WTB Elmenco Plug

[Roy Morgan]

Quoting Ivan WB4LXR <MRNILES at AOL.COM>:

> Hi All
>  
> I'm looking for an Elmenco fused 2 prong AC plug. Any of  you have an extra 
> you'd be willing to sell?

Ivan,

Be careful. It can kill you.
Here's part of my diatribe on this:


Roy's Diatribe on Fused Line Cord Plugs ....

Fused Line Cord Plugs:

Under no circumstances should you ever use a fused line cord plug, period.  It
can kill you in a variety of ways.  The Johnson company put them on Rangers,
Valiants, and other equipment.  I have a Heath VHF-1 6- and 2-Meter transmitter
with one on it.  These line cords and fused plugs are the first thing to go
when I start returning it to serviceable condition. Note that there seem to be
two applications for fused line cord plugs: Electric fence energizers and
decorative electric holiday candles and light strings.  The electric fence
situation is based on long history, and safety may well rely on the idea that
the case of the energizer is grounded with a ground rod to make the fence work
properly.  The window candles and light strings have no chassis, no switch, no
transformer, and very little exposure of energized conductors to people.

Some time ago I wrote imaginative but quite serious descriptions of some of the
many ways fused line cords can make a widow out of your wife.  I want to
re-write that thing and put in back into circulation, but that will have to
wait for another day.

In summary, however, the way your wife gets to be a widow is as follows:
1) The equipment with the fused line cord plug suffers an internal short such as
in a transformer or RFI bypass capacitor, with the short circuit more or less
to the chassis.
2) ONE of the line cord plug fuses blows (almost never will both blow unless the
fault is a dead short.)
3) You unplug the thing, unhook the "good station ground" wire and antenna, move
the radio to a work bench to figure out what is wrong.  Notice that the ground
you *might* have had on the chassis is removed. 
4) You plug it back in and unknowingly insert the unpolarized plug so the intact
fuse puts line voltage on the chassis.
5) You reach for the power switch, the current kills you and your wife becomes a
widow.


This is a topic sure to generate much traffic on any radio mailing list. 
People's attitudes seem to fall into four groups: 

1) "Problem?  What problem?  There's no problem here." Duuuhhhh!

2) "Originality forever."  To hell with the fact that it may kill me or someone
else, I will use the original fused line cord and my equipment is authentic.

3) "Hmmm..."  I'm glad to know about all this (but I may not DO anything to
prevent my death or that of any other hapless and innocent person.)

4) "But of course!"   Safety in line cords is easy to understand and worth
paying attention to.  I'm going to get busy and fix this situation now.
 

Be safe, live long. Do not use fused line cord plugs.  
Install a three-wire grounded line cord, and make sure your outlets are working
right.





Roy Morgan
13033 Downey Mill Road
Lovettsville VA 20180

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