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#111833 03/14/07 10:42 AM
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,691
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Following Brian and R-H's logic, then this is pretty weird:

The regular two-pin SURFACE MOUNT sockets are cheaper than their three-pin cousins.

And those surface-mount gimmicks are already pretty expensive here in the USA (anywhere from four to seven dollars for the grounded type for the good-quality fully enclosed types).

Ditto grounded vs. standard cube-taps. Grounded's more expensive.

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#111834 03/14/07 11:20 AM
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 65
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The surface mount sockets probably don't have a high enough volume on either type to affect production costs significantly (that's why they are so expensive), and the cube taps are likely high-volume parts for both grounded and ungrounded types.

#111835 03/14/07 03:39 PM
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 165
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Sven:

Brian is correct once again. If I understand what you mean by 2-pin surface mount sockets (Leviton's Lev-O-Lets, for one example), you're talking a completely different animal. I don't believe any manufacturer has the requirements for such devices that would justify automation. So, for those and for 3-pin surface mounts, you're talking more parts and labor for the grounded.

A corporate type once asked me, with some annoyance, why isolated grounding makes for more expensive devices in commercial duplex receptacles but less expensive devices in power receptacles. Similar answer: different construction. In the crowded and busy guts of a standard-size duplex, we have to work harder. One solution is an insulator that sits against the metal strap, separating the ground contacts from the strap, and terminating in either a ground lead or a lug with a ground screw. By contrast, in a power receptacle that is mostly plastic body against metal strap, to even achieve a ground we have to add a shunt to the ground contact and rivet the shunt to the metal strap. Want the ground isolated? Leave out the shunt and rivet, and the attendant labor and overhead.

#111836 03/15/07 08:06 AM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 984
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Ever wonder how the US auto manufacturers did optional T-tops for some of their sportier cars?
They built standard cars and sent them to an outside shop to get the roof cut off. It was determined too disruptive to the assembly line process to treat the sheet metal parts of the cars differently.


Ghost307
#111837 03/19/07 12:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,691
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*looks at Ian's picture*

Hey....let us know if your dad ever finds out that you replaced that socket while he wasn't looking?

Smart thing would be to re-use that grungy plate...but you didn't hear me say that. laugh

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