7 Oct
2005
7 Oct
'05
4:54 p.m.
Hans Franke wrote:
The one-way-plug feature was relevant before
protective
ground became standard and before it was routed thruout
the house (instead of beeing tied to ground at each outlet).
Nowadays, where a protective ground and a residual current breaker
are standard (I assume) in every country, the difference is rather
theoretical.
In the US, 2 pin polarized plugs are quite common on small appliances
and Ground Fault Circuit Interrupting breakers are only required in
"wet" areas such as kitchen counters, bathrooms, basements, garages, or
outdoors. Local codes may vary.
Getting a bit more OT, old computers aren't always GFCI compatible: try
to plug a PDP-8/e into a GFCI and you trip it. The power line noise
filter consists of a delta of bypass capacitors between the three power
leads: L to N, L to G, and N to G.
chuck