ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Why don't "they" require better extension cords?

OK, I'll throw them out this Sunday. (And the A/C's being used until then.) Sorry for this commotion, and lesson learned: Don't be a hypocrite.

Ian A.

Cords cause fires http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/Photo-Stories/NY-House-Fire-Caused-by-Shorted-Extension-Cord/45$56629

There is NO doubt by myself, and probably all the others here that 'cords' are a cause of fires.

Yes, the 'cord' caused the ignition, but the person who either mis-used the cord, or abused the cord was the 'reason' that the 'cord' started a fire.

When there is a motor vehicle accident, or a fatality, do we say...." death caused by Honda" , most of the time it's "John Smith was arrested for vehicular manslaughter"

A serious house fire (3 dead, one serious burns) in East orange NJ is being blamed on misused extension cords. Seems the users were running space heaters off them. See
Bergen record news article link

quote from article: "An East Orange electrical code official last week blamed the fire on three extension cords used to connect space heaters on the third floor to electrical outlets on the second floor.

Putting the fuse in the plug must be the stupidest idea that Lasko has ever come up with.

The fuse should be INSIDE the appliance -- I.E. mounted on the motor, or integral to it if you wanna make it really safe and non-user replaceable!!!!!!

If you want to add a second plug to protect the power cord itself, that's another story.

I've thought the same thing: fan stops working, troubleshoot...hey plug's no good. Out with the wire cutters and chop the end off. New plug gets screwed on. Fan is working again.

Ian, if you want to keep your fans but make them safe(r), get an in-line fuse holder and wire it in series with the power leads inside the box fan, or drill the appropriate size hole in the side of the box fan case and fit a panel-mount fuse holder (like what you see used on guitar amps or some electronic devices).

Which is effectively what we get here with the BS1363 fused plug. Bedside lamp wired with tiny 0.5 sq. mm (about 20 AWG) cord, 3A fuse. Lamp blows, taking fuse with it. User replaces lamp, still doesn't work, so checks fuse. Oops, no 3A fuses around the house.

"Oh, shove in a 13 amp for now. I'll change it later."

Later never arrives, of course. That's if he even realizes.

Quite often it's a case of "It's a 13-amp plug, isn't it? A 13-amp fuse must be right."

The US gets around a lot of these problems by making 18ga the minimum size for a line cord and extension cords must be 16ga. There were 18 ga extension cords in the olden days but I hope most of these have been thrown away.

Here at work I've found a few #18 extension cords in use. Have two of them in a desk drawer right now.

I've also seen them occasionally being sold in stores, mis-marked on the paper wrappers as "16-gauge". I bought one once (a 25 footer I belive) for a dollar. It's still at home in the package.

Part of the problems is that we live in a free market, and a free soceity, so almost anything can and will be available for "sale".

UL, and other ETL's can only be in so many places to get bogus things off the shelves.

As I said above, it's not the item, it's the user or abuser.

Ian:
Just as a side note, howdo you use the box fan when you spray paint? (Intake or exhaust)

I use the fans for intake when painting in the garage (with the doors open as well.) Also for exhaust after I'm done or after I move painted signals/parts inside, to get the Ace-equipment enamel smell out of the garage.

The only fans I use for exhaust while painting are fuse-intact fans, or normal window fans. However I no longer paint inside, after this happened.

Ian A.