Re: Plugs and Sockets Was: Re: House Circuits

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

At 07:34 AM 5/1/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>Original poster: "David Speck by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
><dave-at-davidspeckmd-dot-org>
>
>Chris,
>Heavy duty sockets for electric ovens that carry 50A at 220 volts, as well 
>as replacement cord sets with matching plugs are readily available at most 
>electrical supply houses.
>
>A search on eBay for 'Twist lock" also turns up 50 amp connectors, 
>probably better suited to repeated connect/disconnect cycles.


The main thing about twist lock is that they have a positive engagement, so 
you can't have something that is "partially" plugged in or pulled partway out.

They're no better or worse for multiple matings than straight blade plugs, 
since the basic contact mechanism is identical (two springs pushing on a 
piece of metal in between).

Of more concern is things like the way that the wire is connected to the 
pin. Repeated heat/cool cycles (where the heat comes from the current flow 
through the plug) can cause loosening of some types of wire clamps.

There are also some very nice (but wretchedly expensive) plug/receptacles 
that are weatherproof when mated and basically have a bunch of straight 
round pins. The color of the housing (red/gray/blue,etc) tells you the 
current rating.  These ARE designed for many mate/demate cycles, but then, 
so are straight blade and twistlock connectors.

If you want real high power, and repeated mate/demate, you might take a 
look at the CamLok type pin connectors.



>Dave
>
>
>>Okay, let's say you wired the whole garage up for massive current draw. 
>>What kind of plug do you use for 120V that will handle it? All of the 
>>plugs at home depot (or any other hardware store) are only rated for 
>>around 20 Amps, and I don't like the notion of unintentionally welding 
>>the plug and socket together. So are there different plugs, or is it 
>>still just a matter of running it for small amounts of time?
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