ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area multiple outlet strips

Orange cords ... Carol (or similar) 25' and 50' extension cords.
The floors under computer rooms used to be full of them.

I had a belkin one that went up in smoke luckily I was there to unplug it at that moment or I don't know what would have happened. Upon closer inspection,I took it apart to see what failed and it looks like the little neon bulb in the power switch shorted out or something It was flickering for a while I just thought it would go out and not short out.

I dont know what the strips are like in the US but here in Australia they all have an overload protection button that pops as soon as you get near the rated 10amps(at 240v). If they are fitted with an overload i dont see what the issue is. Even daisy chained it doesnt pose a risk if they all have overload protection. I will admit its not good practice but almost impossible to police.

The ones in the US also have a circiut breaker rated for 15 Amps or 1875 Watts at 125 Volts and your not supposed to dasiy chain them but I guess if you do and you overload the chain the one first in line will probably trip first.

Trouble is, as has been pointed out in earlier threads on this topic, those cute little overloads in the power strips are not especially reliable.

As I recall, Trumpy had one (10A) which held on up to about 30A before going up in smoke.

Almost as bad as daisy-chaining these things is the power strip with coffee pot, microwave, etc all plugged in, the plastic around the socket turning a sick brown colour from the overload, and nobody even noticing the hazard steaming away under their noses.

Just a note on power strips, i hope everyon is aware , there are strips out there that have a UL sticker, and are knock offs, not ul approved, some of our commercial accounts, have had them go up in flames, and one account called us in a panic after the fire trucks left, please tell us what is wrong with our electric?, after sifting thru the ashes, i found a UL sticker, contacted ul, and gave them the information, they told us that there was no listing for that product, it was a knock off, so you may want to check the listing, also check with ul to be sure it is a listed product.

Yeah. There have been plenty of instances of recalled items because of bogus UL listing stickers.

You want silver sticker. We sell to you silver sticker. You send to me 10 cents per eaches to invoice.

A few weeks ago, a secretary at work called me and said that the powerstrip under her desk was making a crackling noise. I told her to yank the plug out immediately.

When I went up there with a replacement, I took a look at the old one. The switch had gone stiff and the plastic housing on the power-bar had started to distort. It also felt warm in that area.

What was plugged into this thing? A lone electronic typewriter!

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 08-07-2006).]