3 ms·

Hmm.... yes, I see what you mean. But it comes back to the same issue; which is that if you are overloading it to the degree that it passes the rated value then

by ErrantX 16y ago

Hmm.... yes, I see what you mean. But it comes back to the same issue; which is that if you are overloading it to the degree that it passes the rated value then the trip switch is the failsafe. The socket is at just as much risk. You wouldn't (in the UK anyway) be able to sell these if they were rated less than the socket.

jacquesm 16y ago
That's the whole point I'm making. You would be doing something that seems safe, that will not trip the breaker but that will cause a problem. Just the fact that you can gang a bunch of stuff that is rated does not mean that there aren't any hidden variables here, and contact resistance is exactly that. Very easy to overlook. That's why 'three way' connectors were outlawed in many countries (but not in all): http://www.rapidonline.com/1/1/8248-3-way-mains-adaptor.html http://www.rapidonline.com/1/1/8248-3-way-mains-adaptor.html That's the UK version, there are others for different places. The euro-plug variety of them has been outlawed for so long that I can't even find an image of one. People would get up to all kinds of creative uses for these, such as 'wonder why I can't plug on three-way in to another', and if that works why not several. They're also known as 'firestarters', any idea why ;)?
- ErrantX 16y ago
  I'm still unconvinced.. the way overloading usually causes fires is heating cables till they short and cause sparks/fire. But that is by the by, my main issues: If all of the mini-sockets are low rated there is no danger, because of how the socket is set up, if you use the other socket for something with a big draw (i.e. if you have a dual socket and plug one of these into it next to something with a big load it will not overload it). If you overload this device or the socket it will trip the circuit breaker. Same as if you plug all the devices into different sockets on the main. Heat is unlikely to be an issue, even with contact resistance it is related to the device it is powering - and I contend that this is not a plug you would use, rate, recommend or legally allow for high power devices. If you're powering three laptops it works out to about 1W for the whole device (rember, while the cable goes to each socket the pins are part of the device circuit, the parallel branch, not the main series).

by ErrantX 16y ago

jacquesm 16y ago

That's the whole point I'm making. You would be doing something that seems safe, that will not trip the breaker but that will cause a problem. Just the fact that you can gang a bunch of stuff that is rated does not mean that there aren't any hidden variables here, and contact resistance is exactly that. Very easy to overlook. That's why 'three way' connectors were outlawed in many countries (but not in all): http://www.rapidonline.com/1/1/8248-3-way-mains-adaptor.html http://www.rapidonline.com/1/1/8248-3-way-mains-adaptor.html That's the UK version, there are others for different places. The euro-plug variety of them has been outlawed for so long that I can't even find an image of one. People would get up to all kinds of creative uses for these, such as 'wonder why I can't plug on three-way in to another', and if that works why not several. They're also known as 'firestarters', any idea why ;)?

ErrantX 16y ago
I'm still unconvinced.. the way overloading usually causes fires is heating cables till they short and cause sparks/fire. But that is by the by, my main issues: If all of the mini-sockets are low rated there is no danger, because of how the socket is set up, if you use the other socket for something with a big draw (i.e. if you have a dual socket and plug one of these into it next to something with a big load it will not overload it). If you overload this device or the socket it will trip the circuit breaker. Same as if you plug all the devices into different sockets on the main. Heat is unlikely to be an issue, even with contact resistance it is related to the device it is powering - and I contend that this is not a plug you would use, rate, recommend or legally allow for high power devices. If you're powering three laptops it works out to about 1W for the whole device (rember, while the cable goes to each socket the pins are part of the device circuit, the parallel branch, not the main series).