Many, if not all, British socket outlets have shutters just behind the access openings to the L&N contacts. The purpose of the unused earthing pin is to contact a cam just inside the access opening to the earth contact, that mechanically opens the shutters allowing the L&N pins to enter the socket. The shutters stay closed whenever the socket has no plug present to prevent contact with the L or N pins. I suppose this additional protection is considered necessary for children in the UK.
Rgds, Lou Lou Aiken, LaMer LLC 27109 Palmetto Drive Orange Beach, AL 36561 USA tel ++ 1 251 981 6786 fax ++ 1 251 981 3054 ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary McInturff <gary.mcintu...@worldwidepackets.com> To: EMC-PSTC (E-mail) <emc-p...@ieee.org> Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 12:02 PM Subject: British fused plugs - Cohorts. I may be missing the obvious here. I have a small UPS heading to Dubai. The requirement is for a British style fused plug. The UPS itself, is ungrounded and smack full of agency approvals. When I asked the vendor for a power cord he provided two, one with the ground pin, and the hot and neutral pins. The ground pin isn't connected to anything at the equipment end. The second configuration, and the one I anticipated getting, didn't have the ground pin on the input, or wall outlet side of the power cord. Maybe I'm missing something obvious here, but I see no application for a floating ground pin on the wall outlet side of this connector given that it isn't carried through to the equipment which it is powering? What am I missing? Gary ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: davehe...@attbi.com For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list" ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: davehe...@attbi.com For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list"
