How can someone put so much effort into something like that, Rube Goldberg would have been so proud!!!
It looks like these were used receptacles that were either from a split kitchen circuit or several individual switched outlets.
Did you find this in a business or a residence???

residence. also,no grounds on either one.



[This message has been edited by Wizzie Electric (edited 09-05-2006).]

Of course theres a ground! Theres a chassis, right? People don't realize just exactly how much power computer equipment can draw. Its crazy that someone would even try stuff like this, espescially when you can get commercially made powerstrips for so little money. There is a hardware store near me that sells really nice ones for $5.00 and not as nice but better than this contraption ones for $1.25.

50 points to whoever gets this one right:

On the first pic, the straps and screws holding the outlets are from what? There are two possible answers (that I know of, anyways)

Hint: The screws are allen key and the nuts are square.

a erector set?

MECCANO !!

The screws are certainly not Meccano.
These were usually brass slotted screws,
I think they were 5/32 or maybe 3/16.
The set I had had hexagonal brass screws.
The original Meccano strips were green while the plates were usually red.

Then I had TEMSI which was a German variant of the English Meccano, which fitted with the Meccano parts OK, although the finish wasn't as good especially on the shafts which were perhaps a few thou thicker and some gearwheels didn't fit on them.
The colours of the latter were different too.

The 8 way power botch has no ground at all, the lead feeding it is only 2 core.

[This message has been edited by RODALCO (edited 09-06-2006).]

The silver stuff with the hex key screws and square nuts was later, maybe in the mid 90s, I forgot the name, but I had a tractor set somewhere.

Did anybody else notice that on the "outlet strip" they took the time to cut the jumpers on the side connection and put jumpers in on the back stab?

Wizzie: Is the inside of the switch box "insulated" with duct tape ?

The guy that engineered the quad/quad loses two points for not putting in a third strap . BTW, how much equipment was plugged into this mess?

Mike (mamills)

No all the knock outs are missing so they wraped the outside of the box with duct tape.


CPU, Monitor, printer,lamp, paper shreader,cordless phone and an internet modem



[This message has been edited by Wizzie Electric (edited 09-06-2006).]

Did it have any surge protection built in?

Absolutely. When there's a surge, this mess will promptly burst into flames, thus disconnecting all the power to sensitive equipment.

lol

These two "works of art" I'd bet were cobbled together late at night from stuff that happened to be on hand. "I need to get this computer system up and running, and I can't lay hands on a power strip. And no hardware shop is open now. Oh, wait, I saw some outlets and a line cord in a cardboard box in the basement, I'll hack something together so I can get on with getting this computer up and running."

The pair of switches in a single gang box isn't quite as bad, though certinately a violation of the various codes on such things. Did it have a cover plate of sorts, with two switch holes and 4 screw holes?

Sheer genius at work here. Cost more in electricial tape than to purchase at the very least a power strip. What a work of art.

Wizzie: You mentioned that the callout was for a breaker that kept tripping. Did this "device" turn out to be the cause of the fault?

In any event, this was certainly a good catch. I hope there weren't other similar evils lurking about.

Mike (mamills)

[This message has been edited by mamills (edited 09-06-2006).]

No.



Yes, the hot and neutral of the two outlets without the strap on the end where touching.

Two things I notice about the 8-way:

1) The screws appear to be Torx, not hex, unless they're just poorly formed.

2) The black and white wires form loops that start and end at the wire-nuts.

In the second picture, are those hot wires hooked under the ground screws?

Ian A.

Meccano*???!! Rod, are they still selling that crap? I had a 'Tricitytrix' set which was German, too I think. Probably made by Krupps after the howitzer business went tits up. I made a crossbow and nearly pinioned our neighbor, Mrs Woodley.

* Meccano, for the uninitiated, was [is?] a toy modular construction kit, c/w garishly painted, [ but cunningly sharpened ], perforated strips, plates, nuts+bolts, gears, motors etc., with which the aspiring young engineer was supposedly guided smoothly through the intricacies of building, say, a 1/96 scale model of the Empire State Building. Then opting for Accountancy as a career when his parents refused to cough up the $20,000 for the necessary kits.

What is THAT?
Wow I have seen some interesting contraptions but that takes the cake!
That junk looks like its been kicking around for a while, those receptacles appear to be old " smith and stone" ( junk to start with). and I havent seen those sold in a LONG time.
Aside from the wiring and the duct tape special.. I HAVE seen two switches side by side in the same box similar to that...( Boss has one in his house in the office) G.E used to make an adapter and plate that allowed two of their old school rocker switches get mounted side by side in a 1 gang box... Puzzles me though why you would want to do that when you could just go buy a device that has two switches on one mounting strap!

A.D




[This message has been edited by electure (edited 09-11-2006).]

I don't see what the rest of ya'll are freakin' out for. They they put enough elec. tape around that contraption, and also, there was ducttape involved in the making of this. So...one can therefore rest assured that it's, GOOD TO GO!!

One second thought, they could have used a little bit more ducttape...haha

At least they did sell some similar stuff some 10 years ago. As I said, I had a tractor kit back then, with parts looking exactly like the ones pictured above.

I had a set when I was a kid too.

It's fun to watch folks that are going to be future winners at the Darwin Awards.

(-:

Almost as good as the infamous Joy soap bottle receptacle floating in the pool ... almost

Sorry to digress from the topic here, but speaking of that "famous" floating recp in a swimming pool pic' was that actually for real??

The picture was not a joke.