T101, T104 Poor design?

[chris kennedy]

The little plastic barrier over the screw terminals on these bother me. Directly under the manual over ride lever. Held on by a tiny screw on the left and impaled on a post to the right. Often damaged or just missing. Seems like a better design would be in order.

 

[ultramegabob]

they make digital timers if you dont like that design, but they cost more....

 

[HotConductor]

The little plastic barrier over the screw terminals on these bother me. Directly under the manual over ride lever. Held on by a tiny screw on the left and impaled on a post to the right. Often damaged or just missing. Seems like a better design would be in order.

If it's installed properly and wired neatly it should be fine. They've been manufactured that way as long as I've been doing it(25 years).

 

[chris kennedy]

they make digital timers if you dont like that design, but they cost more....

Thank you sir, the Intermatic digital products are a fine line indeed. The timers in question are tried and true. I don't mind sticking my fingers into one missing the barrier, but I wouldn't want my wife to do it.

 

[gar]

090321-2031 EST

chris:

What are these devices. Any pictures, especially of the problem area? If something breaks easily I am likely to agree with you.

.

 

[480sparky]

090321-2031 EST

chris:

What are these devices. Any pictures, especially of the problem area? If something breaks easily I am likely to agree with you.

.

Problem is the terminals are only covered by the flimsy plastic along the bottom.​

 

[Cavie]

Problem is the terminals are only covered by the flimsy plastic along the bottom.​

The workhouse of timers for my 38 years in the business

 

[LarryFine]

The workhouse of timers for my 38 years in the business

Like 3-wire major-appliance circuits?

 

[Cavie]

Like 3-wire major-appliance circuits?

3/w appliance should never have been allowed. I don't know why it took so long to correct the problem. Couldn't have a bare grd/neutral on 120v. Why was it ik on a 220v allliance circuit???

 

[LarryFine]

3/w appliance should never have been allowed. I don't know why it took so long to correct the problem. Couldn't have a bare grd/neutral on 120v. Why was it ik on a 220v allliance circuit???

Because it was only allowed where the wiring method already had a bare neutral, in the case of SE cable. If NM was used, the neutral still had to be insulated.

Your concern is obviously with using the neutral for bonding, and not whether it's insulated. In my years of experience, I have had one direct issue with that.

A customer received a bad shock between their range and the sink. I discovered that the neutral conductor of the cordset pulled out of its crimp-on lug.

We found that the cord ran through a hole in the floor, and only a few strands of each conductor of the original range cable were wrapped around each plug blade.

The previous owner had apparently rearranged the kitchen, moving the stove a few feet farther from the panel. The wire pulled out of the lug due to the cord's weight.

I wouldn't say the 3-conductor installation caused the hazard. The same thing could have happened with four conductors with such a poor and dangerous re-installation.