+ each) TRs that were available prior to this rule, did a much better job of preventing the insertion of two objects.
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You can still get those from Hubbell but I doubt many folks will be happy about $20 receptacles for dwelling units.


I certainly agree with Don that these new TRs are not going to reduce the injury rate to zero but I think they will substantially reduce the numbers.

Only time will tell if that is true or not.
 
cowboyjwc

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
What was it Tim Allen used to say? If you think a penny doesn't go far you should have seen my nephew go shooting across the garage floor after he stuck one in a recepetecale.:D
 
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CopperTone

Senior Member
Location
MetroWest, MA
I simply say to any customer that asks - it is the required code - end of story.
Now personally I think it is dumb to have TR receptacles in the electrical code - I think of it as natural selection. I know I learned as a kid what happens when you play with receptacles. Everyone should have to learn that lesson the hard way.
Seriously though I think they should be done changing the electrical code - it mostly is changed by electrical distributors lobbying their products.

outdoor bubble covers, WP GFCI receptacles, TR receptacles, arc fault breakers - the list could go on and on.
 
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
CopperTone said:
outdoor bubble covers, WP GFCI receptacles, TR receptacles, arc fault breakers - the list could go on and on.
Click to expand...

Let me break this one down.

Bubble covers - a good idea in theory. Another victim of meeting a price point. Too often they get snapped off, or they are not closed properly, leaving a worse situation than the old die-cast snap covers.

WR devices - a great idea. I wish they had come up with this sooner. Most of the devices I remove from outdoor boxes are covered in corrosion.

TR receptacles - another great idea. Although the points Don has raised tell me they are also a victim of a price point.

AFCI breakers - don't even get me started. ;)
 
iwire

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
CopperTone said:
Everyone should have to learn that lesson the hard way.
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Seriously that sounds so cold hearted.

There are 2400 emergency room trips a year due to burns from outlets, this does not count the ones that go unreported which is probably 10 times or more the number.

If your on the CMP of an electrical standard the purpose of which is electrical safety IMO you would be ignoring your obligation if you did nothing to try to lower this incident rate.
 
ptrip

ptrip

Senior Member
Correctional facility around here has had a problem of inmates lighting cigarretes from the receptacles. Inserting two metal objects (somehow without injuring themselves) until they get hot enough to light their cigarrete.

Now ... the question to us was ... how do we prevent this?

I'm not sure what our answer was ... wasn't my project. <blush>

Pam
 
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Ken9876

Senior Member
Location
Jersey Shore
"Correctional facility around here has had a problem of inmates lighting cigarretes from the receptacles. Inserting two metal objects (somehow without injuring themselves) until they get hot enough to light their cigarrete.

Now ... the question to us was ... how do we prevent this?

I'm not sure what our answer was ... wasn't my project. <blush>

Pam "

Raise the voltage so they do get hurt., or remove the receptacles
 
quogueelectric

quogueelectric

Senior Member
Location
new york
cowboyjwc said:
What was it Tim Allen used to say? If you think a penny doesn't go far you should have seen my nephew go shooting across the garage floor after he stuck one in a recepetecale.:D
Click to expand...
I had heard that wire was invented by two elecrticians fighting over a penny. They stretched it into wire.
 
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