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Ohio Andy

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Jul 31, 2024
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Columbus, Ohio
Etchase said:
What would the temperature rise be around that hole in the uninsulated bus suspended in air inside a large aluminum enclosure with a 20 ampere current. Is it excessive? What gauge would an extension cord need to be for 20 amps if it was 30 meters in length. What about an extension cord less than a millimeter in length? What’s the wire gauge of that 60 amp wall wart cell phone charger?
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In general I go for 12 gauge wire for 20 amps and 14 gauge for 15 amp.

18 gauge wire closer to 6 amps I think.

That said, I strongly believe that a flat wire can carry higher current because it has better heat dissipation... But then they cut holes in it.
 
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ER70S-2

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X

xjfish

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Feb 22, 2014
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In for the work area light (code still good), "duster", and battery terminal crimper. Cheap, and I should get some good use out of them! Curious how "good" the little blower, ah, blows... will comment when it shows up. Thanks OPs! Will trade locally for that cart... :lol:
 
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MichaelP

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pcrov said:
But anyways, mine came today. I picked up two. They're nice solid power strips. Aluminum housing, decent size and outlet spacing, and I'm really liking the angled outlets and mounting options (bottom and back.)

IMG_20260203_062239849.jpg



IMG_20260203_061015068.jpg
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OK. I have received and tested 20A one today.

1. It's not UL listed
2. Its 20A rating is not on the item, but only mentioned in the paperwork
3. The 6-ft cord and connections to the buses (brass(?) strips) are 12AWG wire
4. The neutral bus strip looks solid. The hot one has notches. The ground strip is a bit thinner and has holes described above.

For the test, I used an IR thermometer measuring temperatures near all the notches on the hot bus. The load produced 12.8A current (confirmed with a tester).

Result: the highest hot bus temperature rise (spots near the notches) was below 5F (and about 1F in the neutral bus which has no notches). Not discernable at all by fingers right after the circuit was de-energized. I guess if the current will be twice higher (about 26A) the temperature rise will be, roughly, up to 4x higher (since the power will quadruple). We are talking about 20F temperature rise. With 20A it'll be less, of course. Not a big deal in either case, IMHO, considering no insulation to melt.

No, I didn't energize and check the ground bus. I guess the circuit breaker will not allow melting of the ground bus in case of emergency. :)

P.S. As a load I used a 4-slot toaster (120V/1560W). It is UL listed. Its power cord is 16AWG. No ground wire (although the toaster has a metal case). Under the full load the power cord becomes just a tiny bit warm.

EDIT: I increased the load to reach 18.6A total. It produced 15F temperature rise in the hottest spot. I'll try to take and publish snapshots with my new thermal scope, but give no promises since I've never tried to do it.
 
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ER70S-2

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Messages
798
MichaelP said:
OK. I have received and tested 20A one today.

1. It's not UL listed
2. Its 20A rating is not on the item, but only mentioned in the paperwork
3. The 6-ft cord and connections to the buses (brass(?) strips) are 12AWG wire
4. The hot bus strip is solid. The neutral one has notches. The ground strip is a bit thinner and has holes described above.

For the test, I used an IR thermometer measuring temperatures near all the notches on the neutral bus. The load produced 12.8A current (confirmed with a tester).

Result: the highest neutral bus temperature raise (spots near the notches) was below 5F (and about 1F in the hot bus which has no notches). Not discernable at all by fingers right after the circuit was de-energized. So, I guess there is nothing to be concerned about. No, I didn't energize and check the ground bus. I guess the circuit breaker will not allow melting of the ground bus in case of emergency. :)

P.S. As a load I used a 4-slot toaster (120V/1560W). It is UL listed. Its power cord is 16AWG. No ground wire (although the toaster has a metal case). Under the full load the power cord becomes just a tiny bit warm.
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I'm guessing you did not look under the plastic outlet housings? The hot bus does, in fact, have holes in it, but you have to look for them :cool: (see this post). You can see one of the many holes in the pic of the hot bus).
 
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MichaelP

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No, I didn't remove the hot bus from the outlets. But there are no holes in the exposed part of it.
On the picture you linked, it looks to me like a removed ground bus connected to a bluish-greenish (on my screen) wire. I cannot see the bus connected to the black wire there.

But in any case, the exposed part of my hot bus showed a minimal heat rise.
 
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ER70S-2

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Messages
798
MichaelP said:
On the picture you linked, it looks to me like a removed ground bus connected to a bluish-greenish (on my screen) wire. I cannot see the bus connected to the black wire there.
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Behind the green wire is the bus bar for the hot with holes visible.
 
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mikeinri

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Nov 29, 2019
Messages
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MA
Ohio Andy said:
They claim that's 34% off the regular price of $100. That looks more like 15% off the regular price. But what they probably mean is 34% off a price they're not showing us.
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PugetDude said:
Chinese math is different than the rest of the world. Learned that negotiating with them on machinery purchases many years ago. We employed "Reverse Chinese Logic" to level the playing field...🤣
Click to expand...

That fully explains my frustration with Harbor Freight's pricing gimmicks...

...except they're comparing to the price of a MUCH higher quality item, made by a different manufacturer, that they ripped off...

Mike
 
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MichaelP

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Pic.05- de-energized circuit (the whole strip is just a bit warmer than the surroundings). Pic.52- beginning of heating (darker areas are hotter). Total current- 18.5A.

On the right side of the pictures is the cord of the power strip. On the left- two power cords going to the loads (the hottest one, 3x16AWG with 12A going through belongs to a German electric tea kettle).

As you can see on Pic.32, the hottest areas are the kettle cord and where the strip cord multiple connections are (to the switch and buses). They both have, approximately, the same temperature. In real life the kettle cord is just slightly warm to the touch.
 

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MichaelP

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ER70S-2 said:
Behind the green wire is the bus bar for the hot with holes visible.
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I see. Thank you. My buses look slightly differently.

P.S. By the way, I made a mistake in my first post (Post#6415 above). The bus with notches is the hot one. And the bus that looks solid is neutral. So the hottest spots were on the hot bus where the notches are. It makes no difference, of course, but... The error has been corrected.
 

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SweetD

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Rhode Island
MichaelP said:
I see. Thank you. My bases look slightly differently.

P.S. By the way, I made a mistake in my first post (Post#6415 above). The bus with notches is the hot one. And the bus that looks solid is neutral. So the hottest spots were on the hot bus where the notches are. It makes no difference, of course, but...
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So what is the verdict, safe to use? Thanks for taking the time!
 
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MichaelP

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I'm not the UL, but I, personally, see no real problem using it.

What I wouldn't suggest is to attempt to open the case unless you have to. The threaded areas for the screws are quite weak, create a lot of small aluminum particles that need to be removed before re-assembly, and the fit of both parts must be precise (you need to slide one against the other after making 100% sure the tongue-and-groove are aligned and fully interlocked).
 
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ER70S-2

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Messages
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Depends what you plug into it. A few cell phone chargers or whatever will be fine, but I wouldn't feel good about that thing being in my house unattended with some current flowing through it. I mean for what... to save a couple of bucks? Mine's going back as I planned to use it for my desk with two laptops, monitor, docking station, coffee cup warmer, 1500W space heater, security system DVR, and some audio equipment.
 
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johnre

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Location
Portland, OR
mikeinri said:
This is so obvious... The holes are there to increase airflow and improve the heat dissipation!
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As are the extra "T" slots on the neutral pin. It's just coincidental that this ingenious heat dissipation scheme resembles a NEMA 5-20R receptacle; it's a design feature and it can't be helped!

brothernov said:
All this over a power strip?
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CJM8515 said:
you guys are way to vested in a freaking power strip
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ER70S-2 said:
It's 10 degrees outside. What else are we supposed to do?
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Let's not even get started on which way the outlet is supposed to be oriented on the strip ....
 
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F

Fly YX

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Jul 31, 2017
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1,418
johnre said:
As are the extra "T" slots on the neutral pin. It's just coincidental that this heat dissipation scheme resembles a NEMA 5-20R receptacle; it's a design feature and it can't be helped!




Let's not even get started on which way the outlet is supposed to be oriented on the strip ....
Click to expand...
Hopefully, I don’t get any with hair around the receptacle.
 
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