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OT ... electricity


Dave Horne

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I was just hooking up our caravan (over here that's a home on wheels that is connected to your car ... I mention that because I believe in the US it is called something else ... or not).

 

I had problems with the house current connection to the caravan. A little contact spray and wiping down the electric plug did the trick. I am still amazed that a small amount of dirt, corrosion or whatever was enough to stop the force of 230 VAC. If you've ever received a 230 volt shock, you know that it packs more of a wallop than 115 VAC; I did not receive a shock, I only mention that to further express my amazement that 230 VAC could not 'force' itself through.

 

I really was surprised that the small amount of dirt or corrosion (which I could not see) was enough to force me to use spray and wipe the plugs down.

 

When in doubt, check the plug ... an old adage worth remembering.

No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message.

 

In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments.

 

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Dave,

 

Cleaning the connector may have solved your problem temporarily, masking a potentially dangerous problem.

 

Electrical connectors that carry any appreciable power usually have a self-cleaning design. Such as a socket that has some spring-loading that wipes the plug clean when you insert/remove the plug. (Oops, almost got Really OT with the male/female connector analogy ...)

 

You should check your connectors again, making sure they are mechanically tight. If the spring loading in the connection is old and weak, you can eventually get a bad connection that could heat up and start a fire. Loose power connectors should always be replaced.

 

The formula for the heating effect in a connector is the current squared times the resistance in the connector. As the current doubles, the heating effect in the connector goes up by four! So, high power connectors, like those in your caravan, are much more subject to over-heating and fires. The current in low-power connectors, like for a keyboard, is so low that there's virtually no danger.

 

regards,

Murray

Casio PX-5S, Korg Kronos 61, Omnisphere 2, Ableton Live, LaunchKey 25, 2M cables
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Murray, the plugs in question have no moving parts to speak off. I could have used Q tips to clean the female connectors but I didn't, I just sprayed. The male plugs were wiped off and I did see some dirt / corrosion come off. I think the problem is the caravan, the plugs and the connectors in my back yard are outside the year around and that causes the build up and slight corrosion.

 

I'll keep what you wrote in the back of my mind ... thanks!

No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message.

 

In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments.

 

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Originally posted by Dave Horne:

Murray, the plugs in question have no moving parts ...

Guess I didn't describe it very well. When I said "spring-loaded", it sounds like there's a separate spring. It's usually a leaf-spring design that's part of the contact itself. Inserting the plug deforms the leaf spring, applying some force to the contact point, keeping it clean. Sometimes the leaf-spring is in the plug instead of the socket.

 

These leaf springs don't deform very much and can get bent, resulting in a loss of contact force. If the plug feels loose, it's not safe.

Casio PX-5S, Korg Kronos 61, Omnisphere 2, Ableton Live, LaunchKey 25, 2M cables
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