Ragnar:
Quote
Mhhhm,... and the bottom receptacle is labeled "250V 15A"

No. Our "typical" 110-volt receptacles and switches used to be rated for:

10A 250V/15A 125V

It's hard to see because of the globs of paint on the brown plastic.

I have a couple of these oldies at home (standard sockets, not the winking thing you see there)

Anyone have any idea when they stopped rating most devices this way? And why?

I've seen newly manufactured on-cord miniature switches and surface-mount wall switches still carrying the 250-volt/10-amp rating on the plastic shells....

Maybe the manufacturers never got around to re-casting the molds for these things. [Linked Image]

A standard NEMA 1-15 or 5-15 plug and receptacle can carry 250 volts across it without complaining. I've done it plenty of times at home.

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 06-08-2003).]