Anyone with Roger's Lite accounts?

[James Knott]

Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 18, 2006 at 11:41:33AM -0400, Mike Kallies wrote:
>> A British electrical engineer once told me that there are a
>> disproportionate number of deaths by 240 volt systems due to
>> electrocution.
>>
>> He then added that there are a disproportionate number of deaths from
>> 120 volt systems by fire.
>>
>> His only conclusion was to learn from both systems and exceed the code
>> whenever practical.  E.g. GFICs everywhere you can put them, Arc fault
>> wherever you can put them, a couple gauges thicker wire than you'd
>> normally use, more spacious device boxes, greater separation of the
>> wiring, judicious use of nail guards, etc etc.
>>
>> Of course he was an EE, not an Electrician.
> 
> I keep wondering why north america uses metal boxes to put their outlets
> in, when europe uses plastic.  Plastic doesn't conduct power if a wire
> gets close to it.  It also doesn't deform the same way when being
> installed.  Some work I have seen done by electricians building houses
> leaves the box so mangled it becomes very hard to actually put stuff in
> it.

The reason for the boxes is mechanical protection and if metal, has to
be grounded.  There are also plastic boxes available, which have only a
ground strap, for connecting to the outlets etc.

I have also seen some horrible work by electricians. In my mother's
house, built in 1957, there was one outlet in the kitchen, where the
ground terminal was "connected" to the box by a nail that merely touched
the box.  Of course, after 40 years, that nail was rusty.

Also, whenever you buy a home, go through it with a tester, that
verifies proper connections to all the outlets.
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