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North American only: Chinese "wall wart" plugs

Code inspections usually follow work done by a professional. Which is a little nutty if you think about it--the pros are supposed to know what they're doing.
 
KC9UDX said:
And yes, Dwight, they do make fire safe boxes (and bags) exactly for that purpose. They are commonly sold where the more expensive radio controlled vehicles are sold. They don't make them big enough for a Tesla nor even those certain electric motorcycles.
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Maybe we can squeeze in a Leaf?
Dwight
 
Chuck(G) said:
Code inspections usually follow work done by a professional. Which is a little nutty if you think about it--the pros are supposed to know what they're doing.
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When I moved into the house I have now, a licensed contractor put 3 prong sockets in the house and only two of them had a ground wire. The rest were not attached to any thing. It was almost criminal. I was not happy in the crawl space in 95+ temperatures.
Another place I lived in years ago, had the white and black wire swapped on 50% of the sockets that were put in by the contractor building the extension to the house. In that case, there was an inspection but the incorrect wiring was not caught by them.
Most contractors in our state got there licenses by having copies of the test to study from and still have to take it several times to pass.
Dwight
 
I'm familiar with the hot-neutral swap, from my own home--and this, after the previous owner had occupied it for 10 years. Gave me the willies.

On the other hand, the contractor who hooked up my new heat pump (replaced a 20-year old one), looked at the aluminum wire feeding the 50A circuit and replaced the run with copper. He could have legally used one of the transition connectors, but didn't think it wise. Didn't cost anything additional, as it was included in the system price. So maybe things are getting better.
 
All the bureaucracy in the world won't (and clearly doesn't) solve these problems. Upon moving in, I do a thorough inspection myself. If I couldn't, I'd hire someone more skilled than the typical home inspector to do the job. Caveat Elmore (thanks autocorrect).
 
There are good tradesmen out there who take pride in their work, good inspectors too. There's also a lot of inspectors that get online certifications.

For the "plug falls out" problem, Hubbell spec-grade receptacles :) That's all I've been using for a long time, they even hold on to the 10AWG extension cord I use for the little MIG welder and powering up larger machines in the shop.

The "rough the prongs up with dikes" trick is something I remember reading in an old issue of Popular Mechanics or something. Definitely have done it myself, works best with front nippers if you can get them in there.
 
Got those, but the larger dikes work better--easier to fit between the blades. I suspect the blades are probably steel underneath the plating. Definitely not brass.

Hubble doesn't make an SMT micro USB receptacle do they? :) It's hard to beat the Hubbell twist-lock connectors for staying power.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Hubble doesn't make an SMT micro USB receptacle do they? :) It's hard to beat the Hubbell twist-lock connectors for staying power.
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Heh, not that I'm aware of! I've been less-than-impressed with even the nicer, more expensive micro USB sockets I've incorporated into projects/products. Certainly nothing like a twistlock! :D
 
Size is pretty much it. Relevant to some but not all of the designs I've personally worked on (obviously a huge issue for phones). But, if I'm going to stock a USB connector and cables, it'll be one connector!
 
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