I thought that the sale and use of these ground-adapter devices was illegal in Canada.

Why then is this ...thing... being sold at a large chain like Rona?

In the US they delisted the ones with the pigtail for the ground but I think these "strap" style are still legal.

I'm not sure why.

If the box is not grounded, the device screws made up metal to metal tight and the strap connected to the center screw of the duplex, you might as well just cut the ground pin off the plug cap.

Connecting the strap conductor to the center screw might not be completely useless - it makes it more dificult to swipe your adapter when someone else needs one.

If pluging a 3 prong plug into an ungrounded receptacle became unavoidably necessary, I'd rather use one of those dumb adapters, strap left hanging or removed, than to remove the ground prong from the plug. If later you are able to plug into a grounded outlet, you'd need to replace the plug first.

Radar


[This message has been edited by Radar (edited 01-26-2006).]

You are right, Sven. Those adaptors are illegal in Canada. I suppose Rona doesn't realize they are illegal. Same as with anything else electrical - if it isn't approved for use in Canada, you can't sell it - yet I see rolls of unapproved offshore electrical tape for sale here all the time.

The only thing you can do is bring it to their attention, and hopefully they will pull it off the shelf.

As for the ground on these adaptors, I have yet to see anyone who has taken the time to bond it to the cover screw.

It still kinda baffles me that those are (still) legal here in the states! I've no idea how to find out actual statistics, but I'd be afraid to know how many people have been electrocuted while using one of these.

I imagine you have put your finger on it. I doubt there is really much of a body count so it doesn't get outlawed.
NFPA is a tombstone agency, never doing anything without a body count ... unless someone has a new product they are selling.

They're still sold in hardware stores and dollar stores all over the place here.

Obviously they don't have a UL seal....

Wonder why they delisted those. I know a lot of those are non-polarized...which sort of adds to the danger a bit, I'd say.

The ones with the wire pigtail got the listing pulled because you could pinch the wire under the hot prong and actually energize the case of the equipment you were using.

I've got one here made by Hubbell, that has a ground screw on the adaptor, with a pigtail with lugs on both ends.. appears to be bakelite..

I have a wacky one with a terminal lug and a pigtail with spade lug. Made by General Electric.

There's an price sticker still stuck on it...about 40 cents American.

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 01-27-2006).]

Sven:

If Rona is selling them it must be old stock or a regional purchasing thing.

I was in the two large Rona Stores in Winnipeg since you posted this and neither of them had any of the cheaters for sale.

Also did not see them in the other major big box chain stores in Winnipeg either.

First time I remember seeing one is in the 60's when my dad bought one so he could use his new electric drill. Our house was built in the 50s and did not have grounded wiring.

Home Depot lists them as "Grounding Oulet Adapter. Converts 2 prong outlet to 3 prong outlet. Underwriters Laboratory Listed"

SKU 224676 69 cents apiece.

When I was in Ontario I saw a lot of those at dollar stores, pointed out to the store owners that they were illegal in Canada, and got the shrug 'we just sell them, we know nothing of this electrical code of which you speak' .

As gfretwell mentioned, unless there's a bodycount, nobody is going to enforce sadly.

What I wonder is....if they're illegal, how do they make it through Canadian Customs?

A number of things:

Customs doesn't search through everything.

They are liekly only looking at tax/duty value anyway.

They have "more illegal" product to search for.

Probably they do catch batches they do happen to inspect.

[This message has been edited by classicsat (edited 01-30-2006).]

I don't even see what grounds Canadian customs could use to sieze these things. They may be non code conforming but that doesn't make them "illegal".
The current code is dead front plug caps but I still see dusty old plugs with screws and a fiber washer on the shelf.
They also still sell edison base fuses (not S type)