Melted outlet (pics)

[Greatbear]

"In a bedroom a neckless or a coin dropped down and over the end of a cord, shorting across the spades of the cord"

I'm not an electrician, (electronics and computers is my vocation) but can't you mount the outlet so that the ground hole is "up" to prevent just such a thing from happening?

You indeed can mount the receptacles with the ground pin on top, this does provide a bit of protection from shorts occurring from dropped metal object, but this is only effective if the cords plugged into the receptacles have grounds. Most items found in a bedroom, such as lamps, clocks/radios, TVs and such are rarely equipped with three prong cordsets. The best advice I can give if this is a concern is to install the receptacles with the ground pin up (or, better yet, with the neutral blade up by mounting the devices sideways) and using a good quality (specification grade or better) receptacle. The better receptacles hold the plugs tighter initially and over time, and pushing the plugs tight to the receptacle minimizes exposed prongs. These days the NEC required Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs) in bedroom branch circuits. These devices don't prevent shorts from happening, but minimize the effects/damage when they do happen.

 

[pattenp]

One point before you mount receptacles with the ground pin up. Most of the newer extension cords that have the flat style plugs with the ground pin are made to hang down and plugging then into an inverted outlet makes the cord hang wacky. Just something to consider.

 

[PRH44]

I think I know that trick you are talking about leaving a little insulation on the end of the stranded wire. Might work, somewhat dubious, but I suppose better than nothing.

I like those crimpers. How do you know which die to use for which terminal?

Standard insulated crimps come in 3 main sizes and they are color coded.
Pink 20 to 18 AWG
Blue 14 to 16 AWG
Yellow 12 to 10 AWG

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Most ratchet crimp tools will have three different notches Small for pink, medium for blue and large for yellow. Some have a color code on the crimp tool.

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[MrMark]

Wow, seems so simple. Thank you. The ones I've looked at for automotive have so many more dies for the different connectors. The only electrical crimps for AC I have done are the "insulated" or "bare" crimps for the grounds, when I use those.

So on this you crimp right over the insulation. Not sure I like that. On a car I use the noninsulated and then use heat shrink over that.

If not too much trouble could you show a completed crimp? How do you orient the terminal in the crimper, does the slit go up or down?

 

[PRH44]

I'm not an electrician, (electronics and computers is my vocation) but can't you mount the outlet so that the ground hole is "up" to prevent just such a thing from happening?

When I wire my shop I will make sure to get those good outlets with the wire clamps as I will be pulling stranded wire through PVC for everything.

There is always a debate on the ground up or ground down theory. The rule of the thumb is residential ground down. Commercial/Industrial ground up.
Sometimes it can be a mixture as in a hotel. the last project large project I finished was a 1000 room hotel. The rooms had all receptacles ground down and the common area such as lobbies, ballrooms, kitchens and service areas were ground up.
We normally confirm the engineers or owners intent before we choose the direction.

One of the interesting points I always bring up is the code requires you to install and use equipment according to its listing and manufactures recommendations.
Some receptacles are marked on the strap above the ground terminal "TOP" That gets everybody head scratching. Not sure you can see it in this photo.

You should always consider what the outlet is going to be used for and install it to work best for you as pattenp stated.

One point before you mount receptacles with the ground pin up. Most of the newer extension cords that have the flat style plugs with the ground pin are made to hang down and plugging then into an inverted outlet makes the cord hang wacky. Just something to consider.

 

[torqueman2002]

If not too much trouble could you show a completed crimp? How do you orient the terminal in the crimper, does the slit go up or down?

I'd like to know where to get the crimpers. My go-to, Amazon, doesn't list them.

 

[PRH44]

Here is a photo of the Crimpex holding a crimp and the second is the finished product #12 THHN in a 10/12 crimp

 

[PRH44]

There are an abundance of ratchet crimp tools on the market. It will cost you a low end $30.00 to high end of $250.00. Most ratchet crimps have interchangeable dies that cost nearly what the tool cost. So when you are looking be sure you are getting the tool and the die.
Manufactures are Weidmuller, Molex, knipex, Paladin, Ideal, pressmaster, etc,etc. The low end units I can not speak for.
Amazon carries the Ideal crimpmaster it is a middle of the road crimper price and quality.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=ideal+crimpmaster+
If you want to see a Cadillac version CTI-6 in action visit the Weidmuller web site. I have used their products over the years and they are of the finest quality and top performers. So you will pay for it, a must see though.
http://www.weidmuller.ca/tools/application_videos

 

[PRH44]

With all this talk of crimp tools...there are other options. The hand crimp tools work fine and are much less expensive and offer other uses.
Most electricians have owned or used a combination crimp tool. It has wire strippers, wire cutters, bolt cutters, insulated crimp and non insulated crimp. Now a tool that has multiple purposes usually does not do everything well. In this class some are better than others.
The strippers are usually awkward and hard to use. However the bolt cutters (very handy)and crimps work well. Most carry a pair strippers anyway. I had a T&B that performed wonderfully until I let someone borrow it
Ideals version

Klein version

T&B version

The next class is the crimp cutter this is the most popular I like this tool very well it crimps great and cuts well and doubles as diagonal cutter. The Klein J1005 is my preferred it does insulated and non insulated crimps #10 to # 22 AWG and averages about 32 bucks to purchase. Now most manufactures make different version so be careful some are non insulated only and vice versa.

My favorite combo tool is the 9" Klein linesman pliers with crimp.The Journeyman series J2000-9NECR. This will set you back about $50.00 plus. In my opinion the J2000 series are the finest pliers available. I do like and own some of the German brands knipex and NWS and they are outstanding. But these are my first choice when I reach for a linesman plier.

 

[MrMark]

Thanks a lot! Great pics.

I wonder what would be the difference in crimp quality between using that Klein J1005 above on the INSULATED crimp vs. say the Ideal Crimpmaster with the YELLOW dot for your 10-12 terminal?

 

[PRH44]

There is a difference the ratchet crimp is more uniform. The hand crimp is more by feel type of crimp than a ratchet that has a defined motion and release. The big difference is the ease and speed of the ratchet. When you are crimping all day it really makes a difference.
The quality is really in the hand of the operator when it comes to the hand type crimp. If you are only doing a few here an there the hand crimp is they way to go and save the money. Plus the hand crimper gives you other options of usage.

 

[PRH44]

The crimp below was done with a combination crimp tool the one in the bottom of the second photo

The bottom crimp tool is an AMP brand that I used

 

[Gregishome]

There is always a debate on the ground up or ground down theory. The rule of the thumb is residential ground down. Commercial/Industrial ground up.
Sometimes it can be a mixture as in a hotel. the last project large project I finished was a 1000 room hotel. The rooms had all receptacles ground down and the common area such as lobbies, ballrooms, kitchens and service areas were ground up.
We normally confirm the engineers or owners intent before we choose the direction.

One of the interesting points I always bring up is the code requires you to install and use equipment according to its listing and manufactures recommendations.
Some receptacles are marked on the strap above the ground terminal "TOP" That gets everybody head scratching. Not sure you can see it in this photo.

You should always consider what the outlet is going to be used for and install it to work best for you as pattenp stated.

I have been around the ground up/down debate a lot and this is about the best reply I've seen. I never thought much about it until I went to work as the chief electrician in a large hospital years ago. A call came from the 4 west nursing station stating the patient room had no power to one of the HillRom station headboard receptacles. ...

A quick peek showed the HG duplex receptacle had been installed ground down and the metal ball chain from the wall mount light was laying across the hot/neutral blades of the cord plugcap from the IV pump that was plugged in to it. Chain was cooked.....

I went to the safety committee and recommended installing nylon pull cords on all the patient room pull string overbed wall lights. Guess who got that job, all 150 of them .

 

[MrMark]

those sure are some nice looking crimps. I like how the ratcheting one gives you two distinct crimps rather than just one.

That Crimpex design reminds me of my PEX crimping tool. I wouldn't call it a ratchet though. It just crimps with one hard movement.

 

[PRH44]

Mark did you look at the Weidmuller videos on their web site?

 

[Thruxton]

Yes I buy the better devices typically, its a lot faster. Once you factor in the time it takes to crimp and the cost of the crimp its better to get a back wired device. Or even worse fiddle faddle with twisting up the stranded leaving some insulation on the end of the wire. What ever trick you use its slower and inferior to the better device. Time is money

When I do crimp I use a ratchet style like this knipex.

Although it can cost a good bit more I totally agree. I am not a pro, but I just special ordered five 6-20R backwired receptacles at over 10 bucks a piece. I am using 10AWG stranded all through the shop, and when I tried to wrap some of that around a terminal it was obviously not a good solution. Nobody around here carried the commercial grade 6-20R that could be backwired, but IMHO it was worth the wait, the price, and the shipping cost.

One other note about ratcheting crimpers: an Ancor rep explained to me at a boat show that these crimpers exert a lot more pressure on the crimp, in fact enough to actually weld the strands and body together. A demonstration was very convincing.

 

[Speedy Petey]

One other note about ratcheting crimpers: an Ancor rep explained to me at a boat show that these crimpers exert a lot more pressure on the crimp, in fact enough to actually weld the strands and body together. A demonstration was very convincing.

A cut away of the crimped area is also very convincing when it looks almost like one solid conductor.

 

[Thruxton]

A cut away of the crimped area is also very convincing when it looks almost like one solid conductor.

Ah, hadn't thought of that! I'll try it just to see. The rep's demo was simply pulling apart two identical crimped connections, one using a standard pliers-type crimp tool, the other done with a ratcheting tool: in the first case, quite easy, in the second, no way.

 

[MrMark]

Mark did you look at the Weidmuller videos on their web site?

Not yet, but I sure will tonight.

 

[PRH44]

I don't know if you guys ever used wire end ferrules but they give you a near solid wire once crimped on a starnded conductor. Now they wont fit devices very well as some back wired devices have very small openings. The leviton we purchase you can not put a number 10 in the back wire opening.
They are mostly used on terminal strips in control panels, VFDs, Motors Etc.
They will let you bind the wire and not cut strands. This is very important when calibrating instrumentation or commission control panels where the terminations are disconnected and reconnected to test equipment and the like.
end Ferrules

Anyway take a look at the Weidmuller crimp video of a wire end ferrule and it will give you a good look at how well the crimp is made.
http://www.weidmuller.ca/tools/application_videos/pz16

 

[MrMark]

just watched them. Very cool. Thanks for posting all this informative material.

 

[mm08822]

I don't know if you guys ever used wire end ferrules but they give you a near solid wire once crimped on a starnded conductor. Now they wont fit devices very well as some back wired devices have very small openings. The leviton we purchase you can not put a number 10 in the back wire opening.
They are mostly used on terminal strips in control panels, VFDs, Motors Etc.
They will let you bind the wire and not cut strands. This is very important when calibrating instrumentation or commission control panels where the terminations are disconnected and reconnected to test equipment and the like.
end Ferrules

Anyway take a look at the Weidmuller crimp video of a wire end ferrule and it will give you a good look at how well the crimp is made.
http://www.weidmuller.ca/tools/application_videos/pz16

Just a side note:
I went to a UL class few years back and learned that ferrules do not carry a UL listing. Major reason is that each ferrule needs to be seperately tested in a multitude of terminal blocks and lugs. I have always thought these made a professional job and still use them today, but if you are building a panel for UL certification you will fail. They are used in Europe extensively for years and have a long history as such. No manufacturer wants to pay UL for the multitude of testing combinations required for a listing. Local inspectors probably don't have a clue, as there use on construction jobs is pretty limited.