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Author Topic: beware cheap outlet strips  (Read 5535 times)

John Roberts {JR}

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beware cheap outlet strips
« on: November 28, 2015, 01:02:13 PM »

I just opened up a cheap outlet strip that was intermittent.

Upon inspection I found that the white neutral wire was loose just sitting in the hole where it was supposed to be soldered. More exciting, there was a single strand of that loose wire pointed straight toward the hot bus bar... maybe 1/8th inch away, but since that neutral wire was unattached it could move more if flexed.

The picture of that single strand is not very clear but you can see that single stand of wire up to no good.

Caveat emptor...

JR
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Frank DeWitt

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2015, 01:22:28 PM »

This could probably be shortened to beware of cheap.
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frank kayser

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2015, 12:23:29 AM »

I don't see any discolored plastic...  ::)
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Jonathan Johnson

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2015, 01:51:20 AM »

... cheap outlet strip ...

When the outlet strips with "transformer spaced" receptacles (at greater expense) first appeared, I opened one up and discovered that all they did was remove the portion of the mold that made the holes in the face... behind a blank plastic panel were the plug-in contacts for the receptacle that used to occupy that space.

Kind of like charging more for food when they leave the salt or sugar out.
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Stephen Kirby

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2015, 12:58:31 PM »

I've had more ground loops caused by people plugging keyboards and the like into these things that I've been on a mission over the last several years to rid the world (at least my little musician corner of it) of these contraptions.  Now I have more evidence of why to avoid them.  Home Depot used to sell a Belkin strip that had 3 regular duplex Edison outlets in it.  Which you could easily replace with commercial grade when you cut the MOV out of it.  Can find these any more but I've got a couple that I lend out to folks with those cheap white plastic things.  Saves me headaches.
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Jonathan Johnson

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2015, 01:39:02 PM »

I've had more ground loops caused by people plugging keyboards and the like into these things that I've been on a mission over the last several years to rid the world (at least my little musician corner of it) of these contraptions.  Now I have more evidence of why to avoid them.  Home Depot used to sell a Belkin strip that had 3 regular duplex Edison outlets in it.  Which you could easily replace with commercial grade when you cut the MOV out of it.  Can find these any more but I've got a couple that I lend out to folks with those cheap white plastic things.  Saves me headaches.

Tripp Lite makes several (non-MOV) that are of excellent quality -- but not necessarily cheap.

They make a few molded ones, too, which probably aren't much better than the cheapos from the Home Improvement Warehouse.

I have this one, I like it. I especially like the protected switch.
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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2015, 01:47:52 PM »

For the record I am not critical of the design of this cheap outlet strip, while I am rather dubious about the manufacturing process. The copper wires look like they were swaged to the copper bus bar (plug contacts). The other line cord wires were soldered with real solder. If these connections were soldered too, the outlet would be fine. Perhaps the swaged connections are adequately robust when properly managed. 2 of the 3 lead  connections seem adequate.

If I was a better human, I would look up the UL file # and report this loose connection failure to UL. so they can check what exactly failed (plan or execution). 

JR
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Keith Broughton

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2015, 01:51:33 PM »

Show stoppers! >:(
I too try to avoid any kind of outlet strip and favour proper receptical boxes. Not only can the connections be iffy, you can't trust the cheap a$$ed breakers either.
It's one thing to be plugging in the client laptops or script lights but any show critical equipment needs quality power connections.
The Home Depot metal power bar mentioned above was an exception.
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Tom Burgess

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2015, 02:57:20 PM »

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Jonathan Johnson

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Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2015, 04:08:49 PM »

I too try to avoid any kind of outlet strip and favour proper receptical boxes.

The problem with using a standard electrical box from the Home Center (as part of a homemade stringer) is that none of them are listed for the purpose of a temporary cordset. They are all listed for installation to a substrate, not as a standalone "loose" end. If an inspector wanted to be nitpicky, any of these homemade stringers could be red-tagged.

There are boxes made for the purpose, but they are considerably more expensive and harder to find. In addition to the box, a proper strain relief (a "Kellems"-style grip comes to mind) is also required. A typical "loom clamp" is not listed for that purpose, either.

For inexpensive homemade stringers/strips, I prefer to use the cast zinc weathertight boxes. The fit & finish is better (no sharp edges) than an interior-rated box, as are the threaded fittings. Being weathertight helps keep out moisture, dust and bugs. Being cast zinc means it's less impact-resistant than steel, which to me is an acceptable disadvantage. For strain relief I use a round rubber compression fitting that's designed (and listed) for use with round cord of the appropriate size. I can get these materials at my local home center. If I could easily get a Kellems-style grip without having to mail order it (and paying more for it than the rest of the assembly), I would. This assembly could definitely be rejected by an inspector due to using materials in a non-listed manner, but it's a better, safer assembly than many homemade stringers/strips I've seen.

(When you see the prices of UL-listed components for custom cordsets, you realize why they seem so expensive. $65-100 for a Hubbell pendant box; $60 for a Kellems grip, another $80 for a plug with grip, you're already around $200 and you haven't even bought the cord yet! A $29 power strip from Home Depot starts looking mighty attractive. I just did some cursory shopping, so you could probably get those components cheaper if you really tried. On the other hand, a cordset that costs 10 times as much might last 10 times as long, too.)
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: beware cheap outlet strips
« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2015, 04:08:49 PM »


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