Lots of people don't know how to measure and cut/strip double-insulated cords properly. I've seen the same situation with heavy-duty American plugs.

In Tijuana, Baja California (Mexico) last Summer I noticed some roadies were setting up a stage in front of the big cultural center/museum.

There were a couple of small theatre spot lights on tripods hanging around. The cord of one of these had a nice heavy-duty rubber 125 volt/15amp three-pin replacement plug on it.

The lamp was wired with the black round three-conductor rubber jacketed cord.

However the installer had stripped the outer jacket back too far, leaving about two or three inches of individual conductors showing beyond the end of the handle of the plug.

The cord grip screws were also not tightened, so the metal buckle surrounding the rubber handle that is supposed to squeeze down on the plug was just dangling there uselessly.

It looked similar to what is pictured, except the length of the exposed black, white and green wires was longer.

I've seen this also with extension cords that have been repaired by their owners.

One good yank and that cord will rip out of the plug in a shower of sparks. Even more dangerous with a female connector, I guess. [Linked Image]

Nothing, however, beats the sidewalk-shed folks who use a cord-cap with NM cable coming out of it and connected to either an exterior receptacle or lampholder (via adapter). But that's a whole different beef. [Linked Image]

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 10-30-2003).]