Re: What is the purpose of the large and small prong on 2-pronged plugs

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#994

From: Bill Claussen
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 22:57

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ok....here goes.....

#1...the small blade is usually the HOT side.

#2...the large blade is neutral  (not ground)

#3...the round pin is ground.


.....plugs with only 2 prongs have no ground...although neutral
is usually very close to ground.  (the ground and neutral are
usually tied together at the circuit breaker box.

I think the original reason that prongs went to different was
because a long time ago, certain transformerless appliances (
such as radios, record players, toasters, etc) had one side of
the electrical line tide to the chassis.  If you got the plug in
the wrong direction, the chassis would have 110 VAC on it....
provides for some nasty shocks (I speak from experience).

Hope this helps

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Message-ID: <1992Nov16.225735.15265@col.hp.com>

Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!caen!sdd.hp.com!hp-col!billc

References: <15NOV199212004732@elroy.uh.edu>

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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!caen!sdd.hp.com!hp-col!billc
From: billc@col.hp.com (Bill Claussen)
Subject: Re: What is the purpose of the large and small prong on 2-pronged plugs
Sender: news@col.hp.com (Usenet News)
Message-ID: <1992Nov16.225735.15265@col.hp.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 22:57:35 GMT
References: <15NOV199212004732@elroy.uh.edu>
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
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