JahJahwarrior
Active Member
ok....now i know what this stag pin looks like! still no new thoughts, and now new ideas for old ones. Let me think this over some more tomorrow....
What is wrong with this picture
- Thread starterMayhem
- Start date
Mayhem should be able to confirm that I have narrowed it down to a chicken or the egg cause of the problem amongst two of five causes I already have not crossed out. Given this, there is still one key feature to this narrowing down.
While still waiting for the mailing address of the last in my opinion fist to get the clue winner of Mayhem's post, this one is still open for a second question winner in getting those third, fourth and fith causes right. Much less in figuring out the rational for crossing out the first and second causes of it.
While still waiting for the mailing address of the last in my opinion fist to get the clue winner of Mayhem's post, this one is still open for a second question winner in getting those third, fourth and fith causes right. Much less in figuring out the rational for crossing out the first and second causes of it.
JahJahwarrior
Active Member
Well, looking at the picture, I am wondering why the cable only dryrotted the insulation and oxidyzed the wiring INSIDE the plug. The heat must not have beenoutside the plug, it must have gotten much hotter inside the plug than outside, ,because there appears to be no damage to the cable otuside the plug. This to me seems to point to something wrong inside the plug itself....which might sound really stupid or simple, but to me that narrows down problems in the other ends. the problem must have just been in this end of the cable.
JahJahwarrior
Active Member
So this is one cause: a problem in the device it was plugged into, causing overheating of the pins, and pushing on pin in. Ship, do you want a more specific explanation of the problem in the other device? or is this one of your causes, and now we only have ilke 4 more to solve??
I'm liking this simple study. Who ever "guest" is he or she knows their trade. Don't know where my last post on the plug ended up but I'm sure it ended up in the same section in saying about what guest said. Welcome, come join us as there is lots of need in help or at least clueing things out.
Sorry the plug is now dumpster fill in the end, and by now by way of confirming much of what's observed, we simply cut it, looked for bad wiring at the subsiquent cut and did not find any thus installed a new plug on it. Actually we did not but did observe this cut end in specifically saying that one test that can cross out one of the potential problems. These problems we in cutting might be looking at is if the wire outside of the plug were also destroyed in showing a conductor within the cable itself that overheated by way of overloading. Confusing perhaps, let's lay it out more simple. When the plug was cut off, that area behind the plug looked to be in normal condition. We just did not install a new plug on it as this cable/adaptor has been turned into used resale stock.
In such a cable when overloaded, it's going to fail at the point of most resistance - the plug, but given the overload will also most likely fail between the plug and the cable and the molded splicing point. Given in that cable you did not see any melting as even the plug kind of showed towards the end of the wire also stopped it's melt down as seen by corroded and insulation flaked off wire, we than by cutting the cable confirm that the cause or main purpose of the heat was not by way of loading over it's capacity, more something else. We thus cross out a shorted or semi-shorted fixture attached to it in causing a higher amperage load, or overloading of the assembly in general as the cause. Wire that's not rated for an overload did not burn up while not an absolute reason due to the higher resistance connection is not 100% ruled out, in most cases anyway, this wire will have also burned up given an overloading thus my first test as to the cause and ruling out of at least one cause of the failure. (Long run on sentence.)
Instead given the problems of a threefer in ensuring it's loading, we took it out of the inventory even if by observation was not the cause of the problem. So now, and given the area of the plug was not the problem, what caused the problem? Chicken or the egg as a hint to this broken pin.
Sorry the plug is now dumpster fill in the end, and by now by way of confirming much of what's observed, we simply cut it, looked for bad wiring at the subsiquent cut and did not find any thus installed a new plug on it. Actually we did not but did observe this cut end in specifically saying that one test that can cross out one of the potential problems. These problems we in cutting might be looking at is if the wire outside of the plug were also destroyed in showing a conductor within the cable itself that overheated by way of overloading. Confusing perhaps, let's lay it out more simple. When the plug was cut off, that area behind the plug looked to be in normal condition. We just did not install a new plug on it as this cable/adaptor has been turned into used resale stock.
In such a cable when overloaded, it's going to fail at the point of most resistance - the plug, but given the overload will also most likely fail between the plug and the cable and the molded splicing point. Given in that cable you did not see any melting as even the plug kind of showed towards the end of the wire also stopped it's melt down as seen by corroded and insulation flaked off wire, we than by cutting the cable confirm that the cause or main purpose of the heat was not by way of loading over it's capacity, more something else. We thus cross out a shorted or semi-shorted fixture attached to it in causing a higher amperage load, or overloading of the assembly in general as the cause. Wire that's not rated for an overload did not burn up while not an absolute reason due to the higher resistance connection is not 100% ruled out, in most cases anyway, this wire will have also burned up given an overloading thus my first test as to the cause and ruling out of at least one cause of the failure. (Long run on sentence.)
Instead given the problems of a threefer in ensuring it's loading, we took it out of the inventory even if by observation was not the cause of the problem. So now, and given the area of the plug was not the problem, what caused the problem? Chicken or the egg as a hint to this broken pin.
JahJahwarrior
Active Member
So Ship, the hint you gave, ,you are saying, "did the broken pin cause the problem, or did the problme cause the broken pin?"
I am not sure. Would a bad connection with one pin cause arc welding and the wires to oxydize and dryrot the insulation? I don't know. That would be the broken pin causing the problem. Now, if someone pulls out a threefer to use, and notes a broken pin, they should not have used it at all. My guess is either the pin was broken while they were hooking up electrics, or the person was using the last threefer, and did not see that he would have time to get another, ,and he wnated to go ahead and use it. I think the problem caused the broken pin too.
One question about the pins: was the pin able to slide in and out? if i pushed on it, would it slide in further? was it possible the pin was pushed in even furhter, but got pulled back out more later, upon removal? How are the pin held in, sot hey don't move??
I am not sure. Would a bad connection with one pin cause arc welding and the wires to oxydize and dryrot the insulation? I don't know. That would be the broken pin causing the problem. Now, if someone pulls out a threefer to use, and notes a broken pin, they should not have used it at all. My guess is either the pin was broken while they were hooking up electrics, or the person was using the last threefer, and did not see that he would have time to get another, ,and he wnated to go ahead and use it. I think the problem caused the broken pin too.
One question about the pins: was the pin able to slide in and out? if i pushed on it, would it slide in further? was it possible the pin was pushed in even furhter, but got pulled back out more later, upon removal? How are the pin held in, sot hey don't move??
Don't know about your questions, think you are getting to getting to the root of the options, now what specifically caused the occourance? You call yourself a sound guy? My what this says about the lighting guys about the future of them. Hope they at least are following in this study.
Think science however. What beyond pyro can as a red herring force a pin to go backwards while it's pulled from a plug? Given this answer in getting back to the what burned up or was noticed to, what if the plug were dropped after the show when this area that holds the pin in place while not melted became brittle? All in dropping it would than take is the right angle of drop. Always consider Murphy's Law when dealing with gear.
Than again, also remember this pushed in pin and my reference to "The Princess and the pea" fairy tale. Could there have been a pea of some sort or a shorted melting in the slot of the shorted female connector this threeway was plugged into? We are now also taking a large leep off the simple of the description of a source that's supported by a photo. Think facts not photo or what you are provided with. Could some over ambitios gorilla (no doubt IA) stage hand have forced the thing together anyway in breaking the male pin or seeing a already broken pin and using it anyway? Given that the male pin in question and as hinted at, in having it's gap in the pin's slot forced together have caused a high heat by way of resistance connection to the connector given it's now cone shape that's also reduced in length of contact? Consider this cone shape to the pin once both shorer and cone shaped in two dimensions. Will this sort of connection been enough resistance to cause this amount of damage?
Was the break in the pin, the chicken or the egg even beyond heating by the cone shaped pin? What caused the neutral to also melt down given this? You now enter the world of the something unknown by the "ship."
Doing well on these questions you ask. Not just you but all posters in these questions and interest - what about three of you now in finding out and not looking for the easy answer. just not speaking with seen it before and more the know what happened and asking of it to confirm the last four or five parts of the solution. Chicken or the egg... Hopefully in thinking and solving your way thru a problem in this case study however you will also think thru analyzing other problems as the point however.
Know what could have gone wrong, and as if the scientific theory, test what you can easily to cross out those that cannot be the solution. Than speculate and consider since testing would be a bad thing.
Another hint, look at the photo again now. While I don't have the anser at this point which of the final two it would seem was the actual cause and given it's outside of the plug this cause I either would not see it's cause if fixed in the field or won't for some weeks now at that time I start fixing other jumpers, it's seemingly not in this plug, the wire coming off it, but instead somewhere between the pin and what it was connected to failing I at least surmise.
Now throwing off all of this or helping one or the other thus "the chicken or the egg" I keep stating, what new evidence I had not noted before caused the neutral conductor's insulation to also break down? Note it did not dry rot, that's while almost similar not the same in condition or after effect. This by term was heat damage.
Think science however. What beyond pyro can as a red herring force a pin to go backwards while it's pulled from a plug? Given this answer in getting back to the what burned up or was noticed to, what if the plug were dropped after the show when this area that holds the pin in place while not melted became brittle? All in dropping it would than take is the right angle of drop. Always consider Murphy's Law when dealing with gear.
Than again, also remember this pushed in pin and my reference to "The Princess and the pea" fairy tale. Could there have been a pea of some sort or a shorted melting in the slot of the shorted female connector this threeway was plugged into? We are now also taking a large leep off the simple of the description of a source that's supported by a photo. Think facts not photo or what you are provided with. Could some over ambitios gorilla (no doubt IA) stage hand have forced the thing together anyway in breaking the male pin or seeing a already broken pin and using it anyway? Given that the male pin in question and as hinted at, in having it's gap in the pin's slot forced together have caused a high heat by way of resistance connection to the connector given it's now cone shape that's also reduced in length of contact? Consider this cone shape to the pin once both shorer and cone shaped in two dimensions. Will this sort of connection been enough resistance to cause this amount of damage?
Was the break in the pin, the chicken or the egg even beyond heating by the cone shaped pin? What caused the neutral to also melt down given this? You now enter the world of the something unknown by the "ship."
Doing well on these questions you ask. Not just you but all posters in these questions and interest - what about three of you now in finding out and not looking for the easy answer. just not speaking with seen it before and more the know what happened and asking of it to confirm the last four or five parts of the solution. Chicken or the egg... Hopefully in thinking and solving your way thru a problem in this case study however you will also think thru analyzing other problems as the point however.
Know what could have gone wrong, and as if the scientific theory, test what you can easily to cross out those that cannot be the solution. Than speculate and consider since testing would be a bad thing.
Another hint, look at the photo again now. While I don't have the anser at this point which of the final two it would seem was the actual cause and given it's outside of the plug this cause I either would not see it's cause if fixed in the field or won't for some weeks now at that time I start fixing other jumpers, it's seemingly not in this plug, the wire coming off it, but instead somewhere between the pin and what it was connected to failing I at least surmise.
Now throwing off all of this or helping one or the other thus "the chicken or the egg" I keep stating, what new evidence I had not noted before caused the neutral conductor's insulation to also break down? Note it did not dry rot, that's while almost similar not the same in condition or after effect. This by term was heat damage.
I have one other idea, and maybe it's way out in left field and may have been hinted at before, but is there a chance that a piece of metal crossed the pins or came close to crossing the pins on the outside of the plug in the small gap between the male and female plugs? This, no doubt would not have been helped by any of other things going on with this pin (being pushed in and bent etc...). This idea would probably fall under the "external" sources option left on the list. A close inspection of the external parts of the pins might reveal if arcing or something similar took place on the outside or not.
One other thing that has just come to me as a possible solution would be what if the pin was not streight inline with the female plug? the pressure from that might push the end pin in, while leaving the other pins without good contact with the female plug, which could cause heat... Just another idea, (or probably more accuratly: semi-educated guess)
One other thing that has just come to me as a possible solution would be what if the pin was not streight inline with the female plug? the pressure from that might push the end pin in, while leaving the other pins without good contact with the female plug, which could cause heat... Just another idea, (or probably more accuratly: semi-educated guess)
ah' Peter you are back in the running.
Don't know. While I doubt it's some form of metal falling across the pins, your other statements are catching up with the quandry. Now what caused the neutral also to melt down?
This as my own question, in pins pushed in and heat on that which had such, yep, you are right on subject of a potintial cause of it.
Don't know. While I doubt it's some form of metal falling across the pins, your other statements are catching up with the quandry. Now what caused the neutral also to melt down?
This as my own question, in pins pushed in and heat on that which had such, yep, you are right on subject of a potintial cause of it.
JahJahwarrior
Active Member
well, I would not think the reduced surface area to be of THAT much consequence. Think of the surface area of an edison plug--much smaller! now, the pin being pushed in shouldn't have made that big of a difference, I think. Unless of course you were running alot more voltage/amps or watts throught the cabling...this is standard 120 volt AC, right? or it is 240? how many amps is the cabling rated for? but see, if you were running too much through it, why didn't the rest of the cable melt?
or, looking ati it form the other angle, it heated up and made the plastic brittle. Great, someone drops it, knocks the pin in. You could test for this by dropping the pin again, but trying to knock in other pins. If the neutral does get knocked in, then we know that the broken pin came alter. The problem with this is we do not konw how high the cable could have been dropped from. If it was dropped from the grid, that's easily 20 feet, maybe more. And, would that same drop break a normal stage pin? to test that you have to try it out, and you could ruin a perfecty good stage pin, and that's probably not worthit.
why did it affeect the neutral too? I really get all turned around with electrical workings, ,but doesn't the hot and neutral change directions everh 1/60th of the second? So, anything affecting one plug would also affect the other, right? like....if something was screwingup the hot pin, couldn't it also cause the neutral to heat up?
I don't see the pin breaking and allt hat from the plug hanging, like, plugging it in to something that fell, or was hanging...if that happened, then all the pins would be bent, right? and that doesn't explain the extreme heat that caused all this havoc.
So this threefer, it's a 1 male to three female, right? none of the female ends were damaged? so this problem does apppear localied...th eheat much have been created near this end/the resistance much have only occured on this end, or else the cable would have been dmaged. now, the calb ehas more air flwoing by it than the inside of the plug, so it could have escaped visible damage, but then on the other ends, those shuld have had the same thing in them, the insulation burned off, the wire oxydized. I keep coming back in my mind to the oxdyzed wire. why did it oxydize??
sleep, then school. g'night!
or, looking ati it form the other angle, it heated up and made the plastic brittle. Great, someone drops it, knocks the pin in. You could test for this by dropping the pin again, but trying to knock in other pins. If the neutral does get knocked in, then we know that the broken pin came alter. The problem with this is we do not konw how high the cable could have been dropped from. If it was dropped from the grid, that's easily 20 feet, maybe more. And, would that same drop break a normal stage pin? to test that you have to try it out, and you could ruin a perfecty good stage pin, and that's probably not worthit.
why did it affeect the neutral too? I really get all turned around with electrical workings, ,but doesn't the hot and neutral change directions everh 1/60th of the second? So, anything affecting one plug would also affect the other, right? like....if something was screwingup the hot pin, couldn't it also cause the neutral to heat up?
I don't see the pin breaking and allt hat from the plug hanging, like, plugging it in to something that fell, or was hanging...if that happened, then all the pins would be bent, right? and that doesn't explain the extreme heat that caused all this havoc.
So this threefer, it's a 1 male to three female, right? none of the female ends were damaged? so this problem does apppear localied...th eheat much have been created near this end/the resistance much have only occured on this end, or else the cable would have been dmaged. now, the calb ehas more air flwoing by it than the inside of the plug, so it could have escaped visible damage, but then on the other ends, those shuld have had the same thing in them, the insulation burned off, the wire oxydized. I keep coming back in my mind to the oxdyzed wire. why did it oxydize??
sleep, then school. g'night!
Ship, By "neutral" you mean the middle pin right, the other two are "hot" with one being postive and one being negative (and them switching between the two very quickly)?
If that is the case, I would guess that arcing could have taken place between eather, or both of the "hot" pins and the ground pin. This would heat the ground pin. Ah, enlightenment, could the ground plug on the female cable this was pluged into be dammaged, causing a short that was traveling down the ground pin to jump to one or both of the "hot" pins when it reached this point at which it could not go any farther?? This could have heated the plastic and caused it to be brittle and the pins move in and all that type of dammage, which itself couldnt have helped anything. hmm....
If that is the case, I would guess that arcing could have taken place between eather, or both of the "hot" pins and the ground pin. This would heat the ground pin. Ah, enlightenment, could the ground plug on the female cable this was pluged into be dammaged, causing a short that was traveling down the ground pin to jump to one or both of the "hot" pins when it reached this point at which it could not go any farther?? This could have heated the plastic and caused it to be brittle and the pins move in and all that type of dammage, which itself couldnt have helped anything. hmm....
I think you are thinking too much. First, the neutral is http://www.stagepin.com/20A/adi_-_bates_20a_products.html on the right and right next to the ground pin. The middle pin is the ground pin.
In AC power, we don't refer to a positive or negative because of that reversing directions. Nor are on a 120v circuit there two hot wires even if both of them momentarily carry current in going to and from the power company to the stake (I dread saying this) in the ground at the meter than back again. We say hot because the hot wire coming in has power potential in it. The neutral does not when disconnected from the hot. Or hopefully does not. One might say the hot is the power coming into the building, the ground allows that power to flow.
At the main service panel the ground and neutral are joined together and run to this ground in the ground. Before this point, there is a lot of difference between the two. First, a ground wire while it will work as a neutral during a short to safely conduct electricity as a path of least resistance back to the ground. Such a equipment ground is also attached to every piece of metal between here and there including the lighting pipe thus it’s possible that anything that’s touched that is metal in the whole system if it offers less resistance than the grounding rod attachment will become hot in looking for that neutral return to grounding path.
Now the neutral while it is a form of ground, runs directly to the main power distribution point and does not touch equipment frames, boxes or conduit before it gets there. In doing this, it’s much more safe because it’s not touching anything while not hot in voltage, it still kind of conducts or provides a pathway for the hot to do it’s work. The rest is a little more difficult to explain, ask for a book on basic electricity for Christmas.
Specifically, the ground center pin showed no abuse. The neutral which normally does not carry any current heated up because it was some form of high resistance pathway for the current to travel to ground while making a circuit. The hot also heated up because it had some form of resistance to current flow. Possibly if used without the plug fully plugged in. Plugged in just enough so there was no shorting at the tip of the pin, not enough of it’s surface area to conduct the current without a sort of funnel back log effect of current wishing to pass thru the joint but not being large enough in surface area to do so. This resistance to the easy path of current flow thus heated up both pins. This probably will have melted the tip of the female plug and not much more than that.
The other option is that in the female connector not shown, that there was some form of high resistance short between neutral and hot. Not a short large enough to trip a circuit breaker or arc, but enough current flow to heat up the pins due to the short between hot and neutral. Water for instance is not the most excellent pathway to conduct electricity. While it’s less resistant to current flow than most metals, it is more conductive than say plastic. Now add a little table salt to the water and it conducts much better. Given this, perhaps the short could have been a wet connector or one in a highly humid atmosphere in jumping the current between hot and neutral.
Possible, depends upon what the liquid was if it’s only a few drips of water, perhaps it shorted just long enough to arc the pins but also vaporized in the process of doing so thus the amount of time there was a short was not long enough to melt thru.
Perhaps the strain relief on the female conductor was too tight. This than would force insulation around the wire to be forced out of place. This insulated wire than perhaps allowed some current to bleed thru. All kinds of possibilities for a high resistance short. See the first solution above. In such a condition, not enough to arc the sources due to the resistance still offered by the insulation, but enough to heat up the conductors. Perhaps it was a full fledge arc in heating up hot and neutral but perhaps like a broken filament in a lamp, once it was done heating up the neutral or hot, and the distance between them became too far apart to maintain the arc, it lost conductivity.
Could be in the female connector, it was arcing in jumping a small gap between conductors but did not have enough amperage to maintain the shorting see the above drop of water or high humidity concept. Perhaps every time the connector was bumped, it momentarily shorted. This arcing and breaking contact over a period of time could also heat up the hot and neutral pins.
Lots of things that can be the case of a high resistance or temporary short. Could also have tripped the breaker, don’t know, was not on the show. Given a short in the female, the male end on the threefer could have been attempted to use on the new cable at which time the male pin broke. Could just be that the threefer with the broken pin was dropped after being replaced because of the short.
One thing is fairly certain, given the neutral wire also suffered from melt down, the squeezed slot in the hot pin, and it’s being broken will have had nothing to do with the neutral also melting down. For this reason, the breaking of the male pin is probably something that happened after the hot and neutral pins and conductors heated up. It being broken is bad but not related to what caused the melt down. In other words, there was more than one thing wrong here and they are only circumstantially related.
In AC power, we don't refer to a positive or negative because of that reversing directions. Nor are on a 120v circuit there two hot wires even if both of them momentarily carry current in going to and from the power company to the stake (I dread saying this) in the ground at the meter than back again. We say hot because the hot wire coming in has power potential in it. The neutral does not when disconnected from the hot. Or hopefully does not. One might say the hot is the power coming into the building, the ground allows that power to flow.
At the main service panel the ground and neutral are joined together and run to this ground in the ground. Before this point, there is a lot of difference between the two. First, a ground wire while it will work as a neutral during a short to safely conduct electricity as a path of least resistance back to the ground. Such a equipment ground is also attached to every piece of metal between here and there including the lighting pipe thus it’s possible that anything that’s touched that is metal in the whole system if it offers less resistance than the grounding rod attachment will become hot in looking for that neutral return to grounding path.
Now the neutral while it is a form of ground, runs directly to the main power distribution point and does not touch equipment frames, boxes or conduit before it gets there. In doing this, it’s much more safe because it’s not touching anything while not hot in voltage, it still kind of conducts or provides a pathway for the hot to do it’s work. The rest is a little more difficult to explain, ask for a book on basic electricity for Christmas.
Specifically, the ground center pin showed no abuse. The neutral which normally does not carry any current heated up because it was some form of high resistance pathway for the current to travel to ground while making a circuit. The hot also heated up because it had some form of resistance to current flow. Possibly if used without the plug fully plugged in. Plugged in just enough so there was no shorting at the tip of the pin, not enough of it’s surface area to conduct the current without a sort of funnel back log effect of current wishing to pass thru the joint but not being large enough in surface area to do so. This resistance to the easy path of current flow thus heated up both pins. This probably will have melted the tip of the female plug and not much more than that.
The other option is that in the female connector not shown, that there was some form of high resistance short between neutral and hot. Not a short large enough to trip a circuit breaker or arc, but enough current flow to heat up the pins due to the short between hot and neutral. Water for instance is not the most excellent pathway to conduct electricity. While it’s less resistant to current flow than most metals, it is more conductive than say plastic. Now add a little table salt to the water and it conducts much better. Given this, perhaps the short could have been a wet connector or one in a highly humid atmosphere in jumping the current between hot and neutral.
Possible, depends upon what the liquid was if it’s only a few drips of water, perhaps it shorted just long enough to arc the pins but also vaporized in the process of doing so thus the amount of time there was a short was not long enough to melt thru.
Perhaps the strain relief on the female conductor was too tight. This than would force insulation around the wire to be forced out of place. This insulated wire than perhaps allowed some current to bleed thru. All kinds of possibilities for a high resistance short. See the first solution above. In such a condition, not enough to arc the sources due to the resistance still offered by the insulation, but enough to heat up the conductors. Perhaps it was a full fledge arc in heating up hot and neutral but perhaps like a broken filament in a lamp, once it was done heating up the neutral or hot, and the distance between them became too far apart to maintain the arc, it lost conductivity.
Could be in the female connector, it was arcing in jumping a small gap between conductors but did not have enough amperage to maintain the shorting see the above drop of water or high humidity concept. Perhaps every time the connector was bumped, it momentarily shorted. This arcing and breaking contact over a period of time could also heat up the hot and neutral pins.
Lots of things that can be the case of a high resistance or temporary short. Could also have tripped the breaker, don’t know, was not on the show. Given a short in the female, the male end on the threefer could have been attempted to use on the new cable at which time the male pin broke. Could just be that the threefer with the broken pin was dropped after being replaced because of the short.
One thing is fairly certain, given the neutral wire also suffered from melt down, the squeezed slot in the hot pin, and it’s being broken will have had nothing to do with the neutral also melting down. For this reason, the breaking of the male pin is probably something that happened after the hot and neutral pins and conductors heated up. It being broken is bad but not related to what caused the melt down. In other words, there was more than one thing wrong here and they are only circumstantially related.
JahJahwarrior
Active Member
well dang ship, it sounds ilke you wrote out the possibilities for us in that last post! Or is there more we can figure out, that we need to kepe thinking about? I'm starint to get lost in all this.....
techieman33
Well-Known Member
well this is just me, but couldn't you start a new thread with each new question, it's getting very confusing.
lol, Thanks ship!! I often find myself in that position (having to catch up) but it feels good to have a better understanding of what is going on, and I think that is the whole point here!
I dont know if this is what your getting at, but it seems to me like you are leaning towards it being something wrong with the female plug; something where the hot and neutral (not as i now know, to be confused with the ground, in AC) were able to short circut with eachother at least partially, causing heat to both pins which caused the damage discribed. Further damage was probably later inflicted on this cable at a later time, (when the pin was bent/shoved in).
I dont think this post gets the prize, but I am just going at it again, restating ship's posts!
I dont know if this is what your getting at, but it seems to me like you are leaning towards it being something wrong with the female plug; something where the hot and neutral (not as i now know, to be confused with the ground, in AC) were able to short circut with eachother at least partially, causing heat to both pins which caused the damage discribed. Further damage was probably later inflicted on this cable at a later time, (when the pin was bent/shoved in).
I dont think this post gets the prize, but I am just going at it again, restating ship's posts!
Radman
Well-Known Member
I'm taking a whack at this way too late but I didn't look into the thread so I don't know the answer yet...
Since the wires are solide they put strain on the terminals of the lamp, and since they are not properly insulated the insulation can melt ant there is a fire hazard and a shock hazard all wrapped into one PAR can of doom!
DOOM!
Doom!
doom!
doom.
Also...
The wires in being solid instead of stranded and not fiberglass or teflon insulated do not comply with NEC regulations:
Article 520.68 (A) (3)
Since the wires are solide they put strain on the terminals of the lamp, and since they are not properly insulated the insulation can melt ant there is a fire hazard and a shock hazard all wrapped into one PAR can of doom!
DOOM!
Doom!
doom!
doom.
Also...
The wires in being solid instead of stranded and not fiberglass or teflon insulated do not comply with NEC regulations:
Article 520.68 (A) (3)
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