4 ms·
Newer style NEMA 5-15 plugs are polarized. The neutral pin is larger than the live pin. You must have some very old 2 pin plugs, or you got hold of a plug made
by hwstar 11y ago
Newer style NEMA 5-15 plugs are polarized. The neutral pin is larger than the live pin. You must have some very old 2 pin plugs, or you got hold of a plug made in China. The Chinese plugs have pins of the same size and are even more dangerous.
Also chances are the sparking isn't due to the way the plug is inserted in the socket. It's more likely due to the fact you have connected a capacitive load such as a computer power supply, and the fact the the mating parts of the receptacle are very close to the front making a spark more visible.
- grecy 11y ago> You must have some very old 2 pin plugs, or you got hold of a plug made in China. I just looked at the plug on my mac book air, it's identical and goes in easily either way around. It sparked when I unplugged it and plugged it back in again, both ways :)
- hwstar 11y agoAny twin blade plug made in China will probably have pins of the same size. The reason is North America is the only one using the twin blade polarized plugs, all bets are off in the rest of the world. Also, the pins may be the same size so you won't run into problems when you travel internationally. Sparking will happen regardless of the way you insert the plug into the socket. This is probably due to a lack of inrush current limiting in the notebook power supply. When you plug it in, the discharged capacitors appear as a short across the AC line momentarily as they charge up. This is what causes the sparking.